Chemistry Guide

"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.

This first book to discuss both separation chemistry and mass spectrometry for mineral and rock analysis compares the two frequently used techniques, analyzing both their scope and limitations by way of numerous practical examples. The excellent and highly experienced author adopts a comprehensive and systematic approach, reviewing all the steps involved in an analytical workflow. In addition to thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS), he also discusses applications of ICP-MS. Furthermore, alongside detailed protocols on sample preparation and mass spectrometric measurements, numerous practical hints are given. A must-have handy guide for all isotope geochemists and anyone involved in isotope analysis.