Newsletter of the Mineralogical Society of America

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Volume 14, number 2, May 1998

Table of Contents                             Date last edited:07/03/98

ULTRAHIGH PRESSURE MINERALOGY MSA SHORT COURSE preceding FALL AGU MEETING

Knowledge of the mineralogy of the deep interiors of the Earth and other planets requires information on a great variety of chemical and physical properties of pertinent materials measured under high P-T conditions. Important chemical properties include multi-component phase equilibrium, crystal structure, liquid-state and amorphous structure, site occupancy, melting, solution, phase separation, major and minor element partitioning, thermochemical parameters, diffusivity, crystal-field energy and reaction kinetics. Important physical properties include P-V-T equations of state, single-crystal and aggregate elasticity, compressional and shear acoustic velocity, molecular and lattice vibrational frequencies, anelasticity, viscosity, strength, thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, dielectric parameters, optical parameters, electronic structure, and magnetism. Chemical and physical transitions include oxidation-reduction, hydration-dehydration, amorphization-crystallization, order-disorder, high-low electronic spin, insulator-metal, and magnetic transitions. Each of these may be profoundly different under high P-T conditions as a result of fundamental alterations of the bonding and interatomic interactions induced by these extreme conditions.

Recent advances in high-pressure experimentation with diamond cells, multi-anvil apparatus, and dynamic compression have greatly extended the attainable P-T range, and properties of materials over the entire range of conditions of the Earth's interior can now be measured. Static high pressures of several hundred gigapascals can now be reached with diamond cells in the laboratory. Physical and chemical properties of materials can be characterized in-situ at high pressures. More significantly, the measurement accuracy has been greatly improved. To cover the vast range of properties of minerals is a large undertaking that requires a community effort. The aim of the short course is both to introduce new scientists (especially students) to this very active and challenging area of modern mineralogy and to provide much needed reviews of the current topics in the field.

The Short Course sessions will be held at the University of California - Davis on December 5 & 6 preceding the American Geophysical Union Meeting. Conveners are Ho-kwang Mao and Russell J. Hemley (Geophysical Laboratory). Additional information and registration materials are on the MSA website short course page.

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At our last meeting in Boston on May 30, the MSA Council approved a proposal to initiate a new electronic journal under MSA sponsorship, to be called Earth Materials Research. This new venture will put MSA at the forefront of the rapidly-evolving field of electronic publishing, and will provide MSA members and other researchers and educators with a new and exciting way to publicize their work.

The new journal results from the efforts of John Brady and Frank Spear, who submitted a detailed proposal to Council in January of this year. Over the last few months, the proposal¾ along with accompanying sample "manuscripts" from both John and Frank¾ received thorough reviews from Council members and the MSA Publications Committee. Concerns expressed along the way centered mainly on three issues: possible competition with American Mineralogist, the question of archiving material under circumstances of developing technology, and the financial and administrative responsibilities undertaken by MSA. These concerns were largely allayed during extensive discussion at the Council meeting (with American Mineralogist Editor Anne Hofmeister representing the interests of MSA’s traditional print medium), and the proposal eventually passed by unanimous vote.

As a ground-breaking electronic publication medium, Earth Materials Research (EMR) will immediately offer several capabilities not available through traditional print media. Among these are unlimited use of color, animation of processes (e.g., crystal growth, molecular dynamics), variable-perspective representation of 3D objects (e.g., crystal structures), downloadable computer programs, and incorporation of extensive tables directly in the article. Other advantages to authors include short acceptance-to-publication time and instantaneous world-wide distribution¾ made all the more effective by the fact that EMR will be available to readers free of charge. Also, MSA members will be able to sign up to receive EMR article titles and abstracts by e-mail on the day they are posted.

Frank Spear (RPI) and John Brady (Smith College) will serve as members of a board of four or five essentially independent editors of Earth Materials Research. An effort is currently underway to identify and enlist two or three additional editors whose disciplines complement those of Frank and John, and whose electronic-media skills are up to the task. Within a few months an editorial board should be in place whose collective expertise represents the broad scope of the journal, which is envisioned to include crystallography, mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry, geomicrobiology, and any other subdiscipline of the earth sciences that falls under the MSA umbrella. Despite the presence of the word "research" in the title of the journal, the editors will welcome innovative contributions to earth materials education as well, because of the strong interest of many MSA members in education. Submissions will be fully reviewed, more or less in the traditional manner of print journals but without cumbersome mailings of manuscripts. As with American Mineralogist and other leading journals, the principle criterion for acceptance of articles will be scientific quality. However, because of the special nature and capabilities of the electronic format, emphasis will also be placed upon the extent to which the submission is truly enhanced by the advantages offered. Submissions that can be presented with equal effectiveness in a traditional print journal will be discouraged.

I hope you will join me in thanking Frank and John for their efforts in making Earth Materials Research a reality, and wishing them well in an endeavor that could be very significant to the future of MSA publications. General comments concerning EMR and questions about submissions are welcome (spearf@rpi.edu, jbrady@science.smith.edu).

Frank Hawthorne (University of Manitoba), MSA Fellow, was presented with the Rh Institute Foundation Award at the Fall 1997 Convocation of the University of Manitoba. This award recognizes outstanding research accomplishments of a University of Manitoba faculty member, and was awarded for the first time this year.

Frank Spear was given the Norman L. Bowen Award by the Volcanology, Geochemistry and Petrology Section of AGU. The award is given for a single outstanding contribution to volcanology, geochemistry, or petrology made during the preceding 5 years.

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If you want your library to have available the MSA Monographs by Spear, Bloss, or O’Keeffe and Hyde, the new Teaching Mineralogy volume, Fifth International Kimberlite Conference Proceedings, or the Mineralogical Society Series, give them the MSA Publication Order form that appears in this issue of The Lattice and request that they order these books.

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• 1998 MSA membership renewals were very late this year. The renewal process started after our return from GSA, but encountered several problems in the selection programs and in the membership database of the new association software. The programs were readily fixed, but corrections to the membership database could not be done globally. There were several different problems, and individual corrections had to be made to each record. Attending Fall AGU added a week’s delay. With the time necessary to fold and stuff envelopes, MSA membership renewals were mailed to domestic addresses by bulk mail on 1/7/98 and to foreign addresses by air-printed matter on 1/9/98. Most renewals appeared to have reached members by the end of January. Subsequent line-by-line comparison of each record in the old and new computer systems showed that some members were not selected during the first renewal process. These missed renewals were printed and mailed as they were discovered during March and April. Second Renewal Notice reminders were mailed with the ballots to members from whom we did not receive renewals by 4/24/98.

For those interested in the specifics of the problems we encountered. The older computer system allows for only a limited number of membership, subscriber, or customer files, which can only be examined one at a time. Dates are stored as either 6 or 4 digits. The system uses a variety of criteria in order select files to print mailing labels for journal subscriptions, Lattices, renewals, etc. After conversion we discovered that some supposedly unused fields in the older system did contain random entries, which then moved all subsequent data into incorrect fields during conversion tot he new system. The 6-digit date information (YYMMDD) was readily and correctly converted to 8-digits (MMDDYYYY) but 4-digit dates had a variety of inconsistent formats (YYMM, YYYY, MMYY, MMDD). The conversion of the 4-digit dates to 8-digits did not go well. Many of you experienced the effect of this in birth dates printed on the Member Update and Census forms. The 4-digit paid-through dates were likewise affected. We also discovered that the new system uses a slightly differing set of criteria of selecting records for mailing labels, and not all of that data was as correct as the data used by the previous system.

• Starting with the February 1998 issue, The Lattice is mailed to all members and institutional subscribers of MSA. In the past The Lattice was mailed to all members and what could best be described as a semi-random collection of organizations.

• On 2/28/98, new, higher prices were set on most MSA publications. The minimum price on older Reviews in Mineralogy volumes is now $20, up from $10 in 1995. Typical price for newly published RiM volumes is $32, up from $28 in 1995.

• Each renewal was accompanied by a Member Update and Census form. Updated information of the returned forms were used to correct member files and will be used to replace the present on-line member directory and to produce a new print directory.

Over 98% of the forms had corrections, most were extensive. It is surprising that MSA ever was able to reach its members. Update of the member database is slower than anticipated because of the many changes and additions. An early version of the MSA member database was supplied to Mark Bloom in November, 1997 as a test of the on-line MSA Member Directory. Unfortunately this early version contained a number of errors (the same problems that resulted in the late renewals discussed above), and a number of members were not included. We apologize for the inconvenience. By the time you read this, that earlier version database will be replaced by an updated database. In the summer, this will be replaced by one that contains the very last of the membership renewals. After that, the on-line member database will be updated on a regular and frequent schedule and perhaps only replaced in its entirety every summer, after most members have renewed.

• The Business Office is imprinting "Return Service Requested" on outgoing mail in conformity with the US Postal Service’s (USPS) new endorsement policy. In practice this means that any US mail, undeliverable as addressed, will be returned to MSA with a correct address, if the USPS knows it. Mail will not be forwarded. This will alert us to new addresses up to a year sooner than otherwise. It gives us a chance to locate a member who has moved before any forwarding instructions expire. If you move, notify MSA of your new address. (Do not forget to include your new phone numbers and e-mail address!) You will be unable to rely on MSA mail automatically being forwarded. For MSA overseas members, some foreign post offices appear to have rules similar to the USPS because MSA is beginning to have undeliverable air printed matter returned for the first time.

• MSA had a booth at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, Tucson, AZ on February 12-15, 1998. MSA will have had a booth at the Spring AGU Meeting in Boston, May 26-28, 1997. The last meeting of the year at which MSA will have a booth is at the IMA Meeting in Toronto, Ontario August 9-12, 1998. While MSA will have all of its usual social and technical functions at GSA, there will be no booth in the Exhibit Hall. MSA will not have a booth at the Fall AGU.

• MSA membership figures at the end of 1995, 1996, and 1997 is shown in the Table below. The geographic distribution of MSA members as of 12/31/97 is shown in the other Table. The difference in the two totals for 1997 members is the result of using two different computer databases at slightly different times.

There's no long preamble for this issue of the Lattice, so let's move on directly to the agenda.

A number of users have reported problems on the site that have been traced to the latest crop of browsers (both Navigator and Internet Explorer). These problems are particularly frustrating. As a Mac-only shop, the MSA does not have the resources to test the web site using all browsers on all platforms. If you have experienced difficulties, please do take a few moments to report the problem, giving me enough information to locate the offending page (describe the problem and note the URL, browser type and version, and computer platform).

A current news and announcements feature has been added to the MSA web site. A digest of news headlines will load on the home page (coming shortly), and you can view the full text of announcements by following the links (here now, accessible via the pull-down menus). Initially all MSA members will be able to post items, subject to a few simple rules of the road. We will moderate submissions only if it becomes necessary due to abuse or an overwhelming number of news items. The Job Board and Events Calendar, also both available for posts by all MSA members, will be on-line soon and are the appropriate venues for employment and event items.

The MSA Membership Directory (current as of June 11) is on-line. Membership applications and renewals processed after that date will be added or revised periodically. The new directory contains very few home page URLs so, if you'd like a link to your web address from the directory, please use the interactive form on the MSA web site to update your records.

The MSA list server that has been maintained by John Brady (thanks John!) has migrated to the business office and been renamed MSA-Talk. John is still the list administrator, but he will welcome the opportunity to pass this along to an eager volunteer. There are also several new mailing lists, including MSA-Announce and a list for each of the Special Interest Groups. MSA-Announce is a broadcast-only list that will disseminate time-sensitive information to members who have provided an e-mail address. Only about 60% of the membership has done so. Please use the Web form to update your records! You can subscribe to or unsubscribe from MSA-Talk and the other lists directly from the MSA web site (follow the link in the home page pull-down menu).

We'd like once again to encourage members to use these services, which are finally back on-line after prolonged pest extermination (some bugs self-inflicted and others related to software upgrades). In a moment of weakness (sic) Mickey Gunter has volunteered to spearhead Ask-a-Mineralogist. Please contact him <mgunter@uidaho.edu> if you can help answer questions. Feel free to visit and post questions and answers, but keep in mind Ask-A-Mineralogist is intended more for public and amateur mineralogists. Technical questions should be directed to discussion forums.

Work on the mineralogical and crystallographic database continues, with recent developments that are sure to make this a popular area of our web site. David Barthelmy (Member '98) has volunteered over 4000 files that contain the physical, chemical, and optical properties of IMA-approved minerals. Dave maintains his own minerals web site that you can visit at http://web.wt.net/~daba/Mineral/. His contribution is gratefully acknowledged. In other news, the Los Angeles County Museum and the Smithsonian Institute have graciously given the MSA permission to use digital photographs, and several freelance photographers well-known by mineral collectors are contributing 35 mm slides for conversion to digital images. More about this in the next Lattice (by which time we plan to have a prototype of the database on-line).

The MSA, together with the Geochemical Society, is collaborating with the Ridge Inter-Disciplinary Global Experiments (RIDGE) Initiative to co-develop the educational outreach module on marine geoscience (and in particular the mineralogy and geochemistry of submarine hydrothermal vents). In addition to the wealth of scientific data and imagery that RIDGE brings to this effort, their network of researchers and connections with other like-minded organizations will be invaluable in selecting content appropriate for the K-12 community. We again appeal to the MSA membership for volunteers to assist in content development.

My friend Jim Thompson has eloquently staked out a position on the name of our journal. Perhaps for the first (oh, maybe second) time since we played poker half a century ago, I must differ with him. The name American Mineralogist is ancient and honorable and it means just what it says, only much more. It is not the name, or the image, that is the problem today; it is, I feel, our own timidity in believing who we are and what we do.

The American Journal of Science is not. It is a geological journal founded by the Yale chemist Silliman, whose fame we have boldly and rightly appropriated to mineralogy. Min. Mag. is not a magazine anymore ("All Things Considered" is). Acta Crystallographica is not a record of meetings; Transactions are articles; Tellus is oceanography and then some; Icarus has not yet melted its wings; American Scientist is just that, as is the Scientific American; EPSL is hardly a letters journal, any more than Physical Review Letters is a review (but GRL is a letters journal). Should these venerable journals look for a snazzier image by changing their names? I hope not.

Who cares? By their deeds ye shall know them. A meteorite is not an Earth Material! What might be the perfect name for the premier journal of the MSA in this day of biomineralogy and mineral physics and high-pressure petrology and interstellar spectroscopy? Who knows? And who could know what the best name could be 49 years hence, equidistant in time from the last poker pot Jim stole from me? We cannot know. Here for once, I rest on my native New Hampshire conservatism and say no change is the best change.

If you build it, they will come. Whatever you call it. And so call it by its ancient and honorable name and have faith in what it is we do, not in how we look.

A debate has been going on within the Mineralogical Society of America for several years about the relevancy and future of mineralogy, to the point that many are wondering what mineralogy really means and who is doing it. Commonly such discussions lead to suggestions that mineralogy, and therefore MSA, needs to be redefined to include a broader scope of research and researchers, e.g. by changing the name of our journal, setting up special interest groups, establishing an MSA web site, sponsoring symposia and short courses on nontraditional mineralogy topics. All of these tactics are good ones but fail to address one of the core problems with MSA - lack of its own scientific meeting.

It is curious that the insecurity or malaise associated with mineralogy seems to be largely an American phenomenon, much to the bemusement of our international colleagues. One only needs to attend any of several meetings outside the United States, e.g. EMPG, IMA, to feel a sense of mineralogy in full vigor, and to be astounded at the number and variety of interesting "mineralogy talks." A glance through this summer's IMA program reveals a fascinating diversity of subjects and presenters that hardly are consistent with a "dying" or "irrelevant" research field. The success of IMA and many other mineralogy meetings is that they provide a multi-day forum for presentation and discussion of a wide variety of mineralogical research and the opportunity for interactions among mineralogists with diverse backgrounds. Mineralogy, in all of its manifestations, is a major focus of these meetings, not a subject squeezed in at the margins, as seems to be the case these days at GSA and AGU meetings. Rather than one symposium and five or six sessions, MSA needs a meeting that includes several symposia and three or four days of sessions.

We believe that part of the reason mineralogy seems to be marginalized, at least in this country, is that it has no meeting to call its own. Most of us in MSA are only vaguely aware of the many interesting areas of research conducted by fellow members because we and our presentations are typically scattered among a half dozen meetings or more per year. And at most of those meetings our sessions, and interactions, are diluted by the multitude of other subjects and attendees. Occasionally, many of us finally congregate at IMA or some other international meeting and are amazed at the fascinating variety of mineralogical research we are all doing.

We propose that MSA sponsor an annual (or perhaps initially, a biennial) scientific meeting, inviting all scientists with an interest in minerals or geomimetic materials. Efforts should be made to organize symposia and plenary sessions in a variety of interest areas, e.g. biomineralogy, clay minerals, mineral surfaces, nonambient mineralogy, crystallography, industrial mineralogy, geochemistry, planetary mineralogy, etc. This would also be MSA's principal business meeting and include the awards luncheon and a short course. A more expanded schedule would also permit specialized workshops to be organized, for example on research methods, teaching or computer programs. One benefit of an MSA meeting would be its much smaller size, perhaps a few hundred participants, allowing more effective interactions, and considerably more flexibility in selecting meeting sites, e.g. at one of Colorado's ski resorts in the summer.

Understandably, many scientists will experience separation anxiety from our traditional GSA and AGU meetings. Yes, it is pleasant to meet old graduate school friends at these large meetings, and occasionally there are sessions of interest in other subject areas, but as these meetings have grown, MSA's influence has diminished. A separate MSA meeting hopefully would attract most researchers whose primary interest is somehow related to minerals. Such a concentration of "mineralogists" would be invigorating to the science and to MSA. It would be an opportunity to shine the spotlight on mineralogy, and show each other and the world what mineralogists do. Perhaps if the MSA meeting were held in early summer (e.g. June), then those who are interested could still attend GSA or AGU later in the year. With the diminished importance of the Spring AGU meeting for mineralogists, early summer seems to be a good time for a meeting. Perhaps a three-year trial period could be used to assess growing, or declining interest in an MSA annual meeting. Another possibility would be for MSA to jointly sponsor a meeting with the Geochemical Society, which meets biennially in the spring in the United States.

Additional benefits from a widely diverse MSA meeting would likely be an infusion of new members from a variety of research disciplines that previously felt out of place in the limited MSA sessions at AGU or GSA meetings, and consequently a broader range of manuscript submissions to the society journal - whatever its name might be.

Obviously, planning an MSA meeting will take time and resources, but mostly it will take resolve on the part of the Council and the membership to break with a comfortable routine and try something new. Clearly the current trends indicate that that routine is not completely successful, and minor tinkering here and there have been only minimally effective. It is time for a major change, a shaking up, if you will! We propose that the MSA council appoint a task group to begin a dialogue with our members and to study the benefits and drawbacks of an MSA meeting.

Jeffrey Post - post.jeffrey@nmnh.si.edu

Peter Heaney - peter@geo.princeton.edu

Charlie Prewitt - prewitt@gl.ciw.edu

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We regret to announce the passing of the following MSA Members. The Society extends its condolences to the family and friends of these scientists.

Virgil E. Barnes, Life Fellow 1945

Laszlo Dudas, Life Member 1952

Robert R. Ogilby, Member 1967

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1. The Editorial Office finished its first full year at its Washington, DC, location (shared by MSA’s Business Office). Managing Editor Rachel Russell continued to streamline operations, resulting in improvements in computer-based editing and submission of disk-based manuscripts to our printer. Combined with hard work by Assistant Editor Everett Johnson and Editorial Assistants Anna Ewald and Kristin Wheeler, we were able to implement an accelerated production schedule, so that, toward the end of 1997, issues were being mailed to members during the first week of the bimonthly issue date (i.e., the beginning of November for the Nov-Dec issue). Toward the end of the year, corresponding reductions were realized in the average period between submission and publication of manuscripts.

2. Incoming Associate Editors include Jill Banfield (Tokyo), Anastasia Chopelas (Mainz), and Glenn Waychunas (Berkeley). We are pleased that Adrian Brearley, Charles Geiger, George Lager, Bob Luth, Ron Peterson, Nancy Ross, and (of course) Jonathan Stebbins agreed to extend their terms as Associate Editors for an additional year.

3. Volume 82 contains 1287 total pages consisting of 129 regular articles, nine letters, and additional material. The total number of scientific manuscript submissions in calendar year 1997 was 239, of which 25 were Letters. The rejection rate for all manuscripts was approximately 26%. The rejection/withdrawal rate for Letter manuscripts was approximately 50%, with about 15% converted to regular articles.

4. In September, incoming editors Robert Dymek and Anne Hofmeister assumed the editing duties for Volume 83. Bob and Anne took over complete responsibilities as Editors of American Mineralogist at the end of 1997. We wish them the same good fortune that benefited us over the past four years.

MSA members are urged to submit nominations for the MSA Award. There is no nomination form. A letter of nomination and a curriculum vita for the candidate are all that is needed. Additional letters of support (typically one to three) are welcome. Nominations and supporting materials will be accepted through June 30.

The Mineralogical Society Award is intended to recognize one or more outstanding published contributions to the science of "mineralogy" by a relatively young individual. The work must have been accomplished either 1 before the age of 35 and the candidate must be less than 37 on Jan. 1 of the year the award is given, or 2 within 7 years of the awarding of their degree. Mineralogy is broadly defined and the candidate need not qualify as a mineralogist. Rather, her/his published record should be related to the mineralogical sciences and should make some outstanding contribution to them.

It would be appreciated if the nominator, and all individuals writing letters of support, would send one original and an e-mail version of their correspondence to the Committee Chair. In that way much of the committee work can then be done by e-mail. This makes it easier and less expensive for the committee members, who are increasingly international, to do their work. Otherwise, the original and 5 copies should be sent to the Committee chair.

Nominations should be sent to the Chair of the MSA Award Nomination Committee:

e-mail: barton@geo.Arizona.edu

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The 20th Mineralogical Symposium sponsored jointly by the Friends of Mineralogy, the Tucson Gem and Mineral Society, and the Mineralogical Society of America will be held in conjunction with the 45th Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, Saturday February 13, 1999. The topic of the symposium will be Minerals of Mexico, the theme of the mineral show. The 1999 symposium is also dedicated to the honor of Dr. Miguel Romero for his outstanding efforts in the advancement of studies and preservation of Mexican Mineral specimens. Papers on descriptive mineralogy, paragenesis, classic and new locations, etc. are invited. An audience of knowledgeable amateurs as well as professional mineralogists and geologists is expected.

If you wish to present a paper, please write or call immediately James A. McGlasson, Symposium Co-chair ( The Collector’s Stope, 9641 East Hickory Tree Dr, Tucson, Arizona 85749 phone: (520) 760-1501, e-mail: jmcglasson@theriver.com) or Peter K. M. Megaw (President, IMDEX, Inc., P. O. Box 65538, Tucson, Arizona 85728 phone: (520) 529-02231, e-mail: pmegaw@imdex.com) with your topic, a few sentences describing the paper and your address, phone number, and e-mail. Presentations will be 15 or 20 minutes in length followed by a period for questions. Upon acceptance of topics all authors will be required to submit a 200 to 300 word abstract by September 15, 1998 (firm date). Those abstracts will be published in the January-February issue of the Mineralogical Record (subject to approval of the editor), which will be available for sale at the 45th Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.

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GEMOLOGICAL EQUIPMENT & TEXTS FOR SALE: A wide ranging set of gemological equipment, gemstone slides, gemological texts, gem and jewelry appraisal texts, and instructional course materials are being offered for sale. Equipment includes a Binocular Gemological Microscope, scales, ultraviolet lamp, gold tester, CZ-diamond tester. Items are being sold in groups rather than individual items. For a detailed list and costs, contact Lynn Metcalf, GG, GIA, (903) 876-5179 or e-mail: lynnm@e-tex.com

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The science of crystallography has played a key role in the development of X-ray diffraction, electron diffraction and neutron diffraction for the elucidation of the atomic structure of matter. Crystallography is an interdisciplinary branch of science taught in departments of physics, chemistry, geology, molecular biology, metallurgy and material science. To encourage promising graduate students to pursue crystallographically-oriented research, the International Centre for Diffraction Data (ICDD) has established a Crystallography Scholarship Fund. While the Ewald Prize is awarded every three years to an internationally recognized crystallographer, little effort has been made by science departments to cultivate aspiring crystallographers. Convinced of the beneficial, scientific impact of the proposed scholarships for crystallographically-oriented research, the ICDD has solicited funds from private and industrial sectors to support this program. The ICDD has awarded two scholarships in 1992, two in 1993, three in 1994, three in 1995, four in 1996, four in 1997, and five in 1998. Applications for the 1999 awards must be received by ICDD no later than 31 October 1998.

Qualifications for the applicant: The applicant should be a graduate student seeking a degree with major interest in crystallography e.g. crystal structure analysis, crystal morphology, modulated structures, correlation of atomic structure with physical properties, systematic classification of crystal structures, phase identification and materials characterization. There are no restrictions on country, race, age or sex. The term of the scholarship is one year. Application for one renewal may be made by the recipient at the end of the first year. Because a limited number of scholarships are awarded, renewal applications will be considered on a competitive basis in conjunction with all applications that have been submitted up to the closing date.

Submit: (1) Curriculum Vitae, listing degree(s) held and degree(s) sought. (2) A one-page proposal by the graduate student describing the type of crystallographic research to be partially supported by scholarship. (3) A supportive letter from the sponsoring professor of an accredited university or an institute of technology on institution letterhead.

Restrictions on the scholarship fund: (1) The scholarship stipend of $2,000 is to be used by the graduate student to help defray tuition and laboratory fees. A portion of the stipend may be applied to registration fees to accredited scientific meetings related to crystallography. (2) No more than one scholarship will be awarded to applicants at any one accredited institution per year. (3) The funds of the scholarship are not to be used for travel.

The awarding of the scholarships is administered by a committee consisting of the ICDD Chairman, the Chairman of the ICDD Technical Committee, the Chairman of the ICDD Education Subcommittee, and one or two individuals without conflict of interest. One or more accredited professors (with no conflicts of interest) may be invited to assist in the selection of successful candidates.

Applications must be received by 31 October 1998. Please mail to: Secretary, International Centre for Diffraction Data, 12 Campus Boulevard Newtown Square, PA 19073-3273 U.S.A.

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Chairman - Robert L. Snyder

Vice Chairman - R. A. Young

Treasurer - Julian Messick

General Manager - Ron Jenkins

Chairman, Technical Committee - Camden R. Hubbard

Members-at-Large - Board of Directors

James M. Kaduk Brian H. O'Connor

Do you save most things that come your way? Desperate to consolidate? Wondering where there might be a good home for the things you have collected so carefully? The MSA business office is interested in obtaining reference copies of early MSA publications and other ephemera. Specifically needed items include Special Paper #2 (on amphiboles and pyroxenes), early Reviews in Mineralogy, especially all editions of v. 5, Orthosilicates; and American Mineralogist. before 1981. MSA offices have a (tightly) bound set of American Mineralogist, but it is clear that we will need an unbound set of originals for scanning into electronic form. We have no originals before 1948 and all 1948-1981 issues were turned over to Kraus Reprint in 1982. Any copies of earlier MSA publications which the MSA offices do not need will either be used to fulfill the needs of some of its remote editors and volunteers, or used to fulfill orders. We receive a number of orders from foreign libraries for out of print issues of Reviews in Mineralogy. If we have been given a copy of what they need we sell it for the original sale price, which just about covers shipping costs and the donated book takes on a second useful life. MSA is also interested in acquiring any Society-related items from before 1970: ballots, directories, American Mineralogist Indices, committee reports, etc. Please tell us what you have, we may not even have known it existed! MSA would like to locate its corporate seal (last known impression from it was in 1982); and the archive of material listed in the 1973 Archivist’s Report. Any items can be picked up if you are not too far from the DC area.

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4-11 Geological Society of America Penrose Conference on " Processes of Crustal Differentiation: Crust-Mantle Interactions". Verbania, Italy. Details: T. Rushmer, Dept. of Geology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405. Tel.: 802-656-8136; Fax: 802-656-0045; E-mail: trushmer@zoo.uvm.edu .

5-10 18^th International Congress on Glass. San Francisco, California. Details: 18^th International Congress on Glass, The American Ceramic Society, 735 Ceramic Place, Westerville, OH 43081. E-mail: icgxviii@acers.org , WWW: http://www.acers.org

IAVCEI International Volcanological Congress '98. Rondebosch, South Africa. Details: Secretariat, IAVCEI 1998, Dept. of Geological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa. Fax: 27-21-650-3783, Email: ivc98@geology.uct. ac.za. WWW: http://www.uct.ac.za/depts/geolsci/ ivc98/.

12-16 Microscopy and Microanalysis 98 - Joint meeting of the Microscopy Society of America and the Microbeam Analysis Society. Atlanta, Georgia. Details: Microscopy & Microanalysis '98,c/o MSA Meeting Managers, 7000 West Southwest Highway, Chicago Ridge, IL 60415, Meeting Manager Email: MSAMeetingManager@MSA.Microscopy.Com, WWW: http://www.msa.microscopy.com.

19-24 American Crystallographic Association: 1998 Meeting. Washington, D. C. Details: T. A. Vanderah, NIST, Ceramics Division, Building 223, Room A256, Gaithersburg, MD 20899. Fax: 301-990-8729, E-Mail: terrell@credit.nist.gov.

ICCG12: Twelfth International Conference on Crystal Growth. International and Congresses Ltd., P.O. Box 29313, Tel Aviv 61292, Israel. Fax: 972 351 60604.

3-7 7^th Annual Denver X-ray Conference. Denver, Colorado. Details: Manager, Schools and Conferences, International Centre for Diffraction Data. 12 Campus Blvd., Newtown Square, Pennsylvania 19073-3273. Tel.: (610)-325-9814, Fax: (610)-325-9823, E-mail: clinics@icdd.com.

9-14 17^th General Meeting of the International Mineralogical Association. Toronto, Canada. Details: A. J. Naldrett, Dept. of Geology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada M5S 3B1 Tel.: (416) 978-3030: Fax: (416) 978-3938; E-mail: ima98@quartz. geology.utoronto.ca. WWW: http://www.geology. utoronto.ca/ima98

International Ophiolite Symposium and Field Excursion: "Generation and Emplacement of Ophiolites through Time". Oulo, Finland. Details: J. Vuollo, Dept. of Geology, University of Oulu, FIN-90570 Oulu, Finland. Fax: 358-81-5531484; E-mail: vuollo@sveka.oulu.fi or E. Hanski, Geol. Survey of Finland, P.O. Box 77, FIN-96101 Rovaniemi, Finland. Fax: 358-60-3297289; E-mail: eero.hanski@gsf.fi .

16-20 18^th European Crystallographic Meeting (ECM-18). Prague, Czech Republic. Details: R. Kuzel, ECM-18, Secretariat, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, 121 16 Praha 2, Ke Karlovu 5, Czech Republic. E-Mail: Kuzel@karlov.mff.cuni.cz.

17-19 9^th Regional Congress on Geology, Mineral and Energy Resources of Southeast Asia (GEOSEA '98). Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Details: GEOSEA '98 Secretariat, E-mail: geologi@po.jaring.my.

20-26 9^th International Conference on Geochronology, and Isotope Chemistry (ICOG-9). Beijing, China. Details: ICOG-9 Secretariat, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Baiwanhuang Road 26, Beijing 100037, P. R. China. Tel.: 86-(10)-6831-1545 and 86-(10)-6832-6456, Fax: 86-(10)-6831-1545, E-mail: liudunyi@public.bta.net.cn. WWW: http://cags.net.cn.

Can crystal structures be predicted? Dresden, Germany. Details: A. Nelles, Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina, POB 11 05 43, D-060919 Halle, Germany. Fax: 345 202 1727, E-mail: nelles@leopoldina.uni-halle.de.

23-27 American Chemical Society National Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts. Details: Sally Pecor, ACS News Service, 1155 16th St., N.W., Washington, DC 20036, (202) 872-4451, fax 202-872-4370, s_pecor@acs.org.

30-3 8^th Annual V. M. Goldschmidt Conference. Toulouse, France. Details: 8^th Annual V. M. Goldschmidt Conference, Laboratorie de Geochimie, 38, rue des 36 Pons, 31400 Toulouse, France. Tel.: 33-561-55-65-18 or 33-561-55-87-85, Fax: 33-561-52-05-44. E-mail: goldconf@lucid.ups-tlse.fr. WWW: http://www.obs-mip.fr/omp/umr5563/ goldconf98.html.

30-4 Clay Mineralogy and Petrology Conference and Workshop. International Geological Correlation Programme. Brno, Czech Republic, Details: Petr Sulovsky, Dept. of Mineralogy, Petrology, and Geochemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlarska 2, CZ 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic. Fax: 420-541211214, E-mail: clays@sci.muni.cz.

7-9 Microscopic Properties and Processes in Minerals - NATO Advanced Study Institute. Lucca, Italy. Details: Prof. Catlow, Royal Institution, Albemarle St., London W1X 4BS England. WWW: http://www.esc.cam.ac.uk/nato/

Mineral Forming Fluids and Ore Genesis. Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Details: Drs. Svetlana K. Smirnova and Vladimir V. Kozlov, Organizing Secretariat, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, 49 Khodzhibaev Str., Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Tel.: 7-371-162-65-16; Fax: 7-371-162-63-81, E-mail: symp@rubin.gov.uz.

20-25 8^th International Symposium on Deep Seismic Profiling of the Continents and their Margins. Barcelona, Spain.Details: J. Gallart , 8th Int. Symposium on Deep Seismic Profiling of the Continents and their Margins, Institute of Earth Sciences-CSIC, Lluis Sole Sabaris s/n , Barcelona Spain 08028 ; Tel.: +34.3.4900552; Fax; +34.3.4110012; E-mail: seismix98@ija.csic.es; WWW: caribe.ija.csic.es/seismix98/fcirc.html

22-25 Gold Exploration and Mining in NW Spain Oviedo, Spain. Details:: Daniel Arias Prieto, Facultad de Geología, Universidad de Oviedo, c/ Arias de Velasco s/n, 33005 Oviedo, Spain, Fax 34-8-5103087, E-mail: darias@asturias.geol.uniovi.es.

26-27 Evolution of Structures in Deforming Rocks. Canmore, Alberta, Canada. Details: Shoufa Lin, c/o Geological Survey of Canada, 601 Booth St., Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0E8, Canada, fax 613-995-7997, E-mail: slin@gsc.nrcan.gc.ca WWW: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/ess/cgd/ctg98/  

4-9 International Association for Mathematical Geology 4th Annual Meeting,.Island of Ischia, Italy. Details: Antonella Buccianti, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Univ. Florence, Via G. La Pira, 4 50121 Florence, Italy, phone 39-55-275-7496, fax 39-55-284-571, E-mail: buccianti@cesit1.unifi.it, WWW: http://www.unina.it/dgv/iamg98.html.

GEO-BERLIN '98 - A Joint Meeting of Deutsche Geologische Gesellschaft, Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft and other geoscientific societies. Berlin, Germany. Details: Frau Kaiser, Tel.: 49-30-314-21457, Fax: 49-30-314-24087, E-mail: kaiser@wtb.zuv.tu-berlin.de.

21-24 29^th Underwater Mining Institute Conference. Toronto, Canada. Topics of interest on minerals and mining. Special sessions on "Marine diamonds" and on "Marine research meets land exploration: the contributions of ocean drilling and other seabed research to land-based mineral exploration" Details: K. C. Morgan, UMI Conference Coordinator, 811 Olomehani Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813-5513. Tel. (808)-587-5320, Fax: (808)-587-5325, E-mail: mmtcuh@aol.com. WWW: http://www.geology.utoronto.ca/ODP/UMI.

Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. Toronto, Canada. Details: Geological Society of America, 3300 Penrose Place, Boulder, CO 80301. Tel.: (303)-447-2020, Fax: (303)-447-1133, WWW: http://geosociety.org/meetings/index.htm .

Beckman Center, Irvine, California. Topics to be covered include: mineral particulates and climate, biomineralogy, gas hydrates, zeolites, soil and surface mineralogy, and mining and the environment . Information and Registration: Edward Patte, National Academy of Sciences, NAS-146, 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20418. Tel: (202) 334-2445; Fax: (202) 334-2153; E-mail: epatte@nas.edu; Web site: http://www2.nas.edu/abstract/20fa.html.

The Origin of the Earth and Moon - Geochemical Society Topical Conference. Monterey, California. Details: LPI, 3600 Bay Area Blvd., Houston, TX 77058-1113.  Tel.: (281)-486-2158; Fax: (281)-486-2160, E-mail: simmons@lpi.jsc.nasa.gov.

6-10  Fall American Geophysical Union Meeting. San Francisco, California. Details: AGU Meetings Dept., 2000 Florida Ave., N. W., Washington D. C. 20009. Tel.: 1-800-966-2431 or (202)-462-6910, ext. 215; Fax: (202)-328-0566; E-mail: meetinginfo@kosmos .agu.org.

7-8 Mineralogy and the Environment. Aberdeen, UK. Details: J. Cotter-Howells, Dept. of Plant and Soil Science, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UU, Tel.44-(0)1224-272702; Fax: 44-(0)1224-272703; E-mail: j.cotter-howells@abdn.ac.uk. WWW: http://www.minersoc.org.

6-7 GEOVISION 99 (1^st Symposium on Imaging in Geology). Liege, Belgium. Details: Prof. Eric Pirard, University of Liege, Mica Geomaterials Characiterization, Avenues des Tilleuls, 54, 4000 Liege, Belgium. Tel.: 32-4-3669528; Fax: 32-4-3669520; E-mail: eric.pirard@ulg.ac.be.; WWW: http://www.lgih.ulg.ac.be/geovision.

26-28 Geological Association of Canada - Mineralogical Association of Canada Joint Annual Meeting. Sudbury, Ontario. Details: GAC-MAC Sudbury 1999, Dept. of Earth Sciences, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada P3E 2C6, Tel.: 705-673-6572; Fax: 705-673-6508; E-mail: gacmac99@nickel.laurentian.ca; WWW: http://www.laurentian.ca/www/geology/gacmac99.htm.

21-24 XV ECROFI (European current research on fluid inclusions). Potsdam, Germany. Details: Mrs., Claudia Rohl, GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Telegrafenberg, D--14473 Potsdam, Germany. Tel.: 49(0) 331 288 1436; E-mail: ecrofi@gfz-potsdam.de.

19-30   22^nd General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics. Birmingham, UK. Details: IUGG99, School of Earth Sciences, The University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham BIS 2TT, UK. Fax: 44121414 4942, E-mail: IUGG99@bham.ac.uk . WWW: http://www.bham. ac.uk/IUGG99/. (Abstract deadline January 15, 1999.)

31-2   Exhumation of Metamorphic Terranes (Metamorphic Studies Group). Rennes, France. Details: Michel Ballevre (michel.ballevre@univ-rennes1.fr), Simon Cuthbert (cuth-ce0@wpmail.paisley.ac.uk), Giles Droop (Giles.droop@man.ac.uk )

4-10 Euroclay 1999. Banska Stiavnica, Slovakia. Details: WWW: http://www.ing-pan.krakow.pl.

Third International Workshop on Orogenic Lherzolites and Mantle Processes. Pavia, Italy. WWW: http://www_crystal.unipv.it.

25-28 Geological Society of America. Denver, Colorado. Details: Becky Martin, GSA Meetings Dept. Boulder, CO 80301-9140. Tel.: (303)-447-2020, Fax: (303)-447-1133.

16-22 6^th International Council for Applied Mineralogy (ICAM 2000) . Gottingen and Hannover, Germany. Details: ICAM 2000 Office, P. O. Box 510153, D-30631 Hannover, Germany. WWW: http://www.bgr.de/ICAM2000.

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The following new members and students have joined MSA. We welcome them to the Society. The areas of interest on the application form have been increased in an attempt to cover the increasingly broader interests of our membership. They are: Mineralogy (MI), Crystallography/Crystal Chemistry (CC), Material Properties (PP), Igneous Petrology (IP), Metamorphic Petrology (MP), Sedimentary Petrology (SP), Geochemistry (GE), Phase Equilibria (PE), Economic Geology (EG), Clay Mineralogy (CM), Industrial Mineralogy (IM), Environmental Mineralogy (EM), Gems (GM), Planetary Materials (PM), Teaching (TC), Topologic Mineralogy (TP), Biological-Mineral Interactions (BM), and Others as indicated.

If you know of someone who would like or should join MSA, give them the membership application that appears in this issue of The Lattice, or is available from either MSA’s web site ( http://www.minsocam.org/MSAmember/MBRfrm96.html ) and the MSA Business Office, 1015 18th St NW Ste 601, Washington DC 20036-5274, USA.

Bernhardt, Ralf, Am Forlenwald 19, 69151 Neckargemund, GERMANY. Email: rbernhar@classic.min.uni-heidelberg.de. (S-98). CC IP MP GE PE EM

Coombs, Michelle L., Dept. of Geology & Geophysics, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775, USA. Ph: (907) 474-7375. Email: ftmic@aurora.alaska.edu. (S-98). IP GE

Eberl, Dennis D., U.S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine Street, Boulder, CO 80303-1066, USA. Ph: (303) 541-3028. Fax: (303) 447-2505. Email: ddeberl@usgs.gov. (M-98). CM GE

Hanson, Benjamin Z., SP-FR-18, Corning, Inc., Corning, NY 14831, USA. Ph: (607) 974-1054. Email: hansonbz@corning.com.   (M-98). GE MI IP MP SP PE CM PM

Ingrin, Jannick, Laboratoire de Mineralogie, UMR5563, 39 Allee Jules Guesde, 31000 Toulouse, FRANCE. Ph: +33 5 6155 8015. Fax: +33 5 6155 8023. Email: fmartin@cict.fr.  (M-98). MI PP CC IP PE IM PM

Joon, Rhee Syng, Dept. of Earth & Envronmental Sciences, Chungbuk National University, Cheonju 361-763, KOREA. Ph: +431 61 3136. Fax: +431 276 9645. Email: syngjoon@trut.chungbuk.ac.kr.  (S-98). MI CC

Joyce, David B., 30 Devon Street, Taunton, MA 02780, USA. Ph: (508) 822-8374. Email: dbjoyce1@aol.com.  (M-98). IP PP MP GE PE IM PM

Lengauer, Christian Leopold, Universitat Wien-Geozentrum, Institut fur Mineralogie und Kristallographie, Althanstrasse 14, A-1090 Vienna, AUSTRIA. Ph: +431 31336 1825. Fax: +431 31336 783. Email: christian.leupauer@uuive.ac.al.   (M-98). MI CC powder diffraction IM TC

Martinez-Alonso, Sara-Eva, University of Colorado, Boulder, CSES/CIRES, Campus Box 216, Boulder, CO 80309-0216, USA. Ph: (303) 492-5051. Fax: (303) 492-5070. Email: martinas@cses.colorado.edu.  (S-98). CM CC EG

McCracken, Christine M.C., Dept. of Geological Sciences, Univ. of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2, CANADA. Ph: (204) 474-8395. Fax: (204) 474-7623. Email: UMMCCRAC@CC.UMANITOBA.CA.  (S-98). MI CC TC

Russ, Rita Blake, 230 Bermuda Drive, Wilmington, NC 28401, USA. Ph: (910) 251-1444. Fax: (910) 343-9544. (S-98). MI TC

Stout, William Arnold, 2140 Howard Ave. #4, San Diego, CA 92104, USA. Ph: (619) 455-3277. (M-98). MI PM

Tarkyth, Dene J., 628 Victoria Street, Kingston, ON K7K 4S4, CANADA. Email: 7djt@qlink.queensu.ca.  (S-98). MI IP EG CM

Troitzch, Ulrike, Australian National University, Geology Department, Canberra ACT 0200, AUSTRALIA. Ph: +2 6249 4303. Fax: +2 6249 5544. Email: ulrike@geology.anu.edu.au.  (S-98). MP MI CC IP GE PE

Wolthers, Mariette, Fac. of Earth Sciences, P.O. Box 80021, NL-3508 TA Utrecht, THE NETHERLANDS. Ph: +31 (0)30 2535037. Fax: +31 (0)30 2535030. Email: wolthers@earth.ruu.nl.  (S-98). GE CC PE

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Contributions may be sent to Darrell Henry via surface mail at Department of Geology and Geophysics, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 or via E-mail at glhenr@unix1.sncc.lsu.edu.

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