Cleavage
Identifying Mineral
Characteristics
Cleavage is defined
as the way some minerals split or break along planes of weakness that relate
to the molecular structure of the mineral. In some minerals, cleavage is
parallel to a crystal face, while in other crystals, cleavage may intersect
crystal faces.
Cleavage is an important
characteristic to use in identifying minerals because both the type of
cleavage and the amount of cleavage present are useful clues to a mineral's
identity. The major types of cleavage are name for the geometric shapes
they resemble.
