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Natural selection of mineral species

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Abstract

The old issue of the limited number of mineral species is being brought up again and requires explanation. The review of successive calculations of the number of mineral species and their main varieties is given in this paper with allowance for the contemporary view on this problem. The natural selection of mineral species develops under the effect of geochemical differentiation of mineral matter, a multitude of chemical elements and their substitutions, and acid-alkali equilibria. It is noteworthy that water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other volatiles make a crucial contribution to the increase in the number of mineral species in the Earth’s crust.

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  1. Faculty of Geology, Moscow State University, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    V. S. Urusov

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Original Russian Text © V.S. Urusov, 2010, published in Zapiski RMO (Proceedings of the Russian Mineralogical Society), 2010, No. 1, pp. 89–110.

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Urusov, V.S. Natural selection of mineral species. Geol. Ore Deposits 52, 852–871 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1075701510080179

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