It's the classic work revised and updated! Identify over 500 of the most collectible minerals quickly and easily with this fully photographed field guide. And this new reissue makes identification easier, with new cleavability ratings for each entry alongside the handy classifications based on streak colour, Mohs' hardness and specific gravity. A complete introductory discussion of mineral forms and properties explains the essential criteria for recognition, and each of the hundreds of minerals (from Ankerite to Zinwaldite) is accompanied by information on its fracture, luster, chemical formula, aggregates, distinguishing characteristics and localities.
Describes more than five hundred minerals, providing such information as the mineral's crystallography, chemical properties, occurence, and names and varieties.
This vivid introduction to economic geology not only describes the most important deposit types, but also the processes involved in their formation. Magmatic, hydrothermal and sedimentary processes as well as weathering and alteration are explained in the framework of plate tectonics and the history of the Earth. The chapter about fossil fuels includes unconventional deposits and the much-debated fracking. Other topics covered are exploration, mining and economic aspects like commodity prices.
As the importance and dependence of specific mineral commodities increase, so does concern about their supply. The United States is currently 100 percent reliant on foreign sources for 20 mineral commodities and imports the majority of its supply of more than 50 mineral commodities. Mineral commodities that have important uses and face potential supply disruption are critical to American economic and national security. However, a mineral commodity's importance and the nature of its supply chain can change with time; a mineral commodity that may not have been considered critical 25 years ago may be critical today, and one considered critical today may not be so in the future. The U.S. Geological Survey has produced this volume to describe a select group of mineral commodities currently critical to our economy and security. For each mineral commodity covered, the authors provide a comprehensive look at (1) the commodity's use; (2) the geology and global distribution of the mineral deposit types that account for the present and possible future supply of the commodity; (3) the current status of production, reserves, and resources in the United States and globally; and (4) environmental considerations related to the commodity's production from different types of mineral deposits. The volume describes U.S. critical mineral resources in a global context, for no country can be self-sufficient for all its mineral commodity needs, and the United States will always rely on global mineral commodity supply chains. This volume provides the scientific understanding of critical mineral resources required for informed decisionmaking by those responsible for ensuring that the United States has a secure and sustainable supply of mineral commodities.
30% discount for members of The Mineralogical Society of Britain and Ireland Rare Earth Minerals presents a current overview of this geologically and industrially important group of minerals. It presents a wide variety of formats, crystal structures, petrographic descriptions, analytical data and numerous illustrations from outcrop photos to SEM pictures and crystallographic models.
The collection of natural mineral crystals housed at the Houston Museum of Natural Science is the finest and best known in the world. Now the treasures of this singular collection are shown in resplendent photographs that will seduce both the connoisseur of beauty and the student of natural history.
The Earth contains a vast array of minerals, many with highly complex arrangements of atoms of several elements. David Vaughan explores the structure of minerals, the conditions under which they form and transform, their properties, and their interaction with microbes, as well as their importance in human health.