Abstract
Most of the solid components of the Earth’s crust, i.e. rocks, sediments, clays etc. are largely made up of various mineral species. A mineral species is defined as: A naturally occurring, inorganic, homogeneous solid, having a definite (but not necessarily fixed) chemical composition and a fixed, ordered internal structure, i.e. crystalline. This ordered internal structure is reflected in the external morphology when the mineral has a well crystalline form. When the crystalline form is not perceptible externally called cryptocrystalline, its crystalline nature can be detected by scientific analytical techniques like X-Ray Diffraction. Amorphous natural solids like coal, volcanic glasses etc. do not qualify as minerals. The abundance of any mineral in the Earth is decided by the availability of the constituent elements of the mineral in the earth’s crust and also the stability of that mineral in the surface or near-surface environment.
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Further Reading
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Mukherjee, S. (2013). Classification and Composition of Clay Constituents. In: The Science of Clays. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6683-9_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6683-9_2
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