Subject: Geography Category: The Fundamentals of Physical Geography Topic: Some major minerals and their characteristics
NCERT notes on important topics for the UPSC civil services exam. These notes will also be useful for other competitive exams like banking PO, SSC, state civil services exams and so on. This article talks about some major minerals and their characteristics.
Major minerals and their characteristics (UPSC Notes):- Download PDF Here
Minerals
- The earth is composed of various kinds of elements.
- A mineral is a naturally occurring organic and inorganic substance.
- It has an orderly atomic structure and a definite chemical composition as well as physical properties.
- It is composed of two or more elements.
- Minerals like sulphur, copper, silver, gold, graphite, etc. are single element minerals.
Feldspar
- Oxygen and Silicon are common elements in all types of feldspar.
- Sodium, potassium, calcium, aluminium, etc. are found in specific feldspar variety.
- It is the single most abundant mineral group on Earth and half of the crust of the earth is composed of feldspar.
- It has light cream to salmon pink colour.
- It is used for making ceramics and glass.
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Quartz
- It is one of the most important components of granite and sand.
- This hard mineral consists of silica and is virtually insoluble in water.
- It is used in radio and radar.
- This white or colourless mineral is the most important component of granite.
Pyroxene
- Pyroxene comprises of aluminium, calcium, iron, magnesium, and silica.
- It forms 10 per cent of the crust of the earth.
- It is usually found in meteorites and occur in green or black colour.
Amphibole
- Calcium, iron, aluminium, silica, magnesium are the main elements of amphiboles.
- They form 7 % of the crust of the earth.
- It is found in green or black colour.
- It is mainly used in the asbestos industry.
- The other form of amphiboles is Hornblende.
Mica
- Mica comprises of potassium, aluminium, magnesium, iron, silica, etc.
- It forms 4 % of the crust of the earth. It is generally found in metamorphic and igneous rocks.
- Mica is used in electrical instruments.
Olivine
- Magnesium, iron and silica are the main elements of olivine.
- It is used in jewellery.
- It usually occurs in a greenish crystal form and is found in basaltic rocks.
Major minerals and their characteristics (UPSC Notes):- Download PDF Here
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