Is ice a mineral? Yes, here’s the geological explanation

From a geological point of view, ice is a mineral in all respects, as are quartz, diamond or calcite. Put like this, this sentence might seem absurd, given that the word “mineral” is generally associated with the idea of rock and not to that of “waterfall”. However, as we will see, ice meets all the geological criteria necessary to be classified as a mineral.

Although giving a universal definition of mineral is complex, we can consider the one provided by Cornelis Klein in his Manual of mineralogy:

A mineral is a natural solid with a high ordering at the atomic scale and a defined (but not fixed) chemical composition.

Let’s analyze this definition to understand why ice can be considered a mineral.

• Solid: with this term we want to exclude gases and liquids;
• Natural: term used to exclude synthetic materials.

Already from here we see that the ice respects the first two parameters, while some metals should be excluded from this classification, such as mercury at room temperaturesince it is liquid.

But let’s continue and focus now on the second part. It is said that a mineral must have a high ordering at the atomic scale: this means that the atoms inside are arranged according to a regular geometric model. Glass, for example, does not respect this characteristic because it is amorphous, that is, with a non-regular atomic structure, while ice has a very specific framework that is repeated in space.

To this a final piece of information is added, relating to the chemical composition defined but not fixed.

“Defined” means that can be expressed by a precise chemical formula (in this case H₂O) while “not fixed” means that there can be inside it impurity or slight compositional variations. In the dolomite, for example, the magnesium present in the formula CaMg(CO₃)₂ can be replaced in small parts by iron or manganese.

In conclusion we can say that the ice it fully complies with all the criteria necessary to be classified as a mineral: it is a natural solid, has a well-defined chemical composition and a highly ordered structure at the atomic level. Consequently, from a geological point of view i glaciers can be considered rocks composed solely of the mineral “ice”.