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Associated rock type; With what rock type and/or other minerals is this mineral found? Degree of metamorphism and alteration; Mineral shape, properties or form been altered. Lattice structure and geochemistry; Signature chemical elements and bonds of the mineral. For example, is the mineral hydrous like mica or non hydrous like Jadeite.
Heavy minerals (minerals with a density greater than 2.89 g/cm 3) have highly variable stabilities with respect to transport/weathering but the combined effects of chemical weathering, transport and diagenesis (and overall maturity) tend to decrease their percentage in the whole rock.
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]
Radiometric dating of minerals and rocks was pioneered by Ernest Rutherford (1906) and Bertram Boltwood (1907). [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Radiometric dating is now the principal source of information about the absolute age of rocks and other geological features , including the age of fossilized life forms or the age of Earth itself, and can also be used to ...
In geology, bulk density is a function of the density of the minerals forming a rock (i.e. matrix) and the fluid enclosed in the pore spaces. This is one of three well logging tools that are commonly used to calculate porosity, the other two being sonic logging and neutron porosity logging
Crushed and separated powders, obtained by the processes above, may be analyzed to determine chemical composition of minerals in the rock qualitatively or quantitatively. Chemical testing, and microscopic examination of minute grains is an elegant and valuable means of discriminating between mineral components of fine-grained rocks.
Specific gravity numerically describes the density of a mineral. The dimensions of density are mass divided by volume with units: kg/m 3 or g/cm 3. Specific gravity is defined as the density of the mineral divided by the density of water at 4 °C and thus is a dimensionless quantity, identical in all unit systems. [87]
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 ...