Mineral systematics and new minerals
Radiating brown coloured aggregates of the mineral wiklundite, a rare arseno-silicate, in white marble from Långban in south-central Sweden (Photo: Torbjörn Lorin; the width of the image corresponds to 1.5 mm).
Summary
Rare minerals testify to unusual conditions of formation and they indirectly provide information about important geological processes, such as ore deposition. Some new minerals may have unusual properties (e.g., magnetic), making them of interest for materials science in general.
With the aim to document occurrences, modes of formation and to determine crystal structures, optical and physical properties of rare and new mineral species we apply a variety of techniques including X-ray diffraction and spectroscopy techniques, Infrared, Mössbauer, and Optical Absorption. spectroscopies at high spatial resolution.
Project participants at the museum
- Dan Holtstam (project leader)
- Jörgen Langhof
- Henrik Skogby
- Andreas Karlsson
- Ulf Hålenius
External project participants
- Cristian Biagoni, Università di Pisa, Italy
- Luca Bindi, Università di Firenze, Italy
- Ferdinando Bosi, Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy
- Paola Bonazzi, Università di Firenze, Italy
- Fernando Cámara, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy
- Hans-Jürgen Förster, Helmholtz Centre Potsdam GFZ, Germany
- Taras Panikorovskii, Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia
- Henrik Friis, Naturhistorisk museum, Oslo, Norway