Elements, Oxides, Silicates: High Pressure Phases With Implications for the Earth's Interior [Book Review]

Abstract

A vitally important aspect of understanding the composition, structure, and processes acting within the solid Earth is obtaining a complete as possible knowledge of the fields of stability of the Earth's component minerals and their high-pressure polymorphs with respect to pressure and temperature. Liu and Bassett's book is the first effort which has focused on bringing together the available phase diagrams for the elements, oxides, and silicates that are relevant to the understanding of Earth's and the other terrestrial planetary interiors. Since the book also covers the elements and compounds important to the shallow region of the mantles of the major planets (e.g., H_2 , He, C, and H_2O), it is an invaluable source of data for scientists studying the interiors of these planets as well. An initial introductory chapter lays out, in very condensed form, the relation of phase diagrams to thermodynamic properties. Crystal chemical principles are summarized, as well as the main features of the techniques and apparatus employed to obtain the data summarized in the remainder of the book. Although references to apparatus papers are numerous and well chosen, references to works which relate thermodynamic properties to construction of phase diagrams are lacking. Table 1.3, a summary of the ionic radii of elements in different coordinations appears to me to be the most valuable part of Chapter 1.