Field Guide for Minerals

Multiple Minerals in Rock

• Many minerals combine to form certain rocks that we know the names of by heart, as they bonded together when the rock first formed. For example, a rock like granite has the minerals feldspar, quartz, mica and amphibole in varying ratios. By knowing the color, hardness and cleavage of these minerals, you can identify them in a rock like granite quite easily and be able to figure out its mineral composition. This can do this by looking at the piece of rock and researching what minerals it takes for it to form and then determining what minerals are more prevalent within it based on color and weight.

Physical Properties

• Minerals which stand alone or have been separated from a piece of rock can be identified by their physical properties. This includes weight, taste, feel and durability which you should know or have access to in a mineral field guide book. However, sometimes these properties change on certain minerals over time. A few that don't, like color, luster and streak, are called diagnostic properties. These are the main properties which you should examine when trying to determine a particular mineral. You need to test what type of marks it makes and examine what color it is and how it reflects light.

Useful Mineral Field Guides

• Field guides are useful to have on hand fto identify minerals out in nature. Simon &Schuster's "Guide to Rocks and Minerals" is incredibly helpful, as is Eyewitness Handbook's "Rocks and Minerals." Regardless of how much knowledge you have about minerals in the field, it's always good to reference these field guides as back-ups.