What does basal cleavage mean? Please provide an example/s.?

Answer 1

Cleavage, in mineralogy, is the tendency of crystalline materials to split along definite planes, creating smooth surfaces, of which there are several named types:

Basal cleavage: cleavage parallel to the base of a crystal, or to the plane of the lateral axes. This occurs quite easily in graphite, making the material feel slippery.
Cubic cleavage: cleavage parallel to the faces of a cube. This is the source of the cubic shape seen in crystals of ground table salt (sodium chloride).
Diagonal cleavage: cleavage parallel to a diagonal plane.
Lateral cleavage: cleavage parallel to the lateral planes.
Octahedral, Dodecahedral, or Rhombohedral cleavage: cleavage parallel to the faces of an octahedron, dodecahedron, or rhombohedron (respectively). Octahedral cleavage is seen in common semiconductors (see below).
Prismatic cleavage, cleavage parallel to a vertical Prism.
This is of technical importance in the electronics industry and in the cutting of gemstones. While precious stones are generally cleaved by impact, man-made single crystals of semiconductor materials are generally sold as thin wafers which are much easier to cleave

Answer 2

Basal Cleavage

Answer 3

Its an earth science question. Cleavage is, as 4 or 5 answerers correctly indicated, a plane of easy separation. In minerals, it actually represents the molecular structure of the crystal. It is an important diagonestic feature for minerals - one or more sets of cleavage and the angle between them are characteristic of certain minerals. But the term cleavage is not restricted to minerals alone. Rocks may have cleavages that are generated by deformation or processes of diagenesis. Examples of such cleavages are slaty cleavage, crenulation cleavage, fracture cleavage etc. I really wish non-geologists to refrain from answering a geology question (and bring indecency in the process).

Answer 4

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RE:
What does basal cleavage mean? Please provide an example/s.?

Answer 5

Nicki has the right scientific answer to your question but for me it is the cleavage I see when my girlfriend is walking away with her very skimpy bikini bottoms on.

Answer 6

i think your are mixing up the two terms.