ATLAS OF NON-SILICATE MINERALS IN THIN SECTION

By Joan Carles Melgarejo, Robert F. Martin. ( 2011) The Canadian Mineralogist Special Publication 7, 522 p. hardcover, DVD-ROM, Mineralogical Association of Canada, Quebec. US$125.00 (outside Canada), CDN$125.00 (in Canada) (member price US$100.00/CDN$100.00) Price for students US$100.00 (outside Canada), CDN$100.00 (in Canada) (member price US$80.00/CDN$80.00). ISBN: 978-0-921294-51-1. The atlas is an impressive large format (11.5 × 8.5″) volume and is No. 7 of The Canadian Mineralogist ’s series of Special Publications. It builds on an existing atlas written in both Spanish and Catalan languages. On its more than 500 pages, the atlas presents chemical, structural, optical, and paragenetical information plus thin-section micrographs for 408 different mineral species, all of which are non-opaque non-silicates. The atlas includes a DVD-ROM with all micrographs. The authors, Joan Carles Melgarejo (Barcelona, Spain) and Robert F. Martin (Montreal, Canada), are recognized and experienced mineralogists, who revised this book in cooperation with several other authors, mostly affiliated to the University of Barcelona. The introductory chapter presents the motivation for this atlas. Its initial edition was funded by the Folch Foundation, Barcelona (Spain). This foundation traces back to Dr. Joaquim Folch I. Girona, an import mineral collector and private researcher of the 20th century. Within this first chapter, symbols and abbreviations used throughout the atlas are given. It took me a while to find these—a more eye-catching table or list of abbreviations might have been a better choice. Readers who are inexperienced in mineral optics and its terminology are referred to relevant textbooks at this point. Many individuals and institutions are credited for sample contributions that were used to complement the large collection of rock samples and thin sections available at the Department of Crystallography, Mineralogy, and Ore Deposits at the University of Barcelona. Minerals are grouped into 16 chapters according to “Dana’s New Mineralogy” classification from 1997. Each chapter is preceded by some general considerations concerning the respective Dana class and the list of minerals selected. Chapters comprise “Native Elements” (2 minerals), “Sulfides and Sulfosalts” (6), “Oxides and Hydroxides” (56), “Halides” (19), “Carbonates” (56), “Nitrates” (4), “Iodates” (2), “Borates” (26), “Sulfates” (51), …