Box 1 Density of Common Minerals, Rock Types and Soils

The most common minerals on Earth are feldspar and quartz, with particle densities of 2.56 and 2.65 g/cm3, respectively (Figure Box 1-1a). However, the particle density of many common rock-forming minerals ranges from 2.16 g/cm3 for salt to 2.8 g/cm3 for talc, with the exception of minerals containing iron such as tourmaline, hornblende, olivine, sphalerite, pyrite, magnetite and hematite with densities ranging from 3 to 5.25 g/cm3. Clays, like kaolinite, are typically slightly less dense than quartz, with densities on the order of 2.6 g/cm3. Metals have a broad range of density with lithium at 0.53 g/cm3, aluminum at 2.7 g/cm3, and iridium, which is used in phones, at 22.6 g/cm3. The wet bulk density of rocks depends on the total porosity of the specific sample, so rocks of similar type have a broad range of bulk density due to differences in porosity (Figure Box 1-1b).

Figure showing particle densities of some common minerals and range of wet bulk density of soils and common rock types
Figure Box 1-1 Particle densities of some common minerals (g/cm3) and range of wet bulk density of soils and common rock types (g/cm3) (data from ThoughtCo (2020)).

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Hydrogeologic Properties of Earth Materials and Principles of Groundwater Flow Copyright © 2020 by The Authors. All Rights Reserved.