Mineralogy is the branch of geology that studies minerals, including their chemistry, crystal structures, physical properties, origins, distribution, and uses. This lesson introduces the field, traces key developments in its history, and explains how physical properties help identify minerals.
Mineralogy investigates both minerals themselves and mineralized artifacts. Its questions range from what a mineral is made of and how its atoms are arranged to where it occurs and how people use it. The study also includes mineral formation, classification, and geographic distribution.
All flashcards
What is mineralogy?
The study of minerals, including their chemistry, crystal structures, properties, origins, distribution, and uses.
What is the law of constancy of interfacial angles?
Corresponding faces of a given mineral meet at consistent angles, even when crystals differ in size or shape.
How does the Mohs scale assess hardness?
It ranks scratch resistance using reference minerals from talc (1) to diamond (10); the scale is ordinal, not linear.
How do cleavage and fracture differ?
Cleavage follows particular crystallographic planes; fracture does not follow cleavage or parting planes.
What does crystal habit describe?
A well-formed crystal's recognizable external form, such as hexagonal, columnar, or botryoidal.
Quiz questions
What did Nicholas Steno observe about quartz crystals in 1669?Answer: Angles between corresponding crystal faces remain constant.
What can an X-ray powder diffraction pattern help determine?Answer: A mineral's crystal structure from diffraction intensities across many orientations.
How many crystallographic point groups, or crystal classes, are possible?Answer: Thirty-two.
Which method dissolves a sample, vaporizes the solution, and measures absorption in visible or ultraviolet wavelengths?Answer: Atomic absorption spectroscopy.
What does biomineralogy investigate?Answer: How organisms control mineral formation and stabilization, and how those minerals may later be replaced.
Based on the Wikipedia article Mineralogy, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.