Geology 101

Minerals are formed deep inside the earth in a material known as magma, which is a portion of the under surface earth that remains to be molten. These spots are found in the mantle and curst of the earth and a lot of them remain to be active and this is something that can be seen in the incidences of volcanoes.

Although it is not the best and most scientific way to explain it, the formation and action that minerals go through after they are formed can be explained in a simple way and can be somewhat compared to what occurs to them inside of a gold pan or in a sluice or stream.

At first magma is liquid and heated to incredible temperatures while under a great amount of pressure. As the magma starts to cool, the elements begin to come together between each other or with other elements in order to form compounds. When the new minerals that form start to cool off they turn into the shape of crystals. The crystals that form have different sizes that range from very teensy to very big.

After the minerals have been formed, the ones that are lighter float in the magma to the top of side close to the surface of the earth. The minerals that are heavier start to sink to the bottom and the minerals that have a weight in between are suspended. This process can take millions of years to be completed. Often times after when the material remains to be in a molten stage, all of it is thrust upwards due to geological processes.

We will discuss the geological processes that take place in more detail further on as well as the geological forces that act on them after they have been exposed.

We will now start to look into a scientific procedure to classify and identify the big divisions of the enormous family of minerals.  Even though those that are reading this are probably more interested in gold itself, it is essential to be able to identify other minerals in the field. There are a lot of people that have sought out gold and have run into other valuable minerals, but the prospector was able to know this and identify them because of the knowledge he or she had in the substance that was found.

Crystals are one of the most essential spotting uniqueness of minerals. Well-defined shapes of crystals are formed when crystalline metals are created without hindrance from other pressures. All crystals have been allocated to six systems and their axes identify these systems.