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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.
Perhaps the most influential mineralogy text in the 19th and 20th centuries was the Manual of Mineralogy by James Dwight Dana, Yale professor, first published in 1848. The fourth edition was entitled Manual of Mineralogy and Lithology (ed. 4, 1887). It became a standard college text, and has been continuously revised and updated by a succession ...
This is a list of minerals which have Wikipedia articles. Minerals are distinguished by various chemical and physical properties.
An Index of Mineral Species & Varieties Arranged Chemically (2 ed.). printed by order of the Trustees of the British Museum (London). ISBN 978-0-565-00097-4. Max H. Hey; Peter G. Embrey (1974). An index of mineral species and varieties arranged chemically: with an alphabetical index of accepted names and synonyms.
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]
Most rocks contain silicate minerals, compounds that include silica tetrahedra in their crystal lattice, and account for about one-third of all known mineral species and about 95% of the earth's crust. [6] The proportion of silica in rocks and minerals is a major factor in determining their names and properties. [7]
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Minerals often have a highly distinctive fracture, making it a principal feature used in their identification. Fracture differs from cleavage in that the latter involves clean splitting along the cleavage planes of the mineral's crystal structure, as opposed to more general breakage. All minerals exhibit fracture, but when very strong cleavage ...