Intern:Rocks and minerals in PANGAEA

This wiki-page summarizes guidelines for rock and mineral data in PANGAEA. This is a work-in-progress page.

= Definition = tbc

= Nomenclature = Many rock and most mineral names end with the syllable "-ite". However rocks and minerals can often not be distinguished by their name and must be checked individually.

Maceral class names also often end with "-ite". For guidelines on macerals, go to this wiki page.

Mineral names
Minerals are mainly named by persons and locations, ocassionally by chemical composition or physical characteristics.

The International Mineralogical Association (IMA) is responsible for the standardization of mineral nomenclature, approval of new minerals and reevaluation of old minerals.

= Mineral classification =

Literature:
 * Standardization of mineral group hierarchies, 2009
 * Guidelines on mineral nomenclature, 1998
 * Sulfosalt systematics, 2008

=Geological databases=

Mineral databases
PANGAEA recommends to use mindat as reference for mineral classes and species within the terminology catalogue.

mindat
The mindat database contains >5.400 mineral species and >2.800 rock names