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This list gives an overview of the classification of minerals (silicates) and includes mostly International Mineralogical Association (IMA) recognized minerals and its groupings. This list complements the List of minerals recognized by the International Mineralogical Association series of articles and List of minerals .
Lithium aluminium silicate mineral spodumene. Silicate minerals are rock-forming minerals made up of silicate groups. They are the largest and most important class of minerals and make up approximately 90 percent of Earth's crust. [1] [2] [3] In mineralogy, silica (silicon dioxide, SiO 2) is usually considered a silicate mineral rather than an ...
A silicate is any member of a family of polyatomic anions consisting of silicon and oxygen, usually with the general formula [SiO (4-2x)− 4− x ] n , where 0 ≤ x < 2 .
The base unit of silicate minerals is the silica tetrahedron – one Si 4+ surrounded by four O 2−. An alternate way of describing the coordination of the silicate is by a number: in the case of the silica tetrahedron, the silicon is said to have a coordination number of 4.
The largest group of minerals by far are the silicates, which are composed largely of silicon and oxygen, with the addition of ions such as aluminium, magnesium, iron and calcium.
The classification of minerals is a process of determining to which of several groups minerals belong based on their chemical characteristics. Since the 1950s, this classification has been carried out by the International Mineralogical Association, which classifies minerals into the following broad classes: Classification of non-silicate minerals
The chain silicate structure of the pyroxenes offers much flexibility in the incorporation of various cations and the names of the pyroxene minerals are primarily defined by their chemical composition. Pyroxene minerals are named according to the chemical species occupying the X (or M2) site, the Y (or M1) site, and the tetrahedral T site.
The mineral olivine (/ ˈ ɒ l. ɪ ˌ v iː n /) is a magnesium iron silicate with the chemical formula (Mg,Fe) 2 Si O 4.It is a type of nesosilicate or orthosilicate.The primary component of the Earth's upper mantle, [9] it is a common mineral in Earth's subsurface, but weathers quickly on the surface.