Journal subject areas

The journal subject areas are defined by the following index terms:

  • ore deposits and mineral resources
  • crystal growth and mineral formation
  • accessory minerals
  • physical properties of minerals
  • soil mineralogy
  • experimental petrology
  • archaeometry
  • numerical modelling of minerals
  • spectroscopic methods applied to minerals
  • crystal chemistry
  • mineral physics
  • electron microscopy of minerals and rocks
  • new minerals and systematic mineralogy
  • environmental and bio-mineralogy
  • fluid–rock interaction
  • structure and properties of melts
  • metamorphic petrology
  • igneous petrology
  • X-ray and mineral structure
  • defects in minerals and phase transitions
  • high-pressure study of minerals
  • clay minerals
  • geochronology
  • mantle petrology and geochemistry.
Associate editors' expertise
  • Rossella Arletti | zeolites, non-ambient conditions, X-ray powder diffraction, ancient glass, archaeometry;
  • Elena Belluso | TEM and SEM applied to the characterization of inorganic materials dealing with environment pollution, remediation, health; biosphere-minerals and inorganics interaction; asbestos and other inorganic fibres (natural and synthetic) in different environments;
  • Cristian Biagioni | crystal chemistry, data collection and processing, mineral classification, new minerals, structure determination, sulfosalt mineralogy, systematic mineralogy;
  • Luca Bindi | aperiodic crystals, coordination chemistry, crystal chemistry, data collection and processing, incommensurate phases, inorganic compounds, modulated mineral structures, phase transitions, sulfides, sulfosalts, structural chemistry, structure determination, symmetry, twinning, X-ray diffraction;
  • Tiziana Boffa Ballaran | physical properties of minerals, mineral physics, defects in minerals and phase transitions, high-pressure study of minerals, spectroscopic methods applied to minerals, crystal chemistry, X-ray and mineral structure;
  • Martine Buatier | marine sediments, diagenesis, hydro-thermalism, fluid–sediment interaction, clay minerals and oxyhydroxides, clays in fault zones, transmission electron microscopy and related techniques (SAED, AEM), geochemistry;
  • Paola Comodi | high pressure and high temperature mineral physics, crystal chemistry (especially of hydrous minerals), single crystal X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy;
  • Giuseppe Cruciani | crystallography and crystal chemistry of minerals (and synthetic analogues), X-ray single crystal and powder diffraction, Rietveld, synchrotron and neutron radiation facilities, zeolites and titanosilicates, micas, melilites, ceramic pigments, nanoscale properties of minerals;
  • Giovanni De Giudici | environmental mineralogy (mineral speciation, bioremediation, environmental monitoring and assessment), biominerals, scanning probe microscopy, synchrotron techniques applied to environmental sciences;
  • Cristiano Ferraris | transmission electron microscopy and related techniques, phosphates, phyllosilicates, new mineral species, mineral collections;
  • Edward Grew | boron isotopes, general mineralogy, geochemistry of metamorphic rocks, metamorphic petrology, mineral descriptions;
  • Chiara Groppo | metamorphic petrology, phase equilibria, thermodynamic modelling, thermobarometry, P–T–t evolution of metamorphic units from both continental and oceanic settings, subduction, collision and exhumation, (U)HP metamorphism, HT metamorphism and anatexis, fibrous minerals, Western Alps, Himalayas, Central China;
  • Sandro Jahn | structure and speciation in fluids and melts at high pressures (P) and temperatures (T), structure–property relations (e.g. diffusion, viscosity, electrical and thermal conductivity), phase stability, structure, vibrational and elastic properties of silicates and other crystalline phases as function of P and T, structure and diffusion in mineral grain boundaries and partially molten rocks, melting and crystallization processes, mechanisms of crystal deformation and structural phase transitions, development of predictive molecular simulation methods and their application to mineralogy and geochemistry;
  • Alessio Langella | cultural heritage, stone materials in historical architecture, weathering, archaeometry, pottery, ceramics, mortars, bricks, microporous minerals, technological characterization and applications of zeolites (agriculture, zootechny, cement industry, oeno-technology, pharmacology), tuffs, cation exchange;
  • Bruno Lanson | X-ray diffraction (XRD), simulation of XRD patterns, interstratification, structure defects, order–disorder, lamellar structures, clays, phyllosilicates, phyllomanganates, oxyhydroxides, biomineralizations, environment, contaminated soils (heavy metal speciation), mineral surface reactivity, waste storage;
  • Didier Laporte | igneous petrology, magmatic processes and textures (partial melting; melt extraction; magma ascent; syn-eruptive processes; interfacial energies, surface tensions and capillary phenomena), volatiles in magmas (solubility; magma degassing; bubble nucleation and growth), mantle petrology (partial melting of peridotites and pyroxenites; basalt genesis; magma–rock interactions; melt infiltration), experimental techniques (piston-cylinder, externally and internally heated pressure vessels);
  • Francisca Martinez-Ruiz | clay mineralogy (palaeoenvironments and basin analysis), sedimentary mineralogy, marine geochemistry, sedimentary geochemistry, biomineralization, palaeo-oceanography;
  • Klaus Mezger | high-precision geochronology (U-Pb), early planetary and solar system evolution, Earth differentiation, dynamics of orogenic cycles (combining geochronology, metamorphic petrology and structural geology), timing and duration of geological processes at different scales, heavy stable isotopes and trace element ratios to study fractionation processes; archeometry (isotope archeology), development of new geochemical approaches and laboratory techniques;
  • Nobuyoshi Miyajima | high-pressure mineralogy, phase relations, phase transformation and crystal chemistry, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron imaging and chemical analysis, rheology in the Earth's mantle, analysis of dislocation microstructures;
  • Massimo Nespolo | crystallography, polytypism, twinning, crystal structure of minerals;
  • Alessandro Pavese | neutron and synchrotron radiation diffraction at non-ambient conditions to determine cation partitioning and EoSs, modelling of thermodynamic processes and physical properties of minerals at non-ambient conditions, applied mineralogy (high-temperature processes in ceramics);
  • Maurizio Petrelli | structure and properties of melts, igneous petrology;
  • Rubén Piña | ore deposits and mineral resources, mantle petrology and geochemistry;
  • Stefano Poli | experimental petrology, metamorphic petrology, thermodynamics;
  • Dejan Prelevic | petrology and geochemistry (isotopes of Sr, Nd, Pb, Hf, Li, Os) of volcanic and mantle rocks within the Alpine Himalayan belt, geochemistry and geodynamic significance of ophiolites, Balkan Peninsula, recycling of continental crust within mantle, trace elements in minerals as petrogenetic indicators;
  • Alberto Pérez-Huerta | biomineralization, palaeoecology, climatic and environmental proxies, fossil brachiopods, biomineral crystal structure, growth and physical properties, microscopy and analytical techniques (XANES, etc.) for biomineral characterization;
  • Dmitry Pushcharovsky | crystal structure of minerals, classification of minerals, structure–properties relationships, mineral transformation in deep geospheres;
  • Thilo Rehren | archaeometry; stones, mortar/plaster, pigments, ceramics, metals, glass from archaeological contexts; production remains for the above, and their corrosion/deterioration; geochemical prospection of archaeological sites including site formation; some physical dating methods as applied to the materials above;
  • Encarnacion Ruiz-Agudo | low-temperature geochemistry, crystal growth and dissolution kinetics, mineral–water interfaces, mineral replacement reactions, atomic force microscopy;
  • Cliff Shaw | petrology and geochemistry of mantle-derived and other high-pressure xenoliths, kinetics and geochemistry of mineral–magma reactions, experimental petrology, petrology and geochemistry of mafic, alkaline volcanic rocks, textures of igneous rocks, dynamics of magmatic systems;
  • Roland Stalder | OH in nominally anhydrous minerals (state-of-the-art methods such as SIMS, FTIR, Raman, TG); experimental petrology (piston cylinder, multi-anvil, cold seal pressure vessels, internally heated pressure vessels, 1 atm.–trace element partitioning, fluid phases, mineral stabilities, phase assemblages, melting relations and diffusion); mineral spectroscopy (mostly FTIR and Raman, plus limited expertise in Mössbauer and optical spectroscopy); mantle petrology in general (xenoliths etc.);
  • Elena Sturm | electron microscopy of minerals and rocks, crystal growth and mineral formation, environmental and bio-mineralogy;
  • Riccardo Tribuzio | petrology and geochemistry of gabbroic and mantle rocks, ophiolites and modern oceanic lithosphere, trace elements in rock-forming minerals;
  • Jun Tsuchiya | physical properties of minerals, numerical modelling of minerals, mineral physics, defects in minerals and phase transitions, high-pressure study of minerals
  • Dewashish Upadhyay | igneous petrology, metamorphic petrology, geochronology, mantle petrology and geochemistry, radiogenic and non-traditional stable isotope geology;
  • Vincent van Hinsberg | metamorphic petrology, ore-forming fluids, rare-metal deposits, element release in subduction zones, tourmaline, geo-thermobarometry, pseudosection modelling, lattice-strain theory element partitioning, thermodynamic modelling;
  • Rucheng Wang | crystal chemistry and geochemistry of accessory minerals and potential indications of geological processes; granites and associated mineralization of W, Sn, REE, Nb-Ta, Li, and Be in South China;
  • Elisabeth Widom | igneous petrology, isotope geochemistry, magma chamber processes, magmatic timescales, U-series disequilibria;
  • Qun-Ke Xia | Geochronology, Igneous petrology, Mantle petrology and geochemistry, Spectroscopic methods applied to minerals.