The collection focuses on the advancements of characterization of minerals, metals, and materials and the applications of characterization results on the processing of these materials. Advanced characterization methods, techniques, and new instruments are emphasized. Areas of interest include, but are not limited to: * Novel methods and techniques for characterizing materials across a spectrum of systems and processes. * Characterization of mechanical, thermal, electrical, optical, dielectric, magnetic, physical, and other properties of materials. * Characterization of structural, morphological, and topographical natures of materials at micro- and nano- scales. * Characterization of extraction and processing including process development and analysis. * Advances in instrument developments for microstructure analysis and performance evaluation of materials, such as computer tomography (CT), X-ray and neutron diffraction, electron microscopy (SEM, FIB, TEM), and spectroscopy (EDS, WDS, EBSD) techniques. * 2D and 3D modelling for materials characterization.

This book offers a comprehensive view of the valuable uranium ores and analytical electron microscopy methods, including electron microdiffraction principles, an essential technique for studying uranous minerals. This book also explains the laws governing the formation of uranium mineral accumulations, based on concepts published by the renowned Russian mineralogist L.N. Belova. It addresses all types of ore uranium concentrations in the hypergene region and schematizes all uranium mineral formation processes. Readers will also find selected examples of different genetic types of uranium deposits of black sooty ores; the data gathered from all findings on ningyoite worldwide, and new crystal chemistry data on tetravalent uranium phosphates.

The CADIC's Geological Resources Program will soon turn 40 years of fruitful development. During this period many projects were carried out and others remain to be implemented. In the course of time three generations of researchers have been formed. Mentioning names would be unfair to those that could be involuntarily omitted. There is still a long way to go. The eagerness for knowledge should not stop. This book is a tribute to all those people who have worked in the different projects of pure and applied science, and educational, and human resources training, granted to this founding program and associated laboratories of the regional center of CONICET in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. The twenty papers which constitute this book have a genuine Latin appeal, having been written by 50 authors based in Argentina and Spain. All this contributions are concerned with Fuegian geological resources. Everyone concerned with this work hopes that it will prove a fitting and lasting memorial to Nacho Subias, whose personal contribution to our knowledge of this geology was outstanding.

Precious stones, gems and crystals have been valued throughout history not only for their rarity and expense, but for their mystical properties too. Garnet is rumoured to stimulate the heart, while the pearl offers the protection of the goddess Diana – coral, so-called 'witch-stone', is said to guard against the evil eye, and amethyst is said to prevent drunkenness. Gem Magic guides the reader through the uses of and stories surrounding a cornucopia of stones. Introducing the inherent properties of dazzling selection of gems, gemologist Raymond Walters describes how each stone is formed and its key properties, what beliefs have been associated with them through history and around the world, and both their scientific and occult uses. Famous stones, both real and mythical, are lyrically described – from the infamous Koh-i-Noor diamond to unicorn horn and bezoar.

This volume discusses the role of ZIF-8 composites in water decontamination as an adsorbent and photocatalyst. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are advanced porous materials and are promising adsorbents with facile modifications, high specific surface area, controllable porosity, and tailored surface properties. Water pollution is a major concern and has endangered human health. Recently, researchers have designed MOFs for use in remediation.

This collection presents papers from a symposium on extraction of rare metals from primary and secondary materials and residues as well as rare extraction processing techniques used in metal production. Authors cover the extraction of less common or minor metals including elements such as antimony, bismuth, barium, beryllium, boron, calcium, chromium, gallium, germanium, hafnium, indium, manganese, molybdenum, platinum group metals, rare earth metals, rhenium, scandium, selenium, sodium, strontium, tantalum, tellurium, and tungsten. Contributions also discuss rare metals of low-tonnage sales compared to high-tonnage metals (iron, copper, nickel, lead, tin, zinc, or light metals such as aluminum, magnesium, or titanium and electronic metalloid silicon). Authors also cover biometallurgy, hydrometallurgy, and electrometallurgy while novel high-temperature processes such as microwave heating, solar-thermal reaction synthesis, and cold crucible synthesis of rare metals are addressed. Also included in this collection is the design of extraction equipment used in these processes from suppliers as well as laboratory and pilot plant studies.

The research papers presented in these proceedings volumes cover the latest developments and findings in the fields of mine health, safety, energy, waste management,reclamation and rehabilitation, mine closure and environmental protection. Authors from over 20 countries with backgrounds in chemistry, engineering, technology and management, and hailing from the government, industry and academia, have contributed to this book. The contents of this book will be of interest to scientists, engineers, consultants and government personnel who are responsible for the development and implementation of innovative approaches, techniques and technologies in the minerals industries. It will also benefit academic researchers, as it addresses the latest advances in fundamental research.

This volume discusses the role of MOFs in removal of pharmaceutical pollutants. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are advanced porous materials and are promising adsorbents with facile modifications, high specific surface area, controllable porosity, and tailored surface properties. Pharmaceutical pollution is an issue of concern due to its effects on environment. Recently, researchers have designed MOFs for use in remediation.

This book consolidates the latest research on the Hadean Eon - the first 500 million years of Earth history - which has permitted hypotheses of early Earth evolution to be tested, including geophysical models that include the possibility of plate tectonic-like behavior. These new observations challenge the longstanding Hadean paradigm - based on no observational evidence - of a desiccated, lifeless, continent-free wasteland in which surface petrogenesis was largely due to extraterrestrial impacts. The eon was termed "Hadean" to reflect such a hellish environment. That view began to be challenged in 2001 as results of geochemical analyses of greater than 4 billion year old zircons from Australia emerged. These data were consistent with the zircons forming in a world much more similar to today than long thought and interpreted to indicate that sediment cycling was occurring in the presence of liquid water. This new view leaves open the possibility that life could have emerged shortly after Earth accretion. The epistemic limitations under which the old paradigm persisted are closely examined. The book is principally designed as a monograph but has the potential to be used as a text for advanced graduate courses on early Earth evolution.

This book summarizes the latest research on the structural geology of the mobile belts of the Indian subcontinent including the Himalayas, NE Himalayas, Bangladesh thrust belt, Andaman subduction zone, the Aravalli-Delhi, the Central India Tectonic Zone, the Singhbhum, the Eastern Ghats and the Southern granulite terrane. It offers essential information on deformational structures in the mobile belt, such as folding patterns, the character of the shear zone, shear strain analysis, and faults, as well as fault zone rocks. The findings presented here are based on field observations, mapping, sampling and analysis work (e.g. petrographic studies), as well as limited geochemical and geochronological analysis to support the findings. A discussion on the structural evolution of these mobile belts and their connections with other belts rounds out the coverage.

This proceedings book represents a collection of conference papers examining the fundamental problems of deep magmatism.Enriched mantle reservoirs can be the source of the most massive apatite and rare metal deposits. Additionally, this book also presents some of the characteristics of kimberlites' composition from the deep Yubileinaya pipe and the mineralogical features of the Nakyn kimberlite field (Yakutia) and the crystallochemical features of rare and complex silicates from charoite rocks of the deep Murunskii massif in South Africa and the comendites of Mongolia.

Infrared and Raman Spectroscopies of Clay Minerals, Volume 8 in the Developments in Clay Science series, is an up-to-date overview of spectroscopic techniques used in the study of clay minerals. The methods include infrared spectroscopy, covering near-IR (NIR), mid-IR (MIR), far-IR (FIR) and IR emission spectroscopy (IES), as well as FT-Raman spectroscopy and Raman microscopy. This book complements the succinct introductions to these methods described in the original Handbook of Clay Science (Volumes 1, 1st Edition and 5B, 2nd Edition), offering greater depth and featuring the most important literature since the development and application of these techniques in clay science. No other book covers such a wide variety of vibrational spectroscopic techniques in a single volume for clay and soil scientists.

This book collects and summarizes current scientific knowledge concerning coal-mined landscapes of the Appalachian region in eastern United States. Containing contributions from authors across disciplines, the book addresses topics relevant to the region's coal-mining history and its future; its human communities; and the soils, waters, plants, wildlife, and human-use potentials of Appalachia's coal-mined landscapes. The book provides a comprehensive overview of coal mining's legacy in Appalachia, USA. It book describes the resources of the Appalachian coalfield, its lands and waters, and its human communities - as they have been left in the aftermath of intensive mining, drawing upon peer-reviewed science and other regional data to provide clear and objective descriptions. By understanding the Appalachian experience, officials and planners in other resource extraction- affected world regions can gain knowledge and perspectives that will aid their own efforts to plan and manage for environmental quality and for human welfare. Appalachia's Coal-Mined Landscapes: Resources and Communities in a New Energy Era will be of use to natural resource managers and scientists within Appalachia and in other world regions experiencing widespread mining, researchers with interest in the region's disturbance legacy, and economic and community planners concerned with Appalachia's future.

This book unites studies in the fields of archaeometry, geoarchaeology, and ancient technologies, based on cases from northern Eurasia, and includes archaeometallurgy, stone tools investigation, exploitation of geological resources in the past, bioarchaeology, residue analysis, pottery and lithics investigation, and use of the GIS in archaeology. The book of Springer Proceedings in Geoarchaeology and Archaeological Mineralogy contains selected papers presented at the 8th Geoarchaeology Conference, which took place during September 20-23, 2021, at the South Urals Federal Research Center, the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Miass, Russia. A study of non-organic materials, rocks, minerals, ores, metals and metallurgical slags is a special focus of the book. Many papers also use modern analytical methods of isotopic, chemical, and mineralogical analysis to study the composition and structure of ancient materials and the technological practices of past human populations of Modern Russia, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Mongolia. The book is intended for archaeologists, historians, museum workers and geologists, as well as students, researchers from other disciplines and the general public interested in the interdisciplinary research in the field of archaeology and archaeological materials, strategies and techniques of past quarrying, mining, metallurgy and lithic technologies at different chronological periods in Eurasian steppe and adjacent forest zone.

"Highlights in Mineralogical Crystallography" presents a collection of review articles with the common topic: structural properties of minerals and synthetic analogues. It is a valuable resource for mineralogists, materials scientists, crystallographers, and earth scientists. This book includes: An introduction to the RRUFF database for structural, spectroscopic, and chemical mineral identification. A systematic evaluation of structural complexity of minerals. ab initio computer modelling of mineral surfaces. Natural quasicrystals of meteoritic origin. The potential role of terrestrial ringwoodite on the water content of the Earth's mantle. Structural characterization of nanocrystalline bio-related minerals by electron-diffraction tomography. The uniqueness of mayenite-type compounds as minerals and high-tech ceramics.

Electronic Structure and Surfaces of Sulfide Minerals: Density Functional Theory and Applications examines the mineral structure and electronic properties of minerals and their relationship to mineral floatability by density functional theory (DFT). This pragmatic guide explores the role of minerals in flotation by focusing on the mineral surface structure, electronic properties, and the adsorption of flotation agents through the study of the microscopic mechanism of reagents from the structure and properties of minerals. The flotation mechanism is explained from the point-of-view of solid physics, which is of great significance for both theoretical research and practical applications. The study of the structure and properties of the minerals can reveal the essential nature of mineral flotation, hence why minerals have floatability, the mechanism of response of different minerals to different chemicals, and the origin of the selectivity of flotation agents.

In the field of waste disposal, recovery, and recycling, industrial residues from ceramic and mining activities are just an assemblage of minerals. So is municipal waste, after removing the organic part in incinerators or after long-time disposal. In almost every case, a natural counterpart is present. Applying what is known from natural systems on waste assemblages is the key to predicting their fate, at a short and long time, and suggesting the best for high-temperature recycling. This book aims to bring the Earth Science community to the edge of waste management, offering background information, the basics of high and low-temperature geochemistry involved, and an overview of waste investigation connected to minerals. This book also addresses mineral tailings, incinerator bottom, fly ashes, metal slags, ceramic industry residue, and eventually sanitary issues. The primary readership will be graduate students and professionals in geological and environmental fields.

Origin and Mineralogy of Clays, the first of two volumes, lays the groundwork for a thorough study of clays in the environment. The second volume will deal with environmental interaction. Going from soils to sediments to diagenesis and hydrothermal alteration, the book covers the whole spectrum of clays. The chapters on surface environments are of great relevance in regard to environmental problems in soils, rivers and lake-ocean situations, showing the greatest interaction between living species and the chemicals in their habitat. The book is of interest to scientists and students working on environmental issues.

This book successfully connects archaeology and archaeometallurgy with geoscience and metallurgy. It addresses topics concerning ore deposits, archaeological field evidence of early metal production, and basic chemical-physical principles, as well as experimental ethnographic works on a low handicraft base and artisanal metal production to help readers better understand what happened in antiquity. The book is chiefly intended for scholars and students engaged in interdisciplinary work.

Applied Geochemistry: Advances in Mineral Exploration Techniques is a book targeting all levels of exploration geologists, geology students and geoscientists working in the mining industry. This reference book covers mineral exploration techniques from multiple dimensions, including the application of statistics - both principal component analysis and factor analysis - to multifractal modeling. The book explains these approaches step-by-step and gives their limitations. In addition to techniques and applications in mineral exploration, Applied Geochemistry describes mineral deposits and the theories underpinning their formation through worldwide case studies.

This book is devoted to the most relevant issues in crystal chemistry and mineral typomorphism; the structure, physico-chemical and technological properties of minerals; and the computational modeling of mineral structure and properties. Considerable attention is paid to the latest advances in and applications of physical methods of investigation for mineral structure and composition, in particular, X-Ray diffraction, spectroscopic (optical, vibrational, ESR, Moessbauer, etc.) and microscopic (SEM, TEM, AFM, etc.) studies, as well as chemical and isotopic analysis methods. The current research trends in space and planetary mineralogy (meteorites, regolites, tektites) are also discussed. Though specifically intended for the specialist earth and planetary science readership, the book will be of interest to a broad range of scientists. It gathers the proceedings of the Tenth All-Russian Youth Scientific Conference "Minerals: structure, properties, methods of investigation." Jointly organized by the Institute of Geology and Geochemistry, the Institute of Mineralogy (Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences) and Ural Federal University, the event was held in Ekaterinburg, Russia, on May 27-June 1, 2019.

Biominerals are generated by the subtle interaction of biological organization and mineral growth. They belong both to the living and the inanimate world and as such their genesis is among the most intri guing and fundamental subjects in science. However, the conceptual and technical resources that are available in physical chemistry and in the biological sciences is often inadequate for the elucidation of the pro blems involved, and hence this field is particularly difficult to ex plore. This may be an important reason why fundamental research on bio mineralization mechanisms has traditionally been carried out by a com paratively small group of scientists. There are signs, however, that the situation is ripe for a change. Various meetings on biomineralization have been organized in the last few years, particularly in the medical sector. It is generally felt that further developments in the therapy of bone and tooth diseases will be largely dependent on an improved understanding of the fundamen tal underlying mechanisms of biomineralization."

John Ruskin, wrote and lectured on a wide variety of subjects -- Art, Architecture, Economics and Sociology, and the natural world. This volume is a collection of Ruskin's work on Geology and Mineralogy. fully illustrated with 23 full page illustrations and as well ss many drawings within the text.

Astromineralogy deals with the science of gathering mineralogical information from the astronomical spectroscopy of asteroids, comets and dust in the circumstellar environments in general. It is only recently, however, that this field has received a tremendous boost with the reliable identification of minerals by the Infrared Space Observatory. This book is the first comprehensive and coherent account of this exciting field. Beyond addressing the specialist in the field, the book is intended as a high-level but readable introduction to astromineralogy for both the nonspecialist researcher and the advanced student.

This book presents general problems in geoarchaeology, and discusses geophysical solutions, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry applications, X-ray and isotope analyses and GIS technologies. It also examines practical reconstructions of technological processes used in ancient time, and investigates the use of minerals and rocks by ancient societies in the territories of modern Russia, Ukraine, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan, as well as the characteristics of ores, metallurgical slags and data on the composition and impurities of archaeological metals. Intended for archaeologists, historians, museum workers and geologists studying noble metals and copper, the book is also a useful resource for students, graduate students, experts and anyone interested in the use of various minerals at different stages of humanity's development.