Re: Yes, there is a Mineral Definition

In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Fred_Miner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> DEFINITION OF A MINERAL:    A mineral is a natural, homogeneous, inorganic
> solid with a crystalline atomic structure. Crystallinity implies that a
> mineral has a definite and limited range of composition, and that the
> composition is expressible as a chemical formula.

It should be noted that silicate minerals can have substantial
compositional variability given the ability of cation
substitutionanality (sounds like a good word but really...).