MINERALS
Cleavage and Fracture
Click here to go back to the main page
Cleavage is the tendency of a mineral to break along smooth planes parallel to zones of weak bonding.
Fracture is the tendency of a mineral to break along curved surfaces without a definite shape. These minerals do not have planes of weakness and break irregularly. See the picture below:
Mineral Cleavage Test Video
Mineral Cleavage and Fracture Test Video
|
Mineral
|
Type
of Breakage
|
|
Halite
|
|
|
|
CLEAVAGE Cleavage in three directions at right angles (90o). Cubic cleavage. |
|
Calcite
|
|
|
|
CLEAVAGE Cleavage in three directions not at right angles (120o and 60o). Rhombohedral cleavage. |
|
Gypsum
|
|
|
|
CLEAVAGE Cleavage in one direction. |
|
Muscovite
|
|
|
|
CLEAVAGE Cleavage in one direction. |
|
Feldspar
|
|
|
|
CLEAVAGE Cleavage in two directions at right angles. |
|
Quartz
|
|
|
|
FRACTURE Mineral does not exhibit cleavage, it breaks or fracture in an irregular manner. |
Click here to go back to the main page
©David Leveson and David Seidemann - Brooklyn College - Earth and Environmental Sciences