Here are descriptions
of some of the commonest ones.
These can often be
called by these names to simplify things, but all are actually groups
of mineras - yes, there are even different kinds of quartz.
Quartz
Mineral
Quartz is
one of the absolutely most common minerals on the Earth. It
is found in all types
of rocks
and is very abundant in most sands and hydrothermal veins. It can be
massive or form crystals. It can come in many different colours such as
transparent, white, pink, purple, brown and reddish brown.
Mineral
Mica
Mica is a
group of shiny, layered minerals such as biotite and
muscovite. They very seldom occur in the amounts like on the photo
here. Most often they don't even make 10% of a rock's matrix, but are
still easily visible and often i large crystals. They are very soft
minerals, which easily break along layers.
Feldspar
Mineral Group
Feldspar
is
also a very common mineral. It is the most common
mineral in the Earth's crust, and it is an essential mineral in most igneous
rocks.
There are two major groups within the group of feldspars -
plagioclase and alkali feldspars, in a solid solution with
three
end members: K-feldspar, albite and anorthite.
Pyroxene
Pyroxenes
are a group of common, black or dark green mafic,
ferromagnetic minerals with elongate crystals rich is iron and
magnesuim. They are also common minerals and always occur in basalts at
mid-ocean ridges. They include orthopyroxene, pigeonite, hedenbergite,
diopside, jadeite, augite, aegerine, spodumene and omphacite.
Amphibole
Amphibole by Penny Higgins via Flickr.com
Amphiboles
are minerals very similar to pyroxenes. Also dark in
colour, rich in iron and magnesium (mafic), and occur in elongate, dark
crystals. They are more common than pyroxenes and typically black or
dark brown. They include hornblende, anthophyllite, tremolite,
cummingtonite, gerdite, glaucophane and riebeckite.
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English, which is the English we use in
Australia.
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