ALBERT

Description / Table of Contents: Zeolites were looked upon as a geological curiosity until the latter part of the 20th century, but they are now known to be widespread throughout the world in sedimentary and igneous deposits and in soils. This volume describes their formation and occurrence in these environments. It also describes the latest information on their crystal structures and chemistry and presents entirely new information on zeolite stability and on cation exchange. Four chapters also describe applications of natural zeolites ranging from building material to high-tech refrigeration devices.

Description / Table of Contents: Exactly 100 years before the publication of this volume, the first paper which calculated the half-life for the newly discovered radioactive substance U-X (now called 234Th), was published. Now, in this volume, the editors Bernard Bourdon, Gideon Henderson, Craig Lundstrom and Simon Turner have integrated a group of contributors who update our knowledge of U-series geochemistry, offer an opportunity for non-specialists to understand its basic principles, and give us a view of the future of this active field of research. In this volume, for the first time, all the methods for determining the uranium and thorium decay chain nuclides in Earth materials are discussed. It was prepared in advance of a two-day short course (April 3-4, 2003) on U-series geochemistry, jointly sponsored by GS and MSA and presented in Paris, France prior to the joint EGS/AGU/EUG meeting in Nice. The discovery of the 238U decay chain, of course, started with the seminal work of Marie Curie in identifying and separating 226Ra. Through the work of the Curies and others, all the members of the 238U decay chain were identified. An important milestone for geochronometrists was the discovery of 230Th (called Ionium) by Bertram Boltwood, the Yale scientist who also made the first age determinations on minerals using the U-Pb dating method (Boltwood in 1906 established the antiquity of rocks and even identified a mineral from Sri Lanka-then Ceylon as having an age of 2.1 billion years!) The application of the 238U decay chain to the dating of deep sea sediments was by Piggott and Urry in 1942 using the "Ionium" method of dating. Actually they measured 222Ra (itself through 222Rn) assuming secular equilibrium had been established between 230Th and 226Ra. Although 230Th was measured in deep sea sediments by Picciotto and Gilvain in 1954 using photographic emulsions, it was not until alpha spectrometry was developed in the late 1950's that 20Th was routinely measured in marine deposits. Alpha spectrometry and gamma spectrometry became the work horses for the study of the uranium and thorium decay chains in a variety of Earth materials. These ranged from 222Rn and its daughters in the atmosphere, to the uranium decay chain nuclides in the oceanic water column, and volcanic rocks and many other systems in which either chronometry or element partitioning, were explored. Much of what we learned about the 238U, 235U and 232Th decay chain nuclides as chronometers and process indicators we owe to these seminal studies based on the measurement of radioactivity. The discovery that mass spectrometry would soon usurp many of the tasks performed by radioactive counting was in itself serendipitous. It came about because a fundamental issue in cosmochemistry was at stake. Although variation in 235U/238U had been reported for meteorites the results were easily discredited as due to analytical difficulties. One set of results, however, was published by a credible laboratory long involved in quality measurements of high mass isotopes such as the lead isotopes. The purported discovery of 235U/238U variations in meteorites, if true, would have consequences in defining the early history of the formation of the elements and the development of inhomogeneity of uranium isotopes in the accumulation of the protoplanetary materials of the Solar System. Clearly the result was too important to escape the scrutiny of falsification implicit in the way we do science. The Lunatic Asylum at Caltech under the leadership of Jerry Wasserburg took on that task. Jerry Wasserburg and Jim Chen clearly established the constancy and Earth-likeness of 235U/238U in the samplable universe. In the hands of another member of the Lunatic Asylum, Larry Edwards, the methodology was transformed into a tool for the study of the 238U decay chain in marine systems. Thus the mass spectrometric techniques developed provided an approach to measuring the U and Th isotopes in geological materials as well as cosmic materials with the same refinement and accommodation for small sample size. Soon after this discovery the harnessing of the technique to the measurement of all the U isotopes and all the Th isotopes with great precision immediately opened up the entire field of uranium and thorium decay chain studies. This area of study was formerly the poaching ground for radioactive measurements alone but now became part of the wonderful world of mass spectrometric measurements. (The same transformation took place for radiocarbon from the various radioactive counting schemes to accelerator mass spectrometry.) No Earth material was protected from this assault. The refinement of dating corals, analyzing volcanic rocks for partitioning and chronometer studies and extensions far and wide into ground waters and ocean bottom dwelling organisms has been the consequence of this innovation. Although Ra isotopes, 210Pb and 210Po remain an active pursuit of those doing radioactive measurements, many of these nuclides have also become subject to the mass spectrometric approach. In this volume, for the first time, all the methods for determining the uranium and thorium decay chain nuclides in Earth materials are discussed. The range of problems solvable with this approach is remarkable-a fitting, tribute to the Curies and the early workers who discovered them for us to use.

Description / Table of Contents: Papers from the Research Workshop on Inherently Parallel Algorithms in Feasibility and Optimization and Their Applications, held in Haifa, Israel, Mar. 13-16, 2000

Description / Table of Contents: The review chapters in this volume were the basis for a short course on molecular modeling theory jointly sponsored by the Geochemical Society (GS) and the Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) May 18-20, 2001 in Roanoke, Virginia which was held prior to the 2001 Goldschmidt Conference in nearby Hot Springs, Virginia. Dr. William C. Luth has had a long and distinguished career in research, education and in the government. He was a leader in experimental petrology and in training graduate students at Stanford University. His efforts at Sandia National Laboratory and at the Department of Energy's headquarters resulted in the initiation and long-term support of many of the cutting edge research projects whose results form the foundations of these short courses. Bill's broad interest in understanding fundamental geochemical processes and their applications to national problems is a continuous thread through both his university and government career. He retired in 1996, but his efforts to foster excellent basic research, and to promote the development of advanced analytical capabilities gave a unique focus to the basic research portfolio in Geosciences at the Department of Energy. He has been, and continues to be, a friend and mentor to many of us. It is appropriate to celebrate his career in education and government service with this series of courses in cutting-edge geochemistry that have particular focus on Department of Energy-related science, at a time when he can still enjoy the recognition of his contributions. Molecular modeling methods have become important tools in many areas of geochemical and mineralogical research. Theoretical methods describing atomistic and molecular-based processes are now commonplace in the geosciences literature and have helped in the interpretation of numerous experimental, spectroscopic, and field observations. Dramatic increases in computer power-involving personal computers, workstations, and massively parallel supercomputers-have helped to increase our knowledge of the fundamental processes in geochemistry and mineralogy. All researchers can now have access to the basic computer hardware and molecular modeling codes needed to evaluate these processes. The purpose of this volume of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry is to provide the student and professional with a general introduction to molecular modeling methods and a review of various applications of the theory to problems in the geosciences. Molecular mechanics methods that are reviewed include energy minimization, lattice dynamics, Monte Carlo methods, and molecular dynamics. Important concepts of quantum mechanics and electronic structure calculations, including both molecular orbital and density functional theories, are also presented. Applications cover a broad range of mineralogy and geochemistry topics-from atmospheric reactions to fluid-rock interactions to properties of mantle and core phases. Emphasis is placed on the comparison of molecular simulations with experimental data and the synergy that can be generated by using both approaches in tandem. We hope the content of this review volume will help the interested reader to quickly develop an appreciation for the fundamental theories behind the molecular modeling tools and to become aware of the limits in applying these state-of-the-art methods to solve geosciences problems.

Description / Table of Contents: Over the years, volumes in this series have taken a variety of forms. Many have focused on mature fields of investigation to draw together a comprehensive body of work and provide a definitive, up to date reference. A few, however, have sought to provide enough coverage of an emerging or re-emerging field to allow the reader to identify important and exciting gaps in current knowledge and opportunities for new research. This volume falls into the later category. Our primary goal in convening the short course and assembling this text it is to invigorate future research. Early “Reviews in Mineralogy” dealt with specific groups of minerals, one (or two) volumes at a time. In contrast, this volume deals explicitly with the topic of crystal size in many different systems. Until recently, the special and complicated nature of the very smallest particles rendered them nearly impossible to study by conventional methods. Even today, the challenges associated with evaluating the size-dependence of a mineral’s bulk and surface structures, properties, and reactivity are significant. However, ongoing improvements in sophisticated characterization, theory, and data analysis make particles previously described (often inaccurately) as “amorphous” (or even more mysteriously as “x-ray amorphous”) amenable to quantitative evaluation. Thermochemical, crystal chemical, and computational chemical approaches must be combined to understand particles with diameters of 1 to 100 nanometers. Determination of …

Description / Table of Contents: Since the dawn of life on earth, organisms have played roles in mineral formation in processes broadly known as biomineralization. This biologically-mediated organization of aqueous ions into amorphous and crystalline materials results in materials that are as simple as adventitious precipitates or as complex as exquisitely fabricated structures that meet specialized functionalities. The purpose of this volume of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry is to provide students and professionals in the earth sciences with a review that focuses upon the various processes by which organisms direct the formation of minerals. Our framework of examining biominerals from the viewpoints of major mineralization strategies distinguishes this volume from most previous reviews. The review begins by introducing the reader to over-arching principles that are needed to investigate biomineralization phenomena and shows the current state of knowledge regarding the major approaches to mineralization that organisms have developed over the course of Earth history. By exploring the complexities that underlie the "synthesis" of biogenic materials, and therefore the basis for how compositions and structures of biominerals are mediated (or not), we believe this volume will be instrumental in propelling studies of biomineralization to a new level of research questions that are grounded in an understanding of the underlying biological phenomena.

Description / Table of Contents: This volume was prepared for Short Course on Stable Isotope Geochemistry presented November 2-4, 2001 in conjunction with the annual meetings of the Geological Society of America in Boston, Massachusetts. This volume follows the 1986 Reviews in Mineralogy (Vol. 16) in approach but reflects significant changes in the field of Stable Isotope Geochemistry. In terms of new technology, new sub-disciplines, and numbers of researchers, the field has changed more in the past decade than in any other since that of its birth. Unlike the 1986 volume, which was restricted to high temperature fields, this book covers a wider range of disciplines. However, it would not be possible to fit a comprehensive review into a single volume. Our goal is to provide state-ofthe-art reviews in chosen subjects that have emerged or advanced greatly since 1986. v The field of Stable Isotope Geochemistry was born of a good idea and nurtured by technology. In 1947, Harold Urey published his calculated values of reduced partition function for oxygen isotopes and his idea (a good one!) that the fractionation of oxygen isotopes between calcite and water might provide a means to estimate the temperatures of geologic events. Building on wartime advances in electronics, Alfred Nier then designed and built the dual-inlet, gassource mass-spectrometer capable of making measurements of sufficient precision and accuracy. This basic instrument and the associated extraction techniques, mostly from the 1950s, are still in use in many labs today. These techniques have become "conventional" in the sense of traditional, and they provide the benchmark against which the accuracy of other techniques is compared. The 1986 volume was based almost exclusively on natural data obtained solely from conventional techniques. Since then, revolutionary changes in sample size, accuracy, and cost have resulted from advances in continuous flow massspectrometry, laser heating, ion microprobes, and computer automation. The impact of new technology has differed by discipline. Some areas have benefited from vastly enlarged data sets, while others have capitalized on in situ analysis and/or micro- to nanogram size samples, and others have developed because formerly intractable samples can now be analyzed. Just as Stable Isotope Geochemistry is being reborn by new good ideas, it is still being nurtured by new technology. The organization of the chapters in this book follows the didactic approach of the 2001 short course in Boston. The first three chapters present the principles and data base for equilibrium isotope fractionation and for kinetic processes of exchange. Both inorganic and biological aspects are considered. The next chapter reviews isotope compositions throughout the solar system including massindependent fractionations that are increasingly being recognized on Earth. The fifth chapter covers the primitive compositions of the mantle and subtle variations found in basalts. This is followed by three chapters on metamorphism, isotope thermometry, fluid flow, and hydrothermal alteration. The next chapter considers water cycling in the atmosphere and the ice record. And finally, there are four chapters on the carbon cycle, the sulfur cycle, organic isotope geochemistry and extinctions in the geochemical record.

Description / Table of Contents: In the two decades since J. Alexander Speer's Zircon chapter in Orthosilicates (Reviews in Mineralogy, Vol. 5), much has been learned about the internal textures, trace-element and isotope geochemistry (both radiogenic and stable) and chemical and mechanical stability of zircon. The application of this knowledge and the use of zircon in geologic studies have become widespread. Today, the study of zircon exists as the pseudo-discipline of "zirconology" that involves materials scientists and geoscientists from across a range of sub-disciplines including stable and radiogenic isotopes, sedimentology, petrology, trace elements and experimental mineralogy. Zirconology has become an important field of research, so much so that coverage of the mineral zircon in a review volume that included zircon as one of many accessory minerals would not meet the needs or interests of the zirconology community in terms of depth or breadth of coverage. The sixteen chapters in this volume cover the most important aspects of zircon-related research over the past twenty-years and highlight possible future research avenues. Finch and Hanchar (Chapter 1) review the structure of zircon and other mineral (and synthetic) phases with the zircon structure. In most rock types where zircon occurs it is a significant host of the rare-earth elements, Th and U. The abundances of these elements and the form of chondrite-normalized rare-earth element patterns may provide significant information on the processes that generate igneous and metamorphic rocks. The minor and trace element compositions of igneous, metamorphic and hydrothermal zircons are reviewed by Hoskin and Schaltegger in Chapter 2. The investigation of melt inclusions in zircon is an exciting line of new research. Trapped melt inclusions can provide direct information of the trace element and isotopic composition of the melt from which the crystal formed as a function of time throughout the growth of the crystal. Thomas et a!. (Chapter 3) review the study of melt inclusions in zircon. Hanchar and Watson (Chapter 4) review experimental and natural studies of zircon saturation and the use of zircon saturation thermometry for natural rocks. Cation diffusion and oxygen diffusion in zircon is discussed by Cherniak and Watson (Chapter 5). Diffusion studies are essential for providing constraints on the quality of trace element and isotope data and for providing estimates of temperature exposure in geological environments. Zircon remains the most widely utilized accessory mineral for U- Th-Pb isotope geochronology. Significant instrumental and analytical developments over the past thirty years mean that zircon has an essential role in early Achaean studies, magma genesis, and astrobiology. Four chapters are devoted to different aspects of zircon geochronology. The first of these four, Chapter 6 by Davis et a!., reviews the historical development of zircon geochronology from the mid-1950s to the present; the following three chapters focus on particular techniques for zircon geochronology, namely ID-TIMS (Parrish and Noble, Chapter 7), SIMS (Ireland and Williams, Chapter 8) and ICP-MS (Kosier and Sylvester, Chapter 9). The application of zircon chronology in constraining sediment provenance.and the calibration ofthe geologic time-scale are reviewed by Fedo et al. (Chapter 10) and Bowring and Schmitz (Chapter 11), respectively. Other isotopic systematics are reviewed for zircon by Kinny and Maas (Chapter 12), who discuss the application of Nd-Sm and Lu-Hf isotopes in zircon to petrogenetic studies, and by Valley (Chapter 13), who discusses the importance of oxygen isotopic studies in traditional and emerging fields of geologic study. As a host of U and Th, zircon is subject to radiation damage. Radiation damage is likely responsible for isotopic disturbance and promotes mechanical instability. There is increasing interest in both the effect of radiation damage on the zircon crystal structure and mechanisms of damage and recrystallization, as well as the structure of the damaged phase. These studies contribute to an overall understanding of how zircon may behave as a waste-form for safe disposal of radioactive waste and are discussed by Ewing et a!. (Chapter 14). The spectroscopy of zircon, both crystalline and metamict is reviewed by Nadsala et a!. (Chapter 15). The final chapter, by Corfu et al. (Chapter 16), is an atlas of internal textures of zircon. The imaging of internal textures in zircon is essential for directing the acquisition of geochemical data and to the integrity of conclusions reached once data has been collected and interpreted. This chapter, for the first time, brings into one place textural images that represent common and not so common textures reported in the literature, along with brief interpretations of their significance. There is presently no comparable atlas. It is intended that this chapter will become a reference point for future workers to compare and contrast their own images against. The chapters in this volume of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry were prepared for presentation at a Short Course, sponsored by the Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) in Freiburg, Germany, April 3-4, 2003. This preceded a joint meeting of the European Union of Geology, the American Geophysical Union and the European Geophysical Society held in Nice, France, April 6-11, 2003.