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      9th class - Silicates This group of minerals is extremely large. The fundamental building block of silicates is the SiO₄ tetrahedron, and silicate structures are classified according to the degree of polymerization by corner-sharing of the tetrahedra:
Nesosilicates - have insular SiO₄ tetrahedra.
Sorosilicates - have cluster structures with two, or rarely more, corner- sharing tetrahedra.
Cyclosilicates - have tetrahedra connected into rings.
Inosilicates - have tetrahedra in chains of infinite length.
Phyllosilicates - have rings of tetrahedra linked into continuous sheets.
Tektosilicates - have tetrahedra linked into a 3-dimensional framework.