Exploring Silicates: The Backbone of Earth’s Crust

Exploring Silicates: The Backbone of Earth’s Crust

Silicates: Silicates are compounds containing silicon as an anion. The most common silicates are oxides, but hexafluoro silicates and other anions are also included. Silicate minerals contain (SiO4)4- in their structure. Silicates form the largest class of mineral...
Crystal Twinning

Crystal Twinning

Crystal twinning is the symmetrical intergrowth of two or more crystals, related by a symmetry operation known as a twin element. Twin elements can include mirror planes, rotation axes (typically two-fold), and rotation inversion, which are distinct from the natural...
Crystal Symmetry

Crystal Symmetry

Crystal symmetry refers to the regular arrangement of faces, edges, and other structural features in a crystal. This regularity constitutes the crystal’s symmetry. The degree of symmetry varies in different minerals and is employed in the classification of...
Crystal System

Crystal System

A Crystal system includes all the symmetry classes that share a similar constant of lattice parallelepiped. The classes are grouped into six crystal systems based on the absence or presence of certain types of rotation axes. Also, we can say that the basis of...