Created by petroleum geology consultant David Barthelmy, the Mineralogy Database Web site reportedly contains 4,281 individual minerals and descriptions. Visitors can browse the minerals by crystal system, by x-ray powder diffraction properties, by chemical composition, by the Dana system or the Strunz system, by physical and optical properties, alphabetically, and by mineral pictures. The large...

Offered by Amethyst Galleries, Inc. (an online minerals store), the Physical Characteristics of Minerals Web site offers a detailed description of how minerals are identified. Each page gives good information and examples of a particular characteristic (e.g, color, hardness, cleavage, feel, and taste). Also, on the first page are links to dozens of minerals that are categorized by name, class,...

Teachers, are you looking for new activities to excite your students about the evolution of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks? This website, developed by the non-profit organization Math/Science Nucleus, provides numerous hands-on activities for each grade from kindergarten through sixth. The chemistry section deals with the mystery of why and how minerals and rocks are formed. The...

This website produced by the University of California -- Santa Barbara provides users with an abundance of information on the minerals in the internationally respected Bancroft Mineral Collection. For each specimen, students can find information divided into three parts. The main page supplies users with a summary of the chemical and physical properties and an image of an amazing array of...

"The Mineral Resources Program funds science to provide and communicate current, impartial information on the occurrence, quality, quantity, and availability of mineral resources." This website divides the mineral resource information, project descriptions, and products for the United States into four main regional categories: Eastern, Central, Western, and Alaska. Researchers can discover new...