Simon & Schuster's Guide to Rocks and MineralsAn easy to use field guide that contains everything rock and mineral enthusiasts need to know with more than 1,000 spectacular illustrations—600 in full color! Practical, concise, and easy to use, Simon & Schuster’s Guide to Rocks and Minerals contains everything that the rock and mineral enthusiast needs to know. This field guide is divided into two large sections—one devoted to minerals and one to rocks, each prefaced by a comprehensive introduction that discusses formation, chemistry, and more. All 377 entries, beautifully illustrated with color photographs and helpful visual symbols, provide descriptions and practical information about appearance, classification, rarity, crystal formation, mode of occurrence, gravity of mineral, rock chemistry, modal classification fields, formational environments, grain sizes of rocks, and much more. Whether you are a serious collector or an information-seeking amateur, this incomparably beautiful, authoritative guide will prove an invaluable reference. |
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Accessories aggregates albite Alps aluminum silicate amphibole apatite Appearance Color associated basalts biotite Brazil calcite calcium Canada carbonate cavities chemical colorless common compact Components Essentials copper crusts deposits dipyramid dolomite feldspar felsic fibrous formed fracture fragile Fuses easily garnet Geotectonic environment Germany gneiss grain granite granular gray green heavy hydrochloric acid hydrothermal veins Hydrous igneous rock ilmenite Inosilicates interest to scientists iron Italy lavas light limestones mafic magma magnesium magnetite manganese masses massive metamorphic rocks mica mineral Monoclinic Norway olivine Opaque Orthorhombic oxide pegmatites perfect cleavage Physical properties Hard Physical properties Semi-hard Physical properties Soft plagioclase plutonic prism prismatic crystals pyrite pyroxene quartz rare Sardinia schists scientists and collectors sedimentary rocks SILICATES Soluble sometimes Sondrio structure sulfide sulfur syenites System Hexagonal System Isometric System Monoclinic System Orthorhombic tabular Tectosilicates temperature tetragonal texture thin section translucent with vitreous twinned Type ultramafic Urals USSR varieties vitreous luster volcanic White streak yellow zone