Formula: SiO2.nH2O Amorphous Description: Opal is a mineraloid composed of spherical silica aggregates with various amounts of interstitial water. It forms under a wide range of low-temperature geological conditions. Opal may be deposited by silica secreting …
Jackson County
Orthopyroxene
Formula: (Mg,Fe)SiO3 Orthorhombic Description: Orthopyroxenes are a group of minerals ranging from pure MgSiO3 (enstatite) to pure FeSiO3 (ferrosilite). Bronzite and hypersthene are orthopyroxenes mid-way between these two end members. As the particular orthopyroxene mineral described is not always …
Potassium Feldspar
Formula: KAlSi3O8 Monoclinic or Triclinic Description: Potassium feldspar refers to any of the three polymorphs microcline, orthoclase or sanidine. The distinction between these minerals can be made with certainty only after detailed X-Ray analysis. This has not …
Pyrite
Pyrite is the most common sulfide found in many environments. It is a common accessory mineral in igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. It also is abundant in most hydrothermal deposits. Only the most significant occurrences …
Quartz
Formula: SiO2 Hexagonal Description: Quartz is the most abundant mineral. It is an essential component of granitic igneous rocks, of sedimentary rocks such as sandstone and chert and of metamorphic rocks such as quartzites. It is a …
Riebeckite
Formula: Na2(Fe32+3Fe3+2)Si8O22(OH)2 Monoclinic Description: Riebeckite is a sodium-rich member of the amphibole family. It typically forms dark blue elongated to fibrous crystals in highly sodic granites, syenites, iron formations and schists. JACKSON COUNTY: Minor riebeckite occurs in the …
Scapolite Group
Formula: Na4Al3Si9O24Cl – Ca4Al6Si6O24(CO3) Tetragonal Description: Scapolite is a group of minerals related by complex solid solution substitutions. They are found in a wide range of metamorphic rocks formed both by regional and contact metamorphism. The …
Sillimanite
Formula: Al2SiO5Orthorhombic Description: White elongated sillimanite crystals in schist with lustrous grey graphite, white quartz and pink garnet altering to iron oxide. Alder Gulch, near Virginia City, Montana. Field of view is about 0.5 cm left to right. (Photo …
Staurolite
Formula: (Fe,Mg,Zn)2Al9(SiO4)4(OH,O)2 Monoclinic Description: Staurolite forms during the metamorphism of aluminous rocks at intermediate temperatures and pressures. It can form large euhedral crystals in schist, associated with muscovite, biotite, almandine and kyanite. Some crystals show distinctive cross …
Talc
Formula: Mg3Si4O10(OH)2 Triclinic Description: Talc with pen for scale. From the mineral collection of Brigham Young University Department of Geology, Provo, Utah, Mineral Specimens 1073. Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey Denver Library Photographic Collection. (Photo by Andrew …