Recent  

Metamorphic rocks contain information about their original rocks and thus provide insight into the earlier stages of a region of interest. Here, we used the whole-rock chemical composition and stable boron isotopes of a suite of rocks from the Alps (Italy–Austria), which were deposited in a restricted intramontane basin before the Alpine orogeny. It is possible to reconstruct the depositional conditions for these sediments, which are now common metamorphic rocks such as schists and gneisses.

The infrared absorption spectrum of an antigorite sample, an important serpentine-group mineral, is compared to its theoretical counterpart computed at the density functional level. The model reproduces most of the observed bands, supporting their assignment to specific vibrational modes. The results provide robust interpretations of the significant differences observed between the antigorite spectrum and that of lizardite, the more symmetric serpentine variety.

On the west coast of the German North Sea island of Sylt, an electrum–quartz pebble weighing 10.4 g was discovered in a cliff of Saalian glaciogenic sediments. This is an unusually large and rare precious metal to find. Within our paper we document and characterize this discovery. An attempt to investigate its provenance points towards a southern Norwegian origin. This leads to the conclusion that ice advance events were involved in transporting this pebble from Norway to Germany.

Chapmanite is a seemingly rare mineral, a silicate of the elements iron and antimony. In this work, we evaluated how stable and how soluble this mineral is. The goal was to determine if this mineral can store the toxic element antimony. Our results show that it is possible, but its formation in nature is hindered and slow. Yet, in some special environments, it could store and keep antimony over longer time.

This is the first description of the new mineral kahlenbergite, found in the Hatrurim Basin, Israel, which is a region with unusual pyrometamorphic rocks. Kahlenbergite is chemically and structurally characterized. It is very similar to β-alumina compounds, which are synthetic materials known for their properties as fast ion conductors. Research in the Hatrurim Basin is needed to understand the complex mechanisms that created this mineralogically diverse hotspot of new minerals.

The low-temperature transformations of phosphate and sulfate sequences in the fossil guano from a Romanian cave were investigated using a mineralogical and chemical approach, resulting in the finding of a quite exotic mineral association, including the rare minerals francoanellite and monetite. The dehydration process of primary guano minerals seems driven by exothermic reactions at local scale (e.g., oxidation of ammonia, organic matter, allogenic pyrite or other organic compounds).