Its a good thing that quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the Earth's crust, and the most abundant on the surface! Why? Quartz has been used by society for thousands of years for a wide variety of purposes. Here are a few: Quartz sands are sources of silica that are used in glass and fiberglass. Quartz has a hardness of 7 on Mohs scale making it a useful industrial abrasive. Its hardness makes it useful in the petroleum industry as a component in "fracking fluid." Quartz is also used in electronics, and more.

Quartz, SiO2, is found in igneous rocks as a major constituent of granite. It is common in all grades of metamorphic rocks. Quartz is commonly found as the sand grains in sandstones (sedimentary rocks). Quartz is highly resistant to weathering. As a result, it is often reduced to sand sized grains, but not altered chemically. It occurs naturally in a wide variety of colors.

You get the point! There's more to it than just a few beautiful crystals!

Fun fact: the largest single quartz crystal found to date is from Brazil. It weighs more than 44 metric tons, and is over 6 meters tall.