Phase transitions in minerals are of interest to a wide spectrum of scientists - geologists, mineralogists, solid state chemists, and physicists. We have now reached the point where mean field theory or Landau Theory of phase transitions as a function of temperature, pressure, or chemical composition can be usefully applied to natural materials, resulting in an improved understanding of the thermodynamics of significant constituents of the earth.

This book is a collection of reviews concerning the structural and coordination chemistry of actinide compounds. Over the past decade, these compounds have attracted considerable attention because of their importance for radioactive waste management, catalysis, ion-exchange and absorption applications, and various other applications. Synthetic and natural actinide compounds form as a result of alteration of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste under Earth surface conditions, during burn-up of nuclear fuel in reactors, and as oxidation products of uranium mines and mine tailings. Soils and sediments contaminated by actinides often contain such phases as well. Actinide compounds are also of considerable interest to materials scientists owing to the unique electronic properties of actinides which give rise to interesting physical properties that are controlled by the structural architecture of the respective compounds. <...>

Inorganic oxysalts represent one of the most important and widespread groups of inorganic compounds. They constitute more than half of the mineral species known today, they form in the environment around us, their structure and properties determine a wide range of natural and technological processes. This book deals with the crystallography of inorganic oxysalts, i.e. with a description of the organization of atoms in their crystal structures.

The fi eld trip described in this guide starts in the “Norwegian Alps,” the high mountain massif called Jotunheimen, and runs out along Sognefjorden, the world’s longest fjord, to the islands along the west coast of Norway. Geologically, the Sognefjord transect provides a complete cross section through the Caledonian orogenic belt, of Paleozoic age, which in Norway stretches along the west coast from Stavanger to North Cape, a distance of ~2000 km.