Can we make minerals in a lab using their chemical composition? If silica is added to the magma while the process of assimilation, can that be the same for oxygen since it's also an abundant element?

-- silvester mendoza (slyright@aol.com), November 06, 2002

Answers

Sylvester honey, minerals are natural. They form inorganically underneath the ground and human beings can not make them by using their chemical composition. Rather we use their chemical composition to identify the type of mineral group it is. I'm not sure waht you mean by adding silica and oxygen, but as far as I know during the process of assimilation, the magma becomes enriched in silica(silicon and oxygen) because of the surrounding rock as it melts. I hope this answer helps.

-- Philippa Brewu (brewu@oswego.edu), November 09, 2002.