The silica tetrahedron that forms the backbone of all the silicate minerals is composed of silicon and what other element?

The silica tetrahedron that positions the support of all the silicate crystal is composed of silicon and oxygen. The mineral quartz SiO2 is create in all rock types and in all portions of the world. It takes place as sand grains in deposited rocks, as crystals in both igneous and metamorphic rocks and in veins that cut over and done with all rock kinds, occasionally bearing gold or other precious metals. It is shared on earth’s apparent that up until the late 1700s it was referred to simply as rock crystal. Quarts falls into a group of minerals called the silicates, all of which comprise the elements silicon and oxygen in some amount. Silicates are by far the most shared minerals in earth’s crust and mantle creating up 95% of the crust and 97% of the mantle by most estimations.