One of the main outcomes of the eleven meetings of the Working Party was the recognition of the importance of interdisciplinary studies linking regional geochemistry with plant, animal and human health. The effects of major element deficiencies or excesses on plant health are well known; this is not the case for trace elements. In fact, rapid and reliable analytical methods for determining trace element abundances have only recently become available, and it is to be expected that important new information on trace element levels will be forthcoming.

Mills, C. F. Geochemical aspects of the aetiology of trace element related diseases
Plant, J. A., Baldock, J. W. & Smith, B. The role of geochemistry in environmental and epidemiological studies in developing countries: a review
Fordyce, F. M., Masara, D. & Appleton, J. D. Stream sediment, soil and forage chemistry as indicators of cattle mineral status in northeast Zimbabwe
Jumba, I. O., Suttle, N. F., Hunter, E. A. & Wandiga, S. O. Effects of botanical composition, soil origin and composition on mineral concentrations in dry season pastures in western Kenya
Maskall, J. & Thornton, I. The distribution of trace and major elements in Kenyan soil profiles and implications for wildlife nutrition

Silver is a member of Group IB of the periodic table, which includes copper,  silver, and gold. In its chemical reactions silver resembles copper in some  respects and gold in others. The principal oxidation state of silver is +1, and its  stable ion in natural aqueous environments is Ag+. The naturally occurring  isotopes of the element are Agl07 and Agl09. No substantiated variation in the  Ag1Q7 I Agl09 ratio has been observed in nature. <...>

Karst bauxite deposits are currently investigated as a new resource for rare earth elements (REE) in order to avoid present and future supply shortfalls of these critical metals. The present work focuses on the geochemistry and mineralogy of the REE in karst bauxite deposits of the Catalan Coastal Range (CCR), NE-Spain. It is revealed that the studied bauxitic ores have a dominant breccia and local ooido-pisoidic and pelitomorphic texture.

Colloid systems may be defined as systems containing at least two components: 1) a continuous dispersing medium and 2) a disperse phase. For many years the science of colloids was concerned mainly with the description of the behavior of very small particles. The classical definition of a colloid system described the disperse phase as being comprised of particles or macromolecules smaller than 1000 nm in diameter, but larger than 1 nm. Particles smaller than 1 nm do not exist as a discrete phase, and any system containing them cannot be considered as heterogeneous.

A huge amount of data has been accumulated in the field of high-pressure mineralogy to date (Agee 1998; Stachel 2001; Akaogi 2007; Irifune and Tsuchiya 2007; Kaminsky 2012; and others). Direct study of the substance of the Earth’s mantle using data on the minerals of mantle xenolith and inclusions in natural diamonds is significantly restricted. According to the geothermobarometric estimates, most of such minerals are formed at a depth of 150–200 km, i.e., their associations characterize the P–T conditions of the upper mantle (Sobolev 1977; Sobolev et al. 1997; Taylor and Anand 2004).

When Cambridge University Press decided not to reprint Dr A. Harker’s well-known Petrology for Students it was suggested that a replacement be provided on the same lines. The present book, in which the section on igneous rocks has been written by Nockolds, that on sedimentary rocks by Knox and that on metamorphic rocks by Chinner, is the result. Dr Harker’s book, with its emphasis on carefully drafted drawings of thin sections, has for many years provided an essentially petrographic text for elementary classes in petrology. We have attempted to continue in this role, sufficient reference being made to the relevant scientific literature for the student to relate petrography to petrogeny.

Well control problems are always interesting. The raw power that is released by nature in the form of an oil or gas well blowing out of control is awesome. Well control is one thing and WILD well control is something else.

The British sector of the Caledonide-Appalachian fold belt, which bridges the Iapetus plate closure zone, has a range of plutonic, volcanic and volcaniclastic lithologies with characteristic space-time variations. The map of Caledonian igneous rocks in the British Isles (Plate 1) is compiled from many sources, some of which predate the use of methods of classification which are based largely on chemical data. In such cases, whilst extensive re-mapping continues, the compilers have had to resort to the collection and analysis of representative samples from the areas in question, the collection sites being based on existing maps. Thus, whilst the references to the mapped areas indicate specific publications, the chemical data on which the coding is based are commonly derived from compilations such as Stillman & Williams (1979) and Stillman & Francis (1979) for volcanic rocks and Sutherland & Pankhurst (1982), Le Bas (1982), Hall (1972) and Brown et al. (1981) for plutonic rocks.