Optical Mineralogy

1 Introduction to the microscopic study of minerals.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 The transmitted-light microscope.- 1.3 The appearance of thin sections using transmitted-light microscopy.- 1.4 Systematic description of minerals in thin section using transmitted light.- 1.4.1 Properties in plane polarized light.- 1.4.2 Properties under crossed polars.- 1.5 The reflected-light microscope.- 1.6 The appearance of polished sections under the reflected-light microscope.- 1.7 Systematic description of minerals in polished section using reflected light.- 1.8 Observations using oil immersion in reflected-light studies.- 1.9 Polishing hardness.- 1.10 Microhardness (VHN).- 1.11 Practical points on the use of the microscope (transmitted and reflected light).- 1.12 Preparation of thin and polished sections.- 2 Silicate minerals.- 2.1 Crystal chemistry of silicate minerals.- 2.2 Mineral descriptions.- 3 The non-silicates.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Arsenides.- 3.3 Carbonates.- 3.4 Halides.- 3.5 Hydroxides.- 3.6 Native elements.- 3.7 Oxides.- 3.8 Phosphates.- 3.9 Sulphates.- 3.10 Sulphides.- 3.11 Tungstates.- 4 Transmitted-light crystallography.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Refraction.- 4.3 The refractive index.- 4.4 The Becke effect and the Becke line.- 4.5 Birefringence and Newton’s Scale of Interference Colours.- 4.5.1 Anomalous interference colours.- 4.6 Isotropic and anisotropic minerals.- 4.7 The isotropic indicatrix.- 4.8 The uniaxial indicatrix.- 4.9 The biaxial indicatrix.- 4.10 Pleochroism.- 5 Reflected-light theory.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Colour of minerals in PPL.- 5.3 Isotropic and anisotropic sections.- Appendix A Refractive indices.- Appendix B 2V size and sign of biaxial minerals.- Appendix C Properties of ore minerals.- Appendix D Mineral identification chart.- Appendix EGangue minerals.