1st edition, July 2024 4660; 16954
Written by Dexter Perkins (University of North Dakota), Matt Kohn (Boise State University), and John Brady (Smith College).
Supported by University of North Dakota, Boise State University, Smith College, and National Science Foundation.
Preface
This book is intended to be a concise and straightforward reference that students can use when they examine thin sections. And we are publishing this on line, instead of in print, because it makes it available to everyone at no cost, and the internet allows an unlimited number of photographs and videos.
This book is about minerals and what they look like when viewed with an optical microscope. It does not include background information or discuss the theoretical aspects of mineral optics or petrography. For that information and discussion, we recommend the Optical Mineralogy chapter in Mineralogy (Perkins 2022). Alternatively, Johnson, Liu, and Peale’s Introduction to Petrology contains some excellent optical mineralogy tutorials.
To try to capture the variable nature of minerals, we have included diverse videos and photos (see Chapter 1 for photo navigation instructions). Do you want to see more? Many people have created websites that contain great collections of thin-section photos and videos. We will not try to list them all here, but some of our favorites (in no particular order) are:
■■Alessandro Da Mommio’s alexstrekeisen
■■Frank Mazdab’s rockPTX
■■Kurt Hollocher’s Petrology: Igneous Minerals and Petrology: Metamorphic Minerals
■■Dave Waters’ Atlas of Metamorphic Minerals in Thin Section
■■Robin Rohrback’s NOVA Mineralogy
■■Daniel Schulze’s An Atlas of Minerals in Thin Section
■■J.M. Derochette’s Microscopy and Mineral Images
■■Ruth Siddall’s Mineral Menu: A Catalog of Minerals & Textures in Thin Section
■■multiple authors at the Open University, UK: Virtual Microscope
A Note on Copyright
Most of the photos in this book are the property of the authors. You may use them subject to the Creative Commons restrictions listed below. However, some photos come from other websites (citations in figure captions), including some of those linked above. If you wish to use those photos, you should contact the website owners.
Creative Commons
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. It is intended for educational purposes only. Classroom and class use do not require attribution. Copy what you wish for handouts, add our images and drawings to labs or lectures — do any of that without a worry. Read more about limits on use by clicking on the Creative Commons link in blue above.
Ongoing Project
The nature of this kind of book means that it is always an ongoing project. If you see need for changes or additions of any sort, please email one of the authors at: dexter[dot]perkins[at]und[dot]edu, mattkohn[at]boisestate[dot]edu, or jbrady[at]smith[dot]edu. Minor corrections are made on a continual basis.
PDF Versions
There is no perfect way to get a printed version of this book because it contains no pagination. About the best way is to print copies of individual chapters to pdf files.