Mineralogy Research in George Rossman's Group
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences	Fall 2023	California Institute of Technology

Caltech Students and Major Collaborators at Caltech and Elsewhere

George Rossman mineralogy	William Palfey H in metal oxides	Eran Funaro Intervalence systems	Helen Evans Intervalence systems	Paolo Sanchez Mineral Synthesis	Seneca Villing Hydrothermal system minerals	Dr. Chi Ma  nanomineralogy GPS Analytical Facility	Dr. Robert Housley new minerals	Dr. Glenn Waychunas Luminescence LBNL

Current Projects in Mineralogy

1. Hydrous Components in Nominally Anhydrous Minerals
2. Analytical Calibration of the Spectrum of OH in Minerals
3. Spectroscopy of Minerals
        The RRUFF project
4. New minerals in meteorites and terresterial materials
5. Spectroscopy of manganese in minerals
6. Intervalence chanrge transfer in minerals
7. Benitoite synthesis and origin of color

Previous Projects in Mineralogy

1. Silica products of basaltic weathering
2. OH in crustal minerals - feldspars and pyroxenes
3. Nano-phases in rose quartz
4. The origin of green color in quartz from amethyst deposits
5. Martian Surface Mineralogy
6. Instrumentation development - tunable laser spectrometer
7. Undergraduate Research: nano-inclusions in minerals
8. Undergraduate Research: Temperature dependence of OH in minerals
9. Undergraduate Research: OH in tourmaline
10. Undergraduate Research: thermochromic garnets
11. Undergraduate Research: Studies of the rare mineral painite
12. Undergraduate Research: OH in spodumene

Most-recent postdocs

Former graduate students

Visitors

Our laboratory facilities

Publication list including data files and figures from recent publications

The Mineral Spectroscopy Server

On-line information on the absorption spectra and color of minerals.

• Data files available as ASCII (wavelength, absorbance) pairs [more than a thousand files]
• Images of selected mineral spectra
• Extensive references to mineral optical spectroscopy  [more than 600 references] 

  PLUS

• information on manganese dendrites [They are not pyrolusite!]
• information of desert varnish
• information on ametrine [amethyst - citrine bicolored quartz]
• information on painite [ formerly one of the rarest minerals]

Go to the Mineral Spectroscopy Server 

Other Mineral-related science at Caltech:

See a journey down a tourmaline crystal:  animation through slices of Madagascar liddicoatite