Minerals - St. Maria Goretti

​The table shows the top 8 most common elements on the Earth's crust. Looking at the table, which elements are commonly seen in minerals? 

​Minerals are...

• ​Elements (Gold, Silver, Sulfur, Iron, etc.)

• ​Sulfides (Pyrites, Galena, Sphalerite, etc.)

• ​Halides (Halite, Fluorite, etc.)

• ​Oxides (Hematite, Ilmenite, etc.)

• ​Sulfates (Gypsum, Barite, Celestite, etc.)

• ​Carbonates (Calcite, Dolomite, Smithsonite, Siderite, etc.)

• ​Silicates (Quartz, Feldspar, etc.)

​The following criteria are required for mineral crystals to grow:

​

• The elements needed to make the mineral crystals must be present in sufficient abundance and

appropriate proportions.

• The physical and chemical conditions must be

favourable.

• There must be sufficient time for the atoms to

become arranged into a lattice.

​• Precipitation from a solution (e.g., from hot water flowing

underground, or when evaporation concentrates ions in a lake or

inland sea)

• Precipitation from a gas (e.g., from vents releasing volcanic gases)

• Metamorphism: Solid minerals react with each other under high

pressures and temperatures, and new minerals are formed.

• Weathering: Minerals unstable at Earth’s surface are chemically

altered by surface processes.

• Organic formation: Organisms build shells (primarily of calcite or

aragonite), and teeth and bones (primarily of apatite)