Editing Mineralogy (section)

==Mineral ecology==
In 2011, several researchers began to develop a Mineral Evolution Database.<ref name=Needs>{{cite journal |last1=Hazen |first1=R. M. |last2=Bekker |first2=A. |last3=Bish |first3=D. L. |last4=Bleeker |first4=W. |last5=Downs |first5=R. T. |last6=Farquhar |first6=J. |last7=Ferry |first7=J. M. |last8=Grew |first8=E. S. |last9=Knoll |first9=A. H. |last10=Papineau |first10=D. |last11=Ralph |first11=J. P. |last12=Sverjensky |first12=D. A. |last13=Valley |first13=J. W. |title=Needs and opportunities in mineral evolution research |journal=American Mineralogist |date=24 June 2011 |volume=96 |issue=7 |pages=953–963 |doi=10.2138/am.2011.3725|bibcode=2011AmMin..96..953H |s2cid=21530264 |url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:13041346 }}</ref> This database integrates the [[crowdsourcing|crowd-sourced]] site [[Mindat.org]], which has over 690,000 mineral-locality pairs, with the official IMA list of approved minerals and age data from geological publications.<ref>{{cite conference |last1=Golden |first1=Joshua |last2=Pires |first2=Alexander J. |last3=Hazenj |first3=Robert M. |last4=Downs |first4=Robert T. |last5=Ralph |first5=Jolyon |last6=Meyer |first6=Michael Bruce |title=Building the mineral evolution database: implications for future big data analysis |conference=GSA Annual Meeting |location=Denver, Colorado |date=2016 |doi=10.1130/abs/2016AM-286024}}</ref>

This database makes it possible to apply [[statistics]] to answer new questions, an approach that has been called ''mineral ecology''. One such question is how much of mineral evolution is [[Deterministic system|deterministic]] and how much the result of [[randomness|chance]]. Some factors are deterministic, such as the chemical nature of a mineral and conditions for its [[Chemical stability|stability]]; but mineralogy can also be affected by the processes that determine a planet's composition. In a 2015 paper, [[Robert Hazen]] and others analyzed the number of minerals involving each element as a function of its abundance. They found that Earth, with over 4800 known minerals and 72 elements, has a [[power law]] relationship. The Moon, with only 63 minerals and 24 elements (based on a much smaller sample) has essentially the same relationship. This implies that, given the chemical composition of the planet, one could predict the more common minerals. However, the distribution has a [[long tail]], with 34% of the minerals having been found at only one or two locations. The model predicts that thousands more mineral species may await discovery or have formed and then been lost to erosion, burial or other processes. This implies a role of chance in the formation of rare minerals occur.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hazen |first1=Robert M. |last2=Grew |first2=Edward S. |last3=Downs |first3=Robert T. |last4=Golden |first4=Joshua |last5=Hystad |first5=Grethe |title=Mineral ecology: Chance and necessity in the mineral diversity of terrestrial planets |journal=The Canadian Mineralogist |date=March 2015 |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=295–324 |doi=10.3749/canmin.1400086|bibcode=2015CaMin..53..295H |s2cid=10969988 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Hazen|first1=Robert|title=Mineral Ecology|url=https://hazen.carnegiescience.edu/research/mineral-ecology|website=Carnegie Science|access-date=15 May 2018|language=en|archive-date=28 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180528004648/http://hazen.carnegiescience.edu/research/mineral-ecology|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kwok |first1=Roberta |title=Is Mineral Evolution Driven by Chance? |url=https://www.quantamagazine.org/is-mineral-evolution-driven-by-chance-20150811/ |access-date=11 August 2018 |work=Quanta Magazine |date=11 August 2015 |archive-date=26 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826214507/https://www.quantamagazine.org/is-mineral-evolution-driven-by-chance-20150811/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Kwok |first1=Roberta |title=How Life and Luck Changed Earth's Minerals |url=https://www.wired.com/2015/08/life-luck-changed-earths-minerals/ |access-date=24 August 2018 |magazine=Wired |date=16 August 2015 |archive-date=17 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717011423/https://www.wired.com/2015/08/life-luck-changed-earths-minerals/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In another use of big data sets, [[network theory]] was applied to a dataset of carbon minerals, revealing new patterns in their diversity and distribution. The analysis can show which minerals tend to coexist and what conditions (geological, physical, chemical and biological) are associated with them. This information can be used to predict where to look for new deposits and even new mineral species.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Oleson |first1=Timothy |title=Data-driven discovery reveals Earth's missing minerals |url=https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/data-driven-discovery-reveals-earths-missing-minerals |access-date=26 August 2018 |work=Earth Magazine |publisher=American Geosciences Institute |date=1 May 2018 |language=en |archive-date=23 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180823042022/https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/data-driven-discovery-reveals-earths-missing-minerals |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Hooper |first1=Joel |title=Data mining: How digging through big data can turn up new |url=https://cosmosmagazine.com/geoscience/data-mining-how-digging-through-big-data-can-turn-up-new-mineral-deposits |access-date=26 August 2018 |work=Cosmos |date=2 August 2017 |language=en |archive-date=26 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826214810/https://cosmosmagazine.com/geoscience/data-mining-how-digging-through-big-data-can-turn-up-new-mineral-deposits |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Rogers |first1=Nala |title=How Math Can Help Geologists Discover New Minerals |url=https://www.insidescience.org/news/how-math-can-help-geologists-discover-new-minerals |access-date=26 August 2018 |work=Inside Science |date=1 August 2017 |language=en |archive-date=27 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827005324/https://www.insidescience.org/news/how-math-can-help-geologists-discover-new-minerals |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Americana 1920 Mineralogy - Valuable Minerals.jpg|thumb|upright|A color chart of some raw forms of commercially valuable metals.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Encyclopedia Americana|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaame15unkngoog|year=1918–1920|publisher=Encyclopedia Americana Corp|location=New York|id=plate opposite p. 166}}</ref>]]