GEOGRAPHY

Minerals are inorganic nutrients. That is, they are materials found in foods that are essential for growth and health and do not contain the element carbon.

Georgius Agricola is considered the ‘father of mineralogy’.

More than 4,000 naturally occurring minerals—inorganic solids that have a characteristic chemical composition and specific crystal structure—have been found on Earth.

The human body naturally requires 102 different minerals and vitamins to function properly. However, sometimes we have too few of a certain mineral or vitamin in our body, which can have serious negative side effects.

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body and greater than 99% of it is stored in bone tissue. Although only 1% of the calcium in the human body is found in the blood and soft tissues, it is here that it performs the most critical functions.

Minerals Definition Mineral is a naturally occurring inorganic solid with a definite chemical composition and a crystalline structure. The earth is composed of mineral elements, either alone or in a myriad of combinations called compounds. A mineral is composed of a single element or compound.

A mineral is a naturally occurring substance with distinctive chemical and physical properties, composition and atomic structure. Rocks are generally made up of two of more minerals, mixed up through geological processes.

A mineral is a substance having a definite chemical composition and atomic structure and formed by the inorganic processes of nature. If we follow this definition rigidly, we are bound to consider the naturally occurring pure gases amongst the minerals.

Minerals can be formed from the intense heat and pressure found far beneath the Earth’s crust in the mantle, where molten rock flows as liquid magma. Silicates in the magma can form minerals such as hornblende and other igneous rocks as the magma cools. This process can take millions of years.

Minerals are commonly named based on the following: Named for the chemical composition or some other physical property (e.g. halotrichite, batisite, rhodonite). Named for reasons that have been lost to antiquity (e.g., ice, quartz) or from long usage (e.g., cinnabar).