Environmental mineralogy

The environmental mineralogy is that part of the field of mineralogy , which deals with the behavior of minerals employed under the terms of the earth's surface.

research object

Environmental mineralogy examines the interactions of minerals with the biosphere , the earth's atmosphere and the hydrosphere . The focus is on processes on the surfaces of minerals such as interactions with plants , animals and humans , chemical reactions , adsorption and desorption as well as the dissolution of the minerals in the water. Examples of environmental mineralogical research fields are studies of fine dust and asbestos , of dumps from old mining , potential repository sites and acid mine water, as well as the interactions of bacteria and minerals in biomineralization , in the origin of life on earth ( matrix theory ), in the formation of iron storage facilities ( banded iron formations ), on mineral material surfaces or on colloids in bodies of water and sewage treatment plants .

Investigation methods

Typical is the application of methods of spectroscopy to analyze processes of adsorption and desorption of heavy metals and organic molecules.

literature

Rammlmair, D. (Ed.) (2000): Applied Mineralogy. In Reaearch, Economy, Technology, Ecology and Culture: Proceedings of the 6th International Congress ICAM 2000, Göttingen, July 13-21, 2000. ISBN 978-90-5809-163-5

Web links

• Environmental mineralogy . Information material on the homepage of the German Mineralogical Society (PDF; 90 kB)