Description based on: v. 3, published in 2003.

Originally published in 1963, this text provides a major revision of the first edition. It is devoted to the feldspar minerals, incorporating the advances in knowledge and understanding arising from the new and improved techniques for the study of minerals that have developed over the decades between editions. The authors have set out to maintain the general approach used in the other volumes, summarizing important research results and presenting them in an organized fashion.

Volume 5A of this second edition of Rock-Forming Minerals focuses on oxides, hydroxides and sulphides. Since the publication of the first edition, in 1962, there has been an enormous increase in the literature devoted to these minerals. This new edition, greatly expanded and rewritten, covers aspects that include crystal structures, chemical compositions, electronic structures, phase relations, thermochemistry, mineral surface structure and reactivity, physical properties, distinguishing features and parageneses (including stable isotope data).

A second edition, in two parts, of Volume 1 of this well-known reference series. This volume deals mainly with the olivine and garnet groups and also the humite group, zircon, sphene, vesuvianite, the Al2SiO5 (including mullite), topaz, staurolite and chloritoid. The disilicates and ring-silicates are covered in Volume 1B. In the years since the first edition was published, the quantity and scope of research on the olivines, garnets and the aluminosilicates has grown enormously and has given rise to a wide variety of literature. This book, which has been completely rewritten and considerably expanded, summarizes the important research results and presents them in an organized fashion. Each mineral chapter is divided into sections on structure, chemistry, optical and physical properties, distinguishing features and paragenesis. Each chapter is headed by a tabulation of mineral data and a sketch showing optical orientation, and concludes with full references to the literature. Diagrams of the crystal structures are presented and are followed by a discussion of the structural features. The chemical sections include a large number of analyses from which structural formulae have been calculated, illustrating the chemical and paragenetical variation exhibited by each mineral; phase equilibria in relevant systems are fully considered. In the sections on optical and physical properties, particular attention is paid to the correlation of these properties with chemical composition. The principal modes of occurrence are described and discussed in the paragenesis sections; here again correlation with chemistry is emphasized. 11 volumes are available in this series.

Structured in the form of a dichotomous key, comparable to those widely used in botany, the mineral key provides an efficient and systematic approach to identifying rock-forming minerals in thin-section. This unique approach covers 150 plus of the most commonly encountered rock-forming minerals, plus a few rarer but noteworthy ones. Illustrated in

This book presents a guide of optical mineralogy for beginners and microscopists who need to brush up their knowledge. It allows the fast identification of common rock-forming minerals in a thin section using a polarized light microscope and transmitted plane and cross polarized light. The book summarizes essential principles of optical mineralogy in numerous schemes. It explains, with the aid of more than 1000 microscopic images, how to determine the diagnostic optical characteristics of a mineral in a thin section. Seventy-two mineral plates of sixty-five common rock-forming minerals comprising typical microscopic images in plane and cross polarized light illustrate the most important optical and crystallographic parameters and their diagnostic characteristics and typical appearance in various geological settings. The original approach of the book is to facilitate mineral identification by mineral plates organized according to color in transmitted plane polarized light and, in each color category, according to decreasing maximum birefringence in cross polarized light. In addition, two chapters are devoted to the classification of magmatic and metamorphic rocks and their common mineral parageneses and textures. The book reflects the author’s experience of teaching optical mineralogy in the most efficient way possible to generations of students at the Universities of Heidelberg (Germany), Basel (Switzerland), and Geneva (Switzerland).

Identificationof rock-forming minerals in thin section is a key skill needed by all earth science students and practising geologists. This translation of the completely revised and updated German second edition (by Leonore Hoke, Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences, New Zealand) provides a comprehensive guide to identifying 140 of the most important rock-forming mineral species. The book is divided into three main parts. Part A is a practical guide to the fundamentals of crystal optics, polarization microscopy and the practical use of microscopes. Part B gives a detailed description of the characteristic optical features, special features, and the paragenesis of the most common rock-forming minerals. This well-illustrated part is divided into opaque minerals, isotropic, uniaxial and optical biaxial mineral groups. Part C contains identification tables for the minerals and diagrams showing the international classification of magmatic rocks, as well as a colour plate section showing crystal forms of minerals. The book will provide an invaluable guide to all undergraduate earth scientists, as well as to professional geologists requiring an overview of mineral identification in thin section.