What is "mineralization"

Mineralization \Min`er*al*i*za"tion\, n. [Cf. F. min['e]ralisation.]

1. The process of mineralizing, or forming a mineral by combination of a metal with another element; also, the process of converting into a mineral, as a bone or a plant.

2. The act of impregnating with a mineral, as water.

3. (Bot.) The conversion of a cell wall into a material of a stony nature.

alt. 1 A form of fossilization in which the organic parts of an organism are replaced by minerals 2 The breakdown of organic matter in the soil to form soluble inorganic compounds 3 (context medicine English) The deposition of calcium salts in abnormal parts of the skeleton 4 The addition of minerals to water to make a mineral water n. 1 A form of fossilization in which the organic parts of an organism are replaced by minerals 2 The breakdown of organic matter in the soil to form soluble inorganic compounds 3 (context medicine English) The deposition of calcium salts in abnormal parts of the skeleton 4 The addition of minerals to water to make a mineral water

Mineralization may refer to:

• Mineralization (biology), the process through which an organic substance becomes impregnated by inorganic substances
• Mineralization (geology), the hydrothermal deposition of economically important metals in the formation of ore bodies or lodes
• Mineralization (soil science), the release of plant-available compounds such as ammonium during decomposition

See also:

• Remineralization (disambiguation)

Mineralization in soil science is decomposition or oxidation of the chemical compounds in organic matter into plant-accessible forms. Mineralization is the opposite of immobilization.

In geology, mineralization is the deposition of economically important metals in the formation of ore bodies or " lodes" by various process.

The first scientific studies of this process took place in the English county of Cornwall by J.W.Henwood FRS and later by R.W. Fox, FRS.

The term can also refer to the process by which waterborne minerals, such as calcium carbonate ( calcite), iron oxide ( hematite or limonite) or silica ( quartz), replace organic material within the body of an organism that has died and was buried by sediments.

Mineralization may also refer to the product resulting from the process of mineralization. For example, mineralization (the process) may introduce metals (such as iron) into a rock. That rock may then be referred to as possessing iron mineralization.

In biology, mineralization refers to a process where an inorganic substance precipitates in an organic matrix. This may be due to normal biological processes that take place during the life of an organism such as the formation of bones, egg shells, teeth, coral, and other exoskeletons. This term may also refer to abnormal processes that result in kidney and gall stones.