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The mineralogy of Oxygen

General Properties
Symbol:O
Atomic Number:8
Standard atomic weight (Ar):15.9994(3)
Electron configuration:[He] 2s2 2p4
Photos
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Oxygen
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Atomic Properties
Electronegativity (Pauling scale):3.44
Atomic Radius:48 pm
Ionic Radius:140 pm (-2)
Van der Waals Radius:152 pm
1st Ionization energy:1314 kJ/mol
1st Electron affinity:-141 kJ/mol
Oxidation States:-2,-1,1,2
Physical Properties
Standard State:gas
Bonding Type:diatomic
Melting Point:55 K
Boiling Point:90 K
Metal/Non-Metal:nonmetal
Main isotopes of Oxygen
Isotope% in NatureHalf LifeDecay typeDecay product
15Osynthetic122.24sβ+15N
16O99.76%stable
17O0.039%stable
18O0.201%stable
Main ions of Oxygen
NameIonExample minerals
oxideO2-Quartz, Hematite
Other Information
Year Discovered:1772
Discovered By:
06813840014946313653757.png
Carl Wilhelm Scheele
Named For:from Greek: oxys - "acid" and -genes - "producer"
CPK color coding:#FF0D0D
External Links:WikipediaWebElementsLos Alamos National LaboratoryTheodore Gray's PeriodicTable.com
Simple Compounds
Fluoridesoxygen difluorideOF2+2
Oxygen as a chromophore in minerals and gems
ChromophoreDescription
O-Univalent oxygen ions replacing fluorine are believed to cause the smoky tones in some topaz.
Mineral Diversity of Oxygen
1. Elements 3 valid mineral species
2. Sulfides And Sulfosalts 30 valid mineral species
3. Halides157 valid mineral species
4. Oxides 814 valid mineral species
5. Carbonates 292 valid mineral species
6. Borates166 valid mineral species
7. Sulfates 601 valid mineral species
8. Phosphates, Arsenates, Vanadates1176 valid mineral species
9. Silicates 1575 valid mineral species
10. Organic Compounds61 valid mineral species
Total:4875 valid species containing essential Oxygen
Geochemistry of Oxygen
Goldschmidt classification:Lithophile
O2- is commonly concentrated in residual soils and sediments.
O2- forms minerals with Mg2+.
O2- forms minerals with Al3+, Ti4+ and Zr4+.
O2- forms minerals with Si4+.
O2- forms minerals with Cu+.
Elemental Abundance for Oxygen
Crust (CRC Handbook)4.61 x 10-1mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Kaye & Laby)3.7 x 10-1mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Greenwood)4.55000 x 10-1mass fraction, kg/kg
Sea Water (CRC Handbook)8.57 x 10-1mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Sea Water (Kaye & Laby)8.8 x 10-1mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Atmosphere (NASA)20.946%as O2
The Sun (Kaye & Laby)2.4 x 101atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Kaye & Laby)2.4 x 101atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Ahrens)2.38 x 101 (10%)atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 (% uncertainty)
Element association of Oxygen in the Mineral World
This table compares the known valid mineral species listed listed with Oxygen and the other elements listed based on the official IMA formula. Note that unlike other sections on this page this includes non-essential elements.

The first data column contains the total number of minerals listed with Oxygen and the element listed for that row.

The second data column lists this number as a percentage of all minerals listed with Oxygen.

The final data column compares this percentage against the percentage of all minerals that contain the element listed in each row.

Click on a heading to sort.
ElementValid Minerals listed with element and Oxygen% of O mineralsRelative to % in all minerals
Hydrogen3358 minerals with O and H68.77%22.39% higher
Silicon1640 minerals with O and Si33.59%21.15% higher
Calcium1508 minerals with O and Ca30.88%21.93% higher
Aluminium1186 minerals with O and Al24.29%20.58% higher
Iron1177 minerals with O and Fe24.10%5.40% higher
Sodium1126 minerals with O and Na23.06%20.65% higher
Magnesium818 minerals with O and Mg16.75%21.74% higher
Phosphorus719 minerals with O and P14.72%19.40% higher
Sulfur701 minerals with O and S14.36%34.86% lower
Manganese685 minerals with O and Mn14.03%18.05% higher
Potassium573 minerals with O and K11.73%17.29% higher
Arsenic533 minerals with O and As10.92%15.91% lower
Copper503 minerals with O and Cu10.30%24.23% lower
Carbon460 minerals with O and C9.42%15.68% higher
Fluorine437 minerals with O and F8.95%11.03% higher
Titanium412 minerals with O and Ti8.44%19.17% higher
Chlorine391 minerals with O and Cl8.01%8.03% higher
Lead387 minerals with O and Pb7.93%24.78% lower
Uranium311 minerals with O and U6.37%23.22% higher
Boron297 minerals with O and B6.08%20.78% higher
Zinc297 minerals with O and Zn6.08%7.32% higher
Vanadium274 minerals with O and V5.61%17.23% higher
Barium273 minerals with O and Ba5.59%20.57% higher
Cerium187 minerals with O and Ce3.83%21.28% higher
Niobium181 minerals with O and Nb3.71%21.21% higher
Strontium164 minerals with O and Sr3.36%21.01% higher
Zirconium145 minerals with O and Zr2.97%23.22% higher
Yttrium138 minerals with O and Y2.83%20.60% higher
Nitrogen135 minerals with O and N2.76%8.73% higher
Beryllium133 minerals with O and Be2.72%23.22% higher
Lithium117 minerals with O and Li2.40%19.15% higher
Tellurium101 minerals with O and Te2.07%40.17% lower
Antimony100 minerals with O and Sb2.05%63.44% lower
Nickel91 minerals with O and Ni1.86%45.83% lower
Chromium89 minerals with O and Cr1.82%0.61% higher
Lanthanum84 minerals with O and La1.72%21.77% higher
Bismuth84 minerals with O and Bi1.72%58.76% lower
Molybdenum78 minerals with O and Mo1.60%5.62% higher
Tantalum69 minerals with O and Ta1.41%18.09% higher
Neodymium55 minerals with O and Nd1.13%23.22% higher
Tin51 minerals with O and Sn1.04%44.87% lower
Tungsten48 minerals with O and W0.98%9.53% higher
Selenium47 minerals with O and Se0.96%63.58% lower
Cobalt46 minerals with O and Co0.94%27.33% lower
Thorium42 minerals with O and Th0.86%23.22% higher
Mercury33 minerals with O and Hg0.68%62.69% lower
Caesium29 minerals with O and Cs0.59%15.27% higher
Scandium23 minerals with O and Sc0.47%23.22% higher
Iodine19 minerals with O and I0.39%26.84% lower
Cadmium16 minerals with O and Cd0.33%38.39% lower
Germanium15 minerals with O and Ge0.31%51.36% lower
Bromine12 minerals with O and Br0.25%22.17% lower
Thallium11 minerals with O and Tl0.23%85.10% lower
Silver9 minerals with O and Ag0.18%95.20% lower
Gadolinium6 minerals with O and Gd0.12%23.22% higher
Rubidium6 minerals with O and Rb0.12%23.22% higher
Samarium6 minerals with O and Sm0.12%23.22% higher
Ytterbium6 minerals with O and Yb0.12%23.22% higher
Gallium4 minerals with O and Ga0.08%38.39% lower
Dysprosium3 minerals with O and Dy0.06%23.22% higher
Indium2 minerals with O and In0.04%85.50% lower
Praseodymium2 minerals with O and Pr0.04%23.22% higher
Erbium1 mineral with O and Er0.02%23.22% higher
Hafnium1 mineral with O and Hf0.02%23.22% higher
Palladium1 mineral with O and Pd0.02%98.55% lower
Periodic Table
1H 2He
3Li 4Be 5B 6C 7N 8O 9F 10Ne
11Na 12Mg 13Al 14Si 15P 16S 17Cl 18Ar
19K 20Ca 21Sc 22Ti 23V 24Cr 25Mn 26Fe 27Co 28Ni 29Cu 30Zn 31Ga 32Ge 33As 34Se 35Br 36Kr
37Rb 38Sr 39Y 40Zr 41Nb 42Mo 43Tc 44Ru 45Rh 46Pd 47Ag 48Cd 49In 50Sn 51Sb 52Te 53I 54Xe
55Cs 56Ba 57La 72Hf 73Ta 74W 75Re 76Os 77Ir 78Pt 79Au 80Hg 81Tl 82Pb 83Bi 84Po 85At 86Rn
87Fr 88Ra 89Ac 104Rd 105Db 106Sg 107Bh 108Hs 109Mt 110Ds 111Rg 112Cn 113Nh 114Fl 115Mc 116Lv 117Ts 118Og
 
58Ce 59Pr 60Nd 61Pm 62Sm 63Eu 64Gd 65Tb 66Dy 67Ho 68Er 69Tm 70Yb 71Lu
90Th 91Pa 92U 93Np 94Pu 95Am 96Cm 97Bk 98Cf 99Es 100Fm 101Md 102No 103Lr
Default Categories CPK Electronegativity Atomic Radius Lowest Oxidation Highest Oxidation Crustal Abundance Goldschmidt Mineral Species Minerals with O Relative Frequency
Nitrogen << Oxygen >> Fluorine


Most widespread minerals containing Oxygen
This list of minerals containing Oxygen is built from the mindat.org locality database. This is based on the number of localities entered for mineral species and is therefore slanted towards minerals interesting to collectors with less coverage of common rock-forming-minerals so it does not give an undistorted distribution of Oxygen mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species.
NameFormulaCrystal SystemMindat Localities
QuartzSiO2Trigonal74134
CalciteCaCO3Trigonal34594
MuscoviteKAl2(AlSi3O10)(OH)2Monoclinic21208
MagnetiteFe2+Fe3+2O4Isometric18433
HematiteFe2O3Trigonal17826
MalachiteCu2(CO3)(OH)2Monoclinic14556
BaryteBaSO4Orthorhombic13903
DolomiteCaMg(CO3)2Trigonal11873
AlbiteNa(AlSi3O8)Triclinic11477
Epidote(CaCa)(AlAlFe3+)O[Si2O7][SiO4](OH)Monoclinic10179
Photos

Localities with greatest number of different Oxygen mineral species
1Poudrette quarry (De-Mix quarry; Demix quarry; Uni-Mix quarry; Carrière Mont Saint-Hilaire; MSH), Mont Saint-Hilaire, La Vallée-du-Richelieu RCM, Montérégie, Québec, Canada398 O minerals
2Clara Mine, Oberwolfach, Ortenaukreis, Freiburg Region, Baden-Württemberg, Germany360 O minerals
3Tsumeb Mine (Ongopolo Mine), Tsumeb, Oshikoto Region, Namibia269 O minerals
4Långban Mine, Långban Ore District, Filipstad, Värmland County, Sweden267 O minerals
5Jáchymov, Karlovy Vary District, Karlovy Vary Region, Czech Republic206 O minerals
6Caspar quarry, Ettringen, Vordereifel, Mayen-Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany204 O minerals
7Sterling Mine, Sterling Hill, Ogdensburg, Sussex County, New Jersey, USA198 O minerals
8Hilarion Mine, Kamariza Mines (Kamareza Mines), Agios Konstantinos (Kamariza), Lavrion Mining District, Lavreotiki, East Attica, Attica, Greece182 O minerals


Significant minerals containing Oxygen
More than 70% of all known mineral species contain oxygen and the vast majority of the earth's crust is made up of silicates, oxides and carbonates - all of which contain oxygen.

Some important examples are listed below:
NameFormulaCrystal System
QuartzSiO2Trigonal
HematiteFe2O3Trigonal
CalciteCaCO3Trigonal
SpinelMgAl2O4Isometric
CorundumAl2O3Trigonal
ForsteriteMg2SiO4Orthorhombic
AlbiteNa(AlSi3O8)Triclinic
AnorthiteCa(Al2Si2O8)Triclinic
Photos


Spotted a mistake/omission? - These pages are a work in progress, so please send all comments/corrections to jolyon@mindat.org. Thank you.

Constants and physical property data from:

David R. Lide (ed.), CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 85th Edition. CRC Press. Boca Raton, Florida (2005).
Kaye and Laby Tables of Physical & Chemical Constants (2005). Section 3.1.3, Abundances of the elements
A. Earnshaw, N. Greenwood, Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd edition, Butterworth-Heinemann, (1997)
Thomas J. Ahrens (ed.), Global Earth Physics : A Handbook of Physical Constants, American Geophysical Union (1995)
L.B. Railsback, An Earth Scientist's Periodic Table of the Elements and Their Ions : Geology 31:9 p737-740 (2003)
Emsley, J. Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements. New York: Oxford University Press (2001)
 
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