T29. Mineralogy behind Earth processes: insights from the atomic to the macroscopic scale

Minerals may record geochemical, geological and ore-forming processes as they respond to the geological evolution of their host rocks. Minerals are also the source of metals and/or raw materials on which our society relies. At the same time, the increased capabilities of current analytical techniques in terms of spatial resolution, sensitivity and precision allow us to delve deeper into the crystal chemistry of minerals from the nano- to the micro-scale. In particular, mineralogical crystallography is fundamental to better define crystal-structure complexity, structure-property relationships of minerals and their synthetic analogues, to describe mineral evolution under non ambient conditions, to discover new mineral species and to improve mineral taxonomy.
The session welcomes contributions from experimental and theoretical studies related to all the above topics, as well as mineral nomenclature and classification.