Dr.

Helen Lang
Dept.
p of Geology
gy & Geography
g p y
West Virginia University

SPRING 2009

GEOLOGY 585: OPTICAL

MINERALOGY &
PETROLOGY

A Mineral must be crystalline

Crystalline means that it has an
y and repetitive
p
atomic
orderly
structure

The external Shape of minerals

reflects
fl
their
h i internal
i
l structure
C
Crystal
t l Shapes
Sh
are best
b t described
d
ib d in
i terms
t
off
Symmetry
Symmetry
S
iis the
h repetitive
i i arrangement off
features (faces, corners and edges) of a crystal
around imaginary lines,
lines points or planes
Reflects internal ordering of atoms in the
mineral
i
l structure
t t
All shapes and properties must conform to the
minerals
i
l symmetry
t

Crystal Shape growth forms of

i di id l grains
individual
i
Special named shapes
cube

Pyrite

dodecahedron

Garnet

octahedron

Magnetite
g

Crystal Shape
General Shapes
prismatic

platy
blocky
tabular
bladed

Cleavage formsM t conform

Must
f
to
t mineral
i
l symmetry
t
Shiny, smooth, planar
breakages
Between
B
weakly
kl
bonded planes in
mineral structure
Sometimes hard to
tell from growth
faces (which commonly
have imperfections, not
as smooth)

By quality
perfect
goodd
fair

By shape or number

cubic
rhombohedral
octahedral
pprismatic

Cleavage
Examples

Fluorite: pperfect octahedral

cleavage (4 directions, 8 sides)

Note difference from Fluorite

growth faces (cubes)

Rotational Symmetry in Minerals

Name Short-hand Angle
1-fold
1 f ld

360o

22-fold
fold

180o

3-fold

120o

4-fold

90o

6-fold

60o

Symbol

Only these five are possible!

Types of symmetry possible in

Minerals

1, 2, 3, 4, 6
m
1
4
3

proper rotations
mirror planes
center of symmetry
rotoinversion
i
i
rotoinversion

Demonstration of 4 and 3
These can be combined in 32 ways to make crystal shapes

Minerals are Grouped into Six

Crystal Systems based on Symmetry
System

Isometric (Cubic) System

Hexagonal System
T
Tetragonal
l System
S
Orthorhombic System
Monoclinic System
Triclinic System

Characteristic Symmetry

four 3 or 3
one 6, 6, 3 or 3
one 4 or 4
three 2 and/or m
one 2 and/or m
1 or 1

Strategies
g for identifying
y g symmetry
y
y
Grasp crystal or block with thumb and finger on
opposite corners, edges or face centers, turn
block 60, 90, 120 or 180, check to see if it
looks the same
Check for other symmetry
y
y axes and mirror
planes perpendicular to the axis you find
All symmetry elements intersect at center
Use flat hand or card to check for mirror planes
Use
U kknowledge
l d off systems
t
(Ill explain)
l i )

A Form is:
A set of similarly shaped faces
That are related to eachother by the
symmetry of the crystal
Forms can be open or closed

Isometric System
Four 3 or 3 (corner-corner of
reference cube)
All isometric shapes also have
th perpendicular
three
di l 4,
4 4 or 2 axes
These are the crystallographic
axes a1, a2, a3; all equal length
All isometric forms are
equidimensional
Highest
g est symmetry
sy
et y system
syste

The Cube and Octahedron are

simple, common Isometric Forms

cube

octahedron

More Isometric Forms

dodecahedron
hexoctahedron

tetrahedron

tristetrahedron

Isometric Minerals: Fluorite (CaF2)

Name Growth Form?

Twin
To what mineral group
does fluorite belong?

Name Cleavage Form?

Isometric Minerals: Garnet

(C F M M )3Al2Si3O12
(Ca,Fe,Mg,Mn)

All isometric
i
i minerals
i
l are
isotropic which means?
N
Name
off G
Garnet G
Growth
hF
Form??

Isometric Minerals:
P it
Pyrite

Forms?
Formula?
Mineral Group?

Names of Common Nonisometric Forms: Open Forms

Pedion
Pinacoid
Prisms
Pyramids

single face
2 parallel faces
3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 faces, all
parallel to a common line
3, 4, 6, 8 or 12 faces that
i
intersect
at a point
i

Use prefix to indicate System or symmetry

Some Open Forms

tetragonal
pyramid

hexagonal
prism

ditrigonal prism (3fold symmetry)

What mineral?

Names of Common Noni

isometric
t i Forms:
F
Cl d Forms
Closed
F
dipyramid

disphenoid
di h id
rhombohedron
scalenohedron

two 3-,
3 4-,
4 6-,
6 88 or 12
12sided pyramids (top and
bottom) related by a
horizontal mirror plane
4 non-equilateral
il
l
triangular faces
6 rhomb-shaped faces
8 or 12 scalene triangleg
shaped faces

Non-isometric Closed Forms

Hexagonal
dipyramid

Tetragonal
disphenoid

Hexagonal
g
scalenohedron

Rhombohedra

6 faces related by a 3-bar axis common form

f
ffor carbonates
b t

Point Groups
There are 32 possible combinations of the
allowed symmetry
y
y elements in minerals
Theyre called Point Groups or Crystal
Classes (more later)
Can be grouped into 6 Crystal Systems

Grouped in Six Crystal Systems

System

Isometric (Cubic) System

Hexagonal System
Tetragonal System
O h h bi System
Orthorhombic
S
Monoclinic System
Triclinic System

Characteristic Symmetry

four 3 or 3
one 6,
6 6,
6 3 or 3
one 4 or 4
three
h 2 and/or
d/ m
one 2 and/or m
1 or 1

Crystallographic Axes
Reference axes
Conventional ways to hold and refer to
faces on crystals
Different convention for each system

Crystallographic Axes:
Isometric System
Three
Th perpendicular
di l axes
+a3
Coincide with three 4-fold
or 2-fold axes
All equal length
Called a1, a2, a3

+a2
+a1

Crystallographic Axes:
Tetragonal System
Three perpendicular axes
Vertical axis,
axis c,
c coincides
with 4 or 4-bar axis
One axis
axis, cc, is longer or
shorter than other two, a1
and a2 , which are equal

+c

+a2
+a1

Tetragonal Examples

Wulfenite PbMoO4

Crystallographic Axes:
Orthorhombic System
+c
Three perpendicular axes coincide with 2-fold axes
or are perpendicular to
mirror p
planes
All different lengths
called a,
a b,
b c

+b
b
+a

Crystallographic Axes:
Monoclinic System
+c
All axes different lengths
Called a,
a b,
b c
b axis coincides with 2fold axis or mirror plane
c is parallel to long edges
a slants down to the front
g
a b,, b c,, angle
between a and c>90o

> 90o

+
+a

+b
b

Crystallographic Axes:
Triclinic System
+c
No perpendicular axes
All different lengths
Called a, b, c

+b
+
+a

Crystallographic Axes:
Hexagonal System
Four axes
Vertical axis, c, is longer
or shorter and coincides
with
i h 6-fold
f ld or 3-fold
f ld axis
i
Three horizontal axes
coincide with 2-fold axes,
are to c, and 120o to
each-other
Three horizontal axes are
equal lengths a1, a2, a3

+cc
+a3
120o

+a1

+a2

Hexagonal Examples

Six Crystal Systems

System

Isometric (Cubic) System

Hexagonal System
Tetragonal System
O h h bi System
Orthorhombic
S
Monoclinic System
Triclinic System

Axial Relationships?