Structural linkage among silicate minerals #13D ModelNoAI
Silicate minerals are the most common, important and largest class of Earth’s minerals.
The SiO4 tetrahedron (or SiO4 anionic group) is the basic building-block of silicate minerals. It is composed of one silicon ion (Si4+) (blue atom) surrounded by four oxygen ions (O2-) (red atom). In several silicates, Si4+ can be substituted by Al3+ (ions with similar radii are more likely to substitute for each other).
Minerals from the silicates class are divided into subclasses depending on the degree of polymerization of the SiO4 tetrahedra. The SiO4 tetrahedra can be considered as a rigid unit that can polymerize through oxygens, forming pairs, rings, chains, planes or three-dimensional tetrahedral network. The polymerization is due to the fact that the covalent bonds between Si and O leave bond electrons available for each O atom.
Note: CPK color coding was used for element colors.
Website: http://geology.uaic.ro/muzee/mineralogie/
Concept & 3D-modelling by Andrei Ionut APOPEI
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