Pre-nucleation clusters and non-classical crystal formation

Peculiarities of the non-classical mechanism of the crystal nucleation, associated with the formation of stable prenucleus intermediate phase clusters in a crystal-forming medium, are considered. These clusters (quatarons) represent primary protomineral particles for which crystallization is one of the possible evolutionary scenarios. Conditions of the quataron formation and their characteristic properties are discussed. The relevance of experiments on direct observation of prenucleus clusters and other objects of the protomineral world is presented.