Classification of Silicate Minerals

Within silicate minerals, (SiO

4
)
-4
is the major structural unit, and silicates are the most
abundant group of rock-forming minerals. The shape of a silicate anion is a tetrahedron,
not a sphere like a simple anion.
The Si-O bond is approimatel! "#$ co%alent and "#$ ionic, that is, although the bond
arises in part from the attraction of oppositel! charged ions, it is also in%ol%es sharing of
the electrons and inter-penetration of the electronic structure. The total bonding energ!
of Si
&4
is distributed e'uall! among 4 O
-(
ions) hence, the strength of an! Si-O bond is
e'ual to 2 total bonding energ! in the O
-(
ion. Therefore each O
-(
has the potential of
bonding to another SiO
4
group and entering into another tetrahedral grouping. Thus the
uniting of the tetrahedral groups leads to sharing or bridging O
-(
ions, and hence,
pol!meri*ation. +ou ne%er get more than one O
-(
being shared bet,een t,o silica
tetrahedra.
This results in si t!pes of silicates, based on ho, the silica tetrahedra are bonded
together.
-. .esosilicates/ single tetrahedra
(. Sorosilicates/ t,o tetrahedra
0. 1!closilicates/ c!clic groups of 2 tetrahedra
4. 3nosilicates/ single and double chains of tetrahedra
". 4h!llosilicates/ sheets of tetrahedra
and
2. Tectosilicates/ frame,orks of silica tetrahedra, ,here all the o!gens are shared.
Nesosilicates. Single tetrahedra, SiO
4.
5 good eample is oli%ine (6e,7g)
(
SiO
4
Sorosilicates. Si
(
O
8,
9pidote is an eample.
Cyclosilicates. Si

O
0
--0-fold rings
9.g. Si
2
O
-:
, as in ber!l
Inosilicates/ single chain SiO
0
;ouble chain/ Si
4
O
--
Phyllosilicates:
These sheets ha%e a Si/O ratio of 4/-# or Si
4
O
-#
Tectosilicates:
5ll o!gens are shared., SiO
(
.
Generalized Formula of a Silicate
X
m
Y
n
!
"
#
$
%&
r
< = large ,eakl! charged cations ,ith 1. = :
+ = medium si*ed ( (
&
to 4
&
charge) si*ed ion ,ith 1. = 2
> = small, highl! charged ions ,ith 1. = 4
O = o!gen
W = additional anionic groups such as O?
-
, 6
-
or 1l
-
< is usuall! @
&-
, 1a
&(
or .a
&-
+ is 7g
&(
, 7n
&(
, 6e
&(
, 6e
&0
, Ti
&4
, 5l
&0
> is Si
&4
or 5l
&0