2nd edition. — London: Geological Society, 2011. — 920 p. — (Rock-Forming Minerals, Vol. 5A). — ISBN 978-1-86239-315-8.Первоисточник: http://www.geokniga.org
It is 50 years since the publication of the first edition of this volume of Rock-forming Minerals. The intervening years have seen a vast growth in the range and quantity of published work on 'non-silicate" rock-forming minerals, a growth that has justified dividing the topics of the first edition into two volumes (sulphates, carbonates, phosphates and halides have already been covered. Here, we discuss the oxides, hydroxides and sulphides. This growth in published information on oxide, hydroxide and sulphide minerals has resulted partly from the availability of new techniques for the chemical and structural analysis of these materials and the characterization of their physical and chemical properties. It has also been the result of the opening-up of entirely new fields of investigation where these minerals play a key role. The list of minerals discussed in this new edition has expanded somewhat compared with the first edition; although the same five sulphide minerals are considered "rock-forming', the hydroxides have gained several new iron hydroxide phases (akaga-neitc. ferrihydrite and feroxyhyte), while losing limonite. These developmenb are largely due to better characterization of poorly crystalline ultrafine particle phases using new techniques. The list of oxides has also expanded with additions including quandilite. pseudonitile and armalcolite, the last a lunar mineral and a legacy of the Apollo missions which occurred seven years after publication of the first edition.
The majority of the minerals discussed in this volume are opaque and, therefore, not suited to examination in transmitted light (in thin section), but requiring examination in reflected light (polished section). Although the techniques of reflected light microscopy, sometimes termed 'ore microscopy', are less widely taught than in the past, their importance cannot be over-emphasized. Qualitative observations using these techniques provide essential information on textural and paragenetic relationships involving the opaque minerals.
