Mineralization

Mineralization may mean:

• In palaeontology: the process where organic material is converted to inorganic substance. Waterborne minerals replace organic material in the body of an organism that has died and was buried by sediments. The minerals may be such as calcium carbonate (calcite), iron oxide (hematite or limonite) or silica (quartz).

• In mining geology, the deposition of metals as ore bodies or "lodes" by various processes. For example, the deposition of metals by hydrothermal vents.

• In soil science, the release of organic compounds during decomposition.