Morphological and Textural Variety of Natural minerals—Pyrite as an Example

In this chapter, the variety of morphologyMorphology and texturesTexture displayed by natural mineral crystals in macroscopic to microscopic scales is introduced in relation to the classical theory of crystal growthCrystal growth. In fluid-mediated mineral formations on the Earth’s surfaces, crystal morphologyMorphology and textureTexture of minerals are influenced by a variety of environmental factors, including temperature, mass transport (supersaturation), and growth time, among which the degree of supersaturation of solution is particularly important. It gives the driving forceDriving force behind crystallization and directly links to the “balance” between nucleationNucleation rate and crystal growthCrystal growth rate. Here, we focus on pyritePyrite, the most ubiquitous sulfide mineral on the Earth, as an example to illustrate the causal relationship between the various crystal morphologies/texturesTexture from single (euhedral) crystals to spherulitic and framboidalFramboidal aggregates, and their growth mechanisms and environments.