Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Mineralogy applies principles of chemistry, geology, physics and materials science to the study of minerals. Mineralogy [n 1] is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifacts. Specific studies within mineralogy ...
The proportion of silica in rocks and minerals is a major factor in determining their names and properties. [7] Rock outcrop along a mountain creek near Orosí, Costa Rica. Rocks are classified according to characteristics such as mineral and chemical composition, permeability, texture of the constituent particles, and particle size.
The other minerals in the rock are termed accessory minerals, and do not greatly affect the bulk composition of the rock. Rocks can also be composed entirely of non-mineral material; coal is a sedimentary rock composed primarily of organically derived carbon. [34] [38]
Normative mineralogy is an estimate of the mineralogy of the rock. It usually differs from the visually observable mineralogy, at least as much as the types of mineral species, especially amongst the ferromagnesian minerals and feldspars, where it is possible to have many solid solution series of minerals, or minerals with similar Fe and Mg ratios substituting, especially with water (e.g ...
Georgius Agricola is considered the 'father of mineralogy'. Nicolas Steno founded the stratigraphy (the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification)), the geology characterizes the rocks in each layer and the mineralogy characterizes the minerals in each rock.
The term can also refer to the process by which waterborne minerals, such as calcium carbonate , iron oxide (hematite or limonite) or silica , replace organic material within the body of an organism that has died and was buried by sediments. [2] Mineralization may also refer to the product resulting from the process of mineralization.
In geology, texture or rock microstructure [1] refers to the relationship between the materials of which a rock is composed. [2] The broadest textural classes are crystalline (in which the components are intergrown and interlocking crystals), fragmental (in which there is an accumulation of fragments by some physical process), aphanitic (in which crystals are not visible to the unaided eye ...
In geology, particularly in mineralogy and petrology, an aggregate is a mass of mineral crystals, mineraloid particles or rock particles. [1] [2] Examples are dolomite, which is an aggregate of crystals of the mineral dolomite, [3] and rock gypsum, an aggregate of crystals of the mineral gypsum. [4]