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Volume 40 of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry compiles and synthesizes current information on sulfate minerals from a variety of perspectives, including crystallography, geochemical properties, geological environments of formation, thermodynamic stability relations, kinetics of formation and dissolution, and environmental aspects. The first two chapters cover crystallography (Chapter 1) and spectroscopy (Chapter 2). Environments with alkali and alkaline earth sulfates are described in the next three chapters, on evaporites (Chapter 3), barite-celestine deposits (Chapter 4), and the kinetics of precipitation and dissolution of gypsum, barite, and celestine (Chapter 5). Acidic environments are the theme for the next four chapters, which cover soluble metal salts from sulfide oxidation (Chapter 6), iron and aluminum hydroxysulfates (Chapter 7), jarosites in hydrometallugy (Chapter 8), and alunite-jarosite crystallography, thermodynamics, and geochronology (Chapter 9). The next two chapters discuss thermodynamic modeling of sulfate systems from the perspectives of predicting sulfate-mineral solubilities in waters covering a wide range in composition and concentration (Chapter 10) and predicting interactions between sulfate solid solutions and aqueous solutions (Chapter 11). The concluding chapter on stable-isotope systematics (Chapter 12) discusses the utility of sulfate minerals in understanding the geological and geochemical processes in both high- and low-temperature environments, and in unraveling the past evolution of natural systems through paleoclimate studies. The review chapters in this volume were the basis for a short course on sulfate minerals sponsored by the Mineralogical Society of America (MSA) November 11-12, 2000 in Tahoe City, California, prior to the Annual Meeting of MSA, the Geological Society of America, and other associated societies in nearby Reno, Nevada. The conveners of the course (and editors of this volume of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry), Alpers, John Jambor, and Kirk Nordstrom, also organized related topical sessions at the GSA meeting on sulfate minerals in both hydrothermal and low-temperature environments.

Sulfate minerals. --- Crystallography. --- Environmental geochemistry.

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Mineralogy --- Silicate minerals --- Sulfate minerals --- United States.

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Anhydrite --- Building materials --- Calcium sulfate --- Engineering geology --- Gypsum --- Sulfate minerals --- Anhydrite. --- Construction --- Sulfate de calcium. --- Géologie appliquée. --- Matériaux.

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Barite. --- Fluorspar. --- Derbyshire spar --- Florspar --- Fluor --- Fluor spar --- Fluorite --- Murra --- Murrha --- Murrhina --- Myrrha --- Halide minerals --- Calcium fluoride --- Baryte --- Barytes --- Cawk --- Heavy spar --- Sulfate minerals

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One of the greatest mysteries in reconstructing the history of life on Earth has been the apparent absence of fossils dating back more than 550 million years. We have long known that fossils of sophisticated marine life-forms existed at the dawn of the Cambrian Period, but until recently scientists had found no traces of Precambrian fossils. The quest to find such traces began in earnest in the mid-1960s and culminated in one dramatic moment in 1993 when William Schopf identified fossilized microorganisms three and a half billion years old. This startling find opened up a vast period of time--some eighty-five percent of Earth's history--to new research and new ideas about life's beginnings. In this book, William Schopf, a pioneer of modern paleobiology, tells for the first time the exciting and fascinating story of the origins and earliest evolution of life and how that story has been unearthed. Gracefully blending his personal story of discovery with the basics needed to understand the astonishing science he describes, Schopf has produced an introduction to paleobiology for the interested reader as well as a primer for beginning students in the field. He considers such questions as how did primitive bacteria, pond scum, evolve into the complex life-forms found at the beginning of the Cambrian Period? How do scientists identify ancient microbes and what do these tiny creatures tell us about the environment of the early Earth? (And, in a related chapter, Schopf discusses his role in the controversy that swirls around recent claims of fossils in the famed meteorite from Mars.) Like all great teachers, Schopf teaches the non-specialist enough about his subject along the way that we can easily follow his descriptions of the geology, biology, and chemistry behind these discoveries. Anyone interested in the intriguing questions of the origins of life on Earth and how those origins have been discovered will find this story the best place to start.

Evolutionary paleobiology. --- Micropaleontology. --- Life --- Paleontology --- Origin. --- Abiogenesis. --- Acritarch. --- Addition. --- Aerobic organism. --- Amino acid. --- Archaea. --- Archean. --- Autotroph. --- Bacteria. --- Beijing Zoo. --- Burgess Shale. --- Carbon dioxide. --- Cell wall. --- Charles Darwin. --- Charles Doolittle Walcott. --- Chert. --- Chloroplast. --- Chromosome. --- Coelom. --- Coffin. --- Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. --- Crust (geology). --- Cyanobacteria. --- Darwin's Dilemma. --- Determination. --- Deuterium. --- Electricity. --- Enzyme. --- Eukaryote. --- Evolution. --- Evolutionary biology. --- Fermentation. --- Foraminifera. --- Fungus. --- Gene. --- Genetic engineering. --- Geologist. --- Geology. --- Giant salamander. --- Glucose. --- Glycine. --- Glycolysis. --- Greenhouse effect. --- Hallucigenia. --- Heterocyst. --- Heterotroph. --- Hydrocarbon. --- Interstellar cloud. --- Law of superposition. --- Layperson. --- Lipid. --- Marine biology. --- Metabolism. --- Meteorite. --- Microorganism. --- Microwave. --- Mitochondrion. --- Mitosis. --- Molecule. --- Monomer. --- Mycoplasma. --- Natural gas. --- Nitrate. --- Nitrogen. --- Nucleic acid. --- Nucleotide. --- Organic acid. --- Organic compound. --- Organism. --- Ottoia. --- Paleobiology. --- Paleontology. --- Paleozoic. --- Phanerozoic. --- Photosynthesis. --- Phototroph. --- Plant. --- Plate tectonics. --- Polymer. --- Precambrian. --- Prokaryote. --- Properties of water. --- Protein. --- Proterozoic. --- Protozoa. --- Purple bacteria. --- Pyruvic acid. --- Ribosome. --- Richard Feynman. --- Sedimentary rock. --- Smithsonian Institution. --- Stromatolite. --- Sulfate minerals. --- Taxon. --- Tempo and Mode in Evolution. --- Thioformaldehyde. --- Thomas Kuhn. --- Trilobite. --- Zygote.