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Silicate minerals are rock-forming minerals made up of silicate groups. They are the largest and most important class of minerals and make up approximately 90 percent of Earth's crust. [1] [2] [3] In mineralogy, silica (silicon dioxide, SiO 2) is usually considered a silicate mineral rather than an oxide mineral. Silica is found in nature as ...
These factors affect the silicification process in many ways. The rate of breakage of original cells controls the development of the mineral framework, hence the replacement of silica. [20] Availability of silica directly determines the silica content in fluids. The higher the silica content, the faster silicification could take place. [1]
[1] [2] [3] Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere during burial of weathered minerals and returned to the atmosphere through volcanism. On million-year time scales, the carbonate-silicate cycle is a key factor in controlling Earth's climate because it regulates carbon dioxide levels and therefore global temperature. [3]
Scolecite is a tectosilicate mineral belonging to the zeolite group; it is a hydrated calcium silicate, CaAl 2 Si 3 O 10 ·3H 2 O. Only minor amounts of sodium and traces of potassium substitute for calcium. There is an absence of barium, strontium, iron and magnesium.
Carbonate and silicate minerals are examples of minerals affected by carbonation weathering. When silicate or carbonate minerals are exposed to rainwater or groundwater, they slowly dissolve due to carbonation weathering: that is the water (H 2 O) and carbon dioxide (CO 2) present in the atmosphere form carbonic acid (H 2 CO 3) by the reaction ...
The silica cycle plays an important role in long term global climate regulation. The global silica cycle also has large effects on the global carbon cycle through the carbonate-silicate cycle. [43] The process of silicate mineral weathering transfers atmospheric CO 2 to the hydrologic cycle through the chemical reaction displayed above. [4]
The name "silicate" is sometimes extended to any anions containing silicon, even if they do not fit the general formula or contain other atoms besides oxygen; such as hexafluorosilicate [SiF 6] 2−. Most commonly, silicates are encountered as silicate minerals.
Quartz is, therefore, classified structurally as a framework silicate mineral and compositionally as an oxide mineral. Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in Earth's continental crust, behind feldspar. [10] Quartz exists in two forms, the normal α-quartz and the high-temperature β-quartz, both of which are chiral. The transformation ...