Edited by
Simon Duffy, MA, DMS, PhD, Director
The Centre for Welfare Reform
Sheffield
UK
E. Ohtani, Faculty of Science, Tohoko University, Sendai, Japan
D.C. Rubie, Bayerisches Geoinstitut, Universitaet Bayreuth, D-95440 Bayreuth, Germany
Description
Geophysical measurements, such as the lateral variations in seismic wave velocities that are imaged by seismic tomography, provide the
strongest constraints on the structure of the Earth's deep interior. In order to interpret such measurements in terms of mineralogical/compositional
models of the Earth's interior, data on the physical and chemical properties of minerals at high pressures and temperatures are essential.
Knowledge of thermodynamics, phase equilibria, crystal chemistry, crystallography, rheology, diffusion and heat transport are required
to characterize the structure and dynamics of the Earth's deep interior as well as the processes by which the Earth originally differentiated.
Many experimental studies have been made possible only by a range of technical developments in the quest to achieve high pressures
and temperatures in the laboratory. At the same time, analytical methods, including X-ray diffraction, a variety of spectroscopic techniques,
electron microscopy, ultrasonic interferometry, and methods for rheological investigations have been developed and greatly improved.
In recent years, major progress has been made also in the field of computational mineralogy whereby
ab initio simulations are
used to investigate the structural and dynamical properties of condensed matter at an atomistic level.
This volume contains a
broad range of contributions that typify and summarize recent progress in the areas of high-pressure mineral physics as well as associated
technical developments.
