Question

What are the five most common mineral groups found in rock?

Answer 1

What are the five most common mineral groups found in rock

The five most common mineral groups in rock are the silicates, carbonates, sulfates, halides, and oxides.

Silicates

There are about 4000 known minerals in the Earth's crust, and about 92 % of them are silicates.

The most abundant silicate is called plagioclase.

Carbonates

Carbonates are minerals that consist of a metal ion and a carbonate ion, `"CO"_3^(2-)`.

Calcite (`"CaCO"_3`) is the most common member of the carbonate group.

Sulfates

Sulfates are minerals that contain a metal ion and a sulfate ion, `"SO"_4^2-`.

Barite (`"BaSO"_4`) is an important member of this group.

Halides

The halide minerals have a halide ion (`"F"^-`, `"Cl"^-`, `"Br"^-`, or `"I"^-`) as the major anion.

Halite (`"NaCl"`) is perhaps the most common halite mineral.

Oxides

Oxide minerals contain the oxide `"O"^(2-)` or hydroxide `"OH"^-` ion combined with a metal ion.

Aluminium is the third most abundant element in the Earth's crust. Its main ore is bauxite, which contains three minerals, one of which is boehmite, `"AlO(OH)"`.