Plagioclase
Plagioclase is a series of tectosilicate minerals within the feldspar group. Rather than referring to a mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a continuous solid solution series. This was first shown by the German mineralogist Johann Friedrich Christian Hessel in 1826, the series ranges from albite to anorthite endmembers, where sodium and calcium atoms can substitute for each other in the minerals crystal lattice structure. Plagioclase in hand samples is often identified by its polysynthetic crystal twinning or record-groove effect, plagioclase is a major constituent mineral in the Earths crust, and is consequently an important diagnostic tool in petrology for identifying the composition and evolution of igneous rocks. Plagioclase is a constituent of rock in the highlands of the Earths moon. Analysis of thermal emission spectra from the surface of Mars suggests that plagioclase is the most abundant mineral in the crust of Mars, the extinction angle is an optical characteristic and varies with the albite fraction.
There are several named plagioclase feldspars that fall between albite and anorthite in the series, the following table shows their compositions in terms of constituent anorthite and albite percentages. Anorthite was named by Gustav Rose in 1823 from the Ancient Greek meaning oblique, anorthite is a comparatively rare mineral but occurs in the basic plutonic rocks of some orogenic calc-alkaline suites. Albite is named from the Latin albus, in reference to its pure white color. It is a common and important rock-making mineral associated with the more acid rock types and in pegmatite dikes, often with rarer minerals like tourmaline. The intermediate members of the group are very similar to each other. Bytownite, named after the name for Ottawa, Canada, is a rare mineral occasionally found in more basic rocks. Labradorite is the characteristic feldspar of the basic rock types such as diorite, andesite. Labradorite frequently shows an iridescent display of colors due to light refracting within the lamellae of the crystal and it is named after Labrador, where it is a constituent of the intrusive igneous rock anorthosite which is composed almost entirely of plagioclase.
A variety of known as spectrolite is found in Finland. Andesine is a mineral of rocks such as diorite which contain a moderate amount of silica. Oligoclase is common in granite, syenite and gneiss and it is a frequent associate of orthoclase. The name oligoclase is derived from the Greek for little and fracture, sunstone is mainly oligoclase with flakes of hematite
Mafic
Mafic is an adjective describing a silicate mineral or igneous rock that is rich in magnesium and iron, and is thus a portmanteau of magnesium and ferric. Most mafic minerals are dark in color, and common rock-forming mafic minerals include olivine, amphibole, common mafic rocks include basalt and gabbro. Mafic rocks often contain calcium-rich varieties of plagioclase feldspar, mafic rocks are on the other side of the rock spectrum from the felsic rocks. The term roughly corresponds to the basic rock class. Mafic lava, before cooling, has a low viscosity, in comparison to felsic lava and other volatiles can more easily and gradually escape from mafic lava. As a result, eruptions of volcanoes made of mafic lavas are less violent than felsic-lava eruptions. Most mafic-lava volcanoes are shield volcanoes, like those in Hawaii, QAPF diagram List of minerals List of rock types
Aphanite
Aphanite, or aphanitic as an adjective, is a name given to certain igneous rocks that are so fine-grained that their component mineral crystals are not detectable by the unaided eye. This geological texture results from rapid cooling in volcanic or hypabyssal environments, as a rule, the texture of these rocks is not the same as that of volcanic glass, with volcanic glass being non-crystalline, and having a glass-like appearance. Aphanites are commonly porphyritic, having large crystals embedded in the fine groundmass or matrix, the large inclusions are called phenocrysts. They consist essentially of very fine-grained minerals, such as feldspar, with hornblende or augite, and may contain biotite, quartz. Andesite Basalt Basanite Dacite Felsite Phonolite Rhyolite Trachyte This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Hugh
Potassium
Potassium is a chemical element with symbol K and atomic number 19. It was first isolated from potash, the ashes of plants, in the periodic table, potassium is one of the alkali metals. Potassium in nature only in ionic salts. It is found dissolved in sea water, and is part of many minerals, naturally occurring potassium is composed of three isotopes, of which 40K is radioactive. Traces of 40K are found in all potassium, and it is the most common radioisotope in the human body, Potassium is chemically very similar to sodium, the previous element in Group 1 of the periodic table. They have a similar energy, which allows for each atom to give up its sole outer electron. That they are different elements combine with the same anions to make similar salts was suspected in 1702. Most industrial applications of potassium exploit the high solubility in water of potassium compounds, heavy crop production rapidly depletes the soil of potassium, and this can be remedied with agricultural fertilizers containing potassium, accounting for 95% of global potassium chemical production.
Potassium ions are necessary for the function of all living cells, fresh fruits and vegetables are good dietary sources of potassium. Potassium is the second least dense metal after lithium and it is a soft solid with a low melting point, and can be easily cut with a knife. Freshly cut potassium is silvery in appearance, but it begins to tarnish toward gray immediately on exposure to air, in a flame test and its compounds emit a lilac color with a peak emission wavelength of 766.5 nanometers. Neutral potassium atoms have 19 electrons, one more than the stable configuration of the noble gas argon. This process requires so little energy that potassium is readily oxidized by atmospheric oxygen, in contrast, the second ionization energy is very high, because removal of two electrons breaks the stable noble gas electronic configuration. Potassium therefore does not readily form compounds with the state of +2 or higher. Potassium is an active metal that reacts violently with oxygen in water. With oxygen it forms potassium peroxide, and with water potassium forms potassium hydroxide, the reaction of potassium with water is dangerous because of its violent exothermic character and the production of hydrogen gas.
Hydrogen reacts again with atmospheric oxygen, producing water, which reacts with the remaining potassium and this reaction requires only traces of water, because of this and the liquid sodium-potassium — NaK — are potent desiccants that can be used to dry solvents prior to distillation. Because of the sensitivity of potassium to water and air, reactions with other elements are only in an inert atmosphere such as argon gas using air-free techniques
Quartz
Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in Earths continental crust, behind feldspar. There are many different varieties of quartz, several of which are semi-precious gemstones, since antiquity, varieties of quartz have been the most commonly used minerals in the making of jewelry and hardstone carvings, especially in Eurasia. The word quartz is derived from the German word Quarz and its Middle High German ancestor twarc, the Ancient Greeks referred to quartz as κρύσταλλος derived from the Ancient Greek κρύος meaning icy cold, because some philosophers apparently believed the mineral to be a form of supercooled ice. Today, the rock crystal is sometimes used as an alternative name for the purest form of quartz. Quartz belongs to the crystal system. The ideal crystal shape is a six-sided prism terminating with six-sided pyramids at each end, well-formed crystals typically form in a bed that has unconstrained growth into a void, usually the crystals are attached at the other end to a matrix and only one termination pyramid is present.
However, doubly terminated crystals do occur where they develop freely without attachment, a quartz geode is such a situation where the void is approximately spherical in shape, lined with a bed of crystals pointing inward. α-quartz crystallizes in the crystal system, space group P3121 and P3221 respectively. β-quartz belongs to the system, space group P6222 and P6422. These space groups are truly chiral, both α-quartz and β-quartz are examples of chiral crystal structures composed of achiral building blocks. The transformation between α- and β-quartz only involves a comparatively minor rotation of the tetrahedra with respect to one another, although many of the varietal names historically arose from the color of the mineral, current scientific naming schemes refer primarily to the microstructure of the mineral. Color is an identifier for the cryptocrystalline minerals, although it is a primary identifier for the macrocrystalline varieties. Pure quartz, traditionally called rock crystal or clear quartz, is colorless and transparent or translucent, common colored varieties include citrine, rose quartz, smoky quartz, milky quartz, and others.
The most important distinction between types of quartz is that of macrocrystalline and the microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline varieties, the cryptocrystalline varieties are either translucent or mostly opaque, while the transparent varieties tend to be macrocrystalline. Chalcedony is a form of silica consisting of fine intergrowths of both quartz, and its monoclinic polymorph moganite. Other opaque gemstone varieties of quartz, or mixed rocks including quartz, often including contrasting bands or patterns of color, are agate, carnelian or sard, heliotrope, amethyst is a form of quartz that ranges from a bright to dark or dull purple color. The worlds largest deposits of amethysts can be found in Brazil, Uruguay, France, sometimes amethyst and citrine are found growing in the same crystal. It is referred to as ametrine, an amethyst is formed when there is iron in the area where it was formed
Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park is a national park spanning portions of Tuolumne and Madera counties in Northern California. The park, which is managed by the National Park Service, on average, about 4 million people visit Yosemite each year, and most spend the majority of their time in the seven square miles of Yosemite Valley. The park set a record in 2016, surpassing 5 million visitors for the first time in its history. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness, Yosemite was central to the development of the national park idea. First, Galen Clark and others lobbied to protect Yosemite Valley from development, Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park supports a diversity of plants and animals. The park has a range from 2,127 to 13,114 feet and contains five major vegetation zones, chaparral/oak woodland, lower montane forest, upper montane forest, subalpine zone. Of Californias 7,000 plant species, about 50% occur in the Sierra Nevada, there is suitable habitat for more than 160 rare plants in the park, with rare local geologic formations and unique soils characterizing the restricted ranges many of these plants occupy.
The geology of the Yosemite area is characterized by granitic rocks, about 10 million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was uplifted and tilted to form its relatively gentle western slopes and the more dramatic eastern slopes. The uplift increased the steepness of stream and river beds, resulting in formation of deep, about one million years ago and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached 4,000 feet during the early glacial episode, the downslope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley that attracts so many visitors to its scenic vistas today. The name Yosemite originally referred to the name of a tribe which was driven out of the area by the Mariposa Battalion. Before the area was called Ahwahnee by indigenous people, as revealed by archeological finds, the Yosemite Valley has been inhabited for nearly 3,000 years, though humans may have first visited the area as long as 8,000 to 10,000 years ago.
The indigenous natives called themselves the Ahwahneechee, meaning dwellers in Ahwahnee and they are related to the Northern Paiute and Mono tribes. Many tribes visited the area to trade, including nearby Central Sierra Miwoks, a major trading route went over Mono Pass and through Bloody Canyon to Mono Lake, just to the east of the Yosemite area. Vegetation and game in the region were similar to that present today, acorns were a staple to their diet, as well as seeds and plants, salmon. In 1851 as part of the Mariposa Wars intended to suppress Native American resistance and he was pursuing forces of around 200 Ahwahneechee led by Chief Tenaya. Accounts from this battalion were the first well-documented reports of ethnic Europeans entering Yosemite Valley, attached to Savages unit was Dr. Lafayette Bunnell, the company physician, who wrote about his awestruck impressions of the valley in The Discovery of the Yosemite. Bunnell is credited with naming Yosemite Valley, based on his interviews with Chief Tenaya, Bunnell wrote that Chief Tenaya was the founder of the Pai-Ute Colony of Ah-wah-nee
Albite
Albite is a plagioclase feldspar mineral. It is the sodium endmember of the solid solution series. As such it represents a plagioclase with less than 10% anorthite content, the pure albite endmember has the formula NaAlSi3O8. Its color is pure white, hence its name from Latin albus. It is a constituent in felsic rocks. Albite crystallizes with triclinic pinacoidal forms and its specific gravity is about 2.62 and it has a Mohs hardness of 6 -6.5. Albite almost always exhibits crystal twinning often as minute parallel striations on the crystal face, Albite often occurs as fine parallel segregations alternating with pink microcline in perthite as a result of exolution on cooling. There are two variants of albite, which are referred to as low albite and high albite, the latter is known as analbite. Although both variants are triclinic, they differ in the volume of their cell, which is slightly larger for the high form. The high form can be produced from the low form by heating above c.750 °C, upon further heating to more than c.1050 °C the crystal symmetry changes from triclinic to monoclinic, this variant is known as monalbite.
It occurs in granitic and pegmatite masses, in hydrothermal vein deposits. It was first reported in 1815 for an occurrence in Finnbo, Dalarna and it is used as a gemstone. Mineral galleries This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Hugh
Magma
Besides molten rock, magma may contain suspended crystals, dissolved gas and sometimes gas bubbles. Magma often collects in magma chambers that may feed a volcano or solidify underground to form an intrusion, magma is capable of intruding into adjacent rocks, extrusion onto the surface as lava, and explosive ejection as tephra to form pyroclastic rock. Magma is a complex high-temperature fluid substance, temperatures of most magmas are in the range 700 °C to 1300 °C, but very rare carbonatite magmas may be as cool as 600 °C, and komatiite magmas may have been as hot as 1600 °C. Environments of magma formation and compositions are commonly correlated, environments include subduction zones, continental rift zones, mid-ocean ridges and hotspots. Despite being found in such locales, the bulk of the Earths crust. Except for the outer core, most of the Earth takes the form of a rheid. Magma, as liquid, preferentially forms in high temperature, low pressure environments within several kilometers of the Earths surface, magma compositions may evolve after formation by fractional crystallization and magma mixing.
By definition rock formed of solidified magma is called igneous rock, melting of solid rocks to form magma is controlled by three physical parameters, temperature and composition. Mechanisms are discussed in the entry for igneous rock, as a rock melts, its volume changes. When enough rock is melted, the small globules of melt link up, under pressure within the earth, as little as a fraction of a percent partial melting may be sufficient to cause melt to be squeezed from its source. The degree of melting is critical for determining what type of magma is produced. The degree of partial melting required to form a melt can be estimated by considering the relative enrichment of incompatible elements versus compatible elements, incompatible elements commonly include potassium, barium and rubidium. Rock types produced by small degrees of melting in the Earths mantle are typically alkaline. Typically, primitive melts of this composition form lamprophyre, lamproite and sometimes nepheline-bearing mafic rocks such as alkali basalts, pegmatite may be produced by low degrees of partial melting of the crust.
Some granite-composition magmas are eutectic melts, and they may be produced by low to high degrees of melting of the crust. At high degrees of melting of the crust, granitoids such as tonalite and monzonite can be produced. Being only the time in recorded history that magma had been reached, IDDP decided to invest in the hole. A cemented steel case was constructed in the hole with a perforation at the close to the magma
Pyroxene
The pyroxenes are a group of important rock-forming inosilicate minerals found in many igneous and metamorphic rocks. Pyroxenes are silicon-aluminum oxides with Ca, Na, Fe, Mg, Zn, Mn, Li substituting for Si, although aluminium substitutes extensively for silicon in silicates such as feldspars and amphiboles, the substitution occurs only to a limited extent in most pyroxenes. They share a structure consisting of single chains of silica tetrahedra. The name pyroxene is derived from the Ancient Greek words for fire, they are simply early-forming minerals that crystallized before the lava erupted. The upper mantle of Earth is composed mainly of olivine and pyroxene, a piece of the mantle is shown at right and is dominated by olivine, typical for common peridotite. Pyroxene and feldspar are the minerals in basalt and gabbro. Pyroxene minerals are named according to the chemical species occupying the X site, the Y site, cations in Y site are closely bound to 6 oxygens in octahedral coordination. Cations in the X site can be coordinated with 6 to 8 oxygen atoms, twenty mineral names are recognised by the International Mineralogical Associations Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names and 105 previously used names have been discarded. A typical pyroxene has mostly silicon in the site and predominately ions with a charge of +2 in both the X and Y sites, giving the approximate formula XYT2O6.
The names of the common calcium – iron – magnesium pyroxenes are defined in the pyroxene quadrilateral shown in Figure 2, the enstatite-ferrosilite series contain up to 5 mol. % calcium and exists in three polymorphs, orthorhombic orthoenstatite and protoenstatite and monoclinic clinoenstatite. Increasing the calcium content prevents the formation of the orthorhombic phases, there is not complete solid solution in calcium content and Mg-Fe-Ca pyroxenes with calcium contents between about 15 and 25 mol. % are not stable with respect to a pair of exolved crystals. This leads to a miscibility gap between pigeonite and augite compositions, there is an arbitrary separation between augite and the diopside-hedenbergite solid solution. The divide is taken at >45 mol. % Ca, as the calcium ion cannot occupy the Y site, pyroxenes with more than 50 mol. % calcium are not possible. A related mineral wollastonite has the formula of the hypothetical calcium end member, magnesium and iron are by no means the only cations that can occupy the X and Y sites in the pyroxene structure. A second important series of minerals are the sodium-rich pyroxenes.
The inclusion of sodium, which has a charge of +1, in jadeite and aegirine this is added by the inclusion of a +3 cation on the Y site. Table 1 shows the range of other cations that can be accommodated in the pyroxene structure. For example, Na and Al give the jadeite composition, coupled substitution of a 1+ ion on the X site and a mixture of equal numbers of 2+ and 4+ ions on the Y site
Silicon
Silicon is a chemical element with symbol Si and atomic number 14. A hard and brittle crystalline solid with a metallic luster. It is a member of group 14 in the table, along with carbon above it and germanium, lead. It is not very reactive, although more reactive than germanium, Silicon is the eighth most common element in the universe by mass, but very rarely occurs as the pure element in the Earths crust. It is most widely distributed in dusts, planetoids, over 90% of the Earths crust is composed of silicate minerals, making silicon the second most abundant element in the Earths crust after oxygen. Most silicon is used commercially without being separated, and often with little processing of the natural minerals, such use includes industrial construction with clays, silica sand, and stone. Silicate is used in Portland cement for mortar and stucco, and mixed with sand and gravel to make concrete for walkways, foundations. Silicates are used in whiteware ceramics such as porcelain, and in traditional quartz-based soda-lime glass, Silicon compounds such as silicon carbide are used as abrasives and components of high-strength ceramics.
Elemental silicon has an impact on the modern world economy. Most free silicon is used in the refining, aluminium-casting. Silicon is the basis of the widely used synthetic polymers called silicones, Silicon is an essential element in biology, although only tiny traces are required by animals. However, various sea sponges and microorganisms, such as diatoms and radiolaria, silica is deposited in many plant tissues, such as in the bark and wood of Chrysobalanaceae and the silica cells and silicified trichomes of Cannabis sativa and many grasses. Silicon is a solid at room temperature, with a point of 1,414 °C. Like water, it has a density in a liquid state than in a solid state and it expands when it freezes. With a relatively high conductivity of 149 W·m−1·K−1, silicon conducts heat well. In its crystalline form, pure silicon has a gray color, like germanium, silicon is rather strong, very brittle, and prone to chipping. Silicon, like carbon and germanium, crystallizes in a cubic crystal structure with a lattice spacing of 0.5430710 nm.
The outer electron orbital of silicon, like that of carbon, has four valence electrons, the 1s, 2s, 2p and 3s subshells are completely filled while the 3p subshell contains two electrons out of a possible six
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a chemical element in the boron group with symbol Al and atomic number 13. It is a silvery-white, nonmagnetic, ductile metal, Aluminium metal is so chemically reactive that native specimens are rare and limited to extreme reducing environments. Instead, it is combined in over 270 different minerals. The chief ore of aluminium is bauxite, Aluminium is remarkable for the metals low density and its ability to resist corrosion through the phenomenon of passivation. Aluminium and its alloys are vital to the industry and important in transportation and structures, such as building facades. The oxides and sulfates are the most useful compounds of aluminium, despite its prevalence in the environment, no known form of life uses aluminium salts metabolically, but aluminium is well tolerated by plants and animals. Because of these salts abundance, the potential for a role for them is of continuing interest. Aluminium is a soft, lightweight, ductile. It is nonmagnetic and does not easily ignite, a fresh film of aluminium serves as a good reflector of visible light and an excellent reflector of medium and far infrared radiation.
The yield strength of aluminium is 7–11 MPa, while aluminium alloys have yield strengths ranging from 200 MPa to 600 MPa. Aluminium has about one-third the density and stiffness of steel and it is easily machined, cast and extruded. Aluminium atoms are arranged in a cubic structure. Aluminium has an energy of approximately 200 mJ/m2. Aluminium is a thermal and electrical conductor, having 59% the conductivity of copper. Aluminium is capable of superconductivity, with a critical temperature of 1.2 kelvin. Aluminium is the most common material for the fabrication of superconducting qubits, the strongest aluminium alloys are less corrosion resistant due to galvanic reactions with alloyed copper. This corrosion resistance is reduced by aqueous salts, particularly in the presence of dissimilar metals. In highly acidic solutions, aluminium reacts with water to form hydrogen, primarily because it is corroded by dissolved chlorides, such as common sodium chloride, household plumbing is never made from aluminium
