Print

Print
I agree entirely with Eric, both with regard to the epidotes and allanites report and more generally. I have felt for years (decades?) that the IMA has NOT served  our community well, and particularly not the petrologic community. As an example, I continue proudly to use the terms "sphene" and "hypersthene", although they have been officially banned by the IMA nomenclature police. I well understand the need for clear and unambiguous nomenclature to promote efficiency and accuracy of scientific communication, and the IUGS igneous rock nomenclature commissions by and large did a very good job of cleaning up the naming of igneous rocks in the 1970s and 1980s. But I would like to have someone who approves of  IMA's work to explain to me what is either ambiguous or unclear about sphene or hypersthene. If recommended nomenclature rules do not serve the two simple ends of promoting conciseness and a lack of ambiguity, then they are likely to be arbitrary and probably are unnecessary.

There is nothing wrong with committees or commissions making recommendations, but I particularly like Eric's suggestion that members of the relevant scientific societies should put these recommendations to a vote by the parties who will have to use them before such recommendations become official or editorial policy.

Bob T.

Eric Essene wrote:
[log in to unmask]" type="cite">All,
But is a stupid report.  It should be voted on by the entire membership, not a small committee.  Or have we turned to a dictatorial structure entirely?  Who is in charge here?
eric



On Feb 12, 2010, at 5:33 AM, Christian Chopin, ENS wrote:

Dear Shreya,

you may find  a good tutorial on how to handle EMP analyses of epidotes and allanites in the report of the IMA  epidote nomenclature committee, attached and available at
http://eurjmin.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/reprint/18/5/551
and a few more allanite-group minerals described in the attached paper.
With best wishes
Christian Chopin

Shreya Karmakar a écrit :
Dear All,
I am working on characterisation of REE minerals (allanite, monazite, pyrochlore,apatite) as part of my M.Sc. dissertation. It would be very helpful if anyone could please refer me to or send me some papers on geochemical analyses of allanite (using EPMA data) and its classification specially.. Regards,
Shreya.


-- 
==============================================
Christian Chopin                [log in to unmask]
Laboratoire de Geologie         fax: +33 1 44 32 20 00
Ecole normale superieure
24 rue Lhomond
75005 Paris, France
http://www.geologie.ens.fr/

    European Journal of Mineralogy website:
http://eurjmin.geoscienceworld.org/
http://www.schweizerbart.de/journals/ejm
    European Mineralogical Union website:
http://www.univie.ac.at/Mineralogie/EMU/
==============================================



--
Robert J

Dr. Robert J. Tracy

Professor of Geosciences

Department of Geosciences

5064 Derring Hall, Virginia Tech

Blacksburg VA 24061-0420

 

Office Phone:  540-231-5980

Fax: 540-231-3386

e-mail: [log in to unmask]