 |
| Expositing the Earth's resources |
The rocks on our planet are made up of minerals, in fact there are more than 3000 different minerals which make up the rocks. Even the sand on the beaches sontains a mineral called Quartz. Most of these minerals are commonly found but a lot of them, like gold and diamonds, are rare and not found everywhere. Since minerals are made up of various substances, they can be broken down into various elements. There are about 90 different elements which are found in a natural state in the Earth's surface. There are over 20 different types which are found on their own and are called Native elements, these include Diamonds, Gold, Silver, etc. Besides these are those which are found in chemical combinations, and are called compounds, there are about 70 different types of these.
More Topics:
Minerals of this type are also called mineral ores, these ores are extracted by mining or by quarrying and then treated to extract the metals they contain. An example of a metallic mineral is the ore called Galena. This contains lead and small quantities of Sulphur. Galena is formed in the shape of cubic crystals, when extracted by mining this ore is heated and melted, this process removes the Sulphur and gives us lead. Minerals which do not have metallic content are called nonmetallic minerals and a good example of this is Quartz.
Today electronic clocks and watches contain quartz which is able to control time keeping with a high degree of accuracy. Minerals often form solids which grow in flat shapes, from which light sparkles, these are called crystals, these generally grow either from minerals which are dissolved in liquids like water or from molten materials. Over the years man has been able to tap this natural resource and put it to a variety of uses which include using rocks, as such, for building materials to extracting the finer elements and using them in combination with others.
Tags:
Encyclopedia