Formation of Minerals

Formation of Minerals: Where Do Minerals Come From?

Minerals are all around you. They are used to make your house, your computer, even the buttons on your jeans. But, where do minerals come from? There are many types of minerals, and they do not all form in the same way. Some minerals form when salt water on Earth's surface evaporates. Others form from water mixtures that are seeping through rocks far below your feet. Still others form when mixtures of really hot molten rock cool.

Formation from Magma and Lava

You are on vacation at the beach. You take your flip-flops off to go swimming because it is one of the hottest days of the summer. The sand is so hot it hurts your feet, so you have to run to the water. Imagine if it were hot enough for the sand to melt. Some minerals start out in liquids that are that hot.

There are places inside Earth where rock will melt. Melted rock inside the Earth is also called molten rock, or magma. Magma is a molten mixture of substances that can be hotter than 1,000°C. Magma moves up through Earth's crust, but it does not always reach the surface. When magma erupts onto Earth’s surface, it is known as lava. As lava flows from volcanoes it starts to cool. Minerals form when magma and lava cool.

Rocks from Magma

Magma cools slowly as it rises towards Earth’s surface. It can take thousands to millions of years to become solid when it is trapped inside Earth. As the magma cools, solid rocks form. Rocks are mixtures of minerals. Granite is a common rock that forms when magma cools. Granite contains the minerals quartz, plagioclase feldspar, and potassium feldspar. The different colored speckles in the granite are the crystals of the different minerals. The mineral crystals are large enough to see because the magma cools slowly, which gives the crystals time to grow.

The magma mixture changes over time as different minerals crystallize out of the magma. A very small amount of water is mixed in with the magma. The last part of the magma to solidify contains more water than the magma that first formed rocks. It also contains rare chemical elements. The minerals formed from this type of magma are often valuable because they have concentrations of rare chemical elements. When magma cools very slowly, very large crystals can grow. These mineral deposits are good sources of crystals that are used to make jewelry. For example, magma can form large topaz crystals.

Minerals from Lava

Lava is on the Earth's surface so it cools quickly compared to magma in Earth. As a result, rocks form quickly and mineral crystals are very small. Rhyolite is one type of rock that is formed when lava cools. It contains similar minerals to granite. However the mineral crystals are much smaller than the crystals in the granite. Sometimes, lava cools so fast that crystals cannot form at all, forming a black glass called obsidian. Because obsidian is not crystalline, it is not a mineral.

Formation from Solutions

Minerals also form when minerals are mixed in water. Most water on Earth, like the water in the oceans, contains minerals. The minerals are mixed evenly throughout the water to make a solution. The mineral particles in water are so small that they will not come out when you filter the water. But, there are ways to get the minerals in water to form solid mineral deposits.

 Minerals from Salt Water

Tap water and bottled water contain small amounts of dissolved minerals. For minerals to crystallize, the water needs to contain a large amount of dissolved minerals. Seawater and the water in some lakes, such as Mono Lake in California or Utah's Great Salt Lake, are salty enough for minerals to "precipitate out" as solids.

When water evaporates, it leaves behind a solid "precipitate" of minerals, which do not evaporate.  After the water evaporates, the amount of mineral left is the same as was in the water.

Water can only hold a certain amount of dissolved minerals and salts. When the amount is too great to stay dissolved in the water, the particles come together to form mineral solids and sink to the bottom. Salt (halite) easily precipitates out of water, as does calcite. 

Minerals from Hot Underground Water

Cooling magma is not the only source for underground mineral formations. When magma heats nearby underground water, the heated water moves through cracks below Earth's surface.

Hot water can hold more dissolved particles than cold water. The hot, salty solution reacts with the rocks around it and picks up more dissolved particles. As it flows through open spaces in rocks, it deposits solid minerals. The mineral deposits that form when a mineral fills cracks in rocks are called veins. When the minerals are deposited in open spaces, large crystals can form. These special rocks are called geodes. 

Manusia yang Haram Disentuh Api Neraka

Empat Golongan Manusia yang Haram Disentuh Api Neraka

SIAPA yang tak takut mendengar kata ‘Neraka.’ Tak akan ada seorang pun yang mau masuk neraka, sekalipun ia adalah ahli maksiat. Neraka adalah seburuk-buruknya tempat kembali. Karena itu sejatinya Muslim selalu berdoa agar dijauhkan dari panasnya api neraka.

Untuk menjadi penghuni neraka amat mudah, tidak sesulit menjadi penghuni surga. Untuk menjadi ahli neraka cukup sederhana: bermaksiatlah dan jangan pernah taubat. Namun, tentu saja orang beriman tak akan pernah mau meski hanya ‘mampir.’ Orang beriman akan senantiasa berdoa agar dijauhkan dari neraka dan berharap dimasukkan ke surga.

Rasulullah SAW mengabarkan ada beberapa golongan yang tidak akan disentuh oleh api neraka. Seperti dalam hadits berikut:

Dari Abdullah bin Mas’ud radhiyallahu ‘anhu, Rasulullah Shallallahu ‘Alaihi Wasallam bersabda, “Maukah kalian aku tunjukkan orang yang Haram baginya tersentuh api neraka?” Para sahabat berkata, “Mau, wahai Rasulullah!” Beliau menjawab: “(Yang Haram tersentuh api neraka adalah) orang yang Hayyin, Layyin, Qarib, Sahl.”
(HR. At-Tirmidzi & Ibnu Hibban, dishahihkan Al-Albani).

Lalu apa maksud dari keempat golongan yang disebutkan dalam hadits tersebut?

Pertama, Hayyin

Orang yang memiliki ketenangan dan keteduhan lahir maupun batin. Tidak labil dan gampang marah, penuh pertimbangan. Tidak mudah memaki, melaknat serta teduh jiwanya.

Kedua, Layyin

Orang yang lembut dan santun, baik dalam bertutur-kata atau bersikap. Tidak kasar, tidak semaunya sendiri. Tidak galak, tidak suka memarahi orang yang berbeda pendapat dengannya. Tidak suka melakukan pemaksaan pendapat. Lemah lembut dan selalu menginginkan kebaikan untuk sesama manusia.

Ketiga, Qarib

Akrab, ramah diajak bicara, menyenangkan bagi orang yang diajak bicara. Wajah yang berseri-seri dan murah senyum jika bertemu serta selalu menebar salam.

Keempat, Sahl

Orang yang tidak mempersulit sesuatu. Selalu ada solusi bagi setiap permasalahan. Tidak suka berbelit-belit, tidak menyusahkan dan tidak membuat orang lain susah.

Wallahu a'lam.

AZAB TIDAK HANYA UNTUK PELAKU KEZALIMAN

AZAB DAN BENCANA TIDAK HANYA UNTUK PELAKU KEZALIMAN

Dalam Al-Quran surat Al- Anfaal ayat 25, Allah SWT berfirman :

{وَاتَّقُوا فِتْنَةً لَا تُصِيبَنَّ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مِنْكُمْ خَاصَّةً وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ } [الأنفال: 25]

“Dan peliharalah dirimu dari siksaan yang tidak hanya menimpa orang-orang yang zalim saja di antara kalian. Dan ketahuilah bahwa Allah amat keras siksaan-Nya.”

Mengomentari ayat ini, Ibnu ‘Abbas berkata, “Allah memerintahkan kepada kaum Mukminin agar tidak mendiamkan saja kemungkaran terjadi di sekitar mereka sehingga azab tidak menimpa secara merata kepada mereka.

عَنْ زَيْنَبَ بِنْتِ جَحْشٍ أَنَّهَا سَأَلَتْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَتْ لَهُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، أَنَهْلِكُ وفينا الصَّالِحُونَ؟ قَالَ: (نَعَمْ إِذَا كَثُرَ الْخَبَثُ”.

Di dalam Shahih Muslim dari Zainab binti Jahsy bahwasanya ia bertanya kepada Rasulullah SAW,

“Wahai Rasulullah, apakah kami akan dibinasakan padahal ada orang-orang shalih di tengah kami?” Beliau menjawab, “Ya, bila keburukan telah demikian banyak.”

Ayat tersebut menyiratkan bahwa siksaan atau azab yang ditimpakan Allah sebagai balasan atas kezaliman yang dilakukan oleh seseorang atau sekelompok kecil orang tidak saja menimpa si pelaku kezaliman tetapi bisa juga menimpa orang-orang lain yang tidak bersalah atau tidak terlibat dalam kezaliman tersebut.

Orang-orang yang tidak bersalah sering harus turut menanggung penderitaan yang timbul sebagai azab atas kezaliman yang dilakukan orang lain.

Imam Ahmad meriwayatkan:

عَنْ أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ زَوْجَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَتْ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ: “إِذَا ظَهَرَتِ الْمَعَاصِي فِي أُمَّتِي، عَمَّهم اللَّهُ بِعَذَابٍ مِنْ عِنْدِهِ”. فَقُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، أَمَا فِيهِمْ أُنَاسٌ صَالِحُونَ؟ قَالَ: “بَلَى”، قَالَتْ: فَكَيْفَ يَصْنَعُ أُولَئِكَ؟ قَالَ: “يُصِيبُهُمْ مَا أَصَابَ النَّاسُ، ثُمَّ يَصِيرُونَ إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٍ”

Dari Ummu Salamah, dia berkata :

“Aku mendengar Rasulullah SAW bersabda, ‘Bila perbuatan-perbuatan maksiat di tengah umatku telah nyata, maka Allah akan menimpakan azab-Nya kepada mereka secara merata.” Ia berkata, “Lalu aku bertanya, ‘Wahai Rasulullah, bukankah di tengah mereka itu ada orang-orang yang shalih?’ Beliau menjawab, “Benar.”
Ia berkata lagi, “Bagaimana jadinya mereka?” Beliau bersabda, “Apa yang menimpa orang-orang akan menimpa mereka juga, kemudian nasib akhir mereka mendapatkan ampunan dan keridlaan dari Allah.” (HR Ahmad)

Wallahu a'lam.