Essays on Mineralogy

Geology of Mars

Similar to Earth, all of the planets, including Mars, are defined by geologic processes. Of course, these geologic processes and conditions differ among the planets depending on various factors, such as the relative distance to the sun, composition of the planet, vulnerability to impacts and collisions, etc. Of all the planets, Mars is the closest to Earth-like conditions (Head 1). On the surface of Mars, as well as all of the telluric planets, the most abundant minerals are silicates. On Mars, the origins of most of the silicates are of basaltic to andesitic basaltic. On its surface, the main ...

Introduction

A fossil is any substance that evidences a once-living organism (University of Arizona, 2016). As such, fossils evidence the ancient life forms which inhabited the earth long time ago and were preserved by a natural process. Most of the fossils are found in sedimentary rocks formed from the sediments of rivers, seas, and lakes. Some of these fossils are actual remains of living things such as bones, or events that happened in the past, for instance, the dinosaur footprints. However, it is ordinarily the hard parts of organisms that get preserved under the right conditions and the interaction of ...

Until today, over 2000 minerals have been discovered, and constantly on a daily basis, new minerals are discovered. Minerals just like matter is made up of atoms of elements arranged in a particular way together with a definite chemical composition. Notably, minerals are aggregates of nearly all rocks found on the earth’s crust. Geologists define minerals as inorganic materials on and in the earth’s crust with a specific chemical composition. Most minerals are always naturally occurring and it is worth noting that nearly all the minerals contain crystals. This is attributed to the fact that mineral particles are usually arranged in a ...