By
S. Mitra, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
Description
Significant achievements have been made at the cross-roads of physics and planetary science. In the second half of the twentieth century,
the discipline of planetary sciences has witnessed three major episodes which have revolutionized its approach and content: (i) the plate-tectonic
theory, (ii) human landing and discoveries in planetary astronomy and (iii) the extraordinary technical advancement in high P-T studies,
which have been abetted by a vast improvement in computational methods. Using these new computational methods, such as first principles
including ab initio models, calculations have been made for the electronic structure, bonding, thermal EOS, elasticity, melting, thermal
conductivity and diffusivity.
In this monograph, the boundaries of the definitions of a petrologist, geochemist, geophysicist
or a mineralogist have been willfully eliminated to bring them all under the spectrum of "high-pressure geochemistry" when they deal
with any material (quintessentially a chemical assemblage) - terrestrial or extraterrestrial - under the conditions of high-pressure
and temperature. Thus, a petrologist using a spectrometer or any instrument for high-pressure studies of a rock or a mineral, or a geochemist
using them for chemical synthesis and characterization, is better categorized as a "high-pressure geochemist" rather than any other kind
of disciplinarian.
The contents of this monograph bring together, under one cover, apparently disparate disciplines like solid-earth
geophysics and geochemistry as well as material science and condensed-matter physics to present a thorough overview of high pressure
geochemistry. Indeed, such interdisciplinary activities led to the discovery of new phenomena such as high P-T behaviour in metal oxides
(e.g. Mott transition), novel transitions such as amorphization, changes in order-disorder in crystals and the anomalous properties of
oxide melts.
Included in series
Developments in Geochemistry
