The chapters contributed to this book recognize the important and diverse contributions of mineralogy to the valorization, characterization, interpretation and conservation of cultural heritage. The book focuses on examples of materials and methodological issues rather than technical/analytical details.

This book mostly contains contributions by the invited lecturers at the 7th International Conference on Non-Destructive Testing and Micro-Analysis for the Diagnostics and Conservation of the Cultural and Environmental Heritage. The contributors have all been chosen for their individual reputations and the quality of their research, but also because they represent a field deemed highly important. Hence, this book give balanced coverage of the areas that are most relevant in non-destructive testing and micro-analysis in the realm of cultural heritage. The analysis methods provide the clinical composition of cultural artifacts to elucidate their provenance, the rate of alteration as a result of exposure to the environment and the effectiveness of conservation and restoration strategies. The techniques are partially or fully non-destructive, are portable, or allow study of different parts of a heterogeneous work of art.

In a sense, all mineralogy is environmental mineralogy. However, the term environmental has come to be employed (particularly in combination with terms such as science, issue or problem) to refer to those systems at or near the surface of the Earth where the geosphere comes into contact with the hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere. This is, of course, the environment upon which the human race depends for survival and, hence, is now sometimes referred to as the critical zone. Those systems containing minerals that constitute the most important or key environments are considered here: soils, modern sediments, atmospheric aerosols, and the interior or exterior parts of certain micro- and macro-organisms. Particularly important are the roles that minerals play in processes that act over time to control or influence the environment at various scales of observation. Both pure systems and those contaminated as a result of human activity are considered. The objectives for this volume are to help to define the subject of environmental mineralogy, and to provide an initial source of information both for mineralogists and other scientists who wish to understand or work in this field. It was hoped that it might also provide a text for use by those teaching courses in the subject at advanced undergraduate or graduate student level.

This volume draws together topics and methodologies essential for the socio-cultural, mineralogical, and geochemical analysis of archaeological ceramic, one of the most complex and ubiquitous archaeomaterials in the archaeological record. It provides an invaluable resource for archaeologists, anthropologists, and archaeological materials scientists.

This textbook teaches important material and technological fundamentals in various technical systems and applied geoscientific fields. Beginning with the mineralogical characteristics of selected non-metallic raw materials and industrial minerals, this book presents the connections between properties and industrial applications and discusses the environment-relevant aspects as well as problems of biomineralogy. An introduction is given to important mineralogical and physico-chemical aspects of ceramic materials such as silicate ceramics, glass, cement, refractory materials as well as an overview about material synthesis. This makes it the first textbook to present the fundamentals of applied mineralogy as a material-related geoscience in a compact form and to show important bridges to industrial issues and approaches to solutions. It is aimed primarily at undergraduate students of geosciences and materials science, but is also suitable for related disciplines and practical applications.

Geology is the Component of Encyclopedia of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, in the global Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS)), which is an integrated compendium of twenty Encyclopedias. The theme on geology in the Encyclopedia of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, presents many aspects of geology under the following nine different topics: The Organized Earth.; Tectonics and Geodynamics; Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology; Sedimentary Geology and Paleontology; Overview of the Mineralogical Sciences; Geology of Metallic and Non-Metallic Mineral Resources; Regional Geology; Geology of Petroleum, Gas, and Coal; Environmental and Engineering Geology.

Indice: Archaeometric characterization of amphorae and bricks of Imperial Age found in a roman villa near the Luzzi town (Cosenza, Calabria, Italy)Structural and spectroscopic characterization of anorthite synthesized from secondary raw materialsVein mineral assemblage in partially serpentinized peridotite xenoliths from Hyblean Plateau (south-eastern Sicily, Italy)Cumulative cordieritite formation as a result of anatexis and melt expulsion. An example from the Chavanon sequence, Variscan French Massif CentralVolcanic geology and petrology of the Val Calanna succession (Mt. Etna, Southern Italy): discovery of a new eruptive centerA case study of alkali-silica reactions: petrographic investigation of paving deteriorationChemical, mineralogical and petrographic characterization of Roman ancient hydraulic concretes cores from Santa Liberata, Italy, and Caesarea Palestinae, Israel Sulphate-arsenate exchange properties of Zn-Al layered double hydroxides: preliminary data