the most abundant mineral group in earth's crust is
Mineral There are over 5,300 known mineral species; as of March 2017[update], over 5,230 of these had been approved by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA).[2] The silicate minerals compose over 90% of the Earth's crust. Silicon and oxygen constitute approximately 75% of the Earth's crust, which translates directly into the predominance of silicate minerals.
Mantle (geology) The interior of Earth, similar to the other terrestrial planets, is divided into layers of different composition. The mantle is a layer between the crust and the outer core. Earth's mantle is a silicate rocky shell with an average thickness of 2,886 kilometres (1,793Â mi).[13] The mantle makes up about 84% of Earth's volume.[14] It is predominantly solid but in geological time it behaves as a very viscous fluid. The mantle encloses the hot core rich in iron and nickel, which makes up about 15% of Earth's volume.[14] Past episodes of melting and volcanism at the shallower levels of the mantle have produced a thin crust of crystallized melt products near the surface.[15] Information about the structure and composition of the mantle has been obtained from geophysical investigation and from direct geoscientific analyses of Earth mantle-derived xenoliths and mantle that has been exposed by mid-oceanic ridge spreading.