Carbonatites are by the International Union of Geological Sciences classified as igneous rocks containing more than 50% (modal) of primary (i.e. magmatic) carbonate minerals and less than 20 wt.% SiO2. Depending on the dominating carbonate mineral(s), the carbonatites can be further subdivided into Ca-rich (calciocarbonatites), Mg-rich (dolomite carbonatites), Fe-rich (ankerite carbonatites) and Na-rich (natrocarbonatites). They occur on all continents on Earth, including Antartica, and range in age from approximately 3 billion years old until the present day (Woolley and Kjarsgard 2008). <...>

Although the great diversity of alkaline rocks, with their relatively exotic mineralogies, has always attracted the interest of petrologists, as have the more recently defined carbonatites, it could be argued that little progress has been made over the past so years towards formulating a comprehensive petrogenesis of these rocks. It could also be maintained that as the alkaline varieties have the most extreme compositions of all igneous rocks, so an understanding of their genesis is essential if we are to understand fully the workings of the solid earth, while a knowledge of the most extreme products of differentiation must inevitably cast light on rocks of less extreme compositions. The importance of academic research on these rocks is thus clear. There is, however, also a commercial aspect, in so far as they are an increasingly important source of a wide range of industrial raw materials, which has stimulated not only programmes to discover more occurrences, but also to investigate in greater detail those already known

Stromatolites are the most intriguing geobiological structures of the entire history of the earth since the early beginning of the fossil record in the Archaean. Traditionally, stromatolites and related microbial sediments are interpreted as biosedimentological remains of biofilms and microbial mats.
Stromatolites are important environmental and evolutionary archives that give us plenty of information about ancient habitats, biodiversity, evolution of complex benthic biosystems, and generally of Global Change. However, many aspects of the formation, biology, and geobiology of these structures are still cryptic and poorly understood. <...>

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.

In this book we decided to attach the permil sign (‰) to all Li isotopic quantities. One way of viewing stable isotopes denoted by δ is that the arithmetic sets the results as being part-per-thousand quantities, so to place the ‰ on a value is redundant. However, this implies a certain familiarity from the reader. Our decision regarding the ‰ in this volume was guided by the potential that the audience may include those not so steeped in the thinking of stable isotopes. This calls to mind a historical note regarding Li isotopes. Readers of the early literature on the subject (beginning with Chan in 1987) will find papers that use δ6Li. Prior to 2000, using the now-accepted δ7Li notation was viewed as an unwanted usurpation by at least one prominent geochemist. Nevertheless, being clear is important, and although δ7Li was not the first notation employed, it follows stable isotope convention. We find that students have a hard enough time understanding isotope geochemistry, so to oppose the notation used in virtually all systems (positive values are isotopically heavier than negative values) invites confusion. Hence, our use of the ‰ is a further step to make this compilation clear for all.

This volume of Advanced Mineralogy encompasses six different areas having two features in common: they are related to one of the largest enterprises of the second half of this century; and represent the ultimate and final extension of the concept of mineral matter.

- Understanding mineral matter in Space is one of the principal purposes of cosmic exploration. This includes the results of comparative planetology, lunar epopee, sophisticated meteorite studies (now more than 500 meteorite minerals), discovery of the interstellar mineral dust forming some 60 trillion of earth masses in the Galaxy, and terrestrial impact crater studies. It is possible now to speak of mineralogy of the Universum, and the mineralogical type of the states of matter in the Universe. 

Carbonate reservoirs hold 60% of the world’s hydrocarbon reserves. In order to obtain a reliable estimate of reserves in a given reservoir and also to prepare a development plan for optimum production of hydrocarbons from the reservoir, a quantitative assessment of the petrophysical parameters of the reservoir is essential. However, petrophysical properties of carbonates are not easy to predict because of the post-depositional processes like dissolution, re-crystallization and re-precipitation, which alter the properties of the carbonate reservoirs and make them extremely heterogeneous and, hence, bear a profound effect on the productivity and flow dynamics in the reservoir. However, we lack an adequate understanding of how to dynamically model these post-depositional processes. The evolution of porosity through dissolution channels, solution vugs, fractures, etc., is all post-depositional processes. For realistic modelling of the reservoir, we need to understand the dynamics of the fluid flow through the complex network of the carbonate matrix. This calls for proper integration of various geophysical, geological, petrophysical, core data and dynamic data such as MDT, PLT, well test analysis. <...>

In this chapter, very brief scenarios of the complex interaction of solar radiations with the Earth’s magnetosphere are presented and the intricate origin of the (i) sferics, (ii) pulsations and micropulsations, (iii) variations of the extraterrestrial magnetic fields, (iv) Van Allen Radiation belts, (v) ionosphere, (vi) ring current, (vii) magnetopause, (viii) magnetic sheath, (ix) magnetotail and (x) magnetic storms are discussed. The various branches of geophysics, evolved because of this time varying natural source electromagnetics, are also discussed in reasonable detail. They are (i) telluric current methods (T), (ii) magnetotellurics (MT), (iii) audiofrequency magnetotellurics (AMT), (iv) geomagnetic depth sounding (GDS), (v) magnetometer array studies (MA), (vi) magneto-variational sounding (MVS), marine MT (MMT) and (vii) the audio-frequency magnetic method (AFMAG). A few controlled-source auxiliary tools that are used along with MT and AMT are: (i) controlled-source audio-frequency magnetotellurics (CSAMT), (ii) long/offset transient electromagnetics (LOTEM), (iii) marine controlled electromagnetic (CSEM) and radiomagnetotellurics (RMT). Brief discussions on mathematical modelling and inversion are included to touch upon the interpretational aspects of geophysical data. <...>

There is nothing more essential to life on Earth than water. Yet, there is a global water crisis. People are struggling to access the quantity and quality of water they need for drinking, cooking, bathing, hand washing and growing their food. Rapid industrialization, population growth and unplanned urbanization have contributed to severe land and water pollution. The main sources of freshwater pollution can be attributed to direct discharge of untreated toxic industrial wastes and dumping of various industrial effluents. More than 40% of the world’s population resulted affected by water scarcity, and this problem is also featured in the UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), “clean water and sanitation”. Currently, about 3 in 10 people lack safe drinking water and 6 in 10 lack inadequate sanitation systems. Globally, 844 million people lack access to clean water resulting in families and communities being locked in poverty for generations. Access to clean water as a stepping stone to development changes everything. Safe, secure, affordable and equitable access to clean water in particular for the poor is among the most relevant challenge to be faced in the next years. In 1993, the UN General Assembly designates March 22 as World Water Day and recognizes the importance of addressing the global water crisis each year with an amazing progress in making clean drinking water accessible to 2.6 billion people in developing countries from 1990 to 2015. There are still opportunities to multiply the benefits of clean water through improved sanitation and hygiene education <...>

The Hoek-Brown (HB) failure criterion is one of the most broadly adopted failure criteria to estimate rock mass strength in rock mechanics and mining engineering. Over the past 40 years, the HB criterion has been applied successfully to a wide range of intact and fractured rock types.