At the blurry edge of mineralogy

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Nanominerals are characterized by crystal dimensions that fall between 100 and 1 nm, and as the length scale of atomic ordering approaches the lower end of this range, a material's physical and chemical properties may dramatically diverge from what is observed at the macroscale. Indeed, when atomic correlation lengths approximate the dimensions of the unitcell, one can reasonably ask whether a natural material should be classified as a mineral at all. In their Outlook contribution, Caraballo et al. (2014) offer a state-of-the-art assessment of the science of environmental nanominerals, with an emphasis on the role that crystallinity plays in their behavior.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)3
Number of pages1
JournalAmerican Mineralogist
Volume100
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2015

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Geophysics
  • Geochemistry and Petrology

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