Battered, baked, boiled, condensed — nature has long tested minerals with a wide menu of 57 pathways, yielding more than 10,500 mineral types across the eons. A modern catalog of the Earth’s mineral diversity reflects a proposal to reorganize these types not only by chemistry and crystal form but also by how they formed. Water, it turns out, participates in forming more than 80% of mineral species, and biological processes contribute to about a third of them.
This focus shifts attention to pyrite, often labeled fool’s gold for its brilliant luster and relatively modest value. Pyrite occurs in at least 21 forms across a spectrum of environments — from high to low temperatures, with and without water, in ore deposits or volcanic vents, and through biological or abiotic pathways. Yet every crystal still shares the same chemical formula (FeS2) and crystalline structure, showcasing how diverse environments can sculpt identical minerals in strikingly different ways.
Internationally recognized mineral catalogs list roughly 5,800 named mineral species, categorized by chemical composition and crystallography. Now researchers from the Carnegie Institution have proposed another layer: a genetic perspective that asks how minerals come to be. This new line of thinking suggests that a single mineral could arise through multiple formation pathways, a concept that expands the traditional taxonomy and raises intriguing questions about the history recorded in mineral signatures.
With this perspective, the same mineral may be tied to several formation mechanisms, a reality that helps explain why scientists count far more than the originally recognized species. If traditional classifications capture only part of the story, a broader view could reveal a richer, more nuanced map of Earth’s mineral inventory. The idea is to complement, not replace, the established system used by the IMA, offering a framework that uses minimal data to differentiate minerals while integrating a wide array of physical and chemical fingerprints that reveal a mineral’s past.
According to the researchers, certain attributes point to distinctive environments such as a star’s atmosphere, crystallization from magma, aqueous alteration, or even lightning strikes. They suggest applying cluster analysis to connect scattered data to these environments. In some cases, the origin remains murky, but collaboration with geologists could standardize methods and deepen understanding of our planet’s history.
The study drew on large, open mineral databases and thousands of regional geological studies. A total of 10,556 different mineral combinations and formation scenarios were examined to build a comprehensive picture of mineral diversity and its origins.
57 diverse pathways, many involving water and living processes
Results show minerals can arise through multiple routes out of 57 possibilities, including high-pressure crushing, high-temperature ignition, or direct condensation from gas in volcanic vents. Among minerals approved by the IMA at the time of analysis, most were identified through a single route, while others emerged from combinations of two, three, or more pathways. Several minerals form through more than a dozen physical, chemical, and biological processes, illustrating the complexity of mineral genesis and the interconnectedness of Earth’s systems.
Nine minerals traced their birth to more than 15 distinct processes, highlighting rapid formation events such as lightning-induced synthesis or meteorite impacts, alongside slower transformations driven by water-rock interactions and protracted high-pressure, high-temperature conditions over millions of years.
“Minerals emerged through multiple pathways across 57 possibilities”
A key finding is the prominent role of water, which supports the emergence of more than 80% of Earth’s mineral species. This may help explain why our Moon, Mercury, and Mars show less mineral diversity than Earth, while large moons and exoplanets could host their own distinctive mineral assemblages. Titan, for instance, displays mineralogy unlike anything in our solar system.
Biology also leaves a lasting imprint. Living organisms contribute directly or indirectly to almost half of known mineral species, with more than 1,900 minerals forming through biological activity. Some minerals, termed biominerals, arise from metabolic processes in corals, shells, microorganisms, bones, teeth, and even kidney stones.
Broader lists include minerals influenced by guano and animal urine, and occasionally unusual reactions between certain clays and biological byproducts in remote locales. The indirect biological contribution includes atmospheric oxygen production by microorganisms, a chain of events that enabled a larger, more diverse mineral world.
Mineral evolution and the origins of life
The authors emphasize that early oceans, continental crust development, and the onset of plate tectonics roughly 4 to 4.5 billion years ago set the stage for many key mineral-forming processes. A significant portion of Earth’s mineral diversity likely arose in the first 250 million years of planetary history. The work suggests that many geochemical and mineralogical environments proposed by origin-of-life models were already in place billions of years ago, hinting that life and mineral diversity may have co-evolved.
Looking beyond Earth, the question of whether other worlds could foster life-related mineral diversity remains open. Planetary scientists caution that predicting biochemistry elsewhere requires more knowledge, but the mining of minerals could become a cornerstone in reconstructing past life and exploring potential habitable planets across the cosmos. The research underlines the evolving links between minerals, life, and Earth’s geodynamic vitality, offering a fresh lens for studying planetary history and the search for life in the universe.
Experts in the field note that the study aligns with broader lines of inquiry about geodiversity and its role in astrobiology. By tracing mineral formation to environmental contexts, researchers hope to illuminate how early Earth systems interacted with emerging biology, and how similar processes might unfold on other worlds. The work also highlights how human activity, from mining to industrial chemistry, influences mineral formation and diversity, reshaping the geological record for future study.
“Living organisms played a direct or indirect role in forming almost half of the mineral species”
As the team notes, minerals tend to endure in the geological record for millions of years, marking the planet’s historical epochs. Their research has sparked renewed interest among scholars in reconstructing past life and understanding mineral evolution as a tool for forecasting future biodiversity. The work is poised to guide future explorations of deep space for signs of life and habitable environments.
In sum, this new approach to classifying mineral types by formation mechanisms adds a dynamic layer to our understanding of Earth’s mineral heritage. It invites a broader dialogue among geologists, biologists, and planetary scientists about how minerals record the planet’s long, messy, and fascinating history.
Reference studies and ongoing work continue to expand the dialogue around how mineral diversity arose, how life influenced mineral formation, and what this means for interpreting the geologic record across the solar system without external links or sources beyond attribution. These insights together form a narrative about Earth’s mineral kingdom evolving in conversation with water, life, and geodynamics over 4.5 billion years.