This book presents the fundamental principles of thermodynamics for geosciences, based on the author’s own courses over a number of years. Many examples help to understand how mineralogical problems can be solved by applying thermodynamic principles.
Today large numbers of geoscientists apply thermodynamic theory to solu tions of a variety of problems in earth and planetary sciences. For most problems in chemistry, the application of thermodynamics is direct and rewarding. Geoscientists, however, deal with complex inorganic and organic substances. The complexities in the nature of mineralogical substances arise due to their involved crystal structure and multicomponental character. As a result, thermochemical solutions of many geological-planetological problems should be attempted only with a clear understanding of the crystal-chemical and thermochemical character of each mineral. The subject of physical geochemistry deals with the elucidation and application of physico-chemical principles to geosciences. Thermodynamics of mineral phases and crystalline solutions form an integral part of it. Developments in mineralogic thermody namics in recent years have been very encouraging, but do not easily reach many geoscientists interested mainly in applications. This series is to provide geoscientists and planetary scientists with current information on the develop ments in thermodynamics of mineral systems, and also provide the active researcher in this rapidly developing field with a forum through which he can popularize the important conclusions of his work. In the first several volumes, we plan to publish original contributions (with an abundant supply of back ground material for the uninitiated reader) and thoughtful reviews from a number of researchers on mineralogic thermodynamics, on the application of thermochemistry to planetary phase equilibria (including meteorites), and on kinetics of geochemical reactions.
The subject of mineralogy is moving away from the traditional systematic treatment of mineral groups toward the study of the behaviour of minerals in relation to geological processes. A knowledge of how minerals respond to a changing geological environment is fundamental to our understanding of many dynamic earth processes. By adopting a materials science approach, An Introduction to Mineral Sciences explains the principles underlying the modern study of minerals, discussing the behaviour of crystalline materials with changes in temperature, pressure and chemical environment. The concepts required to understand mineral behaviour are often complex, but are presented here in simple, non-mathematical terms for undergraduate mineralogy students. After introductory chapters describing the principles of diffraction, imaging and the spectroscopic methods used to study minerals, the structure and behaviour of the main groups of rock-forming minerals are covered, and the role of defects in the deformation and transformation of a mineral are explained. The energy changes and the rate of transformation processes are introduced using a descriptive approach rather than attempting a complete and rigorous treatment of the thermodynamics and kinetics. Examples and case histories from a range of mineral groups are set in an earth science context, such that the emphasis of this book is to allow the student to develop an intuitive understanding of the structural principles controlling the behaviour of minerals.
Based on a university course, this book provides an exposition of a large spectrum of geological, geochemical and geophysical problems that are amenable to thermodynamic analysis. It also includes selected problems in planetary sciences, relationships between thermodynamics and microscopic properties, particle size effects, methods of approximation of thermodynamic properties of minerals, and some kinetic ramifications of entropy production. The textbook will enable graduate students and researchers alike to develop an appreciation of the fundamental principles of thermodynamics, and their wide ranging applications to natural processes and systems.
It has long been realized that the mineral assemblages of igneous and metamorphic rocks may reflect the approach of a rock to chemical eCluilibrium during its formation. However progress in the application of chemical thermodynamics to geological systems has been hindered since the time of Bowen and the other early physical-chemical petrologists by the recurring Cluandary of the experimental geologist. His systems are complex and are experimentally intractable, but if they were not so refractory they would not be there to study at all. It is only recently that accurate measurements of the thermodynamic properties of pure, or at least well-defined minerals, melts and volatile fluid phases, combined with experimental and theoretical studies of their mixing properties, have made it possible to calculate the eCluilibrium conditions for particular rock systems. Much work is now in progress to extend the ranges of com position and conditions for which sufficient data exist to enable such calculations to be made. Moreover the routine availability of the electron microprobe will ensure that the demand for such information will continue to increase. The thermodynamic techniClues reCluired to apply these data to geological problems are intrinsically simple and merely involve the combination of appropriate standard state data together with corrections for the effects of solution in natural minerals, melts or volatile fluids.
Fully updated, this streamlined new textbook is an accessible introduction to thermodynamics for Earth and environmental scientists, emphasising real-world problems.
A text providing a systematic introduction to the application of thermodynamics to chemical reactions occurring in the earth's geological environment, for undergraduate and postgraduate geochemistry, geology, and environmental science students. It covers three essential topics: thermodynamic principles; thermodynamic properties of geological materials; and the use of thermodynamic data with graphical and computational techniques to predict properties of mineral and fluid assemblies. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
The second volume of this series consists of three parts. Part I focuses on the research on intracrystalline reactions. This work, which began nearly two decades ago, is critically reviewed by Ghose and Ganguly in Chapter 1. Besides the review, the authors include some of their previously unpublished work to demonstrate how future research could aid in obtaining data on thermodynamics of solid solutions and in understanding the cooling history of igneous and metamorphic rocks. The latter is also the theme adopted by Kretz in the second chapter, which examines the redistribution of Fe and Mg in coexisting silicates during cooling. Chapter 3 contains new data on Fe-Mg distribution in clinopyroxenes. Dal Negro and his co-authors have selected a series of clinopyroxenes from volcanic rocks and present site occupancy data on several clinopyroxenes of intermediate compositions. The data set has not been published before and is the first of its kind. Part II of this book begins with a chapter on melts by Gaskell, who explores the relationship between density and structure of silicate melts. This is followed by the synthesis of data generated in the U.S.S.R. by Shmulovich and his co-authors on fluids. Blencoe, Merkel and Seil present a thorough analysis of the phase equilibrium data on feldspars coexisting with fluids in the third chapter in this part.
Volume 25 of Reviews in Mineralogy was published to be used as the textbook for the Short Course on Fe-Ti Oxides: Their Petrologic and Magnetic Significance, held May 24-27, 1991, organized by B.R. Frost, D.H. Lindsley, and SK Banerjee and jointly sponsored by the Mineralogical Society of America and the American Geophysical Union. It has been fourteen and a half years since the last MSA Short Course on Oxide Minerals and the appearance of Volume 3 of Reviews in Mineralogy. Much progress has been made in the interim. This is particularly evident in the coverage of the thermodynamic properties of oxide minerals: nothing in Volume 3, while in contrast, Volume 25 has three chapters (6, 7, and 8) presenting various aspects of the thermodynamics of oxide minerals; and other chapters (9, 11, 12) build extensively on thermodynamic models. The coverage of magnetic properties has also been considerably expanded (Chapters 4, 8, and 14). Finally, the interaction of oxides and silicates is emphasized in Chapters 9, 11, 12, 13, and 14. Because Volume 3 is out of print and will not be readily available to newcomers to our science, as much as possible we have tried to make Volume 25 a replacement for, rather than a supplement to, the earlier volume. Chapters on crystal chemistry, phase equilibria, and oxide minerals in both igneous and metamorphic rocks have been rewritten or extensively revised.