June 2005

Volume 1, Number 3

ISSN 1811-5209

Genesis:
Rocks, Minerals, and the Geochemical Origin of Life
Geochemical Connections to Primitive Metabolism
Mineral Catalysis and Prebiotic Synthesis
Geochemical Influences on Life’s
Origins and Evolution
Sketches for a
Mineral Genetic
Material
 A BOUT THE COVER :
Volume 1, Number 3 • June 2005
Elements is published jointly by the A key step in life’s
Mineralogical Association of Canada, the origin must have been
Geochemical Society, The Clay Minerals the self-assembly of
Society, the European Association for membrane-forming
Geochemistry, the International
Association of GeoChemistry, the 135 Genesis: Rocks, Minerals, molecules into cell-

Mineralogical Society of America, and and the Geochemical shaped hollow spheres,
called vesicles. These
the Mineralogical Society of Great
Britain and Ireland. It is provided as a Origin of Life green-fluorescing
benefit to members of these societies. vesicles, which range
Robert M. Hazen Guest Editor from 10 to 50 microns
Elements will be published two more
in diameter, form
times in 2005. Individuals are
spontaneously in
encouraged to join any one of the
Geochemical Connections
participating societies to receive 139 to Primitive Metabolism
water. Recent studies
show that fine-grained
Elements. Institutional subscribers to any
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Mineralogist, The Canadian Mineralogist, the formation of these
Clays and Clay Minerals—will also receive structures.
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145 Montmorillonite-Catalyzed Formation of RNA
DAVID DEAMER AND
ROBERT HAZEN
managing editor for information. James P. Ferris
Copyright ©2005 by the Mineralogical
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All rights reserved. Reproduction in any

Geochemical Influences on Life’s Origins
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Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 164
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Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
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129

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SCIENTIFIC EDITORS
RODNEY C. EWING, University of
Michigan (rodewing@umich.edu)
MICHAEL F. HOCHELLA JR., Virginia
Tech (hochella@vt.edu)
IAN PARSONS, University of
Edinburgh (ian.parsons@ed.ac.uk)
ADVISORY BOARD
PETER C. BURNS, University of Notre
Dame, USA
RANDALL T. CYGAN, Sandia National
Laboratories, USA
ROBERTO COMPAGNONI, Università
degli Studi di Torino, Italy
ADRIAN FINCH, University of
St Andrews, UK
BICE FUBINI, Università degli Studi
di Torino, Italy
MONICA GRADY, The Natural History
Museum, UK
JOHN E. GRAY, US Geological Survey
ALAIN MANCEAU, CNRS, Grenoble,
France
DOUGLAS K. MCCARTY, Chevron
Texaco, USA
KLAUS MEZGER, Universität Münster,
Germany
JAMES E. MUNGALL, University
of Toronto, Canada
TAKASHI MURAKAMI, University
of Tokyo, Japan
HUGH O’NEILL, Australian National
University, Australia
NANCY ROSS, Virginia Tech, USA
EVERETT SHOCK, Arizona State
University, USA
NEIL C. STURCHIO, University
of Illinois at Chicago, USA
JOHN W. VALLEY, University
of Wisconsin–Madison, USA
DAVID J. VAUGHAN, The University
of Manchester, UK
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
JEREMY B. FEIN, Geochemical Society
NORMAN M. HALDEN, Mineralogical
Association of Canada
JOHN M. HUGHES, Mineralogical
Society of America
KATHRYN L. NAGY, The Clay
Minerals Society
ERIC H. OELKERS, European
Association for Geochemistry
RUSSELL S. HARMON, International
Association of GeoChemistry
PETER TRELOAR, Mineralogical
Society of Great Britain and Ireland
Managing Editor
PIERRETTE TREMBLAY
Pierrette_tremblay@inrs-ete.uquebec.ca
EDITORIAL OFFICE
INRS-ETE
490, de la Couronne
Québec (Québec) G1K 9A9 Canada
Tel.: 418-654-2606
Fax: 418-654-2525
Layout: POULIOT GUAY GRAPHISTES
Printer: CARACTÉRA
The opinions expressed in this maga-
zine are those of the authors and do
not necessarily reflect the views of
the publishers.
www.elementsmagazine.org
ELEMENTS
Ed it o ria l
Jumping Across the Colorado
When I was a teenager I have been reflecting on statements like these
back in the early 1970s, I since, wondering why they bother me so
drove solo from Houston, much. What is the public supposed to take
Texas to San Diego, away from such grand statements? And
California across nearly suddenly I had answered my own question, at
2,400 km of uninterrupted least to my satisfaction. These writers are just
and enchanted desert in parroting what every casual observer of the
the American Southwest. planet has uttered since the dawn of human-
For me, the highlight of kind. Nature will have its way, and there is
the trip was to see the not much, if anything, we can do about it.
Colorado River that far south, long after it After all, Nature is all powerful, right? And
had passed through the Grand Canyon and therein lies the rub. If we were still sitting in
just before it disappeared into caves, such contemplation
Mexico. But after I passed Yuma, would be perfectly acceptable,
Arizona, I was soon greeted by
“Even today, with… even beneficial to our survival.
the “Welcome to California” more Earth aware- But in the modern age, despite
sign, and I immediately realized ness and education what many in the popular
to my amazement, and disgust, than ever, the press would have us believe,
that I must have driven right public still often Nature in many ways now
over one of the world’s great
gets sent the wrong depends on us, not the other
rivers, in a desert no less, and way around. Witness global
not even noticed! Bewildered
message.” atmospheric chemistry and
and too impatient to wait for temperature; witness the fact
the next exit to turn around, I made an illegal that many population biologists say that we
U-turn on the interstate highway and retraced may be in the midst of the sixth mass
my steps, determined to find out why I had extinction event since the Cambrian explo-
been so blind. In fact, I had not been. There sion; witness the estimation that humankind
was the Colorado River all right, separating moves more Earth materials (rock and soil) on
Arizona and California just as advertised, but an annual basis than all geologic Earth
lying humbly in no more than a glorified movers (rivers, glaciers, even tectonics)
drainage ditch, so narrow that it seemed I combined. Oh, and what about the Colorado
could jump across without getting wet. The River? Actually, just before it enters Mexico, it
mighty and fabled Colorado had been has made a comeback since my teenage days.
reduced to this? At such a young age, I was But it should be noted that it is not due to all-
shocked and, as I was soon to discover, powerful Nature, but to us via water treaties
terribly naïve. with Mexico.
Fast forward to December 26, 2004—the day What can we learn from this? Even today,
of the unimaginable horror of the Sumatra with a sophisticated press and more Earth
earthquake and tsunami. The Earth is a awareness and education than ever, the public
dynamic place, and these things are geologi- still often gets sent the wrong message. In this
cally routine, but they are no less deeply case, the message should have been that
painful. The world’s journalists were all over humankind is subject to aspects of Nature’s
this event, of course, publishing story after power that we will never control, but in other
story, week after week, with lots of commen- ways we are now a global force to be reckoned
tary by writers who clearly don’t think about with, and we had better accept our role and
the Earth as much as we do. My wife, also an pay attention to what is happening. Certain-
environmental scientist, started showing me ly, as residents of the third rock from the Sun,
statements in the nationally and internation- we have come a long way in paying attention.
ally syndicated press like these: “Last Sunday’s But in my opinion, garnered from my partic-
tsunamis offered yet another humbling lesson ular vantage point as a researcher and teacher,
that the power of Nature far exceeds the we still have a long, long way to go.
reach—indeed the imagination—of man.” Michael F. Hochella Jr.
And this: “…Mother Nature proves to be the Hochella@vt.edu
worst of all terrorists in the horror of her
sudden assault on innocents. We have never
controlled the ways of
NOTE FROM THE EDITORS: we are
Mother Nature…”
interested in hearing from you
regarding Mike’s editorial and any
of the other features.
131 J UNE 2005
 Lette rs t o t h e E dit o rs

I have just finished reading the second issue of Elements and I am

greatly impressed, as I was with the first issue, by the quality of the
scientific papers, the very informative discussions of the various
contributing societies’ activities, and the beautiful page layout, with
lots of color. Congratulations to you and your co-editors for this great
contribution to our sciences.
Malcolm Ross, Washington, USA
NOTE FROM THE EDITORS: We received several similar congratulatory
letters. We are glad you enjoyed the diamond issue. We thank once
again Guest Editor George Harlow for assembling such a fine line-up
of papers and all the authors and contributors to that issue.
I t was great to be able to download the full first issue. I am using
some of the figures for teaching. I noticed that for the March 2005
diamonds issue, only the first 10 pages are available in the PDF
W e recently received the first two issues of Elements. Apparently
they have come with our subscription to Clays and Clay Minerals
and The Canadian Mineralogist. I note from the inside cover that we
will receive free issues for 2005; however before I go ahead and have
them catalogued, it would be useful to know what is to happen after
that i.e., will we need to enter a subscription for 2006 or will we
continue to receive complimentary issues as long as we maintain our
other subscriptions?
Sue Watt, University of Auckland Library, New Zealand
NOTE FROM THE EDITORS: Institutional subscribers to American Mineralo-
gist, Clays and Clay Minerals, and The Canadian Mineralogist receive
complimentary copies of Elements. It is the intention of the societies
publishing these journals to keep offering complimentary copies of
Elements to their corporate subscribers, for 2006 and beyond.

version. Will there be a full PDF available?

Carl B. Agee, University of New Mexico, USA

I received the latest issue of Elements focusing on diamonds and was

impressed. I would like to be able to use some of this material for
teaching. In your future negotiations with the other participating
Leaf and stem micro
synchrotron x-ray
fluorescence images taken
societies, I urge you to try to make the articles available in html or at the advanced light
source Lawrence Berkeley
some other format (perhaps with a password for society members) National Lab (ALS-LBNL),
so that the pictures and figures can be downloaded. If this is already Berkeley, California
possible, please let me know; I didn’t see any links to the articles
on the Elements web page.
Robert Linnen, University of Waterloo, ON, Canada

I ssue 2 of Elements is fantastic. So good in fact that I could use it in

teaching my third year class in “Topics in Mineralogy” when we
cover diamonds. Are there extra copies so that I could give each of the
IN THE NEXT ISSUE, READ ABOUT
13 students one? If not, I can photocopy what I need, but your colours
are so good!
Metals in the Environment
Ron C. Peterson, Queen’s University, ON, Canada
Donald L. Sparks, Guest Editor
Metals are prevalent in the environment. They are derived from
NOTE FROM THE EDITORS: If Elements is used in the classroom, one of
both natural and anthropogenic sources. Certain metals are essen-
our key objectives has been met. Our main emphasis has been to get
tial for plant growth and for animal and human health. However,
Elements up and running. However, we will now turn our attention
at excessive levels they are toxic. Metals undergo an array of
to the electronic version of Elements. At our next editorial meeting on
processes, including sorption/desorption, precipitation/dissolu-
May 20, we will discuss the feasibility of putting Elements online and
tion, and oxidation/ reduction, with reactive natural surfaces such
how best to make the electronic version available to members. In the
as clay minerals, metal oxides, humic substances, plant roots, and
meantime, we have decided to post a PDF file of each issue we will
microbes. These biogeochemical processes control the solubility,
publish in 2005 shortly after most members receive their printed
mobility, bioavailability, and toxicity of the metals. This issue of
copy (www.elementsmagazine.org). We see this as a way to publicize
Elements will explore research frontiers in the areas of metal mobil-
Elements and to get people outside of our scientific communities to
ity and reaction mechanisms on natural surfaces. These advances
use it.
will be explored at multiple scales, using state-of-the-art analytical
After getting several requests for additional copies, we have decided techniques.
to offer additional copies at the following rates:
Number of copies Price each (US$) Earth’s Nano-Compartment for Toxic Metals
Michael F. Hochella Jr. and Andrew S. Madden (Virginia Tech, USA)
1–4 $20
5–10 $15 Metal Retention and Transport on Particles in the Environment
Ruben M. Kretzschmar (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
10 or more $12
(ETH, Zurich) and Thorsten Schäfer
The pricing reflects the cost to process and ship an order. (Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Germany)
Shining Light on Metals in the Environment
I receive duplicate copies of Elements, with one sent to “Dr. J. William
Miller Jr.” and another to “J. William Miller Jr.”, with virtually the
same address. The journal is wonderful, but I cannot read two any
David H. McNear Jr., Ryan Tappero, and Donald L. Sparks
(University of Delaware, USA)
faster than one. Synchrotron X-ray Investigations of Mineral–Metal–Microbe
J.W. Miller, University of North Carolina at Asheville, USA Interactions and their Effects on Metal Transformations
Kenneth M. Kemner, Edward J.O. O’Loughlin, Shelly D. Kelly,
NOTE FROM THE EDITORS: We try to eliminate duplication as much as and Maxim I. Boyanov (Argonne National Laboratory, USA)
possible, and in fact the routine that Alex Speer and Gordon Nord
use at MSA eliminates all but 1% of the duplicate addresses. If you do Trace-Metal Sorption on Biogenic Manganese Oxides
receive several copies, please let us know. We also encourage you to Mario Villalobos (National Autonomous University of Mexico),
use your extra copy to promote Elements: give it to a deserving John Bargar (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, USA), and
student or to a colleague who should belong to one of the participat- Garrison Sposito (University of California at Berkeley, USA)
ing societies, put it in the student lounge, send it to a funding
agency or put it to any other good use.

ELEMENTS 132 J UNE 2005

 Triple P o in t

Voices from our Past

Peter J. Heaney1

I
’m guessing that most of you never got to know
Howard Evans. Now that Howard has passed away,
you’ve missed the chance to hear him talk.
I blame myself for that.
Howard was an X-ray crystallographer who deter-
mined the structures of over 100 minerals during his
42 years with the U.S. Geological Survey. Our lives
intersected in 1990 when I was a postdoctoral
researcher with Jeff Post at the Smithsonian. Jeff and
I were working on a rare mineral called bannisterite,
an Fe,Mn-sheet silicate with a so-called modulated
structure. Whereas most micas contain negatively
charged layers bonded by cations, the silicate sheets
in modulated layer structures are connected by inverted tetrahedral
bridges.
Bannisterite was the first modulated layer silicate for which a high- Howard Evans in 1966
resolution structure was achieved, but Jeff and I were not the first to
stake this claim. An Australian mineralogist named Ian Threadgold “That was Howard. He’s got the R-factor down to 10.” I was stunned.
had solved the structure of the anhydrous variant. Threadgold For non-crystallographers, Jeff’s words require translation: “Howard
published his results only as a brief abstract in a regional seminar has cracked the problem, and he is leaving us the final bit of house-
volume, and he then switched careers to breed dogs in the Australian keeping.” Straight away, we headed to Reston and listened with some
bush. Steve Guggenheim, an expert on modulated layer silicates, wistfulness as Howard happily described how he
implored Threadgold to write up the structure skirted the barriers that defeated us. His ploy was
properly, but to no avail. Steve had the full structure entirely counter-intuitive and should never have
solution in his hands, but he could neither publish “If you admire a succeeded, but Howard’s bag of tricks had grown
another person’s data under his own byline nor
scientist in the twilight enormously large over his career. I marveled at his
pretend to solve a structure for which he already knew
the solution. of an illustrious career, ingenuity.
After Threadgold’s untimely death in 1990, Steve
grab a tape recorder Over the next few months, as we tussled over the
remainder of the refinement, I grew to admire
asked us to attack the problem. With Jeff’s old Picker and talk with her or Howard in another way. His extraordinary grasp of
diffractometer and its PDP-11 computer, I began him for an hour anecdotal detail made him the best storyteller I have
collecting 15,000 X-ray reflections from two bannis-
or two.” ever encountered. Howard was integral to the effort
terite crystals from Broken Hill, Australia and that garnered Jerome Karle and Herbert Hauptman
Franklin, New Jersey. By the late spring we finally had their Nobel Prize in 1985 for the invention of the
the data in hand and started to process it. But after symbolic addition procedure, which solved an age-old
solving part of the structure, we hit a roadblock. Days of toying with problem in diffraction analysis. Howard’s description of their race to
new approaches turned into weeks, and it became clear that we validate the method
needed the advice of a person with a lifetime of X-ray experience before an impending
under his belt. conference provided an
Jeff gave Howard a call, and the next day we were sitting in Howard’s edge-of-the-seat thrill
lab with the detritus of our failed attempts littering a lab bench in each time I heard it.
front of us. As Jeff took Howard through each of our unsuccessful I resolved that I would
tries, I could not help but remark how much Howard reminded me record it on tape for
of Linus Pauling—partly from the wild spray of snow-white hair that future generations.
sprouted around the sides of his head, but mostly it was the manner- Sadly, my interview
isms of a man who is intensely in love with puzzles. Each description with Howard never
of a failed effort elicited a quiet but knowing chuckle. materialized.
When we completed our litany of woes, Howard told us that he had a I researched the proper
few ideas to try over the weekend. Would we leave our data with him? approach for oral
I will admit to a serious skepticism that progress was imminent, but historiography and was
I gladly left all our real and virtual material behind for the prospect overwhelmed by the
of a guilt-free interlude of thinking about anything other than number of thou-shalt-
crystallography. not pronouncements.
I was distracted by the
As I walked into Jeff’s office the next Monday morning, Jeff was broad assortment of
returning the phone receiver to its cradle. He turned to me and said, crises that attend every Howard’s hand drawing of the tetrahedral sheet in
academic career. I the bannisterite structure. Howard, who eschewed
computer graphics, had a showing of his crystallo-
1 Penn State University assumed that each new graphic renditions at a local art gallery.
heaney@geosc.psu.edu year provided me with a

ELEMENTS 133 J UNE 2005

 Triple P o in t

fresh opportunity to make good The CHP offers extensive support

on my promise. for oral historiography in the
form of grants, transcription, and
That last assumption was proved
curation. Bob Hazen, president
devastatingly wrong when Jeff
of MSA and also a distinguished
called in January 2000 to tell me
historian, has suggested that
that Howard had died from a
members of the American
heart attack. My sense of
Geophysical Union (a subsidiary
personal loss was compounded
of the AIP) may be able to take
with profound regret from my
advantage of the CHP, and we
procrastination. An important
are exploring this possibility.
part of our community’s history
disappeared with Howard—the In the meantime, we all need
human element that rarely is to be a little more active in the
translated through the parched protection of our professional
papers that announce our heritage. If you admire a scientist
scientific discoveries. in the twilight of an illustrious
career, grab a tape recorder and
Physicists seem to understand
talk with her or him for an hour
better than geoscientists the
or two. At the CHP website
importance of preserving their
(www.aip.org/history/ctrbro.htm),
best stories. Physics Today
you will find some very simple
routinely contains eyewitness
tips to optimize the quality of
accounts of lives spent in the labs
your interview. And don’t make
of the great sages of the last
my mistake of waiting for a better
time. For Howard, it’s too late. .
century, and the American
Institute of Physics (AIP) sponsors
the Center for History of Physics.

ELEMENTS 134 J UNE 2005

 Genesis: Rocks, Minerals,
and the Geochemical Calcite crystal surfaces

Origin of Life may have adsorbed

and organized
molecules essential to
the origin of life.

Robert M. Hazen, Guest Editor 1

1978), provide plausible solutions.

L
ife arose on the young Earth as a natural chemical process. More than
But when it comes to energetic
half a century of experimental research has underscored the dynamic organizing surfaces, nothing beats
interactions of atmosphere, oceans, and rocks that fostered this ancient minerals.
transition from geochemistry to biochemistry. Researchers on the origin of The ability of crystalline surfaces
life now conclude that rocks and minerals must have played key roles in to select and organize molecules is
virtually every phase of life’s emergence—they catalyzed the synthesis of key beautifully illustrated in the work
of Stephen Sowerby and col-
biomolecules; they selected, protected, and concentrated those molecules; leagues, who exposed ideally flat
they jump-started metabolism; and they may even have acted as life’s first cleavage faces of graphite (C) and
genetic system. molybdenite (MoS2) to solutions
of adenine, guanine, and other
KEYWORDS: origin of life, biogenesis, metabolism, genetics, adsorption biologically interesting organic
species (Sowerby et al. 1996, 1998)
INTRODUCTION Not only are these cyclic mole-
cules strongly adsorbed to the mineral surfaces, but they
Few scientific questions so capture the public imagination,
also adopt elegant two-dimensional structures (FIG. 1). Such
or provoke such lively debate, as how life on Earth
an organized molecular assembly might represent an early
emerged. In this issue of Elements, four of the most creative
step in the emergence of life.
minds in origins research present their original insights on
the geochemical origins of life. Each author has studied the
field in depth, and each has come to an inescapable con-
clusion: rocks and minerals must have played a pivotal role
in the transition from the blasted, prebiotic Earth to the liv-
ing world we now inhabit.
The contributions of rocks and minerals to life’s geochem-
ical origins were not always so well appreciated. The pio-
neering experiments of University of Chicago graduate stu-
dent Stanley Miller and his mentor, Harold Urey, revealed
that organic molecules essential to biology form abundant-
ly when a simple mixture of reduced gases is subjected to
electrical sparks (Miller 1953; Miller and Urey 1959).
Within a decade, a growing army of origins chemists fol-
lowed their lead to synthesize most of life’s essential mole-
cules—amino acids, lipids, sugars, and more (Wills and
Bada 2000). Their conclusion: the primordial soup was
pregnant with life’s building blocks (Chyba and Sagan
1992).

MOLECULAR SELECTION
Deep mysteries remained. The vast volume of Earth’s early
oceans would have hopelessly diluted the concentration of
synthetic organic molecules, no matter how abundantly
they were produced. How could such dispersed molecules
ever combine into self-replicating entities? Any viable ori-
gins scenario thus requires a means to select and concen-
trate just the right molecules from that watery prebiotic
broth. Energetic interfaces, such as a primitive oil slick or FIGURE 1 Adenine, a biomolecule that contributes to both meta-
bolic and genetic processes (C5H5N5; illustrated as clus-
an evaporating tidal pool (Lasaga et al. 1971; Lahav et al.
ters of 15 smaller white, silver, and blue spheres, which represent
hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen atoms, respectively), forms a periodic
two-dimensional structure on molybdenite (MoS2; illustrated as larger
1 Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution and NASA
yellow and blue spheres, which represent sulfur and molybdenum
Astrobiology Institute,
atoms, respectively). Similar molecular adsorption and organization on
5251 Broad Branch Road NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA
mineral surfaces may have played a central role in life’s origin (after
E-mail: r.hazen@gl.ciw.edu
Sowerby et al. 1996).

ELEMENTS, VOL. 1, PP 135–137 135 J UNE 2005

My own work focuses on the ability of minerals to adsorb
interesting biomolecules selectively. One of life’s most puz-
zling biochemical quirks is its high degree of molecular
selectivity. Consider amino acids, the building blocks of
proteins, as an example. Nature boasts dozens upon dozens
of different kinds; more than 70 different amino acids have
been extracted from the Murchison meteorite alone.
What’s more, most amino acids come in mirror image left-
and right-handed forms, but for some reason life uses only
about 20 of these varied species, and it employs the left-
handed kinds almost exclusively.
A or genetics? Metabolism is the ability to manufacture bio-
B two aspects of life arose simultaneously or independently
A calculated model of aspartic acid adsorption onto the
FIGURE 2
calcite {214} surface reveals three strong interactions:
two between Ca in calcite (green spheres) and O in the amino acid
(orange spheres), and one between O in the calcite (red spheres) and H
in the amino acid (white spheres). Grey and blue spheres represent car-
bon and nitrogen atoms, respectively. (A) Side view; (B) top view.
The essential amino acid aspartic acid occurs in both left-handed (L)
and right-handed (D) forms, but life uses the L form almost exclusive-
ly. Experiments (Hazen et al. 2001) and theoretical calculations
(Asthagiri et al. 2004) reveal that the common calcite {214} crystal sur-
face strongly selects for D-aspartic acid, whereas the mirror-image face
selects L-aspartic acid.
ELEMENTS
What process selected this idiosyncratic subset of molecules
during the origin of life? A possible answer lies in the
behavior of everyday minerals like quartz and calcite,
which we find are able to select and concentrate specific
biological amino acids from an equimolar mix (Churchill et
al. 2004). In addition, certain crystal faces of these and
other minerals display an aptitude for adsorbing handed or
“chiral” molecules (Hazen et al. 2001; Hazen and Sholl
2003; Hazen 2004; FIG. 2). Perhaps in this way minerals pro-
vided the organizing template for life.
METABOLISM AND GENETICS
Among the many lively ongoing debates in origin-of-life
research is the conundrum of which came first, metabolism
molecules from a source of energy (such as sunlight) and
matter scavenged from the surroundings (usually in the
form of small molecules). An organism cannot survive and
grow without an adequate supply of energy and matter.
Genetics, by contrast, is the process by which biological
information is transferred from one generation to the
next—a blueprint for life via the mechanisms of DNA and
RNA. An organism cannot reproduce without a reliable
means to pass on this genetic information.
The problem for understanding life’s origins is that metab-
olism and genetics constitute two separate, chemically dis-
tinct systems in cells, yet they are inextricably linked in
modern life. DNA holds genetic instructions to make hun-
dreds of molecules essential to metabolism, while metabo-
lism provides both the energy and the basic building blocks
to make DNA and other genetic materials. Like the dilem-
ma of the chicken and the egg, it is difficult to imagine
back to a time when metabolism and genetics were not
intertwined. Consequently, origin-of-life researchers
engage in an intense, ongoing debate about whether these
and, if the latter, which one came first (Orgel 1986;
Morowitz 1992).
Mineralogy offers insights into this debate, for various min-
erals may have played many different roles in the transition
from geochemistry to biochemistry. Modern life, for the
most part, provides few clues about this rocky start, but the
complex enzymes that promote cellular metabolism may
represent a dramatic exception. Biocatalysts in the form of
protein enzymes assist metabolic reactions, which build
life’s essential components from small molecules like H2O
and CO2. These enzymes commonly incorporate a small
cluster of transition metal and sulfur atoms at the so-called
“active site,” where the critical electron transfer process
takes place (Beinert et al. 1997). In many modern enzymes,
this metal–sulfur cluster looks just like a tiny bit of sulfide
mineral. Building on these observations and a flurry of fas-
cinating theoretical speculations (notably Wächtershäuser
1992), George Cody and coworkers at the Carnegie
Institution exploit this intriguing biochemical observation
in their studies of sulfide-catalyzed organic reactions at ele-
vated temperatures and pressures—conditions that mimic
prebiotic hydrothermal environments. In this issue, Cody
explores how such mineral-catalyzed reactions may have
jump-started a primitive metabolic cycle. Perhaps the first
life-like chemical system was a cycle of metabolic reactions
driven by the redox potential of iron and nickel sulfides.
Noted origins expert James Ferris of Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute begins from a different perspective, that of the
molecular biologist. Ferris and his colleagues argue that life
must have begun with the first self-replicating genetic
molecule, such as RNA. His transforming studies of clay-
catalyzed formation of RNA polymers have made headlines
136 J UNE 2005
and have proven extremely influential in the origins
research community. His sweeping review in this issue
recounts a quarter-century of progress toward under-
standing how clay minerals might have adsorbed, selected,
organized, and catalyzed the building blocks of life’s genetic
machinery.
Famed University of Chicago mineralogist Joseph V. Smith,
echoing the work of Cody and Ferris, sees minerals as both
effective templates for the selection of molecules and likely
catalysts for the initiation of biochemical reactions. Smith,
however, focuses on zeolites and other mesoporous
minerals—materials that have molecule-sized pores and are
produced abundantly through the action of primordial
volcanism.
LIVING CLAYS
And then we come to the extraordinary vision of Glasgow-
based Graham Cairns-Smith, who proposes that the emer-
gence of life was not just promoted by a mineral, but that
the first lifeform was perhaps a clay mineral itself. Even the
most chauvinistic geoscientist might balk at such a claim,
but Cairns-Smith’s ideas have been taken very seriously by
the origin-of-life community, and his almost four decades
of provocative publications are among the most widely
cited in the field. In elegant and persuasive prose, he sug-
gests that clay minerals carry a kind of genetic information
in their complex sequences of point defects, layer orienta-
tions, and metal cation substitutions. Clays themselves
undergo natural selection and evolution as they dissolve
and precipitate, he says. The most “fit” sequences win in
this Darwinian struggle for survival. For Cairns-Smith, clay
minerals were indeed the first lifeforms on Earth.
In the hands of a lesser scholar, such a proposition might
have been rejected out of hand, but Cairns-Smith com-
mands close attention and broad respect. His work is deeply
rooted in the philosophy of biology—What is life? he asks,
and what characteristics serve to distinguish the living
from the dead? All known life today is carbon based, with
cellular structures enclosing a DNA-based genetic system,
but was that always so, and must it be the same on other
worlds? By exploring the life-like properties of hypothetical
evolving clays and by proposing detailed (if as yet techni-
cally impossible) experiments, he is squarely in the main-
stream of the scientific enterprise.
Scientists are still far from understanding the ancient, intri-
cate processes that led to the origin of life. Fascinating
experiments and theories of the sort highlighted in this
issue will continue to contribute small pieces to that
immensely complex puzzle. As a unified picture of life’s ori-
gin emerges, the central roles of rocks and minerals are sure
to expand and further serve to integrate the seamless web
of knowledge that links the physical and biological sciences.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
RMH thanks the four authors for their outstanding efforts
in preparing these reviews, and editors Michael Hochella
and Pierrette Tremblay of Elements for the opportunity to
bring this issue together and for their efficient guidance
and support throughout the process. Support for RMH dur-
ing work on this issue was provided by the NASA
Astrobiology Institute and the Carnegie Institution of
Washington. .

REFERENCES
Asthagiri A, Downs RT, Hazen RM (2004)
Density functional theory modeling of
interactions between amino acids and
chiral mineral surfaces. Geological
Society of America Abstracts with
Programs 36: 153
Beinert H, Holm RH, Münck E (1997) Iron-
sulfur clusters: Nature’s modular,
multipurpose structures. Science 277:
653-659
Churchill H, Teng H, Hazen RM (2004)
Correlation of pH-dependent surface
interaction forces to amino acid
adsorption: implications for the origin
of life. American Mineralogist 89: 1048-
1055
Chyba CF, Sagan C (1992) Endogenous
production, exogenous delivery, and
impact-shock synthesis of organic
molecules: an inventory for the origins of
life. Nature 355: 125-132
Hazen RM (2004) Chiral crystal faces of
common rock-forming minerals. In: Palyi
G, Zucchi C, Caglioti L (eds) Progress in
Biological Chirality, Elsevier, New York,
pp 137-151
Hazen RM, Sholl DS (2003) Chiral selection
on inorganic crystalline surfaces. Nature
Materials 2: 367-374
Hazen RM, Filley T, Goodfriend GA (2001)
Selective adsorption of L- and D-amino
acids on calcite: Implications for
biochemical homochirality. Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences USA
98: 5487-5490
Lahav N, White D, Chang S (1978) Peptide
formation in the prebiotic era: Thermal
condensation of glycine in fluctuating
clay environments. Science 201: 67-69
Lasaga AC, Holland HD, Dwyer MJ (1971)
Primordial oil slick. Science 174: 53-55
Miller SL (1953) Production of amino acids
under possible primitive earth condi-
tions. Science 17: 528-529
Miller SL, Urey HC (1959) Organic
compound synthesis on the primitive
earth. Science 130: 245-251
Morowitz HJ (1992) The Beginnings of
Cellular Life: Metabolism Recapitulates
Biogenesis. Yale University Press, New
Haven, 208 pp
Orgel LE (1986) RNA catalysis and the
origin of life. Journal of Theoretical
Biology 123: 127-149
Sowerby SJ, Heckl WM, Petersen GB (1996)
Chiral symmetry breaking during the
self-assembly of monolayers from achiral
purine molecules. Journal of Molecular
Evolution 43: 419-424
Sowerby SJ, Edelwirth M, Heckl WM (1998)
Self-assembly at the prebiotic solid-liquid
interface: structure of self-assembled
monolayers of adenine and guanine
bases formed on inorganic surfaces.
Journal of Physical Chemistry B 102:
5914-5922
Wächtershäuser G (1992) Groundworks for
an evolutionary biochemistry: the iron-
sulfur world. Progress in Biophysics and
Molecular Biology 58: 85-201
Wills C, Bada J (2000) The Spark of Life:
Darwin and the Primeval Soup. Perseus
Publishing, Cambridge, Massachusetts,
320 pp .

ELEMENTS 137 J UNE 2005

Meet the Authors

A. Graham and X-ray absorption spectroscopy to a broad America, Hazen’s recent research focuses on
Cairns-Smith was range of problems in geobiology and organic the role of minerals in the origin of life. He is
educated at Fettes cosmochemistry. also active in presenting science to nonscien-
College, where tists. In addition to his scientific activities,
he dithered between Robert Hazen is a professional trumpeter
painting and science James Ferris is who performs frequently with the National
as a prime interest, professor of chemistry Symphony, the National Philharmonic, the
and then at the and director of the Washington Bach Consort, and the National
University of New York Center Gallery Orchestra.
Edinburgh, where he for Studies on the
settled on chemistry (rather than physics or Origins of Life at
biology) and ended up with a PhD in organic Rensselaer Polytechnic Joseph V. Smith
chemistry. His working life was spent at the Institute. He obtained lived 17 years on
University of Glasgow, where he taught, his BS in chemistry at a hill farm in
pursued ideas about the origin of life, and the University of Derbyshire, England.
engaged in research on protein chemistry, Pennsylvania and his PhD at Indiana He has a PhD
clay synthesis, iron photochemistry, and University. He was the president of the in physics (crystal-
crystal growth. He retired in 1997. He is International Society for Studies on the lography) from
currently Honorary Senior Research Fellow Origins of Life (ISSOL) and is a fellow of the Cambridge University
in the Department of Chemistry and spends AAAS. He served for 18 years as the editor of and was a fellow of
most of his time writing. the ISSOL journal Origins of Life and Evolution the Carnegie
of the Biosphere. In 1996 he was awarded the Institution of Washington. He served on
Oparin Medal of ISSOL for “the best sustained the faculties of Cambridge University and
George Cody scientific research program in the origin of Pennsylvania State University before joining
received his PhD in life.” the University of Chicago in 1960. He is in
geosciences at Penn the final year of a half-time appointment as
State University in Louis Block Professor of Physical Sciences.
1992, where his Robert M. Hazen, His principal research has been on feldspar
research focused on research scientist minerals, lunar and meteoritic minerals and
the organic geochem- at the Carnegie rocks, and the framework structures of zeolite
istry of coal. He then Institution of minerals and industrial materials particularly
spent the next three Washington’s in the catalysis/petrochemical area. Since
years in the Chem- Geophysical 1988, he has been associated with the Center
istry Division of Argonne National Labora- Laboratory and for Advanced Radiation Sources where he was
tory. In 1995, George joined the scientific Clarence Robinson the first executive director and is now
staff of the Geophysical Laboratory of the Professor of Earth coordinator of scientific programs.
Carnegie Institution of Washington. His Science at George
current research interests include experimen- Mason University, received the BS and SM
tal investigations into mineral-catalyzed, in geology at the Massachusetts Institute of
hydrothermal organic reactions. Also, he Technology (1971) and the PhD at Harvard
focuses on the application of solid-state University in Earth science (1975). Currently
nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy the president of the Mineralogical Society of

ELEMENTS 138 J UNE 2005

 Geochemical Connections
to Primitive Metabolism
Deep hydrothermal
“black smokers” may
promote chemical
reactions that were
George D. Cody 1 important in
life’s origins.

M
any microorganisms make extensive use of transition metal sulfide
clusters in their metabolic chemistry. Similarly, transition metal
sulfide minerals, e.g., pyrrhotite and pyrite, have the potential to
provide the essential catalytic chemistry for Earth’s earliest life. Experiments
reveal that transition metal sulfides have the capacity to both catalyze and,
in some cases, participate in organosynthetic reactions that bear similarity
to modern biosynthetic pathways. These experiments are buttressed by
recognition of natural cases of extensive abiotic organosynthesis in the
Earth’s crust—reactions that could have provided the first life with a large
complement of functionally useful protobiological organic compounds.
KEYWORDS: metabolism, biosynthesis, biocatalysis, origin of life, biogenesis

INTRODUCTION
TABLE 1 SOME TERMS RELATED TO THE METABOLISM
At present there is no completely satisfactory theory for the OF MICROBES
origin of life. Several origins hypotheses focus on the iden-
tifiable qualities of life, e.g., information and replication, as Metabolism The network of chemical reactions by which
in the case of the RNA world hypothesis, and early biolog- cells process matter and energy from their
ical energy conversion, as in the case of the “metabolic” environment
theories of life. The metabolic perspective rests on the fact
that all life requires a source of energy. In the absence of Autotroph A cell that manufactures its own biomolecules
light energy, life must use the natural chemical potential from small molecules
derived from chemical disequilibrium in the environment.
Chemoautotroph An autotroph that harvests the chemical energy
Kinetic barriers that inhibit thermodynamic equilibrium of rocks and other chemicals in disequilibrium in
endow the natural environment with ample sources of the environment
chemical potential energy that could be exploited for
organosynthesis, provided that catalysts exist to promote Methanogen A cell that generates methane as a byproduct
such reactions. It is intriguing to consider whether certain of metabolism
minerals may have provided catalytic function for Earth’s
earliest life. Enzyme A chemical (usually a protein) that catalyzes
a biochemical reaction
TRANSITION METAL SULFIDES Synthase An enzyme that helps to assemble two smaller
AND METABOLISM molecules into a larger molecule
In the metabolism-first scenario of life’s origins, the first
cells were “chemoautotrophs” (see Table 1). It is worth- Co-enzyme An organic molecule (not a protein) that helps
a protein enzyme
while to consider how these microorganisms survive based
on simple chemical disequilibria alone. In hydrogen-based Acetyl-coA An important metabolic coenzyme
subsurface microbial ecosystems, certain anaerobic (gram formula weight ~ 800)
microorganisms, e.g., the methanogens, extract energy and
synthesize biomolecules by exploiting the natural thermo- Organosynthesis Natural reactions that produce organic molecules
dynamic disequilibrium of coexisting CO2 and H2
(Gottschalk 1986). Methanogenic microorganisms utilize a Biosynthesis Biological reactions that produce bio-organic
complex array of metallo-enzymes to catalyze the reduc- molecules
tion of CO2 selectively towards the formation of useful
Prokaryote A generic name for single-celled organisms
biochemical products. The primary carbon-fixing pathway
that do not have a nucleus
involves the production of the energy-rich molecule acetyl-
coA (Lengeler et al. 1999). Mitochondria The energy generating element in eukaryotic cells

1 Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington,

5251 Broad Branch Rd NW, Washington, DC 20015, USA
E-mail: g.cody@gl.ciw.edu

ELEMENTS, VOL. 1, PP 139–143 139 J UNE 2005


A simplified representation of catalytic pathways of the
FIGURE 1
acetyl-coA synthase complex. The left reaction pathway
sequentially reduces CO2 to a tetrahydrofolate (THF) bound methyl
group. This methyl group is transferred to a cobalt cobalamin cofactor
and then to a Ni-X-Fe4S4 cluster (where X = sulfur and possibly a sec-
ond transition metal). The right reaction pathway first promotes the
water-gas shift reaction reducing CO2 to CO by utilizing a second Ni-
X-Fe4S4 cluster. Carbonyl migration and insertion between the Ni-CH3
bond yields the acetyl group. Transfer of the acetyl group first to the
thiol end of cofactor A yields acetyl-coA.
Catalytic transition metal sulfide clusters such as Fe4S4 are
essential to the chemistry required for acetyl-coA synthesis.
One key reaction pathway towards acetyl-coA synthesis
(FIG. 1) leads to the progressive reduction of CO2, ultimately
to a transferable methyl group (CH3), while the second
pathway promotes the reduction of CO2 to CO. The two
reaction pathways join at the point where a methyl group
is transferred, first to a cobalt atom and ultimately to a
nickel atom in a Ni-X-Fe4S4 cluster, where X indicates sul-
fur and possibly a second transition metal (e.g., Qiu et al.
1994; Doukov et al. 2002).
One reason why transition metals play such a prominent
role in acetyl-coA synthase is the high bonding affinity of
CO for transition metals (Fe, Co, and Ni in particular). The
electronic configuration of CO and transition metals allows
for considerable sharing of charge, hence the formation of
a weak metal–carbon bond. Vibrational spectroscopy
reveals that the bond of CO to Fe is stronger than to that of
Co or Ni. That extant life chooses to use Fe, Co, and Ni (and
Cu) in acetyl-coA may thus reflect a fine tuning of the cat-
alytic function of the enzyme complex.
Transition metals such as Fe, Co, and Ni play a critical role
in numerous metabolic strategies in all chemoautotrophic
microbes. Other examples of enzymes that rely on transi-
tion metals and sulfur include (1) nitrogenases, which use
Mo, Fe, and S to reduce N2 to NH3; (2) hydrogenases, which
employ Fe, Ni, and S to derive electrons from H2 to H+; and
(3) aldehyde oxidoreductase enzymes, which use W and
Mo to interconvert organic aldehydes and acids via elec-
tron transfer.
TRANSITION METAL SULFIDES
AND THE ORIGIN OF LIFE
The ubiquitous role of transition metals and sulfur in key
microbial enzymes has led to hypotheses proposing that
sulfide minerals act as catalysts in organosynthesis.
ELEMENTS
According to these hypotheses, Earth’s earliest life was
derived from abiotic reactions catalyzed by transition metal
sulfide minerals. The vestiges of this non-enzymatic stage
of biology are preserved today in multitudes of critical
metabolic metallo-enzymes. Two notable hypotheses
include Wächtershäuser’s iron-sulfur world (Wächter-
shäuser 1988, 1990, 1992) and Russell and Hall’s iron-sul-
fur membrane model (Russell et al. 1988, Russell and Hall
1997). Both proposals predict that life emerged as a direct
consequence of chemical reactions derived from the inter-
action of reduced fluids (crustal and/or mantle-derived)
with reactive and catalytic transition metal sulfides. One of
the essential differences between these hypotheses and
those that preceded them is the idea that Earth’s first
organism was an autotroph, i.e., a life form capable of syn-
thesizing all of its biomolecular constituents from simple
inorganic compounds such as CO2, NH3, H2S, and PO4-3.
In 1988 German chemist and patent lawyer Günter
Wächtershäuser proposed that pyrite formation provided a
viable energy source for Earth’s first life, via the reaction of
iron monosulfide and hydrogen sulfide to produce pyrite
and hydrogen:
FeS + H2S à FeS2 + H2 (1)
This exergonic (energy-releasing) reaction has the
potential to drive otherwise endergonic (energy-consum-
ing) reactions, such as the biologically important reduc-
tion of CO2 to form formic acid:
CO2(aq) + FeS + H2S à HCOOH + FeS2 + H2O (2)
Wächtershäuser postulated that the formation of pyrite
would provide a catalyst to drive a broad range of essential
protobiochemical reactions (Wächtershäuser 1992).
Perhaps the most imaginative aspect of Wächtershäuser’s
iron-sulfur world hypothesis was the proposal that Earth’s
first organism existed not encapsulated in a roughly spher-
ical cellular membrane, but rather protected from the envi-
ronment by a half membrane on the surface of pyrite. He
proposed that such an organism—the progenitor of all
modern cells—eventually detached from the pyrite surface,
taking with it the metabolic functionality it “learned” on
the pyrite surface.
British geochemists Michael Russell and Allan Hall (1997)
have developed an alternative hypothesis regarding the
role of transition metal sulfides in the origin of life. Their
theory postulates that the early Hadean oceans were warm,
mildly acidic, and relatively rich in dissolved Fe2+ and Ni2+.
They propose that hydrothermal fluids generated within
the ancient Hadean oceanic crust would have been highly
alkaline, hot, rich in bisulfide, and reduced. Where these
hydrothermal exhalations mixed with ocean water at the
sea floor, reaction of the bisulfide with dissolved base
metals would have resulted in the rapid precipitation of
transition metal sulfides. Russell and Hall propose that iron
sulfide bubbles formed at the sites of mixing, and that these
bubbles might have served as primitive membranes. The
purported advantage afforded by the FeS-membrane theory
is that the membrane naturally separates a low pH exterior
fluid from a high pH reduced interior fluid. Appealing to
the comparison of cell membrane function in mitochon-
dria and certain prokaryotes, Russell and Hall note that the
presence of both pH gradients and Eh gradients would have
allowed these membranes to support processes akin to
electron-transport mediated chemistry in modern cells.
One significant difference between Wächtershäuser’s
model and that of Russell and Hall is that the latter does
not utilize oxidation of FeS as an energy source, nor does it
invoke pyrite as a catalytic agent for organosynthetic
reaction. Rather, Russell and Hall propose that the FeS
140 J UNE 2005
membrane served a function similar to the hydrogenase
and acetyl-coA enzymes, by catalytically converting the
chemical potential of H2 + CO2 into biological energy gen-
eration and biochemical synthesis.
MINERAL-CATALYZED ORGANIC SYNTHESIS
Does mineral-catalyzed organic synthesis occur in nature?
Barbara Sherwood Lollar and coworkers (2002) presented
perhaps the most convincing evidence for locally extensive
abiotic organosynthesis with their observations of hydro-
carbon-rich gases, including methane, ethane, propane,
and butane. These gases, collected from hard-rock terrains
of the Canadian Shield in close proximity to the ancient
Kidd Creek volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits, were
unambiguously identified as abiotic based on their distinc-
tive distribution of stable carbon and hydrogen isotopes.
Deep-sea hydrothermal vents also are known to emit large
quantities of methane derived from abiotic reduction of
CO2 during the aqueous alteration of basalt and related
rocks (Kelley et al. 2001). This so-called serpentinization
reaction, wherein anhydrous olivine [(Mg,Fe)2SiO4] is con-
verted to the hydrous mineral serpentine [Mg3Si2O5(OH)4]
and magnetite (Fe3O4), has the capacity to generate copious
quantities of hydrogen as a by-product (Berndt et al. 1996).
The reactions most likely responsible for these natural
hydrocarbon syntheses are Fischer-Tropsch Type reactions
(FTT), by which carbon atoms in CO groups sequentially
bind to a catalytic surface, are reduced by hydrogen, and
are added to an elongating hydrocarbon chain (FIG. 2). The
concentrations of hydrocarbons measured naturally by
Sherwood Lollar et al. (2002) and generated experimentally
by Berndt et al. (1996) are plotted against carbon number
(1 = methane, 2 = ethane, 3 = propane, etc.) in FIGURE 3. The
power law relationships exhibited in both cases are charac-
teristic of FTT synthesis, suggesting that surface catalysis is
responsible for the observed hydrocarbons.
FIGURE 2 A schematic representation of the catalytic, Fischer-
Tropsch Type (FTT) reduction of CO on a hypothetical
transition metal solid, where the transition metal atoms are shown in
purple and non-metal atoms are shown in green. A sequence of car-
bonyl insertion followed by reduction by H2 leads to progressive hydro-
carbon chain growth.
ELEMENTS
The log of the concentration of chain-like aliphatic
FIGURE 3
hydrocarbons and alkane thiols as a function of the num-
ber and carbon atoms. Note that the data of Berndt et al. (1996) and
Heinen and Lauwers (1996) are in log nanomoles, whereas the data of
Sherwood-Lollar et al. (2002) are in log %.
Also plotted in Figure 3 is an intriguing series of chain-like
organic molecules called alkane thiols, which were gener-
ated in a very different experiment. To test one of
Wächtershäuser’s central postulates, Heinen and Lauwers
(1996) performed a series of reactions using FeS, H2S, and
water, blanketed by an atmosphere of N2/CO2 or pure CO2,
and demonstrated the apparently facile reduction of CO2 to
form alkane thiols coincident with the formation of pyrite.
The predominant product was methane thiol (CH3SH), fol-
lowed by a series of alkane thiols up to the 5-carbon pen-
tane thiol. Heinen and Lauwers reported that, following
the reaction, a “silvery” floating layer, predominantly
pyrite, formed. It is intriguing that the relationship
between yield of alkane thiol and carbon number shown in
Figure 3 is also consistent with a surface-catalyzed FTT
process. The most likely site of the reaction was on the
newly formed pyrite. Thus, iron sulfides are apparently also
capable of promoting FTT synthesis reactions.
The FTT reaction, however, is not immediately obvious as a
useful starting point for chemistry that may have benefited
the origins of life. Indeed, the facile conversion of CO2 and
H2 to form methane leaves one in a difficult predicament
for subsequent organosynthetic reactions because methane
is not particularly useful in jump-starting metabolism. The
formation of partially oxidized carbon species like alkane
thiols, on the other hand, leaves open the possibility for
much more interesting prebiotic chemistry.
EXPERIMENTAL EXPLORATION OF METAL
SULFIDE-PROMOTED REACTIONS
Wächtershäuser’s groundbreaking hypothesis has inspired
numerous experiments. Blöchl et al. (1992) and Kaschke et
al. (1994), for example, tested the reducing power of the
pyrite-forming reaction on a number of oxidized organic
molecules and convincingly demonstrated the capacity of
iron sulfide minerals to promote interesting organic reduc-
tion reactions. In order for transition metal sulfide-mediated
chemistry to have true significance to prebiotic chemistry,
however, it remained to demonstrate that these minerals
141 J UNE 2005
could promote reactions that link functionalized mole-
cules, i.e., to form macromolecules, not just aid chemical
reductions.
Keller et al. (1994) tested this aspect of Wächtershäuser’s
hypothesis by demonstrating the formation of nitrogen-
containing amide bonds, which are critical to life’s bio-
chemistry. What made Keller et al.’s reaction especially
interesting is that they relied on a reactive intermediate
molecule called a thioacid; but one cannot start with a
thioacid because such compounds are unstable in hot water
and rapidly react to form other compounds. Consequently,
thioacids must be formed “on the fly,” as reaction interme-
diates. To accomplish this goal, they linked reactions
wherein FeS was sulfidized with H2S in the presence of
other reactants and produced a satisfying 2% yield of
acetanilide in a matter of days.
Notwithstanding the incremental progress demonstrated
by these experimental results, the abiotic reaction that has
received the most attention was that reported by Huber and
Wächtershäuser (1997). They conceived a series of experi-
ments designed to test whether transition metal sulfides are
capable of mimicking the CO-insertion reaction that is pro-
moted in cells by the acetyl-coA synthase enzyme complex
(FIG. 4). Remarkably in one case, using an unidentified
mixed (Ni,Fe)S compound synthesized during the experi-
ment, they measured a 41% conversion of methane thiol to
acetic acid, where the synthesis of acetic acid in particular
was important in that it served to demonstrate a carbonyl
inserting reaction. Huber and Wächtershäuser interpreted
this unusual catalytic enhancement by the mixed (Fe,Ni)S
phase as a consequence of CO having a greater affinity for
iron, while CH3 has a greater affinity for nickel—an inter-
pretation similar to that proposed for the acetyl-coA syn-
thase enzyme, itself (FIG. 4).
Other intriguing reactions are also attributed to this
(Ni,Fe)S phase, notably the formation of so-called “peptide”
bonds, by which amino acids link together to form proteins
(Huber and Wächtershäuser 1998). This formation of pep-
tide bonds is obviously important, but is surprising because
the spontaneous condensation of amino acids to form pep-
FIGURE 4 A schematic representation of the reaction between
methane thiol (CH3SH) and carbon monoxide on a high-
ly ordered surface of (Ni,Fe)S as proposed by Huber and
Wächtershäuser (1997). It has been proposed that this (Ni,Fe)S phase
catalyzes a carbonyl insertion reaction as follows: first, a methyl group
derived from methane thiol is transferred to a nickel atom (green). An
adjacent iron atom (blue) is carbonylated with carbon monoxide.
Carbonyl insertion leads to the formation of the nickel-bound acetyl
group. Nucleophilic attack by either hydoxyl, bisulfide, or methane
thiol yields acetic acid, thioacetic acid, or methyl thioacetate, respec-
tively.
ELEMENTS
tides is both thermodynamically and kinetically inhibited.
Consequently, the reaction must have been coupled to
another exergonic reaction. The likely mechanism was dis-
covered recently by Leman et al. (2004), who found that
carbonyl sulfide (COS) readily promotes the formation of
peptides from free amino acids in the absence of any tran-
sition metal sulfide species. These results appear to suggest
that the addition of CO to an aqueous solution containing
the (Ni,Fe)S phase yields COS and some carbonylated Ni-Fe
phase. As we will see, carbonylated transition metal com-
plexes derived from metal sulfide minerals may have other
prebiotic utility.
Organometallic transition metal sulfide complexes are
readily synthesized from monosulfides, e.g., NiS, CoS, and
FeS. This fact, coupled with the successful demonstration of
(Ni,Fe)S-catalyzed carbonyl insertion reactions (Huber and
Wächtershäuser 1997), suggests another route to the for-
mation of key metabolic molecules, such as pyruvic acid
and other so-called “alpha ketoacids”. Thus, Cody et al.
(2000) explored whether, under high pressure, reactions of
alkane thiols, carbon monoxide, and FeS might provide a
source of alpha ketoacids. Their experiments were run with
pure FeS, aqueous formic acid (HCOOH), and the volatile
9-carbon molecule, nonane thiol, at 250°C and pressures
up to 2000 atmospheres for six hours. After reaction, the
product solutions had turned a brilliant red color, and UV-
visible light and Raman spectroscopy of the solutions
revealed the presence of carbonylated iron–sulfur species.
The intensity of absorption, furthermore, increased sub-
stantially with increased pressure. Analysis of the products
revealed substantial quantities of sulfur-containing organic
molecules, as well as the ten-carbon molecule, decanoic acid.
The synthesis of decanoic acid from a nine-carbon reactant
is analogous to the formation of two-carbon acetate from
one-carbon precursors by Huber and Wächtershäuser
(1997). However, in the earlier experiments, FeS did not
promote acetate synthesis. In the Cody et al. experiment, it
is likely that the site of reaction was the carbonylated
iron–sulfur clusters. Of particular interest to early, pro-
tometabolic chemistry was the detection of traces of the
alpha ketoacids, pyruvic acid, and 2-oxo undecanoic acid.
Pyruvic acid must have formed from methane thiol derived
from CO reduction. Given the severe conditions of Cody et
al.’s experiment, it is possible that the alpha ketoacids
formed via double carbonylation followed by hydrolysis.
These results taken in context with those of Huber et al.
(2003) and Leman et al. (2004) point to the possibility that
at least some transition metal sulfides react in the presence
of CO to produce new phases that either directly or indi-
rectly afford extremely useful protometabolic reactions.
These results naturally also raise the question as to whether
any of the transition metal sulfides are actually acting as
surface catalysts. Certainly this appears to be the case for
the FTT synthesis of alkane thiols by Heinen and Lauwers
(1996). However, in the case of the carbonyl insertion reac-
tions, the evidence is not as robust. This question has been
addressed in a pair of papers that focused on targeted car-
bonyl insertion reactions for the purpose of (1) identifying
a plausible protometabolic pathway to formation of famil-
iar biological metabolic intermediates, e.g., citric acid, and
(2) assaying a broader range of transition metal sulfide min-
erals for their capacity to promote carbonyl insertion reac-
tions in general.
In 2001, Cody et al. set out to test whether the transition
metal sulfides have the capacity to convert simple olefins
like propene (as are formed in Heinen and Lauwers’ 1996
experiment) to biologically important mono-, di-, and tri-
carboxylic acids. At each step, reactions run in the presence
142 J UNE 2005
of NiS yielded the targeted product. Particularly interesting,
however, was the fact that while numerous different struc-
tural modifications, or isomers, of these products would be
expected, a high degree of isomeric selectivity was
observed. For example, while one would predict that two
different 5-carbon dicarboxylic acids would be formed,
reactions in the presence of NiS produced only one. This
high degree of selectivity is consistent with these reactions
being surface catalyzed.
Another surprising result of these experiments was that in
addition to the product carboxylic acids, partially oxidized
compound products (thiol derivatives of methyl succinic
acid) were also formed. The identity of the electron accep-
tor that promoted this reaction has not been determined,
but it is certainly possible that a redox coupling reaction, in
which NiS was reduced to Ni3S2, was involved. The forma-
tion of these organothiols provides support for the idea
that a protometabolic path from CO2 up to citric acid cat-
alyzed by transition metal sulfides is plausible.
Expanding on these results, Cody et al. (2004) recently
assayed the catalytic qualities of a broad range of transition
metal sulfides for organosynthesis. This study revealed that
many transition metal sulfides, including such common
copper sulfides as chalcopyrite, bornite, and chalcocite,
provide some catalytic function. Only FeS appears to suffer
significant CO-derived dissolution; all the other transition
metal sulfides are apparently stable under the reaction
conditions. It was further shown that there exists a strong
correlation between reaction yield and mineral surface
area, which strongly supports surface catalysis as a mecha-
nism. It is clear from these results that many common tran-
sition metal sulfides could have provided catalytic function
to jump-start metabolism on the prebiotic Earth.
CONCLUSIONS
Natural transition metal sulfide minerals can promote a
broad range of organic reactions, either catalytically or as
reaction participants. Whether and how this chemistry
may have aided the emergence of life remains a mystery. It
is clear, however, that organosynthetic reactions would
have occurred independently of biological carbon fixation
on the early Earth and that the first life would have had
access to a broad range of molecular building blocks by
virtue of the natural world’s capacity for abiotic organosyn-
thesis.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I gratefully acknowledge my collaborators in this area of
research, Drs. N. Boctor, J. Brandes, T. Filley, M. Fogel, R.
Hazen, J. Scott, and the late H. Yoder. Some of the research
discussed in this paper was supported by a grant from NASA
Exobiology (NAG5-13445) and the Carnegie-NASA
Astrobiology Institute. .

REFERENCES
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Reduction of CO2 during serpentiniza-
tion of olivine at 300°C and 500 bars.
Geology 24: 351-354
Blöchl E, Keller M, Wächtershäuser G,
Stetter KO (1992) Reactions depending
on iron sulfide and linking geochemistry
with biochemistry. Proceedings of the
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8120
Cody GD, Boctor NZ, Filley TR, Hazen RM,
Scott JH, Sharma A, Yoder HS Jr (2000)
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compounds and the synthesis of
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Cody GD, Boctor NZ, Hazen RM, Brandes
JA, Harold J, Morowitz HJ, Yoder HS Jr
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Cody GD, Boctor NZ, Brandes JA, Filley TR,
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origin of life. Origins of Life and
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Stetter KO (1994) Formation of amide
bonds with a condensation agent and
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368: 836-838
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Green GL, Butterfield DA, Lilley MD,
Olson EJ, Schrenk MO, Roe KK, Lebon
GT, Rivizzigno P, AT3-60 Shipboard Party
(2001) An off-axis hydrothermal vent
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ELEMENTS 143 J UNE 2005

 Mineral Catalysis
and Prebiotic Synthesis:
Montmorillonite-Catalyzed
Formation of RNA
James P. Ferris1
M
ontmorillonite, a clay mineral formed by the weathering of volcanic
ash, may have played a central role in the evolution of life. Because
of its structure, montmorillonite tends to adsorb organic com-
pounds and this contributes to its ability to catalyze a variety of organic
reactions critical to scenarios of life’s origins. We have shown experimentally
that RNA molecules bind efficiently to clays and that montmorillonite can
catalyze the formation of longer molecules (oligomers), thus lending support
to the RNA world hypothesis. This theory proposes that life based on RNA
preceded current life, which is based on DNA and protein.
KEYWORDS: prebiotic synthesis, RNA world, montmorillonite, RNA, catalysis
INTRODUCTION
More than half a century ago, Irish physicist John
Desmond Bernal and Swiss geochemist Victor M.
Goldschmidt independently proposed that clay minerals
may have played an important role in prebiotic synthesis
(Bernal 1949; Goldschmidt 1952). I concur that mineral
catalysis must have had a central role in prebiotic synthesis
because most uncatalyzed reactions start from simple pre-
cursors like hydrogen cyanide (HCN), formaldehyde
(HCHO), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulfide (H2S),
possibly ammonia (NH3), and other simple organics. These
small molecules lack the three-dimensional conformations
that can restrict reaction pathways of surface-bound mole-
cules. Consequently, an indiscriminate array of reaction
products is synthesized, as was found in the classic Miller-
Urey experiment, where diverse groups of organic com-
pounds formed. In that experiment, the smallest mole-
cules, such as the simple amino acid glycine, were
produced in the greatest amounts (Miller 1957). Similarly,
the Murchison meteorite contains seventeen classes of
organics compounds that seem to have been formed by
random processes (Cronin 1998).
Given this chemical diversity, a process like catalysis is
required to select just those compounds that can react and
combine to form the complex biomolecules and biopoly-
mers that initiated the first life. If, as most scientists
believe, these reactions took place in the presence of water,
then catalysts will also be needed that selectively bind com-
pounds of similar structures present in solution, such as
amino acids or nucleotides, so they have an enhanced con-
centration on a mineral surface. The catalyst will then
1 New York Center for Studies on the Origins of Life and
Department of Chemistry
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180, USA
E-mail: ferrij@rpi.edu
ELEMENTS, VOL. 1, PP. 145-149 145
enhance the reaction of the selected
species to form biopolymers.
Catalysis also accelerates the reac-
tions of the bound molecules so
that the formation of the biomole-
cules proceeds more rapidly than
their rates of destruction by water
hydrolysis.
In this review I discuss the role of
clay minerals in catalyzing reac-
tions of organic compounds, espe-
cially those reactions associated
with prebiotic processes. In partic-
ular, I describe our findings on the
role of montmorillonite clay on
the assembly of nucleotides to
form short RNA polymers.
CLAY MINERALS AND CATALYSIS
Volcanic ash, which covers areas over hundreds of kilome-
ters wide around the volcanic source, weathers to give rise
to a wide variety of clay minerals. In the western United
States, for example, long periods of volcanic activity
deposited ash into ancient seas, where it weathered into
vast deposits of montmorillonite clays up to 16 m thick.
The simple crystal structure of clays consists of layers of
corner-linked SiO4 tetrahedra bound to layers of edge-
linked AlO6 octahedra (FIG. 1). These sheets bind to each
other like “a deck of cards” by van der Waals forces and
interlayer cations. The idealized chemical formula for
montmorillonite clay is Al4Si8O20(OH)4, though the actual
formula varies as a consequence of elemental substitution.
Clays often incorporate Mg2+, Fe2+, and Fe3+ in place of
Al3+ in the octahedral layers and Al3+ for Si4+ in the tetra-
hedral layers. Thus, for example, the formula for a mont-
morillonite from Wyoming with substitution of Fe3+ and
Mg2+ in its octahedral layer, Al3+ in its tetrahedral layer,
and 0.67 monovalent exchangeable cations (X) is
(Al2.88Fe3+0.68Mg0.47)(Si7.71Al0.29)O20(OH)4X0.67. Note that
these substitutions replace a higher valent element with a
lower valent one. Since the number of negative oxygen
atoms in the lattice is constant, these substitutions result in
the generation of negatively charged sites where substitu-
tion occurs. The association of cations with the clay lattice
neutralizes these negative charges, as the metal ions bind
electrostatically in the interlayer between the sheets in the
“deck of cards” clay structure.
Particles of montmorillonite consist of irregular platelets
that stack on top of each other when dry. When water is
added the metal ions in the interlayer become hydrated,
which expands the distance between the platelets. If there
J UNE 2005

In a montmorillonite-type clay, Mg–Fe–Al octahedral
FIGURE 1
layers (green) are linked to two Al–Si tetrahedral layers
(blue). Monovalent (Na) and divalent (Ca) cations can occupy the
interlayer regions.
is little isomorphous substitution and correspondingly few
interlayer cations, then the clay mineral will not expand
when water is added.
In a similar fashion, most clay minerals that absorb organic
compounds bind them in the interlayers, and the clay
expands to accommodate them. In some instances, the
organics form complexes with the interlayer cation. Since
the clay sheets are held together by van der Waals forces,
the energy of the binding of the organics must be greater
than that of these forces holding the clay sheets together,
so that the sheets can separate to accommodate the bound
organics.
Binding also occurs at the broken edges of the clay mineral
sheets. The Al3+ groups at the edges coordinate with water
molecules—a process that enhances the acidity of the water
molecules and provides an acidic binding site.
Consequently, negatively charged substances tend to bind
at these edges. For example, pyrophosphate ions bind at
the edges, as do the sodium salts of dicarboxylic acids,
polyphenols, and other polyanionic polymers.
This tendency of clays to adsorb organic compounds con-
tributes to their ability to catalyze a variety of organic reac-
tions that are critical to scenarios of life’s origins. For exam-
ple, clay minerals are well known to mediate redox
reactions—the donation and acceptance of electrons, espe-
cially from iron in the clay lattice or interlayer (FIG. 2). In
addition, some clays promote acid-catalyzed reactions,
because hydrogen ions readily exchange with other cations
in montmorillonite (Nikalje et al. 2000). This ion exchange
generates strongly acidic clay that catalyzes a wide variety
of reactions initiated by the donation of a proton to the
FIGURE 2 Clay minerals can mediate redox reactions. For example,
diaminomaleonitrile (DAMN) is oxidized to diiminosuc-
cinonitrile (DISN), when it is bound to montmorillonite containing
3+
Fe . This reaction is typical of metabolic processes in many cells.
ELEMENTS
organic substrate. The positively charged organic molecule
then undergoes elimination, addition, or rearrangement
reactions. One of the earliest commercial uses of acidic
clays was in the synthesis of high-octane gasoline by the
acid-catalyzed rearrangement and cracking of high molecu-
lar weight hydrocarbons.
Clays also have the ability to accelerate organic reactions
through the action of bound metal cations (Nikalje et al.
2000). Metal-ion complexes immobilized on clay surfaces
make it possible to perform reactions in the solution phase
that are comparable to solid-state reactions. The restricted
movement and orientations of the metal complexes and
the reacting substrates in the interlayer have led to greater
reactivity of the bound organic molecule. In commercial
applications these complexes usually contain transition
metal elements (e.g., rhodium and ruthenium), though
these cations are unlikely to have been present in signifi-
cant amounts in the primitive Earth. Nevertheless, the
exceptional ability of clay minerals to adsorb organic mol-
ecules and catalyze their reactions suggests an attractive
strategy for investigating key steps in life’s origins.
THE RNA WORLD HYPOTHESIS
FOR THE ORIGIN OF LIFE
The discovery that RNA has the ability to catalyze reactions
as well as store genetic information suggested that early life
was based only on RNA rather than the DNA and protein
polymers essential for life today. This hypothesis has the
advantage of only requiring prebiotic synthesis of one poly-
mer (RNA) rather than two (DNA and protein).
While the debate between a metabolism-first and genetic-
first origin of life continues (see George Cody’s article in
this issue), I am persuaded that some type of genetic mech-
anism was essential for life to begin on the long path to cel-
lular evolution. Biochemistry is too complicated to repli-
cate from generation to generation without a reliable
mechanism to pass on genetic information. In all known
lifeforms, that mechanism depends on the double-stranded
molecule DNA and its close relative, the single-stranded
RNA, or ribonucleic acid. But there’s a catch: You need DNA
to make proteins, but you need proteins to make DNA.
Which came first?
The proposal that the first life on Earth was based mainly
on the familiar genetic molecule RNA was the direct out-
come of the discovery that RNA had the ability to play the
role of both protein and DNA—to catalyze reactions and to
store genetic information. This RNA-first concept had actu-
ally been proposed more than a decade earlier (Crick 1968;
Orgel 1968), but it was not generally accepted because no
viable prebiotic process was known for RNA synthesis. The
experimental demonstration of RNA catalysis (Cech et al.
1981; Guerrier-Takeda et al. 1983) suggested the possibility
that RNA self-assembly might, in fact, be the key to life’s
origins.
The building blocks of RNA (TABLE 1; FIG. 3), consist of a
sugar molecule (ribose, C5H10O5), a phosphate group (PO4),
and one of four bases (the one-ring pyrimidines cytosine
and uracil, designated C and U, and the two-ring purines
adenine and guanine, designated A and G). These three
components bond together into a phosphate–sugar–base
unit, called a nucleotide. Nucleotides link to each other by
forming a sugar–phosphate bond, thus elongating a chain-
like RNA polymer. RNA polymers not only carry informa-
tion in their sequence of bases (A, C, G, and U), but also
have the potential to fold into catalytic structures, or
ribozymes.
146 J UNE 2005
 TABLE 1 SOME COMMON TERMS RELATED
TO THE RNA WORLD HYPOTHESIS.

RNA Ribonucleic acid, a polymer that carries

genetic information and can act as an
enzyme
Ribose A 5-carbon sugar that forms part of the
sugar–phosphate backbone of RNA. The
five carbon atoms are numbered 1’
through 5’ in a nucleotide
Bases One of four different ring-shaped
molecules that serve as letters in the RNA
code
Purines Two-ring bases, including adenine and
guanine (A and G)
Pyrimidines One-ring bases, including cytosine and
uracil (C and U)
Phosphate PO4 molecules that form part of the RNA
polymer backbone
Nucleoside A ribose molecule linked to a base at the
1’ carbon
Nucleotide A ribose molecule linked to a base at the
1’ carbon and a phosphate at the 2’, 3’,
or 5’ hydroxyl groups; also known as an
RNA monomer
Activated A nucleotide that has been made
nucleotide chemically reactive (i.e., more likely to
form a polymer) by the addition of a
reactive molecule to the phosphate Structures of RNA nucleosides, monomers, oligomers,
(see Fig. 3) FIGURE 3
and pyrophosphates.
Monomer A single nucleotide; one unit of an RNA
polymer At present, the key elements lacking in our understanding
of prebiotic RNA synthesis are the efficient reaction of the
Oligomer A chain of several RNA nucleotides; a purine and pyrimidine bases with ribose to generate nucle-
short RNA polymer. The chain forms osides and the synthesis of the activated mononucleotides
when the phosphate of one nucleotide required for RNA polymerization.
bonds to the ribose 3’ carbon of another
nucleotide—a so-called 3’, 5’ phosphodi-
ester bond.
CLAYS AND THE PREBIOTIC SYNTHESIS
OF RNA OLIGOMERS
Phosphodiester The bond that forms between two Montmorillonite was first recognized as a potential pre-
bond nucleotides in an RNA oligomer biotic catalyst for the formation of the phosphodiester
bond of RNA when it was observed that the yield of the 2’,
In spite of this remarkable, multi-faceted structure, many 3’-cyclic phosphate was enhanced in the presence of mont-
scientists do not accept the RNA world hypothesis for the morillonite clay (Ferris and Hagan 1986; Ferris et al. 1988),
origins of life because no plausible mechanism for the pre- as illustrated in Figure 4. While this clay-catalyzed reaction
biotic synthesis of RNA has been found. Those who reject did not initiate the bonding of the ribose 5’ carbon to phos-
the proposal that the RNA world was initiated from RNA phate, as required for RNA (FIG. 3), it did foster the search
monomers take the view that the first life used much sim- for conditions that might catalyze oligonucleotide formation.
pler monomer units that were formed more readily by pre- A key to our eventual success was the discovery that mont-
biotic processes. This unknown precursor to the RNA world morillonite-catalyzed reactions of nucleotides work best
supposedly evolved into the more versatile, but chemically when we convert clays to forms with a single kind of inter-
less stable, RNA. However, no data at the present time layer cation—a procedure that avoids reactions or inhibi-
describe a plausible prebiotic synthesis of the monomers or tion due to the metal ions bound in the interlayers of the
polymers of a potential pre-RNA. naturally occurring montmorillonite (Banin 1973). We
While I recognize that the absence of a prebiotic route to accomplished this conversion either by treatment of the
RNA monomers remains an important problem to be montmorillonite with excess salts of the cation (saturation
solved, my group has continued to study the formation of procedure) or by conversion to the acid form by acid treat-
RNA oligomers from RNA monomers. This research illumi- ment and then back titration of the hydrogen form of the
nates the central role of catalysis in prebiotic synthesis. In clay with the desired cation. We observed that when the
addition, we feel that continued research on the formation alkali and alkaline earth metal ions (with the exception of
of RNA monomers is warranted, as there has been signifi- Mg) are the exchangeable cations, catalytically active clays
cant progress in the prebiotic formation of ribose (Müller et are obtained. Montmorillonites with Fe and other transi-
al. 1990; Zubay 1998 ; Ricardo et al. 2004; Springsteen and tion metals as exchangeable cations, on the other hand, are
Joyce 2004) as well as in the synthesis of RNA by the reac- not catalytically active.
tion of monomers on an RNA template (e.g., Orgel 2004).

ELEMENTS 147 J UNE 2005

Initial studies revealed that, under acidic conditions, basic
purine and pyrimidine rings are protonated and bind
strongly to the negatively charged clay lattice (Lailach et al.
1968). This binding decreases sharply as the pH is increased
to values greater than 4. In our studies of the binding of
nucleotides to montmorillonite (Ferris et al. 1989a), we
find that activated monomers bind more strongly than the
unactivated nucleotides because they have one less nega-
tive charge. Furthermore, activated purine nucleotides with
their larger aromatic ring structures bind more strongly
than pyrimidine nucleotides—a result that shows the
importance of the van der Waals forces in the adsorption of
these molecules onto clays.
In studies designed to confirm the binding sites of these
activated nucleotide monomers, we exposed the clays to
various organic compounds that are known to bind strongly
to positively charged interlayer sites or the negatively
charged edge sites. We found that substances binding to
the montmorillonite interlayer sites inhibited RNA
oligomer formation (Ertem and Ferris 1998), whereas
organic substances bound to the edge sites on the mont-
morillonite had little effect on the inhibition of catalytic
activity.

FIGURE 4 Montmorillonite enhances the yield in the DISN-driven

cyclization of the 3’-phosphate to the 2’, 3’-cyclic
phosphate.

FIGURE 5 Gel electrophoresis separates the products of feeding

RNA Oligomer Formation
Our studies had demonstrated that RNA monomers can
bind efficiently to clays, but would the clays catalyze the
formation of RNA oligomers? Initial success came with
experiments that exposed Na-montmorillonite to a solu-
tion containing nucleotides and carbodiimide (RN=C=R; a
so-called “condensing agent” that induces polymerization
reactions). We found a significant yield of both non-
biological 2’, 5’-linked RNA dimers (see Fig. 3) and biologi-
cally relevant 3’, 5’-linked RNA dimers (Ferris et al. 1989b).
The use of an imidazole activating group bound to the
phosphate group (Fig. 3) provided a major improvement,
with oligomers up to 10-mers formed in the montmoril-
lonite-catalyzed reaction (Ferris and Ertem 1992). Structure
analysis revealed the presence of both 2’, 5’- and 3’, 5’-
phosphodiester bonds between the monomer units, with
biological 3’, 5’-links present about 70% of the time.
An important aspect of this RNA oligomer formation is
sequence selectivity—the preferential linkage of different
nucleotides with bases A, C, G, or U. In experiments where
we began with equal amounts of these four bases, clay
catalysis resulted in the formation of a non-uniform distri-
bution of the 16 possible pair sequences (Ertem and Ferris
2000; Miyakawa and Ferris 2003). In fact, eight of the six-
teen dimers accounted for 84% of the reaction products,
and all eight of these dimers have a purine nucleotide at
their 5’-end.
reactions by their length. Activated monomer was added
daily to 32pdA(pdA)
8pA bound to montmorillonite, and the five reac-
tion mixtures were allowed to stand at 25°C for the times shown at the
top of the gel. They were then added to lanes at the top of the gel. A
voltage was applied across the gel and the negatively charged RNA
oligomers migrated down the gel at rates proportional to their lengths.
The migration positions are shown at the right for 10-, 20-, 30- and 40-
mers (Ferris et al. 1996).
Additional studies revealed that the rate of clay-catalyzed
RNA elongation depends strongly on the specific bases
exposed at the 3’-end of the strand. Pyrimidine nucleotides
elongate at a significantly slower rate than purine
nucleotides. Consequently, the sequence of RNA
nucleotides formed by clay catalysis is not the result of a
random synthetic process.
Another aspect of nucleotide selectivity arises from the
existence of both right-handed (D) and left-handed (L)
ribose, leading to both D and L nucleotides. Both D- and L-
enantiomers of RNA monomers must have been present on
the primitive Earth. However, clay catalysis of a mixture of
D and L nucleotides results in the formation of dimers that
are predominantly D-D or L-L, as opposed to mixed D-L
(Joshi et al. 2000). This important finding, if it holds for
longer oligomers as well, points to a prebiotic pathway to
form homochiral (same handedness) RNA from a hete-
rochiral prebiotic milieu. Homochiral oligomers will have
the same folding and interactions with other chiral mole-
cules that life’s exclusively D-RNA does today.

ELEMENTS 148 J UNE 2005

Toward a Synthetic RNA World
RNAs that served early life as a storehouse of genetic infor-
mation as well as catalysts had to have been longer than
10-mers. In fact, theoretical studies suggest that oligomers
greater than 40-mers would be required to serve as catalysts
and templates for the formation of the complementary
RNAs (Ferris 2002; Joyce and Orgel 1999; Szostak and
Ellington 1993). Consequently, we explored the formation
of longer oligomers by the daily addition of activated
nucleotides to a 10-mer primer that had adsorbed on the
montmorillonite (Ferris et al. 1996). After “feeding” this
system for 14 days, we observed that the primer elongated
by adding as many as 40 monomers units (FIG. 5).
Furthermore, by changing the activating group on the
nucleotides from imidazole to 1-methyladenine (a plausible
prebiotic compound), we found it was possible to form 40-
mers in only one or two days (Huang and Ferris 2003;
Prabahar and Ferris 1997). Given these findings, a plausible
mineral-catalyzed pathway from prebiotic organic mole-
cules to the RNA world seems within reach.
CONCLUSIONS
Catalysis was essential for the formation of the biopolymers
required for the origin of the first life. The catalysts avail-
able on the primitive Earth included minerals and metal
ions. In experiments, catalysis results in the generation of
oligomers that represent only a limited range of all possible
nucleotide sequences, so that they would be quite similar.
This result suggests there was a sufficient supply of
oligomers available to initiate the first life and to maintain
it until an RNA catalyst for template-directed synthesis
evolved. Catalysis can also assist in the formation of D- and
L-homochiral polymers from random racemic mixtures of
starting materials. This scenario raises the possibility of two
coexisting worlds of opposite handedness, thus postponing
chiral selection to a later date in the evolutionary process.
I may be wrong in assuming the RNA world arose from pre-
biotic reactions on the primitive Earth, but I am convinced
that mineral and metal-ion catalysis was absolutely essen-
tial for the formation of the complex organic structures
that were necessary for the first life on Earth.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was supported by NSF grant CHE 04131739,
NASA Exobiology grant NNGO4GM16G, and the New York
Center for Studies on the Origins of Life: A NASA NSCORT.
.

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Origins of Life and Evolution of the

ELEMENTS 149 J UNE 2005

ELEMENTS 150 J UNE 2005
 Geochemical Influences
on Life’s Origins and
Evolution
Joseph V. Smith 1

T
he early Earth was hot and chaotic, bombarded intensely from 4.5 to
3.8 billion years ago. In ponds near the flanks of volcanoes, feldspars
and zeolites from volcanic flows and ash were alternately washed by
fluids and dried, fostering adsorption and catalytic processes. Some silica-rich
surfaces favored adsorption of organic molecules, including amino acids,
which were produced by lightning in volcanic clouds. Catalysis then promot-
ed polymerization to generate more complex molecules. Dissolution of alkali
feldspars created a honeycomb of cavities, which may have acted as tempo-
rary cell walls, while phosphorus released from the weathering feldspar
framework was available for energy molecules. Following the emergence
istry, therefore, represent plausible
of the first cells, geochemical processes continued to influence biological scenarios for life’s emergence, not
evolution. Alkali-rich volcanoes introduced metallic elements, which served a definitive history.
as nutrients in the food supply and may also have accelerated the rate of Extended Darwinian natural selec-
primate evolution prior to the appearance of hominids. tion driven by competition
between evolving species, coupled
KEYWORDS: biochemical evolution, feldspars, mineral surfaces, primate evolution, with Mendel-Watson-Crick genetic
volcanoes, zeolites, adsorption, mineral catalysis inheritance/mutation, is a plausi-
ble basis for integrating the patchy
paleontological record with the
INTRODUCTION increasingly complex biochemical zoo of the present Earth.
Geochemistry has exerted a profound influence not only However, understanding the chemical beginnings of life
on the origin of life, but also on its subsequent evolution- poses major challenges. How could the first self-replicating
ary development. In this essay I look at the geochemistry of and energy-supplying molecules have been assembled from
the Earth, particularly its volcanic processes, in relation to simpler materials that were undoubtedly available on the
life’s origins and subsequent Darwinian evolution. I first early protocontinents? Most scientists abhor spontaneous
examine the conditions on the chaotic early Earth, when generation, much less the wave of a magic wand from God
catalytic mineral surfaces promoted the polymerization of or the inheritance of living organisms from outer space.
organic molecules. I then consider the role of volcanism in They search for an integrated geological/biochemical basis
relation to nutrition, and end with a consideration of the that allows biological evolution to begin on Earth using sci-
evolution of primates in the East African Rift Valley. entific features testable in a chemical laboratory, and per-
haps even observable in geologic specimens.
Biological life began with the assembly of biochemical mol-
ecules at catalytically active mineral surfaces (Smith 1998; The chemical steps that led to life on Earth remain a mat-
Parsons et al. 1998; Smith et al. 1999) on a chaotic early ter of intense speculation. Plausible ideas can be tested by
Earth (Smith 1982; Nisbet and Sleep 2001). Life advanced experiments that mimic prebiotic processes, but few geo-
with the growing complexity of biomolecules in single- logical observations are available to support one hypothesis
celled Archaea and Bacteria, as well as a multitude of later versus another. Most surviving Archean rocks have been
multicellular species (Schopf 1983; Kutschera and Niklas metamorphosed to at least 500 K, which wipes out most
2004), finally reaching the amazingly complex biochem- biochemical evidence. Nevertheless, mineralogical and geo-
istry of humans and other Eukaryotes. Paleontologists have chemical observations set in the context of industrial
arranged the surviving fragments of bones, shells, and chemistry, cosmochemistry, and astrophysics provide ideas
other fossil materials into a plausible progression of species worth pursuing.
(Stanley 1998). However, the potential biochemical evi-
dence on biological evolution throughout Earth history has MINERAL CATALYSTS
been severely degraded or erased, especially for the most Bernal (1949) suggested that life began by catalytic assem-
ancient fossils. These ideas from mineralogy and geochem- bly on a mineral surface, but early attempts to formulate an
integrated scheme of physicochemical processes had a sig-
1 Department of Geophysical Sciences and Center for Advanced nificant weakness. Concepts of catalysis that use organic
Radiation Sources, 5734 S. Ellis Ave, The University of Chicago, compounds originally dispersed in aqueous organic “soup”
Chicago, Illinois 60637-1434, USA require a mechanism for concentrating the organic species
E-mail: jsmith@geosci.uchicago.edu

ELEMENTS, VOL. 1, PP 151–156 151 J UNE 2005

next to each other on a catalytic substrate. After catalysis,
the biochemically significant polymers such as polypep-
tides and RNA must then be protected from photochemical
destruction by solar radiation, as well as from excess heat-
ing. Only then could the energy-consuming replication/
mutation of polymers yield the first primitive organisms.
Mineral surfaces, which today are important in numerous
biological systems from lichens and bacteria to bones and
teeth, might have filled the critical roles of selection, pro-
tection, and catalysis.
Certain materials have internal surfaces that are both
organophilic and catalytic. This characteristic enables effi-
cient capture of organic species for catalytic assembly into
polymers in a protective environment. These physico-
chemical surface features are at the forefront of research on
synthetic zeolite catalysts in the chemical industry, as well
as on naturally occurring zeolite and feldspar minerals. We
conclude that catalysis at mineral surfaces could generate
replicating biopolymers from simple chemicals supplied by
meteorites, volcanic gases, and photochemical gas reactions.
Zeolites
Many early ideas about the role of minerals in life’s origins,
for example hypotheses that exploit quartz surfaces, are
implausible in detail because the proposed mineral surfaces
strongly prefer water and other ionic species to organic
molecules. However, the synthetic molecular sieve silica sil-
icalite (synthesized by Union Carbide = Al-free Mobil ZSM-
5 synthetic zeolite) has a 3D channel system (FIG. 1) whose
electrically neutral Si–O surface strongly adsorbs organic
species in preference to water. In silicalite, all silicon atoms
FIGURE 1 Part of the atomic framework of silicalite/mutinaite (after
Smith et al. 1999). Four glycine molecules in the zwitte-
rion configuration encapsulated in 10-ring channels. Oxygen atoms are
red spheres, while T atoms are shown by yellow (Si) and pink (Al)
spheres. The glycine consists of a central carbon atom (grey) bonded to
two hydrogen atoms (white), one carboxyl COO group, and one amine
NH3 group. Three glycine molecules are in one 10-ring channel opti-
mized to interact with each other by hydrogen bonding and by sus-
pension from the oxygen atoms by van der Waals bonding. The fourth
glycine molecule is in an adjacent channel.
ELEMENTS
are surrounded by a tetrahedron of four oxygen atoms, and
the stereogeometry is such that the channels are lined by a
three-connected net with the fourth Si–O bond pointing
into the silica. Hence, no silanol (Si–OH) species project
into the channels. Silicalite can adsorb molecules up to 6 Å
across, including benzene, and it has a remarkable
organophilic/hydrophobic nature. Consequently, traces of
methanol, propanol, butanol, pentane, hexane, and other
organic species can be removed from water. Silicalite pos-
sesses an exceptional stability for a 33% porous crystal. Not
only is it impervious to most mineral acids, it is also stable
in air to over 1100°C and only slowly converts to an amor-
phous glass at 1300°C.
The reason for the organophilic/hydrophobic nature is quite
simple. Oil and water do not mix because polar water mole-
cules prefer ionic bonding, whereas organic molecules of the
oil prefer van der Waals bonding. Hence, for a truly neutral
surface, water molecules remain bonded to each other in an
ionic environment, allowing the organic molecules to adsorb
onto the neutral zeolite surface by van der Waals bonding.
Any material with a truly neutral silica surface with no pro-
jecting silanols (Si–OH) should be organophilic/hydrophobic.
Quartz and various other silica polymorphs have outward
bonds that become silanols in an aqueous system; hence they
are not organophilic like silicalite.
The ZSM-5-type zeolite, mutinaite, occurs in Antarctica
with boggsite and tschernichite (Al-analog of Mobil syn-
thetic Beta) as the product of low-temperature alteration of
volcanic glass. Archean mutinaite might have become de-
aluminated towards silicalite during hot/cold/wet/dry
cycles driven by lunar tides and solar night/day. Catalytic
activity of silicalite increases linearly with Al–OH substitu-
tion for Si, and Al atoms tend not to occur in adjacent tetra-
hedral positions. Adjacent organophilic and catalytic
Al–OH regions in nanometer channels might have scav-
enged organic species, which were then catalytically assem-
bled into specific polymers that were thus protected from
rapid photochemical destruction by sunlight. Polymer
migration along the weathered silicic surfaces, for example
of micrometer-wide channels of feldspar perthites, might
thus have led to assembly of replicating-catalytic biomole-
cules and perhaps even primitive cellular organisms (Smith
et al. 1999).
Silica-rich, feldspar-bearing volcanic ash would have
occurred on the early Earth, ready for weathering into a
fine-grained mixture of zeolites and feldspars as in present
continental basins. Abundant chert from weakly metamor-
phosed Archean rocks might retain microscopic clues to
these proposed mineral catalysts, and it is worth detailed
study. Other framework silica minerals are possible, includ-
ing ones with left- and right-handed channels that might
have induced the assembly of chiral polymers.
A Scenario for Biocatalysis
The present proposal does not provide detailed recipes for
catalytic formation of a replicating polymer, but plausible
recipes should emerge from laboratory experiments and
crystal-chemical modeling. It would be wonderful, of
course, if catalytic polypeptide or RNA chains were synthe-
sized in actual experiments on these proposed organophilic
materials. It would be even more thrilling if a fragment of
the abundant chert or other sediments in surviving
Archean terranes had survived metamorphism to preserve
some convincing evidence of primary biocatalysis.
In nature, one can imagine volcanic ash falling around
ponds near a volcano (FIG. 2). Electrical storms generated
simple organic molecules, including amino acids, by the
Miller reaction (Miller and Urey 1959). Despite criticisms of
152 J UNE 2005
 FIGURE 2 A simple schematic diagram showing a pond at the base
of a volcano in the early Earth. Ash (with Miller-reaction
amino acids from electrical storms) and lava flows are erupting at the
top. A complex water-rich soup repeatedly fills the pond in response to
lunar tides.
the reduced methane–hydrogen–ammonia atmospheric
conditions employed in these experiments, oxygen isotope
data are consistent with the interior of the early Earth hav-
ing an enstatite-chondrite composition. This result is impor-
tant because the resulting volcanic gases should have con-
tained reduced molecules containing carbon and nitrogen
—just what is required for production of simple amino acids
from electrical processes in the volcanic clouds. In tidal
ponds, the resulting aqueous solution of organic species was
repeatedly refreshed and evaporated by tidal action.
Volcanic ash, weathered into organophilic feldspars and
zeolites, adsorbed simple organic molecules ready for catal-
ysis. In FIG.1, for example, amino acids are shown lined up
in a 10-ring channel of silicalite. As tides receded, zeolite
complexes became dried and heated, and polymerization
occurred. Indeed, it would be fascinating to construct an
experiment to simulate this process. If simple organic mol-
ecules are observed to polymerize into complex ones, then
this key step toward primitive life becomes more plausible.
The energy-rich biomolecules ADP and ATP require phos-
phorus, which is also available from the weathering of vol-
canic feldspar that typically contains a few tenths of a per-
cent P (coupled with Al as a substitute for 2 Si). As the Al
atoms leave the feldspar, the P would also be released as
PO3OH, which would be available for catalytic binding to
organic molecules.
Feldspars may have played other life-giving roles, in addi-
tion to their contribution of nutrients. In some slowly
cooled rocks, feldspars develop perthitic intergrowths of
Na-rich and K-rich feldspars, which might provide a safe
home for complex organic molecules after preferential dis-
solution of one of the feldspars. These textures have been
beautifully photographed by Martin Lee and Ian Parsons in
the Shap granite (FIG. 3), in which bacteria occupy weath-
ered cavities in alkali feldspar. On the early Earth, one can
imagine complex molecules concentrated in such a cavity,
with the silicate walls acting as the first protective cell wall.
Ultimately, a self-replicating cluster of molecules in such a
ELEMENTS 153
cavity might develop its own protective membrane
(Deamer 1997) and float off into the pond water as the first
living cell.
VOLCANOES, FOOD SUPPLY,
AND DARWINIAN EVOLUTION
The role of geochemistry in life’s development did not end
with the emergence of the first cells. Geochemical processes
have continued to influence the evolution of life through-
out Earth’s history. In particular, all species need food, and
this nutritional requirement is intimately tied to mineralogy
and petrology.
At the beginning of Darwinian evolution, approximately
four billion years ago, life depended on solar radiation or
geochemical sources for energy, while volcanoes supplied
much of the carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, and other ele-
ments essential to life. As the Earth’s crust slowly became
more oxidized through hydrogen escape, the composition
of volcanic rocks gradually changed. Early volcanoes tend-
ed to emit lavas rich in magnesium silicate and low in the
biochemical elements, whereas volcanic rocks today range
from common alkali-poor continental basalts to less com-
mon alkali-rich basalts and a wide range of carbonatites.
Volcanoes, Nutrition, and Biodiversity
From an evolutionary perspective, the greater the availabil-
ity and variety of food, the greater are the chances of
Darwinian evolution into a cluster of species occupying
adjacent niches and specializing in their use of food. Food
supply and solar energy generally decrease from equator to
pole—a feature that explains the extreme biodiversity of
equatorial rain forests compared to arctic regions, for exam-
ple, though local details depend on weather systems and
topography. Glacier-capped volcanic mountains next to a
hot rain-forest coast, as in East Africa (FIG. 4), offer the
greatest range of food supply and consequently the widest
variety of niches. As the weather changes, food supply
varies, and as climate changes, certain species may have dif-
ficulty surviving or may evolve into successor species, while
others expand.
Continental food supply depends ultimately on volcanoes
rejuvenating soils. Lava flows and ash deposits may wipe
out food supply initially, but weathering produces new soil
J UNE 2005
and regenerates old soils, and also modifies the chemistry
of lake and stream water. Special types of alkaline volcanic
rocks, found in East Africa for example, carry abundant bio-
chemically significant elements (i.e., minerals to dieticians)
in widely variable amounts. Key volcanogenic resources
include phosphorus and transition metals, which are
required for the metabolic functions of many multicellular
organisms, and for the brain chemistry of primates.
The influence of meteoritic impact is of special interest in
this regard. A large impact may initially decrease food sup-
ply and trigger extinction of certain groups of species.
Production of a large crater, however, results in gravita-
tional readjustment of the mantle. This may trigger signifi-
cant volcanic eruptions of rare, low-temperature basaltic
and carbonatitic melts enriched in biochemical elements,
followed by eruption of abundant higher-temperature
basalts that flood parts of continents. Is it possible that
such impacts ultimately foster biodiversity by creating geo-
chemical variety and thus new niches?

Volcanoes and the Rate

of Primate Mutation
Because of this intriguing possible connection between vol-
canic rocks and the food supply, I conclude this article by
speculating on relationships between inorganic trace ele-
ments of geochemical significance (Fraústo da Silva and
Williams 1991) and organic biochemistry and nutrition
(Underwood 1977; Brody 1994; Williams 1997). My ideas
have been influenced by many emerging lines of investiga-
tion, notably the varied roles of Fe, Zn, Mn and other met-
als in biological processes, such as metabolism and gene
regulation, as well as in medicine (Cooper and Krawczak
1993; Cooper 1999; Roussel et al. 1999; Bertini et al. 2000;
Huffman and O’Halloran 2001). I propose that these con-
siderations point to a previously unrecognized connection
between geochemistry and the evolution of large-brained
hominids, including Australopithicus and Homo (Bromage
and Schrenk 1999).
Consider the following three points:
➀ The active brain of modern humans uses more energy
per volume unit than does muscle, as reflected in its
two-fold higher content of energy-rich ATP and other
phosphorus-based molecules. Because the P-rich mole-
cules in the brain normally use glucose supplied contin-
uously from the rest of the body by the blood stream, a
daily food supply is highly desirable. Consequently, as
primate brains got larger, the food supply had to
become richer in phosphorus.
➁ The brain is characterized by relatively abundant transi-
tion metals, including Mn, Ni, and Cu, which form key
components of metalloproteins with various duties.
➂ The complex communication system in the brain
requires abundant Na and K together with Ca for the
nerves and membranes.
Thus, assuming some overall similarities in the functional
needs of both the human and the evolving Australopithecus
brain, high and constant intake of Na, P, Mn, Ni, and Cu,
as well as Fe and Zn, from foods derived from soils rejuve-
nated in the volcanic environment would have been bene-
ficial for Australopithecus brain development. All these ele-
ments are abundant in the alkaline basalt/carbonatite
volcanic rocks of East Africa. I conclude from these obser-
vations that the distinctive geochemical features of the East
African Rift system were conducive to the emergence of the
advanced primate brain.
Trace-element nutrition was a necessary, but perhaps not
sufficient, step in the emergence of large-brained primates.
FIGURE 3 Scanning electron micrographs of weathered feldspar
from the Shap granite (Smith et al. 1999, Fig. 3). Top:
resin cast of honeycomb texture; Bottom: weathered feldspar surface
showing honeycomb and bacterium. Photos Martin Lee.
Therefore, I suggest that consideration be given to a possi-
ble link between volcano-driven food supply and an accel-
erated rate of gene mutations. This idea is speculative, but
some of the trace elements essential to primate brain func-
tion are also known to be mutagenic. For example, Mg is
known to stabilize the bending of DNA into particular
curved structures, but when Mn or other divalent cations
are substituted for Mg, the error rate of nucleotide incorpo-
ration increases (Bertini et al. 2000). Perhaps an increase in
environmental transition metals provided the necessary
chemicals for increased brain function, while simultane-
ously increasing the rate of mutations, some of which led
to a fortuitous further increase in brain function. Relating
gene mutation to biochemistry, geochemistry, and vol-
canology is a scientific study in its infancy, and my broad
suggestions may well turn out to be wrong. Nevertheless,
there may be a way to test at least some of these ideas.
A Test: Trace Elements
in Teeth Enamel and Bone Fragments
Trace elements preserved in fossil teeth and bones may pro-
vide a way to test my ideas about the importance of transi-
tion metals in the food supply of East African mammals.
The part of a primate body most resistant to chemical
degradation is the enamel of teeth, consisting of ~97%
apatite crystals and only ~2% organic matrix; bone, by con-
trast, has ~70% apatite and other phosphate material and
~20% protein. During fossilization and diagenesis, chemi-
cal exchange would have occurred with the soil at burial
sites in East Africa, and apatite crystals may have under-
gone ion exchange that altered the original chemistry, even
in the case of tooth enamel. However, advanced synchro-
tron X-ray techniques (Smith and Rivers 1995) offer some

ELEMENTS 154 J UNE 2005

 View of the Oldoinyo Lengai carbonatite eruption of
FIGURE 4
August 1996, East Africa. By permission of J. B. Dawson.
hope that a tomographic X-ray fluorescence/diffraction
study with one-micrometer spatial resolution could test the
crystalline integrity and yield the trace-element content for
at least the most retentive elements of surviving parts of the
enamel. Indeed, preliminary examination (unpublished, SR
Sutton and JVS) reveals that a dozen trace elements are
detectable above the part-per-million level. A non destruc-
tive-synchrotron XRF reconnaissance of mammal teeth
studied by other techniques is therefore desirable.
CONCLUSIONS
The importance of mineralogy and geochemistry for
Darwinian evolution has changed greatly over geologic
time. Four billion years ago, only the most primitive molec-
ular assemblages could have occurred, triggered by catalyt-
ic reactions at organophilic mineral surfaces. Eventually, by
processes as yet poorly understood, a self-replicating bio-
chemical system emerged from the geochemical milieu.
The resulting first living cells marked the transition from a
geochemical to a biochemical world.
The first cells were subjected to new competitive stresses
and thus underwent Darwinian evolution. Complex varia-
tions in food supply and environmental conditions, possi-
bly including changes related to bolide impact and subse-
quent volcanism, allowed this evolution to proceed in fits
and starts.
In this long evolutionary history of life, the development of
large-brained primates remains of special interest. About 30
million years ago, the East African Rift opened up at the
north, releasing magmas especially rich in biochemically
important elements from the mantle. Volcanic mountains
grew larger, ultimately generating a rich mosaic of local
conditions. Whether there were bursts of genetic evolution
as a result of the enhanced food supply linked to this
unusual volcanic activity is not testable with present data.
ELEMENTS
On a global basis, other parts of the tropical zone have a
similar year-round warm climate essential for primitive pri-
mates, but only in the volcanic zone of East Africa was
there the combination of an evolving large-brain primate
population and an abundant supply of biochemical nutri-
ents from active volcanism. The rest of the tropical world,
including the East Indies, South America, and West Africa,
lack this crucial combination.
Caution is a virtue for scientists thinking about evolution-
ary processes. I hope to see detailed testing, reworking,
extension, and correction of my ideas. For example, a
model catalytic reactor could be assembled cheaply to
mimic the conditions proposed for early ponds near the
flanks of volcanic mountains. Jumping ahead several bil-
lion years, the great challenge of deciphering human evo-
lution—why the Australopithene/Homo lineage split from
that of the African great apes ~6 M years ago—may also rest
in the geochemistry of volcanism. Was this event related to
the coincidence of a global climatic catastrophe (Stanley
1996) and increased volcanism (and, consequently, higher
food supply) during the opening of the northern part of the
East African Rift? Perhaps alkaline basalt/carbonatite vol-
canism began to have a major effect on food supply and
gene expression as the climate changed. Was there a burst
of volcanism associated with each subsequent major evolu-
tionary event in the Homo lineage? If so, then systematic
dating of piles of volcanic ash using K-Ar techniques on
surviving feldspar macrocrysts might shed light not only
on Earth’s geochemical cycles but also on key events in
human evolution.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I thank Ian Parsons for feldspar photos and Barry Dawson
for collaboration on East African geology, including supply
of photographs. I also thank Robert Hazen and the editors
of Elements for their advice. .
155 J UNE 2005
REFERENCES
Bernal JD (1949) The physical basis of life.
Proceedings of the Royal Society of London
357A: 537-558
Bertini I, Sigel A, Sigel H (2000) Manganese
and its Role in Biological Processes. Marcel
Dekker, New York, 432 pp
Brody T (1994) Nutritional Biochemistry.
Academic Press, London, 658 pp
Bromage T, Schrenk F (1999) African
Biogeography, Climate Change, and
Human Evolution. Oxford University Press,
New York, 485 pp
Cooper DN (1999) Human Gene Evolution.
BIOS/Academic, San Diego, 490 pp
Cooper DN, Krawczak M (1993) Human
Gene Mutation. BIOS/Academic, San
Diego, 402 pp
Deamer DW (1997) The first living
systems: a bioenergetic perspective.
Microbiology and Molecular Biology
Review 61: 239-261
Fraústo da Silva JJR, Williams RJP (1991)
The Biological Chemistry of Life.
Clarendon Press, Oxford
Huffman DL, O’Halloran TV (2001)
Function, structure, and mechanism of
intracellular copper trafficking proteins.
Annual Reviews of Biochemistry 70: 677-
701
Kutschera U, Niklas KJ (2004). The modern
theory of biological evolution: an expanded
synthesis. Naturwissenschaften 91: 255-276
ELEMENTS
Miller SL, Urey HC (1959) Organic
compound synthesis on the primitive
earth. Science 130: 245-251
Nisbet E, Sleep NH (2001) The habitat and
nature of early life. Nature 409: 1083-1091
Parsons I, Lee MR, Smith JV (1998)
Biochemical evolution. II. Origin of life in
tubular microstructures on weathered
feldspar surfaces. Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences 98: 15173-
15176
Roussel AM, Anderson RA, Favier AE (1999)
Trace Elements in Man and Animals.
Kluwer Academic/Plenum, New York,
1172 pp
Schopf JW ed (1983) Earth’s Earliest
Biosphere. Its Origin and Evolution.
Princeton University Press, Princeton,
543 pp
Smith JV (1982) Heterogeneous growth of
meteorites and planets, especially the Earth
and Moon. Journal of Geology 90: 1-48
Smith JV (1998) Biochemical evolution: I.
Polymerization on internal, organophilic
silica surfaces of dealuminated zeolites and
feldspars. Proceedings of the National
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Smith JV, Arnold FP Jr, Parsons I, Lee MR
(1999) Biochemical evolution. III.
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Smith JV, Rivers ML (1995) Synchrotron x-
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Reed SJB, Cave MR (eds.) Microprobe
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Chapman and Hall, London, pp 163-233
Stanley SM (1998) Macro-evolution. Johns
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Underwood EJ (1977) Trace Elements in
Human and Animal Nutrition. Academic
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Williams S (1997) Nutrition and Diet
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.
RESEARCH PAPER HONORED
A paper entitled “Role of
Microbes in the smectite-to-
illite reaction” by J. Kim, H.
Dong, J. Seabaugh, S. Newell
and D. Eberl (Science, 2004, vol.
303, p. 380-382) was selected to
receive an award at the annual
Alan Berman Research Publications
Award Dinner held in March,
2005 by the Naval Research
Laboratory.
J UNE 2005
 Sketches for a Mineral
Genetic Material
A. Graham Cairns-Smith1
I
will argue that the driving force for the transition from geochemistry
to biochemistry was natural selection operating, in its earliest stages,
on inorganic materials. The most critical requirement for truly primitive
evolvable systems is truly primitive genetic materials. These should have the
kind of permutable structure that can hold information, and they should
be able to replicate this information—very accurately for the most part.
They should be like DNA in these respects. But, unlike DNA, they must do it
all without any pre-evolved systems. Mixed-layer and polytypic materials
will be featured in attempts to sketch what we should be looking for.
KEYWORDS: origin of life, natural selection, takeover, mixed-layer, polytype, clays
INTRODUCTION
For an organic chemist, it is humbling to think about bac-
teria because these supposedly simplest of organisms are
amazingly good at doing organic chemistry. They can put
together molecules requiring many steps in their making.
Difficult, often huge molecules such as proteins are
churned out, thousands of different kinds of them, each a
characteristic constellation of some thousands of atoms
and with every atom connected up just so.
Such competence could only be a product of evolution
through natural selection. Yet for today’s organisms it is a
precondition too—for to take part in evolution, in today’s
way, a high organic-chemical competence is absolutely
required. This is the Fix we find ourselves in when we try to
think about the origin of it all. It is a Fix that arises, I think,
from the very nature of organic molecules, together with a
preconception that because they are so important now this
must have been so from the very beginning.
The Great Virtue and the Great Snag about
Organic Molecules as the Basis of Life
Organic molecules are ideal for highly evolved forms of life
(such as bacteria) if only because of the enormous number
of different molecules that can be made from a construc-
tion kit of atoms composed mainly of C, H, O, N, P, and S.
Extrapolating from results of Henze and Blair (1931), I con-
cluded (1971, p. 2) that there are more possible ways to
connect 200 carbon atoms with 402 hydrogen atoms than
the number of electrons in the Universe, which according
to a famous estimate is about 1079 (Eddington 1935,
p. 221). And most protein molecules contain many more
atoms than 602, and more kinds of atoms too.
The Great Virtue of such richness in the world of possible
organic molecules is that it allows the kind of complex
1 Department of Chemistry, University of Glasgow, Glasgow,
G12 8QQ, Scotland
E-mail: grahamcs@chem.gla.ac.uk
ELEMENTS, VOL. 1, PP. 157-161 157
molecular engineering found in all
the organisms around us now. The
Great Snag is that with so many
possibilities there are so very many
ways to go wrong—and end up
being a speck of dark intractable
tar instead of an exquisite piece of
sub-nano-engineering. To make
particular organic molecules,
detailed control is needed all the
way. In today’s organisms a crucial
part of this control is provided by
enzymes, which bring about virtu-
ally every biochemical reaction
taking place.
How Enzymes Work
An enzyme is a highly tuned molecular machine. It selects
and binds one or more particular molecule(s)—its “sub-
strate”—from a diverse crowd of molecules in its surround-
ings. In the very act of binding, the enzyme exerts precise
forces on its substrate to transform it in a particular way.
An enzyme is mainly or entirely made of protein. It consists
of one or more chains of (usually) 20 kinds of amino acids,
covalently linked together in a definite sequence. A typical
chain might have some two or three hundred amino acids
in it, so that its unique sequence is one of an astronomical
number of alternatives (way beyond “the number of elec-
trons in the Universe”). Often, such a protein chain folds
up in a complicated way that depends in detail on its
unique sequence. An enzyme protein may fold so as to cre-
ate, somewhere on its surface, a specific groove or pit that
is geometrically and electronically complementary to the
molecule or molecules on which it acts. Enzyme and sub-
strate fit together, and the fit becomes even better when the
substrate is distorted in ways that lead to the required reaction.
Such a set-up is indeed ideal for manipulation by Nature’s
engineer, natural selection. This is because the active site of
an enzyme—its critical “groove”—can be tuned by natural
selection. This can happen through occasional arbitrary
changes to a protein sequence arising from mutations in
the genetic material DNA. Such changes in or near the
groove would tend to make coarse adjustments to its shape
and chemical properties. Changes a bit farther away will
likely have smaller effects: perhaps moving components of
the groove by fractions of an angstrom, for fine tuning.
Similar considerations apply to other proteins. Yes, this
whole set-up is ideal for participation in evolution in the
way we now see it. But it is far from anything that might
have “just happened” as part of a primitive organic geo-
chemistry. Manifestly, the situation that now allows the
evolution of organic-chemical competence must itself have
evolved. How did that happen? Our Fix has worsened with
J UNE 2005
our increased understanding of the necessary complexities
of the biochemical machinery. We need to think about an
earlier phase of natural selection that did not in the first
place depend on high organic-chemical competence, but
could evolve to produce it. Is this feasible?
I think it is, but only if we abandon the idea that organic
molecules were always the stars in the play of evolution, as
they are today. Even the smallish molecules, amino acids,
and so on, owe their present significance to being parts of
incredibly high-tech machinery. What we are looking for
are low-tech beginners at evolution, and it is here that inor-
ganic geochemistry is more likely to hold the keys.
SKETCHES
What are the minimal requirements for any system to be
subject to natural selection? The most basic is heredity,
illustrated in the well-known feature of living things that
they reproduce and pass on characteristics to offspring.
More strictly, what is passed on between generations is not
a set of characteristics as such (a phenotype), but genetic
information, which is the other, “invisible” part of an
organism. This is the information about how to make and
maintain a phenotype. It can be thought of as a set of con-
trolling patterns—recipes of some sort (a genotype).
The first sketch, after Maynard Smith (1993), illustrates the
relationship between genotype and phenotype for the case
of (say) micro-organisms reproducing by cell division:
P P P P′ P′
ä ä ä ä ä
à G à G à G à G′ à G′ à
MUTATION!
Phenotypes are not copies of previous phenotypes. On the
other hand, genotypes are usually accurate copies of previ-
ous genotypes—there is an unbroken succession of arrows
between the Gs. In addition there is the occasional muta-
tion, which can be thought of as a “misprint” in the genetic
information. This will often produce a change in the phe-
notype which, if not too damaging, will be inherited from
then on.
Why Natural Selection is so Powerful
Mutations are effectively random events. But this is not to
say that because evolution depends on them, evolution
must be “just a matter of chance”. What makes natural
selection so much more effective than “pure chance” is that
it can proceed small-step-by-small-step—because partial
success is, in an important sense, remembered. Thus further
explorations can be made by randomly modifying what
was already successful—in the crucial self-demonstrating
sense of being more prevalent (surviving better, reproduc-
ing faster, spreading more widely, and so on) and so more
likely to be the basis of future random modifications. The
critical feature of the above diagram is the long-term mem-
ory, maintained through the accurate copying of genetic
information.
The next sketch, a modified version of the previous one,
emphasises where there had to be high competence from
the start (in the copying of the genetic information) and
where competence could have evolved later (in the pro-
duction of phenotypes).
P P P P′
ä ä ä ä ä
è G è G è G è G′′ è G′′ è
MUTATION!
ELEMENTS
A phenotype can be seen in the most general terms as a set
of physico-chemical consequences of genetic patterns, con-
sequences that affect the chances of the propagation of
these patterns. The consequences do not have to be any-
thing very wonderful. To have a fair chance of catching on,
a phenotypic effect, even today, needs only to confer some
advantage even if small (Dawkins 1986).
Overcoming the Great Snag
Suppose the first genetic material was inorganic. We might
think of a microcrystalline mineral that has some replicable
pattern superimposed on its crystal structure, a pattern that
is inherited as a matter of course by newly crystallising
material. Now suppose that a consequence of such a pattern
is that it affects the morphology of the crystals holding it,
which in turn helps their survival and propagation.
FIGURE 1A is a cartoon example of how this might happen
and FIGURE 1B a conceivable case in point. Figure 1a illus-
trates the point that a first phenotype might simply be a
property of the genetic material itself (Spiegelman 1970;
Orgel 1979; Eigen 1983; Joyce 2002). But we can think too
about simple indirect phenotypic effects, involving non-
genetic materials. Suppose that the replicable pattern of a
genetic crystal affects the population of ions and other
molecules that accumulate on or near its surfaces, altering
the local pH, perhaps, which in turn happens to favour the
growth of the genetic crystals. Or suppose that some replic-
able pattern has the effect of organising, just a little bit,
some mix of organic molecules in the surroundings,
through adsorptive and catalytic interactions. Adsorption
and catalysis are common-enough effects of inorganic sur-
faces, and “just a little bit” might be enough. For example
the crystallising materials might be clay minerals and the
organising effect might be to increase slightly the local
population of di- and/or tri-carboxylic acids, since these
can act as catalysts for clay synthesis by chelating and
mobilising insoluble ions, especially Al(III) (Siffert 1986).
Small di- and tri-carboxylic acids have a central place in our
biochemistry, and it has been suggested from the structure
of our present metabolic pathways that such acids were per-
haps the very first organic molecules in our evolutionary
history (Hartman 1975; Cairns-Smith 1982, 1985, 2003).
But my main point here is that it is easy to imagine organic
molecules as primitive phenotypic components where even
rather disorganised mixtures might be effective. The great
trouble with the idea of organic molecules in an early
genetic role is illustrated by DNA, where clean and main-
tained supplies of DNA monomers (nucleotides) are the
absolute minimum requirements for its replication, and
nucleotides (whether for DNA or RNA) are particularly
tricky molecules to make (Cairns-Smith 1982, pp 56-59;
Shapiro 1988, 1995; Orgel 2004).
AN APPROACH TO G1
To be simple, and yet have a reasonably high information
capacity, a first genetic material should be made from a lim-
ited number of units that can be arranged in a very large
number of ways. DNA is like this. It holds its information
in the form of stacking sequences of tiny flat plates—base
pairs—held in place by an entwining pair of sugar–phos-
phate strings. There are two kinds of base pairs, and each
can be oriented in the stack in one of two ways.
P′ The Power of Permutation
To get an idea of the amount of information that a struc-
ture like this can hold, consider this: a particular stack of
150 DNA base pairs is one arrangement out of about 1090
possible arrangements. And to get a rough idea of just how
158 J UNE 2005
 A A Different Way of Replicating
FIGURE 1 A. In this cartoon a ground water solution of silicic acid
and metal cations is moving through a porous medium
such as sandstone, and minerals such as clays or zeolites are crystallis-
ing from the solution. Crystals with chunky morphologies (A) would be
likely to block the pores and cut off local nutrient supplies, while crys-
tals that are too small or delicate (B) would tend to wash away. A good
compromise would be to stick to the surrounding sand grains while not
blocking the pores (C).
B. This figure shows illite clay crystals from a marine sandstone, which
are conceivably a product of a simple kind of natural selection favour-
ing crystals that stick to the sand grains while not blocking the pores
(see figure 1a). Such tapelike illites consist of small stacks of a few sili-
cate layers. The inner layers are strongly negatively charged on both
their top and bottom surfaces, like mica, and are held together firmly
by (dry) potassium ions between them. However, the outer surfaces of
the top and bottom layers in a stack have a lower charge (more like
montmorillonite). These outer surfaces are hydrated and hold (hydrat-
ed) ions such as sodium and calcium (Nadeau et al. 1984). Micrograph
reproduced from McHardy et al. (1982).
far beyond the reaches of pure chance are all the forms of
life now on Earth, consider the bacterium E. coli. It has 4.6
million base pairs in its genotype. (Humans have a few hun-
dred times as many, about 3.3 billion.)
What we seek is altogether more modest and certainly not
DNA. There are however some inorganic materials, includ-
ing some clay minerals, that are formally like DNA in one
crucial respect: they consist of stacks of layers that are
either of different kinds (mixed-layer materials) or of dif-
ferent orientations (polytypes). In several cases, the layers
may be arranged in more or less arbitrary sequences. Such
materials could in principle hold information.
Furthermore, the conditions required for their synthesis—
for example, ground waters containing silicic acid and
metal cations—were most likely available on the primitive
Earth, as they are now (Odin et al. 1986).
ELEMENTS
Coming to the actual process of replication, this could be
very much simpler with “layer crystal genes” (as I will call
them) than with the necessarily highly orchestrated proce-
dures of DNA replication, as I have discussed elsewhere
(1982). FIGURE 2 is a formal sketch of how such a crystal
gene might replicate a stacking sequence. The first require-
ment for such a mechanism is that units in the surround-
ing fluid should add only to the edges of the layer stacks,
and in such a way as not to disturb the sequence, indeed to
copy the sequence (Cairns-Smith 1988).
FIGURE 2 A mineral genetic material might hold information in the
form of a particular complex stacking sequence of layers
and replicate it through an appropriate alternation of growth and cleavage.
Indirect support for this kind of faithful sideways copying
comes from a phenomenon sometimes seen in layer crys-
tals where some complex random-looking block of layers is
repeated several times, one on top of the other. Examples
of this come from mixed-layer materials. Although formed
at high temperatures, barium ferrites have provided some
especially dramatic cases. For example, Kohn et al. (1971)
found a 526 Å repeating sequence of 37 layers, while in
another study McConnell et al. (1974) found an 841 Å
sequence of 59 layers. Each of these groups remarked that
limitations of their (different) electron microscope tech-
niques may have prevented even longer repeating
sequences from being found. Clay minerals frequently have
mixed-layer structures and often show (more modest)
sequence repeats (Reynolds 1986). There is a similar story
with polytypes, e.g., silicon carbide (Verma and Krishna
1966) and micas (Baronnet 1980; Baronnet and Kang 1989).
The classical explanation for such repeats (Frank 1951) is
that the crystals would have grown through addition of
units to edges that are exposed on the surface due to a deep
screw dislocation. An alternative less tidy mechanism has
been suggested more recently (FIG. 3) to explain the long
repeats found in barium ferrites (Turner et al 1996). This
“seaweed growth” mechanism also depends on faithful
sideways addition of units. A similar mechanism might
apply to other cases of long c-axis repeats.
FIGURE 4 is a second sketch for an imagined mineral genetic
material. The picture is supposed to be part of one flexible,
branching, sprawling multi-layer (say, 10–100 layers thick)
and which has the same stacking sequence everywhere, dis-
played on its many edges like a vertical bar code. The whole
thing is somewhat like a plant reproducing vegetatively—as
happens with clover for example. One clone may eventual-
159 J UNE 2005

Cartoon sketch illustrating a possible mechanism for
FIGURE 3
long repeat sequences quite often found in mixed-layer
crystals. A seed crystal (top left) consists of a stack of layers with some
arbitrary sequence. It grows by addition of units to its edges only (com-
pare figure 2). The resulting more extensive plate is branched and flex-
ible. It grows like seaweed so that “fronds” come to overlap and sub-
sequently pile on top of each other producing thicker crystals in which
the original arbitrary sequence in the seed is repeated several times
(e.g., bottom right). The colour coding and numbering refer to differ-
ent levels of the same stack of layers.
FIGURE 4 An artist’s impression of a primitive mineral gene that
reproduces vegetatively (see figs 1b, 2, and 3b, and text).
ly spread over a whole field (Harper 1982). A sprawling
primitive gene like this could still evolve, if, for example, a
branch were to develop a stacking fault.
And its Phenotype?
Morphology could be a phenotypic feature (compare
fig. 1)— for example the thickness of the fronds, their style
of branching, their width—in so far as such features could
influence (say) accessibility of nutrient solutions or robust-
ness to unfavourable conditions. Or perhaps undersaturated
conditions would allow small pieces to break off more eas-
ily if the width of a frond tended to vary along its length.
Particularly with mixed-layer structures (that is to say,
structures made from chemically different layers lying on
top of each other), there would be strains due to slight mis-
fits that might tend to limit growth in certain directions or
cause curling. Such strains might affect the amount and
style of branching and hence the proportion of edges where
the genetic information is displayed. Indeed this whole
design with its flexible branching fronds increases the
prevalence of edges.
ELEMENTS
And it is here, on the edge surfaces, that catalytic and
adsorptive sites would be most directly influenced by
sequence patterns. This might be possible—I am thinking
of those misfitting strains where, in the middle of a com-
plicated sequence, there might be, say, an adjacent pair of
layers, A and B, which create a row of edge sites that
depend very much on the chemical nature of A and B and
how well they sit together. But these sites might depend
also, if more subtly, on the layers above and below them—
and so on, with the effects getting weaker with distance.
Transmission of such “mechanical” effects through articu-
lated silicate structures has been discussed by Megaw et al.
(1962); see also Cairns-Smith (1982, p 223). This possibili-
ty, although speculative, is reminiscent of the evolutionary
“fine tuning” of protein catalysis discussed earlier.
Takeovers and the Evolution
of the Means to Evolve
A genetic takeover
FIGURE 5 illustrates how an evolutionary process could
result in a radical change in genetic materials. No great leap
would be needed, only a gradual process with intermediate
stages in which evolving systems would use more than one
genetic material. This diagram represents a series of snap-
shots on a time scale of perhaps hundreds to millions of
years. It is the simplest form of a “genetic takeover”—
between just two genetic materials.
FIGURE 5 Formal representation of a radical genetic takeover. Here
phenotypes are represented as boxes, which protect the
genetic information and enable it to replicate more effectively. But they
let in the possibility of a new kind of genetic material (red) based on
materials that had not previously been available. After a period of col-
laboration the new system ousts the old.
There are analogies here with human technological
advance where similar takeovers abound. The quill pen was
not gradually transformed into the word processing com-
puter through a graded succession of intermediate designs,
but through an overlapping succession of takeovers using
novel technologies, each made possible by the evolution of
a whole surrounding technology. In more recent biological
evolution too there have been takeovers. Gills did not
evolve through intermediate designs into lungs—there was
a gradual takeover through organisms (such as lungfish)
that had both.
I think that takeovers would have had a special place at the
earliest stages of evolution. A series of genetic takeovers
could have provided the main mechanism for the evolu-
tion of the means to evolve—that is to say the evolution of
the genetic system itself. I also think that it was through an
overlapping succession of takeovers that different schemes
could have been tried out—simple ones to begin with,
more complicated ones becoming possible later.
A Genetic Staircase?
All the free-living organisms on Earth that we know of have
essentially the same highly integrated DNA-based system
that provides, now, the means to evolve. The implication
of this sameness is that all living creatures on Earth today,
160 J UNE 2005
from bacteria to barley to bishops, are (in some sense)
descended from a single common ancestor that already had
this system in full working order with its fundamental fea-
tures fixed, that is to say no longer subject to evolution.
Probably this arose from the kind of multiple interdepend-
ence of subsystems that is so typical of high-tech machin-
ery in general (Cairns-Smith 1982, chapter 3).
Surely there must have been a prolonged or intensive evo-
lution through natural selection to have brought such
machinery into existence. I would guess that this started
piecemeal with perhaps one kind of mineral genetic mate-
rial, followed by several based on different kinds of mixed-
layer or polytype materials: symbioses of several primitive
genetic materials with different evolved skills. FIGURE 6 is a
cartoon of the sort of thing I am trying to imagine here. It
is a kind of staircase showing roughly how lines of genetic
succession might have been arranged. The staircase has all
but collapsed now, but beginners like G1 should still be
with us engaging in, at least, tiny temporary evolutionary
FIGURE 6 A genetic staircase. The idea here is that there were mul-
processes. Perhaps these seem too trivial to be recognised tiple overlapping genetic takeovers. First there was one
for what they are. genetic material. Then there were several doing different jobs. Finally
there was only DNA, which had become versatile enough in its means
Hydrothermal systems might be the place to look. They are of control (via proteins mainly) to do everything needed for its own
being increasingly invoked as sites for “the origin of life” survival and propagation.
(Holm 1992; Russell and Hall 1997), and they seem espe-
cially good places for the earliest stages of the kind of evo- useful materials would change as the level of sophistication
lution we are trying to imagine. Layer silicates, for example, rose. Above all, the whole process would have been trans-
grow and dissolve relatively quickly at moderately high formed by the appearance of a competent organic chem-
temperatures and pressures. istry, however that was achieved.

Finally, returning to the main theme of this essay, whatever ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

the detailed story was, there would not have been one fixed
I thank Bob Hazen for inviting me to contribute to this
issue of Elements and for encouraging my efforts. .
set of materials all the way because the most accessible and

REFERENCES Hartman H (1975) Speculations on the

Baronnet A (1980) Polytypism in micas:
a survey with emphasis on the crystal
growth aspect. In: Kaldis E (ed) Current
Topics in Materials Science, North
Holland Publishing Company,
Amsterdam, pp 447-548
Baronnet A, Kang ZC (1989) About the
origin of mica polytypes. Phase
Transitions 16/17: 477-493
Cairns-Smith AG (1971) The Life Puzzle.
University of Toronto Press, Toronto
Cairns-Smith AG (1982) Genetic Takeover
and the Mineral Origins of Life.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Cairns-Smith AG (1985) Seven Clues to
the Origin of Life. Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, 154 pp
Cairns-Smith AG (1988) The chemistry of
materials for artificial Darwinian systems.
International Reviews in Physical
Chemistry 7: 209-250
Cairns-Smith G (2003) Fine-tuning in
living systems: early evolution and the
unity of biochemistry. International
Journal of Astrobiology 2: 87-90
Dawkins R (1986) The Blind Watchmaker.
Longman, Harlow, Essex, chapter 4
Eddington A (1935) New Pathways in
Science. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge
Eigen M (1983) Self-replication and
molecular evolution. In: Bendall DS (ed)
Evolution from Molecules to Men,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
pp 105-130
Frank FC (1951) On the growth of carbo-
rundum: dislocations and polytypism.
origin and evolution of metabolism.
Journal of Molecular Evolution 4: 359-
370
Henze HR, Blair CM (1931) The number of
isomeric hydrocarbons of the methane
series. Journal of the American Chemical
Society 53: 3077-3085
Holm NG (ed) 1992) Marine Hydrothermal
Systems and the Origin of Life. Kluwer
Academic Publishers, Dordrecht
Joyce GF (2002) The antiquity of RNA-
based evolution. Nature 418: 214-221
Kohn JA, Eckart DW, Cook CF (1971)
Crystallography of the hexagonal ferrites.
Science 172: 519-525
Maynard Smith J (1993) The Theory of
Evolution, Canto edition. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge, p 79
McConnell JDM, Hutchison JL, Anderson
JS (1974) Electron microscopy of the
barium ferrite layer structures. Proceed-
ings of the Royal Society of London
A339: 1-12
McHardy WJ, Wilson MJ, Tait JM (1982)
Electron microscope and X-ray
diffraction studies of filamentous illitic
clay from sandstones of the Magnus
Field. Clay Minerals 17: 23-39
Megaw HD, Kempster CJE, Radoslovich
EW (1962) The structure of anorthite,
CaAl2Si2O8 II: Description and discussion.
Acta Crystallographica 15: 1017-1035
Nadeau PH, Wilson MJ, McHardy WJ, Tait
JM (1984) Interstratified clays as funda-
mental particles. Science 225: 923-925
Odin GS, Reynolds RC, Harder H,
Arrhenius G (1986) Clays on the early
earth. In: Cairns-Smith AG, Hartman H,
Orgel LE (1979) Selection in vitro. Proceed-
ings of the Royal Society of London
B205: 435-442
Orgel LE (2004) Prebiotic chemistry and
the origin of the RNA world. Critical
Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology 39: 99-123
Reynolds RC (1986) Interstratified clays.
In: Cairns-Smith AG, Hartman H, (eds)
Clay Minerals and the Origin of Life,
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
pp 46-52
Russell MJ, Hall AJ (1997) The emergence
of life from iron monosulphide bubbles
at a submarine hydrothermal redox and
pH front. Journal of the Geological
Society, London 154: 377-402
Shapiro R (1988) Prebiotic ribose synthesis:
a critical analysis. Origin of Life and
Evolution of the Biosphere 18: 71-85
Shapiro R (1995) The prebiotic role of
adenine: a critical analysis. Origin of Life
and Evolution of the Biosphere 25: 83-98
Siffert B (1986) The role of organic
complexing agents. In: Cairns-Smith AG,
Hartman H, (eds) Clay Minerals and the
Origin of Life, Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, pp 75-78
Spiegelman S (1970) Extracellular
evolution of replicating molecules. In:
Schmitt FO, (ed) The Neurosciences:
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Turner G, Stewart B, Baird T, Peacock RD,
Cairns-Smith AG (1996) Layer morpholo-
gy and growth mechanisms in barium
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Philosophical Magazine 42: 1014-1021
Harper JL (1983) A Darwinian plant
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Life. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, pp 79-104

ELEMENTS 161 J UNE 2005


Dana Medal to Carlson
The Mineralogical
Society of America
awarded its 2005
Dana Medal to
WILLIAM D.
CARLSON, of the
University of Texas
at Austin. The
medal, named in
honor of both
James Dwight Dana (1813–1895) and Edward
Salisbury Dana (1849–1935), recognizes
continued outstanding scientific contribu-
tions to the mineralogical sciences through
original research by individuals in the midst
of their career. Bill Carlson has pioneered
truly major advances in the mineral sciences
in (1) developing a three-dimensional
understanding of the textures of rocks, and
(2) quantifying the kinetics of diffusion-con-
trolled metamorphic mineral reactions. In
order to accomplish the former, he was the
primary force behind the transfer of the
technology of X-ray computed tomography
(a longstanding medical imaging technique)
to a high-resolution application firmly rooted
in Earth science, but which has grown to
encompass many scientific applications.
His earlier researches in experimental, field,
analytical, and computational phase equilib-
ria and the quantification of rate phenomena
represent equally significant contributions.
The Dana Lecture that he will give at the
Goldschmidt Conference is entitled “Rates
and mechanisms of metamorphic processes
from natural occurrences.”
Watson is Goldschmidt Medalist
E. BRUCE
WATSON
is the recipient
of the 2005 V.M.
Goldschmidt
Medal, awarded by
the Geochemical
Society. The medal,
given to honor
major achieve-
ments in geochemistry or cosmochemistry,
recognizes Watson for his innovative
experimental designs that have changed our
understanding of the transport of volatile
species in the Earth and the control that
surfaces exert on melt and fluid migration.
Professor Watson received his PhD from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and
was a postdoctoral fellow at the Carnegie
Institution of Washington before moving in
1978 to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
where he is currently Institute Professor.
ELEMENTS
Peo ple in t h e N e w s
significantly enhanced knowledge of the
behavior and biogeochemical importance of
Clarke Medal to Van Orman
trace metals in the ocean and has provided a
basis for investigation of environmental
JAMES A. VAN
pollution and toxicological effects of metals.
ORMAN is the
Bruland earned his BA in chemistry from
recipient of the
Western Washington University and his PhD
2005 F.W. Clarke
in oceanography from Scripps Institution of
Medal, awarded by
Oceanography. He joined UCSC in 1974.
the Geochemical
Society. The medal,
awarded to an
early-career
scientist for a
Bodnar Selected as
single outstanding contribution to geochem-
SEG Distinguished Lecturer
istry or cosmochemistry, published either as
ROBERT J.
a single paper or as a series of papers on a
BODNAR,
single topic, recognizes Van Orman for his
University
experimental and theoretical contributions
Distinguished
to our understanding of diffusion in the deep
Professor and C. C.
Earth and its consequences for trace element
Garvin Professor
geochemistry and rheological behavior.
of Geochemistry,
Dr. Van Orman received his PhD from the
Virginia Tech, has
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
been selected as
2000. He was then an NSF postdoctoral fellow
the Society of
at the Carnegie Institution of Washington
Economic Geologists Distinguished Lecturer
for two years before moving to his current
for 2005. He will present his lecture entitled
position as associate professor at Case Western
“Contributions of bouncing bubbles to ore
Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
genesis research in the last century” at the
Centennial Symposium of the SEG in Salt
Lake City in October 2005.
Bruland Awarded
Patterson Medal
Lopano, Bose, and Goeke
KENNETH
BRULAND, of
Receive Research Grants
from MSA
the University
of California The Mineralogical Society of America awards
Santa Cruz, is three $5000 grants to support student
the winner of research. The 2004/2005 Kraus Crystallographic
the 2005 Clair Research Grant recipient is CHRISTINA L.
C. Patterson LOPANO for the study “Time-resolved
Medal awarded structural analysis of cation exchange and
for Environ- hydrothermal heating reactions in synthetic
mental manganese oxides: birnessite and todorokite,”
Chemistry by which will be conducted at Pennsylvania
the Geochemical Society. The medal recog- State University and Brookhaven National
nizes Bruland’s exceptional contributions to Laboratory.
the field of trace metal biogeochemistry and
The 2004/2005 Mineralogy/Petrology
elemental cycling in the ocean. Bruland
Research Grant recipients are SAUMYADITYA
pioneered the development of modern
BOSE for the proposal “Combining studies in
sampling and analytical protocols for the
mineral–microbe interaction and nanominer-
determination of trace metals and metalloids
alogy: measuring and understanding the bio-
in natural waters. Bruland’s early work
reduction kinetics of Mn oxyhydroxides
produced some of the first “oceanographically
driven by Shewanella oneidensis” to be
consistent” profiles of trace metals in the
carried out at Virginia Tech, and ELIZABETH
Pacific Ocean and guided subsequent
R. GOEKE for the study “Quantitative textural
conceptual interpretations and analytical
modeling along a strong decompression path:
efforts. He helped establish 234Th disequilibria
example from the Adula Nappe, Central
in the mixed layer of the ocean as a basis for
Alps,” which will be carried out at the
measuring new production. Most recently,
University of Iowa.
Bruland’s group has made major contribu-
tions to our understanding of the importance Congratulations to the research grant recipi-
of natural organic ligands on the chemical ents. Detailed information on the awards and
speciation and biological utilization of the application process can be found on the
elements such as Fe and Zn in marine MSA website (www.minsocam.org).
systems. His interdisciplinary research has
162 J UNE 2005

Volcanic Worlds
Exploring the Solar
System’s Volcanoes1
The study of volcanoes throughout the solar
system is an exciting subject, in part because
of the dynamic nature of volcanoes on Earth
and in part because of the wonder in
exploring alien worlds only to find variations
on a familiar theme. This book goes a long
way to demonstrate to the non-specialist
reader that studying volcanoes, be they on
the Earth’s ocean floor, in the wilds of Earth’s
polar regions, or on other planets, is indeed
fun. It also shows that understanding the
diversity of volcanism provides critical
insights into the internal workings of planets.
As this book arrived just days before I gave
a Careers Day talk at a local high school, I
immediately found out that one of its most
valuable aspects is its ability to inspire the
next generation of planetary volcanologists.
At the beginning of each chapter, the authors
provide a few paragraphs of personal history
describing how they became excited by
volcanoes. A rarity in a research book such as
this, the many personal references add insight
into the motivation of the scientists. For
example, a charming photograph of a young
Katharine Cashman beaming with excitement
at seeing her first active volcano (Mount
Erebus in Antarctica) will surely incite many
junior readers to see a live volcano for
themselves. Several chapters also provide
insights into what motivates a scientist and
how planetary volcanology has propelled all
of the contributing authors into careers as
world-class scientists. For instance, Lisa
Gaddis writes with great enthusiasm that
“the Moon has been mine as long as I can
remember,” thereby motivating her to pursue
a career in the spectroscopic analysis of lunar
volcanic deposits.
The book also clearly demonstrates that
scientists are not boring and that much of
their work is done far from the shining white
laboratories that many students believe is
the center of all space research. For instance,
Rosaly Lopes amusingly describes her furtive
late-night efforts to bring three space
scientists back to her hotel room in Italy in
order to download the latest images collected
by the Galileo spacecraft of volcanoes on Io.
Unique features of the book include a
fascinating account by Tracy Gregg on the
details of diving to submarine volcanoes in
research vessels such as Alvin. Joy Crisp adds
1 Rosaly M.C. Lopes and Tracy K.P. Gregg, editors (2004) Springer Praxis Books
(www.springeronline.com), 234 pages, hardcover, ISBN 3-540-00431-9, US$59.95
ELEMENTS
Re vie w s
a discussion of the design and operation of
rovers that explore the surface of Mars, while
Susan Kieffer contributes a chapter that does
a fine job revealing the similarities among
geysers on Earth, Io, and Triton.
Volcanic Worlds is not without some limita-
tions, however. Greater attention to providing
a consistent overview of the spatial distribu-
tion of volcanic activity on each planetary
body would help the novice reader. In the
case of volcanism on Venus, the book fails
to show where volcanic landforms occur,
focusing instead on the types of volcanic
features observed. Disappointingly, the
chapter on Martian volcanoes seen from
orbit provides only a brief treatment of the
diversity of volcanic landforms on the Red
Planet and how calderas, lava flows, and
volcano-tectonic features compare with
terrestrial examples. The diversity of volcan-
ism on Mars is left to the chapter by Mary
Chapman and Gudrun Larsen, who discuss
field strategies for the study of terrestrial
analogs to Martian explosive volcanic
products. It would also have been stimulating
to read a discussion of volcanism on asteroids
such as Vesta, because meteorites collected
on Earth suggest that basaltic volcanism
occurred during an early stage of the aster-
oid’s formation.
163
Photographs in Volcanic Worlds are generally
good, although the use of a better quality
glossy paper would have improved their
quality. I particularly liked the fact that
several chapters provide helpful bibliogra-
phies for further reading. More consistency
in this area among the chapters would have
improved the overall value of the book as an
introduction to a diverse range of topics. The
target audience for the book is somewhat
difficult to identify. In terms of a motivation-
al text, it is best suited for high school and
undergraduate college students. However,
the high price ($59.95) will discourage these
groups to purchase it, so one hopes that a
paperback version will soon be available.
While the back cover says that this is the first
general review of volcanic activity throughout
the solar system, the classic Volcanoes of the
Earth, Moon and Mars by Gilbert Fielder and
Lionel Wilson (1975) more correctly started
the serious discussion of volcanism on the
planets. Other books have followed, notably
Planetary Volcanism by Peter Cattermole
(1989), and Environmental Effects on Volcanic
Eruptions edited by James Zimbelman and
Tracy Gregg (2000). Excellent chapters
on planetary volcanism were also included
in earlier books such as Volcanoes: A Planetary
Perspective by Peter Francis (1993) and
Volcanoes by David Rothery (2001). Thus
Volcanic Worlds is not unique, but neverthe-
less Lopes and Gregg’s approach and enthusi-
astic writing are bound to make this book a
fine addition to the library of any volcanolo-
gist, whether she (or he) is interested in
volcanism on Earth or beyond.
Peter J. Mouginis-Mark
Hawai’i Institute of Geophysics and
Planetology
University of Hawai’i
1680 East-West Road Honolulu
Hawaii 96822 USA .
J UNE 2005
 So c ie t y Ne w s

FRONTIERS IN MINERAL SCIENCES 2007

Following initial enthusiastic Cambridge’s ancient and beauti-

responses from the Mineralogical
Society of America and the Min-
eralogical Association of Canada
to a joint meeting of the three
societies in Cambridge in June
2007, a group of Mineralogical
Society members met in Cam-
bridge on 18 February 2005 to
ful colleges. It is planned to hold
a conference banquet in one of
the ancient college dining halls
and have an award ceremony for
the presentation of society
medals. Around 20 symposia are
being planned for the conference
across a broad spectrum of

Mineralogical Society of make preliminary plans. Under

the chairmanship of Prof.
research areas in the mineral
sciences. Over the coming

Great Britain and Ireland Michael Carpenter, the group put

together some initial ideas for
months, these plans will be dis-
cussed with representatives from
symposia and the structure of the all three societies to provide a
meeting. The meeting will take challenging and topical pro-
Chartered Scientist — Adding Value place at Fitzwilliam College in gramme. Details on the confer-
Cambridge, where both accom- ence will be found on the con-
to Membership in the Society modation and meeting rooms ference web page (www.
Increasingly we are interacting on research matters, not only with col- will be provided for delegates. minersoc.org/Frontiers2007.
leagues within our own institutions and our own country but also with June is a very attractive month in htm). It is expected that the first
Cambridge, and it will hopefully circular will be published elec-
a host of colleagues working throughout the world. This is an important be warm enough for one or two tronically in June/July 2005.
development, and modern technology such as e-mail and the world- outdoor events including punting
wide web have made this interaction much more effective than in the on the river Cam behind some of
past. The maintenance of high standards in scientific publishing and
strict peer review of published material is as important as ever, and the
editors of our two journals, Mineralogical Magazine and Clay Minerals,
work tirelessly to maintain these standards. But who sets the standards
for individual scientific competence and what organisation provides
accreditation of scientific competence beyond the primary degree? This
is where, in the future, membership in the Society can be a valuable
support to individuals working in the field.
In the United Kingdom, for many years engineers and chemists have
had their own standards councils, and for most professional engineers
the award of Chartered Engineer status is virtually mandatory. However,
until October 2003 no such chartered body existed for the whole of sci-
ence. The now-established UK Science Council aims to act as an over-
seeing authority to ensure that standards are maintained across a wide
range of scientific disciplines. It does this by delegating the responsibil-
ity for accreditation of individuals to learned societies and professional Combined societies meeting will be held at Cambridge UK, June 2007
institutions who meet their exacting standards. These organisations are
thus given the designation Licensed Body, and they are responsible for
awarding the increasingly coveted Chartered Scientist designation CSci.
Since October 2003, nearly 10,000 scientists in the UK have been granted BURSARY AWARDS 2005
the CSci designation or chartership as it is sometimes called. The bene-
At its meeting on March 10, the Society Council was pleased to
fit of all this is that public confidence in science will be strengthened,
announce the following bursary awards. These are given to help indi-
individual scientists will be aware of their need for continuing profes-
viduals attend conferences, encourage international collaboration, and
sional development, employers will be confident when engaging staff,
fund essential fieldwork. The awards are open to all researchers in the
and standards will be raised across the whole profession.
mineral sciences. However, funds are very limited, and it is important
The Mineralogical Society joined the Science Council last June and is in to send in your application by the due date, which is normally about
the process of achieving the status of a Licensed Body with the right to the end of the third week in January each year. Next year’s deadline is
award the CSci designation. If all goes according to plan, by the autumn Friday 21 January 2006. Details of the scheme can be found on the
the Society will be contacting members to offer them the opportunity web at www.minersoc.org/pages/awards/awards.html.
to apply for CSci status. Providing that adequate accreditation of degree
courses etc. can be satisfied, the CSci designation will also be open to Senior Bursaries were awarded to: Karen Hudson-Edward (UCL/Birk-
overseas members. beck, London), Jana Horak (National Museum and Galleries of Wales),
and Linda Kirstein (Edinburgh).
Adrian Lloyd Lawrence
and Frances Wall Student Bursaries were awarded to: Joanne Neilson (Liverpool), Katie
Finch (Manchester), Claire Jakeways (Cambridge), Lois Davidson
(Leeds), and Jane Archer (Birkbeck, London).

ELEMENTS 164 J UNE 2005


MINERALOGICAL SOCIETY E-JOURNALS
Mineralogical Society journals are
now available from two online
sources, Ingenta and Geoscience-
World (GSW). The Society has
had an online presence via
Ingenta since the late 1990s.
Access is free to all paper-copy
subscribers. GSW is a comprehen-
sive internet resource for research
and communications in the
geosciences. It is built on a core
database aggregation of peer-
reviewed journals and is indexed,
linked, and inter-operable with
GeoRef, the premier abstracting
and indexing database in the
field of Earth sciences. It was
launched in February 2005 with
more than 30 titles, including
Mineralogical Magazine and Clay
Minerals, from 22 leading not-for-
profit geoscience publishers and
institutes from six countries.
With this move, our journals
become available to a larger
worldwide audience, facilitating
research and study by scientists
across the geoscience spectrum.
The portal will support work in
both basic and applied research,
as well as education in the geo-
sciences. Hosted by HighWire
Press of Stanford University, GSW
offers numerous unique features
and an extensive archive of mate-
ELEMENTS
So c ie t y Ne w s
rial published from the early
1990s onwards. Go to
http://minmag.geoscience-
world.org to see Mineralogical
Magazine and to
http://claymin.geoscienceworld.
org to see Clay Minerals. Full-text
viewing is available to those
institutions that subscribe to the
GSW package.
The Society continues to host its
other e-journal, MINABS Online,
and the number of library and
individual subscribers is growing
at a healthy rate. The small indi-
vidual and institutional subscrip-
tion rates represent excellent
value, providing access to about
120,000 abstracts compiled over
the past 23 years. The Society has
also taken the step of making this
e-journal available in many less-
developed countries, initially on
a free trial basis, but ultimately at
a token cost. This is being done
with the assistance of INASP, the
International Network for the
Availability of Scientific Publica-
tions. The Society views this as a
key function of its charitable
remit. Please contact us
(info@minersoc.org) if you’d like
more information about this
initiative.
Kevin Murphy
165 J UNE 2005
 So c ie t y Ne w s

Our greater involvement with the Goldschmidt Conference for 2005 is

reflected in key aspects of our Mission Statement: sponsoring scientific
conferences and fostering communication in geochemistry across the inter-
national scientific community. At Goldschmidt 2005, the IAGC spon-
sored three special sessions: “The Geochemistry of Mercury”, “The
Halogens and their Isotopes in Marine and Terrestrial Aqueous Sys-
tems”, and “Watershed-Scale Geochemistry”. And, of course, each
delegate at the conference received a coffee mug with the IAGC and
Goldschmidt logos emblazoned on it! The IAGC will continue to
support meetings, especially those convened by its working groups;

The International examples for this year are AIG-6 in Prague, GES-7 in Aix-en-Provence,
and the GSA symposium in Salt Lake City.

Association of Congratulations to IAGC’s Working Group Chairman,

Dr. U. Aswathanarayana
GeoChemistry The president of the American Geophysical
Union, Professor John A. Orcutt, recently
announced that Dr. Uppugunduri
In this issue, the IAGC features the history and activities of one of its Aswathanarayana has been selected for the Excel-
more active working groups, Water-Rock Interaction (WRI). Yousif lence in Geophysical Education Award of AGU
Kharaka, the current chairman, describes in the next page the develop- for 2005. Dr. Aswathanarayana is the first Indian
to receive this award. It will be presented during
ment of WRI from its inception in the early 1970s, starting with the first
the awards ceremony on May 25 at the time of
conference WRI-1, to its current plans for WRI-12 in 2007. The next the Joint Assembly of the AGU, New Orleans,
issue of Elements will feature another IAGC working group, Geochemical May 23–27, 2005.
Training in Developing Countries, in an article by Dr. U. Aswathanarayana,
Chairman. UPCOMING IAGC-SPONSORED CONFERENCE

THE IAGC MISSION STATEMENT AND GOLDSCHMIDT The 6th International Fe, Si, Cl, and Br will be the focus
Symposium on Applied of some of the oral presentations.
The IAGC recently prepared its Mission Statement and, in it, has tried Isotope Geochemistry Other topical themes include
to address the many and diverse activities of the Association. Com- (AIG-6) mass-independent fractionation
ments are welcome. of nitrate oxygen isotopes, iso-
Prague, the City of a Hundred topes of dissolved oxygen in
The International Association of GeoChemistry (IAGC) is a private, not-for- Spires and the capital of the aquatic systems, oxygen isotopes
profit international organization, committed to excellence in the geochemical Czech Republic, will be hosting in phosphates, carbon-14 dating
sciences, that promotes the application of the tools of geochemistry across the the AIG-6 symposium between of groundwater, radon daughters
entire spectrum of the Earth and environmental sciences. This is accomplished September 11 and 16, 2005. The lead-214 and bismuth-214 in
through establishing internal specialty working groups, sponsoring scientific preparations are in full swing. natural waters, and cosmogenic
conferences and educational activities, and disseminating new geochemical Although the date for submission isotopes of Be, Al, and S.
knowledge through scientific publishing. The specific objectives of the IAGC of abstracts may have passed by Advances in more traditional
are: the time you read this, the meet- fields of isotope research, such as
ing will be well worth attending. methane emissions; forest respi-
1. To foster the use of geochemical • sponsoring international scien- The meeting will take place in
techniques and tools to advance tific meetings related to geo- ration; dissolved organic carbon,
the sumptuous Stately Rooms of lead, sulfur, and strontium in the
the understanding of the Earth chemistry Strahov Abbey, only 15 minutes
and its component systems for environment, will be also cov-
• disseminating new knowledge from the Prague Castle, the his- ered. One trend clearly seen from
the benefit of mankind and through publication of the torical residence of Bohemian
modern society the submitted papers is the
journal Applied Geochem- kings. The 10th-century abbey is increasing use of an isotope-
2. To contribute to advancement in istry the oldest in the country, and multitracer approach to study
geochemical research throughout • fostering communication in AIG-6 technical sessions will be systems such as tree rings, disper-
the world, including both funda- geochemistry across the inter- held precisely where the Austrian sion of industrial pollutants
mental geochemical research national scientific community Empress Maria Theresa and her around landfills, and geothermal
aimed at understanding the consort Franz von Lotringen were fluids. Methodological studies,
• encouraging the early career welcomed by the friars as distin-
global Earth system and applied development of young geo- employing multi-collector ICP-
geochemical research that use the guished guests in the mid-18th MS, TIMS, and IRMS techiques,
chemists century.
tools and techniques of geochem- will also be reported.
istry to address problems of • contributing to geochemical
Poster sessions will be organized Symposium participants will be
particular relevance to the welfare education
in the cloisters amidst a gallery of coming from over 20 countries
of mankind and society • enhancing the visibility of the old canvases. As of mid-March,
science of geochemistry and on five continents. The sympo-
3. To promote international and about 120 abstracts covering all sium organizers will continue to
demonstrating its importance fields of isotope geochemistry
educational cooperation in accept abstracts from new sympo-
to mankind and society have been accepted for presenta-
geochemistry through outreach sium attendees until late June
activities that include: tion at the meeting. High- and 2005. The abstract submission
low-temperature geochemistry procedure is detailed on the
• establishing internal specialty are equally represented. The non-
working groups in topical areas symposium website www.aig6.cz.
traditional isotopes of elements Part of the symposium package is
that would benefit from inter- such as Cd, Ni, Cu, Ca, Zn, Cr,
national scientific cooperation a visit to the famed Carlsbad spa

ELEMENTS 166 J UNE 2005

 So c ie t y Ne w s

and two sightseeing tours of sciences, private and governmen- (The Spring City), Yunnan
historical Prague, a city which in tal agencies, as well as the IAGC, Province, China, in the summer
the 12th century was the third the parent organization that is of 2007, with Prof. Yanxing
largest in Europe (after Paris and affiliated with the International Wang as the secretary general.
Rome) and which at present is Union of Geological Sciences The final plans for WRI-12 are
the fourth largest tourist destina- (IUGS). The symposia are organ- being prepared and will be
tion on the Old Continent (fol- ized by national WRI organizing announced in the first circular in
lowing Paris, London, and Rome). committees, headed by the secre- the near future. Beyond WRI-12,
While millions of tourists visit tary general, who is nominated possible future venues include
Prague every summer, AIG-6 by the working group, but selected Israel, which was a strong con-
organizers will make every effort by the vote of all the members tender to host WRI-11; however,
to ensure that the symposium present at the general business security issues arising from seri-
participants have the quiet meeting of WRI. The secretary ous conflicts in the region per-
Brevnov monastery gardens exclu- generals for the past symposia, suaded us to move to Saratoga
sively for themselves, to enjoy venues, etc., are listed in TABLE 1. Springs (USA). Strong future
strolls and scientific discussions. These scientists, together with contenders now include Switzer-
Prof. Yanxing Wang (China land, Mexico, Germany, Norway,
Martin Novak
University of Geosciences, and ultimately South America
Head of the Working Group on
Wuhan, China), comprise the and North Africa.
Applied Isotope Geochemistry
current executive members of the
of the International Association of
working group on WRI, with the REFERENCE
Geochemistry (novak@cgu.cz)
author as the present chairman. Hitchon B (1989) The spirit of WRI.
For more details about our work- Episodes 12: 101-103
ing group, please visit the WRI
Yousif K. Kharaka
FEATURE: WATER-ROCK INTERACTION web site at:
Chairman, Working Group
WORKING GROUP * wwwrcamnl.wr.usgs.gov/wri/
on Water-Rock Interaction
index.html.
More than 30 years ago, the First U.S. Geological Survey
International Symposium on 345 Middlefield Road
WRI-12 and Beyond Menlo Park, California
Water-Rock Interaction (WRI-1)
was convened (9–14 September During the General Assembly of 94025, USA
1974) in Prague (Czech Republic), WRI-11, attendees voted to hold ykharaka@usgs.gov
with Dr. Tomas Paces as Secretary WRI-12 in beautiful Kunming
General. Nearly 150 participants
from 21 countries, including TABLE 1
many students, attended the four DATA ON PAST WRI SYMPOSIA
days of technical sessions; close Symposium Year Participants Venue Secretary General
to 100 of them also visited ther-
mal and mineral springs on a WRI–1 1974 148 Prague (Czechoslovakia) Tomas Paces
three-day field trip to northwest- WRI–2 1977 236 Strasbourg (France) Yves Tardy
ern Bohemia. The combination WRI–3 1980 145 Edmonton (Canada) Brian Hitchon
of excellent technical sessions, WRI–4 1983 210 Misasa (Japan) Hitoshi Sakai
printed proceedings, and interest-
WRI–5 1986 250 Reykjavik (Iceland) Halldor
ing and well-organized field trips
Armannsson
lasting several days, together with
WRI–6 1989 350 Malvern (United Kingdom) Mike Edmunds
enjoyable social and cultural
programs for the scientists and the WRI–7 1992 576 Park City (USA) Yousif Kharaka
accompanying members created WRI–8 1995 260 Vladivostock (Russia) Oleg Chudaev
an atmosphere of informality and WRI–9 1998 287 Taupo (New Zealand) Brian Robinson
easy communication. As pointed
WRI-10 2001 480 Cagliari, Sardinia (Italy) Luca Fanfani
out by Brian Hitchon (WRI Work-
WRI-11 2004 341 Saratoga Springs (USA) Susan Brantley
ing Group Chairman, 1974–1986),
the “spirit of WRI”—encouraging
scientific communication and Current WRI Chairman Yousif Kharaka
human interaction among the
international participants—“was
born in Prague and has ensured ogists, and geologists from 34
the continuation and expansion countries, and 17 registered
of WRI” (Hitchon 1989). accompanying members. At
registration, participants received
The last symposium, WRI-11, was So many secretary
two hard-cover proceedings
held June 27 to July 2, 2004 in generals at WRI-
volumes, with 334 papers and 10! Photo taken
the historic resort city of Saratoga
a record total of 1684 pages. on 15 July 2001
Springs, New York, USA. WRI-11,
at Tanka Village,
ably led by its Secretary General Sardinia, Italy.
(Prof. Susan Brantley of Penn WRI-1 through WRI-11 From left to right,
State University), attracted 324 of The WRI symposia are generally Robinson, Tardy,
held in different countries and Armannsson,
the leading geochemists, hydrol-
Brantley, Paces,
are cosponsored by various Fanfani, Kharaka (working group chairman), Edmunds, and Chudaev. Missing are
* A full presentation of this article can
be found in the IAGC Newsletter national Earth science associa- Hitchon and Sakai, who did not attend WRI-10, and Wang who had not yet
#42, due out in April 2005. tions, universities, academies of been elected.

ELEMENTS 167 J UNE 2005

 So c ie t y Ne w s
Mineralogical Association
of Canada
Mineral Species First Described
from Greenland
At an advanced stage in the production of our Special Publication 6,
Mineral Species Discovered in Canada and Species Named after Canadians, I
mentioned to Ole V. Petersen and Ole Johnsen that they should con-
sider preparing a similar document on the minerals first discovered in
Greenland. After all, a mere 26 kilometers separate Greenland from
Canada along Nares Strait; we are
neighbors! As a result, contiguous
parts of Canada and Greenland
share the same geological evolu-
tion. Knowledge of the mineral
wealth of western Greenland may
thus influence future geological
investigations along the eastern
coast of Canada. An additional
attraction is the similarity between
the products of alkaline magma-
tism in the Mesoproterozoic Gardar
Province of Greenland and the Cre-
taceous Monteregian Province in
Québec. I am happy that the two
Oles accepted my invitation and
combined their talents to prepare
this historically and mineralogical-
ly thorough and up-to-date docu-
ment.
The book focuses on the 77 miner-
al species first described from
Greenland. These discoveries cover
The authors have chosen a picture of
the interval from 1799 (cryolite) to
cryolite from the Ivigtut deposit for the
cover. Cryolite crystals are rare. Speci- 2005 [qaqarssukite-(Ce)]. In the
mens with crystals this size are excep- introductory chapter, the authors
tionnally rare. The central crystal is give a brief historical development
twinned and close to 4 cm across. of mineralogical investigations in
Greenland, with special emphasis
on the three intrusive bodies that account for most of the type-locality
minerals: the Ilímaussaq alkaline complex (39% of the total), the Ivig-
tut cryolite deposit (22%), and the Narssârssuk pegmatite (17%). All
three were important centers of anorogenic magmatism of Mesopro-
terozoic age. The book also includes a complete listing of obsolete
names and doubtful species in the literature of Greenland minerals and
a gallery of color photos of 34 photogenic minerals. Appendices cover-
ing the chronology of mineral discoveries, individual type localities,
chemical classification of type minerals, an author index, and general
references complete the book. Special care has been taken to find pho-
tographs of people who had minerals named after them. The book is
available from the Mineralogical Association of Canada at www.miner-
alogicalassociation.ca
Robert F. Martin
ELEMENTS
Truth and Beauty in Metamorphism:
A TRIBUTE TO DUGALD CARMICHAEL
The most recent issue of The Earth science. At 512 pages, it is
Canadian Mineralogist (volume 43, the largest single issue of The
part 1, February 2005) is a special Canadian Mineralogist ever pub-
issue devoted to one of the lished. The volume is divided up
world’s most original thinkers in into broad themes that reflect
metamorphic petrology, Dugald Dugald’s career interests: thermo-
M. Carmichael, who recently dynamics, phase equilibria, meta-
retired from Queen’s University, morphic processes, metamorphic
Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The fluids, petrology and structure,
title of the volume, Truth And and metamorphic petrology
Beauty In Metamorphism: A Tribute applied to tectonics.
To Dugald Carmichael, was
inspired by Dugald’s unique
The special issue arose from a
MAC-sponsored special session
blend of intellectual rigour,
and celebratory dinner in honor
petrological insight, and infec-
tious enthusiasm for the study of
of Dugald at the joint Geological
Association of Canada–Miner-
metamorphism.
alogical Association of
Canada–Society of
Economic Geologists
annual meeting in
Vancouver, BC, on May
26–27, 2003. The special
session included 43
talks and posters from
around the world and
was the largest of the
meeting. Oral presenta-
tions, discussions
around posters, and
conversations during
lunch and coffee breaks
repeatedly referred to,
or specifically acknowl-
edged, the enormous
impact Dugald has had
on the global and espe-
cially Canadian petro-
logical communities.
The special issue is
available at the cost
The special issue consists of a
of $50 at the MAC online store,
preface that outlines Dugald’s
accessed from the MAC web page
career and contributions, and 24
www.mineralogicalassociation.ca
original papers by some of the
world’s leading figures in meta- David R.M. Pattison, Normand-
morphic petrology, covering the Bégin, and Marc St-Onge
full spectrum of metamorphic
petrology and its applications to
Infrared Spectroscopy
in Geochemistry,
Exploration
Geochemistry,
and Remote Sensing
EDS.: P.L. King,
M.S. Ramsey,
and G.A. Swayze
Order online
www.mineralogicalassociation.ca
168 J UNE 2005
 So c ie t y Ne w s
PINCH MEDAL TO CHARLES L. KEY
INCOMING COUNCILORS 2005–2008
As no further nominations were supplied by members, the following
candidates have been declared elected and will start their term of
office in May 2005.
ANTON CHAKHMOURADIAN received his
MSc (Mineralogy) in 1993 and his PhD (Miner-
alogy) in 1997 from St. Petersburg State Univer-
sity, Russia. Following graduation, he did post-
doctoral research with Roger Mitchell at
Lakehead University, and in 2001 was appoint-
ed assistant professor in the Department of
Geological Sciences at the University of Manito-
ba. Anton’s research interests include the min-
eralogy, petrology, and geochemistry of igneous
alkaline and carbonatitic rocks, and the crystal
chemistry of phosphates, Ti, Nb, and Zr minerals, and synthetic
actinide hosts. He has authored or co-authored 49 papers in refereed
scientific journals, three review articles, and two chapters in a recently
published monograph on carbonatites and related rocks.
PENNY KING received her BSc (Hons) from
the Australian National University and a PhD
from Arizona State University, USA. She has
been at the University of Western Ontario
since 1999. Penny studies the formation of
rocks using field and laboratory investigations
and a wide range of analytical techniques
including micro-Fourier transform infrared
spectroscopy. Her group is studying volcanic
rocks, granites, synthetic materials, mete-
orites, and surface processes. Major research projects focus on how
rocks and minerals are influenced by chemical composition, volatile
content (e.g., CO2 and H2O), pressure, temperature, and oxidation
conditions. The results of this research are applied to models of
magma source regions, volcanic gas transport to the atmosphere,
planetary processes, and the formation of ore deposits.
DANIEL LAYTON-MATTHEWS holds a BSc
in geology from the University of Manitoba
and an MSc in geology from Laurentian Uni-
versity, and he is finishing a PhD at the Uni-
versity of Toronto. Daniel is currently taking
part in a joint Geological Survey of Canada
and University of Toronto project on the
Finlayson Lake area volcanic-rock-hosted
massive sulfide deposits in the Yukon, Cana-
da. Daniel seeks to explain the distribution
of selenium in and among these deposits and to identify the origin
of the high concentrations of selenium within these areas of sulfide
mineralization. Daniel has received several scholarships, academic
awards, and research grants, including an NSERC Post-Graduate Schol-
arship, a Mineralogical Association of Canada Foundation Scholarship,
and an NSERC Collaborative Research and Development Grant.
ELEMENTS
The Pinch Medal of the Miner-
alogical Association of Canada
is awarded to a member of the
mineral collector and dealer
community who has significantly
enhanced the science of mineral-
ogy through collaboration with
the scientific community. The
Pinch Medal for 2005 was award-
ed to CHARLES L. KEY of Port-
land, Maine and Swakopmund,
Namibia during the Tucson Gem
and Mineral Show.
Charles Key has been a major
force in mineral collecting for the
past 50 years. His principal focus
in recent years has been the
minerals of the Tsumeb mine,
Namibia, the Kalahari manganese
fields, and other more recently
discovered mineral-producing
areas in Namibia.
There are three areas in which
such collaboration can contribute
to our science:
➀ Accumulation of large mineral
collections from single locali-
ties, as these can be used for
paragenetic studies
NEW TEACHING MICROSCOPY LABORATORY
FOR THE EARTH SCIENCES AT UNIVERSITY
OF OTTAWA
The Department of Earth Sciences
of the University of Ottawa
recently inaugurated its new
teaching microscopy laboratory.
This state-of-the-art laboratory
constitutes the principal teaching
facility for the undergraduate
geology and geology-physics
programs at the university, and
serves as well the numerous MSc
and PhD students in the depart-
ment. The principal component
of this new lab is a fleet of 18
new Olympus BX-41 polarizing
microscopes equipped for both
transmitted- and reflected-light
observation. These microscopes
are in individual work stations
in a dedicated room with, at the
front, an additional Olympus BX-
51 microscope for the instructor
to project live images to the class
via a digital projector mounted
on the ceiling. Students can also
take photographs of thin sections
and hand specimens using either
a BX-41 microscope or a wide-
field Olympus SZ-61 polarizing
stereoscope, both with QImaging
photomicrographic heads that
169 J UNE 2005
➁ Provision of high-quality crys-
tals for crystal-structure work
➂ Discovery of new minerals
Charles Key has contributed in all
three of these areas. He has been
instrumental in both building
and acquiring major locality-
based collections from Africa and
North America, and providing
them to major museums, where
they are available for both
species-specific and paragenetic
studies. Charles has an eye for
high-quality mineral specimens
and for recognizing minerals in
the field. This talent for unearth-
ing good crystals has enabled
him to contribute in a major way
to the work of crystallographers.
Moreover, he has also searched
for (and found) crystals of specific
minerals required by members of
the crystallographic community.
Charles’ ability to recognize
minerals by eye is legendary.
Hence the comment “This one
looks a little strange; it might be
worth a look” has often preceded
the discovery of a new mineral.
Frank C. Hawthorne
use MediaCybernetics’ Image-Pro
software. A room adjacent to the
lab is currently being renovated
to store the collections of hand
specimens that accompany the
thin sections used in the various
courses.
The new lab illustrates the strong
belief of the department’s mem-
bers that microscopy is an essen-
tial part of the academic training
of Earth scientists. The facility
was made possible through gener-
ous donations by members of the
department and university alum-
ni, along with a large contribu-
tion by the Carsen Group, the
Canadian representatives for the
Olympus Corporation.
André Lalonde
 So c ie t y Ne w s

➒ Organize a special MSA session at one of our national meetings.

And, if you’re really ambitious, think about organizing an MSA
short course. Some of the most original collaborative efforts in
mineralogy begin with this kind of meeting.
➓ Make annual charitable contributions to one or more of MSA’s
important funds. Your Society depends on these contributions to
maintain its many professional and educational programs.
Every member of MSA counts; every member can help us achieve our
common goals and become a stronger Society.
Robert M. Hazen, MSA President
r.hazen@gl.ciw.edu
Mineralogical Society
of America NOTES FROM WASHINGTON
FROM THE PRESIDENT Ì MSA will attempt electronic information is available through
balloting for the 2005 election of the MSA website.
Ì If you have thought about
To-Do List 2006 MSA officers and councilors.
A half-year into my presidential term I am continually struck by the The candidates are listed in the
acquiring a complete set or an
extraordinary efforts made by MSA friends and colleagues on behalf of nearby table. If all works out,
individual volume in hardcopy
the Society. Scientific societies cannot survive without the help and sup- MSA members will receive an
of the Handbook of Mineralogy by
port of their members, and the Mineralogical Society of America is no electronic message at their cur-
John W. Anthony, Richard A.
exception. It is remarkable to see how the dedicated efforts of hundreds rent e-mail addresses in May that
Bideaux, Kenneth W. Bladh, and
of MSA committee members, authors, reviewers, contributors, and other will contain voting instructions.
Monte C. Nichols, you might
volunteers keep the Society vibrant and healthy. Make sure MSA has your most
consider doing so in the very
recent address. Those who do
Everyone can help. Here’s a top-ten list of things you can do to support near future. The book inventory
not wish to vote online can
the Mineralogical Society of America. is getting low and the books are
request a paper ballot from the
unlikely to be reprinted. The plan
➊ Encourage your professional colleagues to join the Society, which is MSA business office. Members
is to make the mineral descrip-
dollar for dollar one of the best deals in science. You get American without e-mail addresses will
tions, with updates, available
Mineralogist, Elements, discounts to meetings and publications, and receive instructions about ballot-
online at the MSA website. This
more. It’s easy to join too. Just visit our website at www.minso- ing by regular mail. Members
was a generous gift by the
cam.org. with over-zealous spam-blockers
authors to MSA.
will need to keep watch on the
➋ Update your collection of Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry MSA website for when balloting J. Alex Speer,
volumes. These comprehensive and authoritative books are among becomes available. As always, the MSA Executive Director
the best bargains in all of science publishing. What’s missing from voting deadline is August 1. j_a_speer@minsocam.org
your shelf? The individuals elected to office
➌ Make sure that your institution subscribes to American Mineralogist. decide on the direction of the
ELECTIONS 2005
Institutional subscriptions include Reviews in Mineralogy and Geo- Society. Voting is an important
chemistry, as well as Elements. job for all MSA members.
Ì Thus far this year, the MSA
The slate of candidates for
➍ Nominate your students for an American Mineralogist undergraduate the MSA Council elections is
award. Each successful nominee gets an MSA student membership, booth was at the Tucson Gem
as follows:
which includes subscriptions to American Mineralogist and Elements. and Mineral Show, Tucson, AZ,
That’s the best MSA deal of all, because it’s free! February 10–13, 2005. By the PRESIDENT: John W. Valley
time you read this, MSA’s atten-
➎ Nominate a colleague for one of MSA’s awards: the Dana Medal, the VICE PRESIDENT
dance at the Goldschmidt Con-
Public Service Medal, the Mineralogical Society of America Award, (one to be selected):
ference, Moscow, ID, May 20–25,
and the Roebling Medal. Harry Y. (Hap) McSween Jr.,
2005 will be in the past. MSA will
Barbara L. Dutrow
➏ Encourage a student to apply for one of our research grants–the have a booth at the meeting of
Kraus Crystallography Grant and the Min-Pet Grant. It is a great the Geological Society of America SECRETARY: George E. Harlow
opportunity for students to hone their proposal-writing skills, and (GSA), in Salt Lake City, Utah,
COUNCILLORS
it’s a great recognition for the exceptional winners. October 16–19, 2005. The MSA-
(two to be selected):
GS short course on thermochro-
➐ Submit your best research articles to the Society’s publications (and, Jay D. Bass, Roberta L.
nology precedes the GSA meet-
if accepted, help out by paying page charges, which allows MSA to Rudnick, Edward Stolper,
ing, and MSA is cosponsoring at
charge libraries less). and Simon A.T. Redfern
least two topical sessions (“Geolo-
➑ Check out our new electronic publishing venture, gy and EarthScope” and “High- John M. Hughes continues in
GeoScienceWorld, which is a consortium of 22 Earth science soci- Pressure Mineral Physics: to office as Treasurer. Continuing
eties and publishers. All the periodicals of GSA, MSA, and other key Honor Ho-Kwang Mao, Roebling councillors are Mickey E.
organizations are available for electronic, full-text searching. Exten- Medalist”). During the week, MSA Gunter, David London, Ross
sive reference linking will allow you to move seamlessly from the will also hold its Awards Lunch, John Angel, and Robert T.
citations in each paper to the full text of those articles in other MSA Presidential Address, Joint Downs.
journals and to GeoRef abstracts. To check it out, log on to MSA-GS Reception, Annual Busi-
Election materials will be
http://geoscienceworld.org. And, if you like what you see, talk to ness Meeting, Council Meeting,
available to MSA members in
your institutional librarian about obtaining a site license. and breakfasts for the past presi-
April in time for the voting
dents and associate editors. More
deadline of August 1, 2005.

ELEMENTS 170 J UNE 2005


RECENTLY IN AMERICAN MINERALOGIST
Variety is one goal of American
Mineralogist, perhaps our chief
goal. Because this brief article
cannot tell you about every
paper, to ensure you don’t miss
a paper in your field of interest
please see the tables of contents
posted on the MSA website
(www.minsocam.org) or, for
those of you with GSW access, at
the address http://ammin.geo-
scienceworld.org
Not to be missed in the May/June
issue is the Presidential Address
by Douglas Rumble.
“A mineralogical and geochemi-
cal record of atmospheric photo-
chemistry” explores unanticipated
discoveries of new examples of
natural phenomena, which punc-
tuate the history of science with
excitement and afford splendid
opportunities for ground-
breaking, systematic research.
All geochemists, mineralogists,
mineral physicists, and petrolo-
gists will want to join in investi-
gating a geologic record of atmos-
phere photochemistry across the
entire span of Earth’s lifetime.
Dr. Rumble gives a wonderful
overview of these exciting discov-
eries and will quickly bring you
up to speed.
The May/June issue of American
Mineralogist also features a special
section honoring Prof. W. Gary
Ernst for his lifelong—and con-
tinuing—discoveries that relate
the mineralogy and petrology of
metamorphic rocks to plate
tectonic processes. The papers are
a sampling of the research pre-
sented at the MSA-sponsored
“Ernstfest” held at the 2003
annual meeting of the Geological
Society of America, a huge theme
session that produced an
immensely diverse outpouring of
science linked to topics, locali-
ties, and concepts on which Ernst
has worked. Papers gathered in
American Mineralogist encompass
studies of ultrahigh-pressure
metamorphism; of ancient sub-
IN MEMORIAM
MICHAEL T. HALBOUTY
(MSA Life Fellow – 1938)
FREDERIC L. KADEY
(MSA Life Member – 1948)
ELEMENTS
So c ie t y Ne w s
duction zones in Europe, Central
America, and western North
America; of the mantle beneath
Hawai’i and of lavas at the
islands’ surface; and more.
The April issue featured a special
section on monazite geochronol-
ogy. Monazite, nominally CePO4,
is an ideal mineral for determin-
ing geological ages, as it incorpo-
rates Th and U but not Pb when
it crystallizes. Thus, measured
Th/Pb and U/Pb ratios provide
chemical ages—hence geochrono-
logical information. These infor-
mation-packed papers, ranging
from the theoretical to the
applied, provide a complex and
thorough review of this topic.
In the July issue, a paper entitled
“A Synthesis of Systematic Miner-
alogy” puts the capstone on a
huge body of existing mineralogi-
cal knowledge. The author, Bruce
Railsback, presents several new
diagrams that document previ-
ously unappreciated patterns and
predictability in systematic min-
eralogy. Normally, in textbooks
and classes, there is little expla-
nation of the variation within
chemical groups of minerals and
little attempt to show relation-
ships between these different
groups. The series of diagrams in
this paper places in context all
those chemical formulae of min-
erals. For anyone who wondered
why calcite (CaCO3), olivine
(Mg2SiO4) and pyrite (FeS2) are
common or why there are no
Si(CO3)2 or MgS2 minerals, this
paper provides the answers to
those questions, and to many
more. For any academic or indus-
trial researcher trying to deter-
mine the chemistry of a newly
found substance, this paper will
also provide guidelines for the
likely compositions of new min-
erals.
Rachel Russell,
Managing Editor
171
Highlight MSA:
AWARDS CONFERRED BY THE SOCIETY
The Roebling Medal
This is the highest award of the
Mineralogical Society of America
(MSA) for scientific eminence as
represented primarily by scientific
publication of outstanding origi-
nal research in mineralogy. The
science of mineralogy is defined
broadly for purposes of the Roe-
bling Medal. The recipient of the
Roebling Medal receives a 2-inch-
diameter, 14-carat-gold engraved
medal and an identical one in
bronze, and is made a Life Fellow
of the Society. The 2005 Chair of
the MSA Roebling Medal Nomi-
nation Committee (for the 2006
Roebling Medal) is David Lon-
don, University of Oklahoma,
School of Geology and Geophysics,
100 E Boyd St, Rm 810 SEC,
Norman, OK 73019-0628, USA;
tel.: (405) 325-3253, fax: (405)
325-3140, e-mail: dlondon@ou.
edu. Details on the nomination
process may be found on the
MSA website at www.minsocam.
org/MSA/Awards/Roebling.html
The Distinguished Public
Service (DPS) Medal
This medal is awarded by the
MSA Council to individuals who
have made important contribu-
tions to furthering the vitality of
the geological sciences, especially
but not necessarily in the fields
of mineralogy, geochemistry,
petrology, and crystallography.
The recipient of the Distin-
guished Public Service Medal
receives a 3-inch-diameter, ster-
ling silver engraved medal. The
2005-2006 Chair of the MSA
Distinguished Public Service
Medal Nomination Committee
(for the 2007 Distinguished Public
Service Medal) is William D.
Carlson, University of Texas at
Austin, Dept. Geological Sciences,
1 University Station C1100,
Austin, TX 78712-1101, USA;
tel.: (512) 471-4770, fax: (512)
471-9425, e-mail: wcarlson@
mail.utexas.edu. Details on the
nomination process may be
found on the MSA website at
www.minsocam.org/MSA/Awards
/Public_Service.html
J UNE 2005
The Dana Medal
The Dana
Medal recog-
nizes continued
outstanding
scientific
contributions
through origi-
nal research in the mineralogical
sciences by an individual in the
midst of his or her career. For the
purpose of this award, the term
“mineralogical sciences” is
defined in its broadest sense.
The recipient of the Dana Medal
receives a 3-inch-diameter,
bronze engraved medal and gives
a scientific presentation, which is
published in American Mineralo-
gist. The 2005 Chair of the MSA
Dana Medal Nomination Com-
mittee (for the 2007 Dana Medal)
is Barbara L. Dutrow, Dept. of
Geology and Geophysics,
Louisiana State University, Baton
Rouge, LA 70803-4101, USA;
tel.: (225) 578-2525, fax: (225)
578-2302, e-mail: dutrow@geol.
lsu.edu. Details on the nomina-
tion process may be found on the
MSA website at www.minsocam.
org/MSA/Awards/Dana.html
The Mineralogical
Society of America Award
This award recognizes outstand-
ing published contributions to
the science of mineralogy by
relatively young individuals or
individuals near the beginning of
their professional careers. Miner-
alogy is broadly defined and the
candidate need not qualify as a
mineralogist. Rather, her/his
published record should be related
to the mineralogical sciences and
should make some outstanding
contribution to them. The recipi-
ent of the MSA Award receives a
certificate and is made a Life
Fellow of the Society. The 2005
Chair of the MSA Award Nomina-
tion Committee (for the 2006
MSA Award) is Mickey E. Gunter,
Department of Geological Sci-
ences, University of Idaho,
Moscow, ID 83844-3022, USA;
tel.: (208) 885-6015, e-mail:
mgunter@uidaho.edu. Details on
the nomination process may be
found on the MSA website at
http://www.minsocam.org/MSA/
Awards/MSA_Award.html
 So c ie t y Ne w s

SYMPOSIUM HONORING VT 05753, pryan@middlebury.

BOB REYNOLDS edu, +1-802-443-2557; and
Michele Hluchy, Environmental
“The Reynolds Symposium: Clay
Studies, Alfred University, Alfred,
Mineralogy, from Structural
NY 14802, fhluchy@alfred.edu.
Modeling to Geological Applica-
tions” will be held on Monday,
June 13. The special symposium ROBERT C REYNOLDS JR.
is dedicated to the spirit of Bob RESEARCH AWARD
Reynolds’ ideas and approach to The CMS has begun a fundraising
clay science and its integration campaign for a new award in
with geology. Bob was a pioneer memory of Bob Reynolds and his
in the structure and compositional work. Paul Nadeau, of Statoil
The Clay Minerals Society analysis of pure and mixed-lay-
ered clays, their origin, transfor-
ASA, Stavanger, Norway, has been
appointed to lead a stellar com-
mation, and geological signifi- mittee to create an endowment
cance, including for a new award capable of pro-
REYNOLDS AND HIS LEGACY AT THE CMS three-dimensional polytype viding substantial support for
analysis, among other things. independent research. CMS plans
With the recent passing of one of clay science’s most influential
Bob’s rigorous work, techniques, to offer the award annually to
researchers, the CMS and its members take time to remember Bob
and ideas are standard setting. one researcher with an outstand-
Reynolds and his contributions to the society and clay science. Several
Victor Drits, the keynote speaker ing project. For more information
upcoming CMS activities honor his memory. The Reynolds Cup chal-
of the symposium, epitomizes or to make a donation, contact
lenges researchers in a quantitative mineral analysis contest; a new
this philosophy in the tradition Paul Nadeau at phn@statoil.com.
memorial Reynolds Scholarship is planned; and there will be a special
of Bob Reynolds and continues to
symposium at the 2005 CMS annual meeting in honor of Reynolds and
make important new discoveries THE REYNOLDS CUP
his contributions.
about the structure, transforma-
The Reynolds
tion, and significance, of these
GREEN MOUNTAIN CLAYS minerals each year. The sympo-
Cup is a bien-
nial interna-
The 42nd Annual Meeting of the Clay Minerals Society will be held June sium is dedicated to this
tional contest
11–15, 2005 in Burlington, Vermont, USA. The Wyndham Hotel hosts approach.
in quantita-
the meeting on the shores of Lake Champlain, between the Green
Please join us also in a celebra- tive mineral
Mountains to the east and the Adirondack Mountains to the west. The
tion of the life of Bob Reynolds analysis
theme of this year’s meeting reflects the ancient tectonic processes
on the morning of Thursday, (QMA)
responsible for forming metamorphic chlorite, serpentine, talc, and
June 16 at Dartmouth College. designed to
muscovite in deformed Paleozoic rocks of the Green Mountains, as well
Round-trip transportation will be evaluate quan-
as the Pleistocene glaciation and deglaciation that led to the deposition
provided from the conference to titative meth-
of lacustrine and marine clay-rich deposits in the Champlain Valley.
Dartmouth, and participants are ods on mix-
Two field trips, both on Wednesday June 15, will take advantage of these expected to return to Burlington tures that are
geological resources. The trip to the Adirondack Mountains will exam- by approximately 3 pm. realistically
ine glacial till spodosols and their associated weathering reactions and representative
clay mineralogy. The trip to the Green Mountains will visit serpen- THE VENUE of sedimentary rocks, especially
tinized peridotites, where tectonic, mineralogical, and environmental those that contain clays. The
Burlington is a city of 40,000
issues will be examined. contest is supported by the Ger-
and is home to the University
man Research Council, the Clay
The conference will host numerous theme sessions and symposia cover- of Vermont. It boasts a thriving
Minerals Society, the Commis-
ing topics such as soil mineralogy and geochemistry, links between soils pedestrian-friendly downtown,
sion on Powder Diffraction of the
and sediments, clays and the environment, ceramic science, stable iso- museums and natural areas, and
International Union of Crystallog-
topes and clays, structural modeling and quantitative analysis, and clays is surrounded by a working agri-
raphy, and the German-Austrian-
and climate. cultural landscape renowned for
Swiss Clay Group. The next con-
world-class cheeses. The meeting
test will open in early 2006, with
WORKSHOP will be held at the Wyndham
the cup being awarded at the
This year’s workshop is entitled “Characterization of Solid–Water Inter- Hotel on the Burlington water-
2006 CMS annual meeting at
face Reactions of Metals and Actinides on Clays and Clay Minerals,” and front, a venue ideally suited for a
Oléron Island, France. For more
will be held Saturday, June 11. The workshop will focus on improving CMS meeting. We encourage you
information, see “Quantitative
our understanding of water/solid interactions. These reactions are of to attend, to meet old colleagues
Mineral Analysis of Clay-bearing
widespread interest because they are fundamental to a large number of and friends, to strike up new
Mixtures: The ‘Reynolds Cup’
geochemical processes. Our understanding of processes that occur at the professional relationships, to
Contest,” D.M. McCarty, pp 12-
solid–water interface has dramatically increased over the past several share knowledge and ideas, and
16, IUCr Newsletter No. 27,
years. This is largely due to the application of new and/or improved to enjoy early summer on the
June 2002, available online at
experimental techniques. Many of these techniques will be covered, shores of Lake Champlain. Make
www.iucr.org/iucr-top/comm/
including time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy, which allows in your reservations by calling 802-
cpd/cpd27.pdf. And don’t miss
situ measurement of the binding form of trivalent actinides, and syn- 658-6500 or going to www.wynd-
the next issue of the IUCr
chrotron radiation sources, which enable in situ identification of the ham.com.
newsletter where Reinhard
species at mineral surfaces in the presence of reacting solutions. This For a registration form, visit the Kleeberg, the 2002 winner of
topic will be of particular interest to those dealing with remediation of meeting website at www.middle- the Reynolds Cup, will have
contaminated sites. The workshop organizer, Andreas Bauer, may be bury.edu/cms, or contact the more news.
contacted at bauer@ine.fzk.de. meeting organizers: Peter C.
Ryan, Geology Department,
Middlebury College, Middlebury,

ELEMENTS 172 J UNE 2005

 So c ie t y Ne w s

answers along with the bottles, which saved a

How I Won The Reynolds Cup
The Clay Doctor has been providing his (?)
occasional lighthearted contributions to the
CMS newsletter since it began publication in
the late 1980s. The following was submitted
to the 2002 CMS annual meeting. The Clay
Doctor’s true identity has never been
revealed, but we hear that he was later dis-
qualified from the Reynolds Cup contest for
failing a random drug test (or maybe it was
for failing a random QMA test…?).
The Clay Doctor, Dept. of Earth, Wind,
Fire and Water Sciences, Clayhead
University, 9-10 Big Fat Hen Road,
Rockland, BA 00002
“I suddenly became interested in minerals at a
very young age, when other children began to
throw rocks at me. Rocks that contained clay
hurt less. So I began to wonder how much
kaolinite was in this one, how much galena
in that. My father bought me my first X-ray
diffractometer when I was 10, and there was
no turning back. While other children were
reading Tales from the Crypt Comics, and later
Hustler Magazine, I was reading the X-ray
Powder Diffraction Card Files, memorizing
d-spacings. So when Dr. Douglas McCarty
from Chevron Texaco sent me the three
unknowns that contained mixtures of pure
mineral separates, I was ready to analyze
them quantitatively.
lot of analysis time. I realize that in accepting
this award I will be responsible for helping to
I analyzed the samples as follows. They came organize the next competition. Also, I under-
in the mail in an Airborne Express pouch. stand that the cup is not permanently mine,
I opened the pouch with a dry-wall knife, but that it will circulate to the next winner.
which is kept in the second drawer from the Therefore, in some ways, the Reynolds Cup
top in the X-ray lab. It is the type that has a is similar to the Stanley Cup, except for the
retractable blade. Then I removed the bottles hockey. Now I kiss the cup, raise it above my
from the package and analyzed them. head, and run around the meeting room
yelling, wrapped in a flag.
I am so undeserving of this honor, but I am
In the (unlikely) event that I do not win,
happy to have become the first winner of the
I will relinquish this time at the podium to
Reynolds Cup. I would like to thank my
parents, my music teacher, and the little gal the real winners so that they can explain
who let me make a left turn into the parking how they won the Reynolds Cup.”
lot this morning. I especially thank Dr.
McCarty for mistakenly sending me the
WANTED
The Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, a not-for-profit organization chartered by the Board
of Regents of the State University of New York is seeking used analytical equipment, thin sec-
tions and mineral specimens for its descriptive mineralogical laboratory and educational
programs. We are dedicated to classical mineralogical research, preservation of mineral
specimens, and educational outreach to primary and secondary school teachers and stu-
dents. If your institution is upgrading its analytical equipment, we want your used, working
devices. Further, if you are disposing of minerals, thin sections or similar geological arti-
facts, let us put them to good use; aesthetics are unimportant, labels are! Please contact:
The Hudson Institute of Mineralogy
PO Box 2012 • Peekskill, NY 10566-2012
www.hudsonmineralogy.org

The Clay Minerals Society is proud to announce

The publication of Volume 13 in the Workshop Lecture Series
The Application of Vibrational Spectroscopy
to Clay Minerals and Layered Double Hydroxides
edited by J. Theo Kloprogge
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Qld, Australia

Articles
Short introduction to infrared and Raman spectroscopy, J. Theo Kloprogge
Raman spectroscopy of kaolinite and selected intercalates, Ray L. Frost and Wayde N. Martens
Crystal-Chemistry of tales: a NIR and MMIR spectroscopic approach, Sabine Petit
Information available from infrared spectra of the fine fractions of bentonites, Jana Madejová and Peter Komadel
Infrared emission spectroscopy of clay minerals, J. Theo Kloprogge and Ray L. Frost
Infrared spectroscopy and the chemistry of dioctahedral smectites, W. P. Gates
Studies of reduced-charge smectites by near infrared spectroscopy, J. Madejová
Infrared and Raman spectroscopy of naturally occurring hydrotalcites and their synthetis equivalents, J. Theo Kloprogge
Molecular modeling of the vibrational spectra of interlayer and surface species of layered double hydroxides, R. James
Kirkpatrick, Andrey G. Kalinicheve, Jianwei Wang, Xiaoquiang Hou and James E. Amonette

To order, send $26 per book to The Clay Minerals Society, P.O. Box 460130, Aurora, CO 80046-0130, U.S.A., or fax +1-303-680-9003.
For more information, e-mail cms@clays.org. Prepayment is required. The society accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and
Discover credit cards, or checks in U.S. dollars, drawn on a U.S. bank. For credit card orders, please include your name as it appears on
the card, card number, expiration date, telephone, fax, or e-mail address. Price and availability subject to change without notice.
The Application of Vibrational Spectroscopy to Clay Minerals and Layered Double Hydroxides(2005) Vol. 13, CMS Workshop Lectures,
J.T. Kloprogge, ed., The Clay Minerals Society, Aurora, CO. Paperback. 285 pp. ISBN 978-1-881208-14-1

ELEMENTS 173
 So c ie t y Ne w s
Geochemical Society NOTES FROM ST. LOUIS
Report on the Geochimica et Geochemical News #124 –
Goldschmidt Conference
Cosmochimica Acta Publishers Meeting Issue
The July issue of Geochemical News
In early February, I attended a publishers meeting
will focus on the annual Gold-
schmidt Conference, which has
in New York, which is an annual event allowing
grown into one of the largest (if
the two societies (Geochemical Society and Mete-
not the largest!) annual interna-
oritical Society), the executive editor, the chairper- tional conferences devoted to geo-
chemistry. This issue will feature
son of the Joint Program Committee and represen-
highlights from the 15th annual
tatives from Elsevier to discuss the status of Goldschmidt Conference, to be
held May 20–25, 2005 in Moscow,
Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (GCA). The over-
Idaho and will also contain
all consensus is that the journal is doing quite well on a quality and important information on the
venue, scientific program, and
quantity basis. The total number of published pages is near 5400 article
logistics of the 16th annual Gold-
pages per year and has been increasing steadily from a low of less than schmidt Conference, to be held
Aug 27–Sept 1, 2006 in Mel-
4000 in 1998. The journal is now quite close to the maximum levels
bourne, Australia.
reached in the 1990s when Gunter Faure was executive editor.
Goldschmidt 2006 –
The primary concern raised was the long time for publication, which at Geochemistry Downunder
the moment averages 14 months from submission to print. Much of Speaking of next year’s Gold-
schmidt conference, it is not too
this is a consequence of delays by authors or reviewers over which the
early to start looking ahead to
journal has little control. The initial review averages about 80 days, revi- Melbourne. To register your
interest in the conference, please
sions are received after another 100 days, and about 20–30 days is the
visit the conference website at:
typical post-acceptance handling time (final author review of proofs www.goldschmidt2006.org
and transmittance to the publisher’s office). The primary delay in the
Got GCA?
process is in production, which is currently taking about six months.
If you have become a member of
the Geochemical Society through
The key limitation in production at present is an insufficient number of your Goldschmidt Conference
copy editors. A typical journal has two copy editors; GCA has five and registration, then there is an
additional benefit you may not
this is still not sufficient. Publication time could be reduced to three be aware of.
months with the addition of one or more copy editors. Elsevier is well Members of the Geochemical
aware of the problem and is taking steps to hire and train more copy Society may purchase a personal
subscription to Geochimica et
editors. At present, there is a significant backlog of articles waiting to be Cosmochimica Acta. Subscriptions
published. The journal has been increasing the number of pages pub- include all calendar year issues
including the Goldschmidt
lished in each issue, and with the continuation of this process we expect Abstracts special issue. Moreover,
that the backlog will gradually diminish over the next year. GCA subscriptions include per-
sonal online access to GCA
Nathaniel Ostrom, through Elsevier’s Science Direct.
Chair of the Joint Publications Committee
Online access includes issues
from 1995 to date.
Subscription rates for 2005 are
$130 for professional members
ELEMENTS 174 J UNE 2005
and $30 for student members.
If you are interested in a GCA
subscription, please contact the
business office for a form.
Geochemical Society at the
2005 GSA Annual Meeting
The Geochemical Society will be
cosponsoring the following ses-
sions at the 2005 GSA Annual
Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah
from October 16 to 19, 2005:
• Occurrence and Fate of Arsenic
in Hydrogeologic Systems
• Reaction Kinetics in Aquifers
• Mine Rock Piles and Pyritically
Altered Areas: their Slope Sta-
bility and Effect on Water
Quality
• Integrated Field, Geochemical,
and Geophysical Studies of the
Yellowstone–Snake
River–Columbia River Volcanic
System
GS is also cosponsoring the field
trip on October 13–15, entitled
“Basaltic Volcanism of the Cen-
tral and Western Snake River
Plain and its Relation to the
Yellowstone Plume.”
And finally, GS will have an
exhibit in the GSA exposition
hall. We will have society infor-
mation, be selling special publi-
cations, and be accepting mem-
bership renewals. This is a good
opportunity to meet with the
business manager if you have
comments or suggestions for the
Geochemical Society.
Seth Davis, Business Manager
The Geochemical Society
Washington University / EPS
One Brookings Drive, CB 1169
Saint Louis, MO 63130-4899 USA
Tel.: 314-935-4131
Fax.: 314-935-4121
E-mail: gsoffice@gs.wustl.edu
Website: http://gs.wustl.edu
 Society News

THE ORGANIC GEOCHEMISTRY DIVISION OF THE GEOCHEMICAL

SOCIETY ANNOUNCES THE RECIPIENT OF THE 2005 TREIBS AWARD

Dr. Jaap S. Sin- demonstrated that through sulfurization many

ninghe Damste is specific, yet labile biomolecules were preserved
amply deserving in the geosphere, suggesting new possibilities
of the 2005 Alfred for reconstructing palaeoenvironments through
Treibs Award, as the utilization of these sulfurized biomarkers.
demonstrated by
Later work by Jaap led to new insights in the
his sustained
biosynthesis of isoprenoids and steroids and
record of accom-
has significantly contributed to the discovery of
plishments docu-
anoxic methane oxidation by a consortium of
mented in over
prokaryotes. In recent years, Jaap has effectively
300 publications over the last 20+ years. As a
used novel tools such as the TEX-86 tempera-
common theme through his career, Jaap has
ture proxy, to understand important aspects
pioneered the use of numerous highly specific
of Earth history. Jaap’s exploitation of the aryl-
biomarkers to reconstruct palaeoenvironments
isoprenoid proxy introduced by Summons and
with high resolution in order to recognize
Powell has been very effectively directed to
palaeoenvironment dynamics and palaeocli-
studies of modern and historical systems. Jaap
matic change both in the recent past and over
and his coworkers are also leading producers
geological time scales.
of new information about oceanic archaea
As part of his dissertation work, Jaap discovered and their biogeochemical role.
and rigorously identified hundreds of new
The Treibs Award will be presented to
organic sulfur compounds in sediments and
Dr. Sinninghe Damste during the 22nd IMOG
soils. This led to totally new insights into the
in Seville, Spain, on September 13.
global carbon and sulfur cycles and also

Mineralogical Society of America and Geochemical Society

Short Course
THERMOCHRONOLOGY
October 14–15, 2005
Snowbird Resort, Snowbird, Utah, 84092, USA
Conveners
PETER W. REINERS, Department of Geology & Geophysics, Yale University
TODD A. EHLERS, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan.
Analytical and modeling advances, combined with rapidly expanding interest in shallow-crustal and Earth- and
planetary-surface processes, have led to significant advances in the techniques, applications, and interpretations
of thermochronometry. Recent thermochronologic studies have provided unprecedented insights into a wide
range of geological problems such as the timing and rates of development of topographic relief, the architecture
and dynamics of orogenic wedges, and feedbacks between erosion, uplift, and climate at a variety of scales. New
techniques and innovative applications of thermochronometry are also rapidly emerging in a wide variety of sub-
disciplines, including precise dating of weathering episodes, shock metamorphism, wildfires, and extended time-
temperature histories from single crystals. As the range of geologic problems accessible to thermochronometry
has expanded, so has the need for robust theoretical understanding of the crystal-scale kinetics (e.g., diffusion,
annealing) that control thermochronometric ages, as well as the crustal- or orogen-scale tectonic and geomor-
phic processes that influence their spatial-temporal patterns across the landscape.
This short course will assess the current state of the art in thermochronometry and evaluate progress in analyti-
cal and interpretation techniques, future potential, example applications, and outstanding issues in the field that
have recently emerged or need attention for robust progress. We will focus attention on several areas, including
techniques for measuring data, innovations in interpretive techniques at both crystal and regional scales, and
exemplary case studies that integrate multiple low-temperature thermochronometers or other techniques. This
course will also serve not only to provide state-of-the-art assessments for practitioners of thermochronometry,
but also as an introduction for Earth scientists seeking to use thermochronologic constraints in their research.
There will be a software demonstration session the evening of the first day, to introduce participants to forward
and inverse models for interpretation of thermochronologic data, including diffusion/annealing, and tectonoto-
pographic/ thermal phenomena on orogen and crustal scales. The short course will be followed by thermochro-
nology special sessions at the Geological Society of America meeting in Salt Lake City.
Topics, speakers, and registration information for the short course are on the MSA website (www.minsocam.org)
or available from the MSA Business Office, 1015 18th St NW Ste 601, Washington, DC, 20036-5212, USA. Tel:
202-775-4344, Fax: 202-775-0018, e-mail: business@minsocam.org. Registration fee covers short course ses-
sions, breakfast/lunch/dinner on 10/14 and breakfast/lunch on 10/15, and refreshments at breaks, and Reviews
in Mineralogy and Geochemistry volume.
The course is sponsored in part by the U.S. Department of Energy,
Yale University, University of Michigan, and Apatite to Zircon Inc.

ELEMENTS 175
 So c ie t y Ne w s

HOUTERMANS MEDAL TO HODSON

EAG awards the Houtermans Medal to outstanding young scientists for

European Association their contribution to geochemistry. The candidates must be no more
than 35 years of age at the time the award is given.
for Geochemistry The 2005 Houterman Medalist is
Mark Hodson. Dr. Hodson is cur-
rently a senior lecturer in the Soil
2005 EAG AWARD WINNERS Science Department of the Uni-
versity of Reading, United King-
The European Association for Geochemistry is honored to announce its
dom. Mark completed his PhD at
award winners for 2005.
the University of Edinburgh. Sub-
sequently he spent three years
UREY MEDAL TO NAVROTSKY studying mineral weathering and
acid rain as a postdoctoral scien-
EAG awards the Urey Medal every year to outstanding senior scientists tist at the Macaulay Land Use
for their lifelong contribution to geochemistry. The Urey Medal is now Research Institute in Aberdeen.
given every year during the Goldschmidt Conference. Then following a stint at the Nat-
ural History Museum in London,
The 2005 Urey Medalist is Alex
he moved to the Soil Science
Navrotsky, who currently holds the
Department of the University of
Edward Roessler Chair in Mathemati-
Reading in 2000. He sits on the general council and the committee of
cal and Physical Sciences at the Uni-
the Applied Mineralogy Group of the Mineralogical Society of Great
versity of California, Davis, USA. Alex
Britain. Additionally he served as secretary of the EAG and as an associ-
received her bachelor’s, master’s, and
ate editor of Environmental Pollution. Mark is a research associate at the
PhD from the University of Chicago.
Natural History Museum and a visiting lecturer at University College,
She subsequently held positions at
London. Mark’s research is focused on low-temperature mineral–fluid
Arizona State University and Prince-
interactions, and in particular the rates and mechanisms of the dissolu-
ton University before joining the fac-
tion of silicate minerals in soils, the determination of metal toxicity/
ulty of the University of California in
bioavailability to soil macro-invertebrates, and the remediation of metal-
1997. Her research interests have cen-
contaminated soil. He has published over 30 articles in top-ranked geo-
tered on relating microscopic features
chemical journals.
of structure and bonding to macro-
scopic thermodynamic behavior in Past Houterman medal winners are Albert Galy (2004), Jess F. Adkins
minerals, ceramics, and other complex (2003), Gleb Prokrovsky (2000), Eric Hauri (1999), Terry Plank (1998), Ken
materials. She has made contributions Farley (1997), Marc Chaussidon (1995), and Michel Condomines (1990).
to mineral thermodynamics; mantle mineralogy and high-pressure
phase transitions; silicate melt and glass thermodynamics; order-disor-
der in spinels, framework silicates, and other oxides; ceramic processing;
oxide superconductors; nanophase oxides, zeolites, nitrides, and per-
ovskites; and the general problem of structure–energy–property system-
atics. She has published over 480 scientific papers. Honors include an Gast Lectureship University of California, Berkeley.
Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (1973), the Mineralogical Society of America His research is primarily focused
EAG and the Geochemical Soci-
Award (1981), election as American Geophysical Union Fellow (1988), on quantifying the rates and
ety (GS) jointly name the Gast
Vice-President (1991–1992) and President (1992–1993) of the Miner- consequences of water–rock
Lectureship. The Gast Lectureship
alogical Society of America, and election as Geochemical Society Fellow interaction. Over the past several
is normally awarded for out-
(1997). She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1993. In years he has served as associate
standing contributions to geo-
1995 she received the Ross Coffin Purdy Award from the American editor of Geochimica et
chemistry to someone who is not
Ceramic Society and was awarded the degree of Doctor Honoris Causa Cosmochimica Acta, editor of
more than 45 years of age.
from Uppsala University, Sweden. In 2002 she was awarded the Chemical Geology, director of the
Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth Science. This year’s Gast Lecturer is Eric Geochemical Society, treasurer and
H. Oelkers of the CNRS and the council member of the EAG, and
Past Urey Medalists are Harold C. Helgeson (2004), Nicholas Shackleton
Université Paul Sabatier in editor of four special volumes
(2003), Grenville Turner (2002), Keith O’Nions (2001), Donald DePaolo
Toulouse, France. Eric received including the 2005 Chemical
(2000), John Edmond (1999), Jean-Guy Schilling (1998), Geoffrey
his bachelor’s degree at the Mass- Geology Special Issue “Geochemi-
Eglington (1997), Samuel Epstein, Robert N. Clayton and Hugh P.
achusetts Institute of Technology cal Aspects of CO2 Sequestration.”
Taylor Jr. (1995), and Wallace S. Broecker and Hans Oeschger (1990).
before completing his PhD at the

ELEMENTS 176 J UNE 2005

 Society News

New Geochemical Fellows quent constraints on core–mantle differentia-

tion and the accretion history of the Earth.
EAG and the Geochemical Society (GS) award
Dr. Jacobsen received his PhD from the Califor-
the honorary title Geochemistry Fellow to
nia Institute of Technology in 1980 and joined
outstanding scientists who have made major
the Harvard faculty in 1981.
contributions to the field of geochemistry. The
scientists named as Geochemical Fellows for STUART G. WAKEHAM is rec-
2005 are: ognized for his fundamental
contributions towards under-
NICHOLAS T. ARNDT is
standing the source and cycl-
recognized for his seminal
ing of organic matter in aquat-
work on komatiites: ultramaf-
ic environments and for his
ic lavas that erupted primarily
outstanding cooperation and
in the Archean era and pro-
collaboration within the geochemical commu-
vide first-hand information
nity, including the mentoring of young scien-
about the temperature and
tists. A hallmark of Dr. Wakeham’s research is
composition of Earth’s early mantle. Through-
his development of state-of-the-art analytical
out his career, Dr. Arndt has provided a rare
methods for the analysis of organic matter in
integration of detailed field work, petrology,
natural environments. A highlight of his work
and isotope and trace element geochemistry
has been the elucidation of the sources and
that has served to bridge the gap between
fates of lipids in the ocean water column and
geodynamics, geochemistry, and petrology
sediments. Dr. Wakeham obtained his PhD
to illuminate the differentiation and origin
from the University of Washington in 1976
of komatiites, and from this, the nature of the
and, after a two-year postdoc at the Swiss Fede-
early Earth. Dr. Arndt received his PhD at the
ral Institute of Technology, spent nine years as
University of Toronto in 1975 and has held a
a research scientist at the Woods Hole Oceano-
number of research posts in the USA, Canada,
graphic Institute before moving to the Skid-
Germany and France, where he took up his
away Institute of Oceanography in 1987.
present position at the Université Joseph Fourier,
Grenoble, in 1991. LYNN M. WALTER is recog-
nized for her seminal contri-
STEIN B. JACOBSEN is
butions to understanding
recognized for his funda-
low-temperature water–rock
mental insights into geo-
interactions and for her
and cosmochemistry. These
education and mentoring
include (but are not limited
of a large number of young
to) defining the Sm–Nd
geochemists. Highlights of her work include
evolution of chondritic
ground-breaking papers on mineral dissolution
meteorites, development of transport models
kinetics, the origin of dolomite, weathering of
for crust–mantle evolution, modeling Sr and
carbonate rocks, and the origin and composi-
Nd isotopic constraints on crustal growth and
tion of waters and gases in sedimentary basins.
recycling, establishing the Sr and Nd isotopic
Dr. Walter received her PhD from the University
signatures of the oceans through much of
of Miami (Florida) in 1983 and spent five years
Earth history, pioneering work on the
182Hf–182W system in meteorites, and subse- at Washington University before moving to her
current position at the University of Michigan.

EAG NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Geofluids now available to EAG
members at a discount rate
The European Association for Geochemistry is
proud to announce special EAG member subscrip-
tion rates to the journal Geofluids. Published
by Blackwell Publishing, Geofluids provides an
international forum for original research into
the role of fluids in the mineralogical, chemi-
cal, and structural evolution of the Earth’s
crust. Geofluids emphasizes both chemical and
physical aspects of subsurface fluids throughout
the Earth’s crust (although excluding silicate
melts). It spans studies of groundwater, terres-
trial or submarine geothermal fluids, basinal
brines, petroleum, metamorphic waters, and
magmatic fluids, but requires that the studies
be related to processes that are significant on a
geological time scale. Examples of areas cov-
ered include, but are not restricted to: the com-
position and origins of geofluids; the hydrody-
namics of sedimentary basins, the chemical or
physical behavior of geofluids in porous or
fractured rocks; the geochemistry of dissolu-
tion, transport, and precipitation by fluids;
and fluid flow accompanying metamorphism.
Subscriptions for EAG members include both
the printed version and access to the online
version of the journal. Current rates are US$70
for members residing in North America, 57
Euros for Europeans residing in the Euro Zone,
£38 for members residing in Great Britain, and
£42 for members residing in the rest of the
world. These subscription rates are about 60%
of the regular personal subscription rates,
charged to non-EAG members.
To claim the rate, you just need to register as
an EAG member when you take out a subscrip-
tion on the Geofluids subscription web page:
www.blackwellpublishing.com/subs.asp?ref=
1468-8115
Please send any potential items for inclu-
sion in future ‘EUROPEAN GEOCHEMICAL
NEWS BRIEFS’ to either Eric Oelkers
(oelkers@lmtg.obs-mip.fr) or Mark Hodson
(m.e.hodson@reading.ac.uk).

ELEMENTS 177
 Inte rn a t io n a l N e w s

(unjustly) carbonate-fluorapatite alunites). The CNMMN is contin-

and carbonate-hydroxylapatite. uously working on nomenclature
How can one give the correct problems, usually with subcom-
name to an obvious apatite speci- mittees responsible for specific
men without an analysis of some mineral groups or problems.
kind? This problem could have A very peculiar problem, a real
NEW MINERALS: HELP OR HINDRANCE? been solved easily by using hindrance, is caused by the fact
(optional) suffixes, as has been that more than 2300 natural
The Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names (CNMMN) was
done successfully in the zeolite phases, possible new minerals
established at nearly the same time as the IMA, in 1959, for the purpose and labuntsovite groups. but perhaps meanwhile better
of controlling the introduction of new minerals and mineral names and described elsewhere, have been
We all know, of course, that
published without a name. The
of rationalizing mineral nomenclature. In the 45 years of its existence, mineralogical nomenclature is far
Subcommittee on Unnamed
the CNMMN has not been idle, judging from the list of 4000 or so min- from ideal. There are indeed too
Minerals (they call themselves
many inconsistencies that have
erals and mineral names on which the CNMMN has officially taken a SCUM) is taking care of these
arisen before and after the arrival
decision on their approval, discreditation, and/or redefinition (available orphaned objects.
of the CNMMN in 1959. The
on the CNMMN website: www.geo.vu.nl/~ima-cnmmn). On this web- CNMMN has a so-called 50% rule Certainly, for quite some time
for nomenclature in (binary) to come, the CNMMN will not
site one can also consult the procedures and guidelines for proposing
solid solutions, but at the same be without things to do!
new minerals and mineral names, and nomenclature reports published time there are major mineral
Ernst A.J. Burke,
by the CNMMN. groups in which the current
CNMMN Chairman
nomenclature is not in accor-
On average about 80 new minerals are proposed each year, and about ernst.burke@falw.vu.nl
dance with this rule (e.g., amphi-
60 of these are approved. Some persons consider the work on new nat-
boles, pyroxenes, pyrochlores,
ural phases as wasted time. Who indeed cares about these tiny and exotic
grains? Why should one spend precious lab and personnel resources on
the umpteenth arsenate, phosphate, or sulfate in some forsaken oxida-
tion zone of an unimportant, abandoned ore deposit? Of course, a new
substance has to be characterized first before it becomes clear whether
it is an “exotic butterfly” or an important technical substance. The con-
clusive answer to these questions and considerations was given by one
of my predecessors as CNMMN chairman, Akira Kato, at the start of the
Paris 1980 IGC session on new minerals: “Once upon a time, feldspar
was a new mineral!”
It so happens that in 2004 the CNMMN received not one, not two, but
three proposals for new minerals in the feldspar group. Two of these
have been approved: the hexagonal potassium feldspar kokchetavite
and the not-yet-published tetragonal polymorph of albite. In both
cases, these submicroscopic grains of new minerals have given impor-
tant information on the genetic history of the rocks in which they were
found. In the same year, the CNMMN also received proposals for new
minerals in other common rock-forming mineral groups: five amphi-
boles, three micas, and even a new polymorph of quartz, named seifer-
tite. Taking great pains on the full characterization of new minerals is
obviously not always a waste of time, but a real help.

However, not only scientific The path of the CNMMN is not

aspects of these phases are impor-
tant; appearances also count,
especially for the large body of
amateur mineralogists and miner-
al collectors. Some new minerals
are a feast for the eyes, as you
can see from the accompanying
photographs of the Sb–Mo oxide
biehlite (99-019) and a not-yet-
published Na–Cu carbonate
(2004-036). The ultimate in this
category is of course the recent
discovery in Madagascar of the
whitish-pink to raspberry-red
pezzottaite, a caesium mineral
related to the beryl group. Gem-
quality specimens of this new
mineral (2003-022) have changed
hands for six-figure prices!
always strewn with roses. There
is regular, heavy criticism on
current mineral nomenclature,
for example, by John S. White
under the title “The Nomencla-
ture Debacle” in the May-June
2004 issue of Rocks and Minerals,
and by Ralph Kretz in the Octo-
ber 2004 issue of the newsletter
of the Mineralogical Association
of Canada. I have even been
threatened with a global e-mail
campaign because the CNMMN
does not give unique names for
minerals. Just one example: the
mineral name ‘apatite’ does not
exist any more—we have nowa- Two recent new minerals described by a team from the Mineralogical Museum of the
University of Hamburg (Jochen Schlüter, senior author). Top: biehlite from Tsumeb,
days hydroxylapatite, fluorap- Namibia, width = 15 mm; bottom: 2004-036 from Mina Santa Rosa, Iquique, Chile,
atite, and chlorapatite, and also width = 28 mm. Photographs by K.-C. Lyncker.

ELEMENTS 178 J UNE 2005

 Confer ence Report s
A Vision for High-Pressure Earth and Planetary
Sciences Report: THE BASS REPORT
The field of high-pressure Earth and planetary
sciences has changed dramatically over the
past decade. Increasingly sophisticated tools
are being used to investigate the properties of
matter under the extreme pressure and tem-
perature conditions of planetary interiors. As a
prime example, modern synchrotron X-ray
sources have presented enormous opportuni-
ties for new types of experimentation at high
pressure. In parallel with these advances in
large centralized facilities, new types of high-
pressure devices have been developed to take
advantage of them. In numerous related areas,
similar progress can be seen, for example, the
computational power available for calculations
of mineral properties and new facilities to
perform neutron scattering studies at high
pressure. As a result, it is now possible to do
experiments that were not dreamed of 10 years
ago. Many of these exciting advances and
prospects for the future have been described in
the report “Current and Future Research Direc-
tions in High-Pressure Mineral Physics.”
This report is an outgrowth of the discussions
and results of a workshop entitled “A Vision
for High-Pressure Earth and Planetary Sciences
Research: The Planets from the Surface to the
Center,” which was held on March 22–23,
2003 in Miami, Florida. The NSF Division of
Earth Sciences commissioned and supported
this workshop, which was organized by COM-
PRES (Consortium for Materials Properties
Research in Earth Sciences). Fifty-five scientists
attended the workshop convened by Jay Bass
and Don Weidner. The report was edited by
Jay Bass, in collaboration with Ellen Kappel of
Geosciences Professional Services Inc., using
the materials presented at the workshop or
arising from its discussions.
The report describes a number of the major
scientific achievements and technological
advances that have occurred over approxi-
mately the last decade. It also outlines a num-
ber of the prominent scientific issues and
technological goals in the area of high-pressure
mineral physics. The report is organized
according to the different pressure regimes
that characterize basic Earth structure and
processes. These regimes include Earth’s core,
where the pressure is 360 GPa (3.6 Mbars); the
core–mantle boundary; the mantle and crust,
where subduction occurs; and finally the near-
surface environment, where pressures are
relatively modest, from several hundreds to
only a few atmospheres. Looking out toward
the other bodies in our solar system, the report
concludes with issues related to planetary
processes, ranging from the dynamics and
compositions of planetary interiors to impacts
and volcanism on the icy satellites.
For each of the areas mentioned above, scien-
tific progress and discovery has been closely
tied to technological innovation. The report
gives many examples of new technology that
has been brought on line within the last few
ELEMENTS
years to examine
the behavior of
materials at extreme
pressure and
temperature condi-
tions. Some exam-
ples include: inelas-
tic X-ray scattering
techniques to
measure sound
velocities and the
electronic structure
of lower mantle
and core-forming materials; the growth of
large diamond anvils for a new generation of
large-volume diamond cells that can be used
with neutron scattering; sound velocity and
elasticity measurements at high pressures and
temperatures using vibrational spectroscopy
on samples squeezed in diamond cells, and
simultaneous ultrasonics + synchrotron X-ray
experiments on samples in a multi-anvil
apparatus; and rheology experiments at tran-
sition zone pressures under precisely defined
stress states.
Much of the new technology available for
high-pressure mineral physics research is relat-
ed to synchrotron radiation facilities. The
enormous intensity and penetrating power
of synchrotron X-ray sources make possible
experiments that cannot be done otherwise.
Along with the high intensity has come
extraordinary energy resolution, on the order
of a milli-electron volt, allowing a variety of
inelastic X-ray scattering experiments at high
pressures. Sound velocities in mantle and core
materials can be measured via X-ray scattering
from phonons and by nuclear resonant inelas-
tic scattering (NRS) from Fe-bearing phases.
Mössbauer spectroscopy can be used to deter-
mine the valence state of Fe, and the phonon
density of states can also be determined using
NRS. This array of new techniques is available
for experiments at high pressures and tempera-
tures with the laser-heated diamond anvil cell.
Brillouin spectroscopy and ultrasonic interfer-
ometry are now possible at central beamline
facilities for simultaneous velocity and density
measurements. Strains and anelastic relaxation
can be measured on small samples that are
buried deeply within the pressure assemblies
and gasketing of a multi-anvil apparatus. It is
remarkable that such a diverse array of new
devices and facilities have appeared in only
one decade, making possible classes of exper-
iments that simply could not be done before.
This report should be of interest to all Earth
scientists, and especially to scientists in fields
of high-pressure research. Copies of the report
can be downloaded at www.compres.us; hard
copies are available from Ms Ann Lattimore,
Administrative Coordinator, COMPRES, ESS
Building, Stony Brook, NY 11794-2100, USA.
Jay Bass
jaybass@uiuc.edu
179
 Confer ence Reports Min e ra l Ma t t e rs

PERALK, a Workshop People Behind Mineral Names

on Peralkaline Rocks Vurroite, after Filippo Vurro
The new mineral species vurroite, a
sulfosalt with the ideal formula
Pb20Sn2(Bi,As)22S54Cl6, was recently
discovered among the high-tem-
perature products of fumarolic
activity at the Fossa crater of the
volcano Vulcano, in the Aeolian
Islands of Italy (Garavelli et al.
2005). It is appropriately named
after Filippo Vurro (b. 1940),
professor of mineralogy at the
University of Bari, in recognition
of his important contributions to
the mineralogy and geochemistry
Participants of PERALK assembled for the traditional group photograph.
of modern volcanic deposits.
PHOTO BY DAVID LENTZ

After attending two huge had already changed! The pri-

(6,000+) congresses, I found it
most refreshing to attend the
workshop entitled “Peralkaline
Rocks: Sources, Economic Poten-
tial, and Evolution from Peralka-
line Melts.” The meeting was
held in Tübingen, Germany on
March 4–6, 2005, with approxi-
mately 70 scientists in atten-
dance. The meeting was con-
vened and ably organized by
Gregor Markl, of the Institut für
Geowissenschaften, Universität
Tübingen. He and his enthusias-
tic associates have been focusing
their attention lately on the
peralkaline complexes of the
Gardar Province, South Green-
land, and in particular on the
unique attributes of the Ilímaus-
saq Complex. Thus, through
poster presentations and Gregor’s
talk on the parameters governing
agpaitic crystallization, this group
was able to showcase its recent
accomplishments. The oral and
poster presentations were subdi-
vided into three major themes:
Melt sources and melt genera-
tion, Crystallization conditions
and magmatic evolution, and
Late-stage processes and econom-
ic potential.
There were ooohs and aaahs
during the slide and video pres-
entation by Jurgis Klaudius on
recent natrocarbonatitic activity
in the northern crater of
Oldoinyo Lengai, Tanzania, the
world’s only volcano spewing
forth natrocarbonatitic lava. It
was fascinating to witness the
incredible mobility of such lava
and the ephemeral nature of the
fresh rocks formed; within three
or four days, the bulk composi-
tion and the mineral assemblages
mary minerals, including sylvite
(found even as a phenocryst
phase!), halite, gregoryite, and
nyerereite, soon give way to an
assemblage rich in pirssonite and
gaylussite. The rocks get partially
dissolved upon the first signs of
rain, and the ultimate fate of a
good part of the natrocarbonatite
lava lies in Lake Natron, a few
kilometers away.
In addition to seeing memorable
presentations on Oldoinyo
Lengai and Ilímaussaq, I was
most interested to be brought up
to date on the peralkaline rocks
of Ethiopia, Pantelleria, Kenya,
and the Kola Peninsula, and on
parallel experimental and melt-
inclusion studies on relevant
systems. Even on a small scale, it
was a smorgasbord of alkaline
delights, and a bit of an informa-
tion overload! The Program and
Abstracts Volume, compiled by
Michael Marks, will be an indis-
pensable document for under-
standing the fine points made by
the various contributors. A more
permanent and widely available
compilation of articles will be
assembled, refereed, and pub-
lished as a thematic issue of
Lithos.
An event of this type, focused on
peralkalinity in magmas, either
oversaturated or undersaturated
in silica, has been a very long
time in coming. The feeling of
participating in a rare event made
attendees from far and wide
really relish their weekend in
Tübingen.
Robert F. Martin, McGill
University, Montreal, Canada
bobm@eps.mcgill.ca
Filippo and co-investigators have formu-
lated a geochemical model in which the
ratio Br/Cl in sal ammoniac (NH4Cl) is
considered to be a reflection of inputs of
magmatic gases feeding the fumaroles,
and a thermochemical model for the
transport of ore-forming metals in the
high-temperature gaseous stream. He
participated in the crystal-chemical and
crystallographic characterization of rare
phases in the systems PbS–Bi2S3 and
PbS–As2S3–Bi2S3, and of the species bar-
beriite [NH4BF4], mozgovaite [PbBi4
(S,Se)7], and mutnovskite [Pb2AsS3
(I,Cl,Br)], which also have Vulcano as a
type locality.
Filippo began his career in the Air
Force chemical laboratory in Bari.
With his strong background in
chemistry, he naturally was
attracted to undertake geochemi-
cal and mineralogical investiga-
tions of the fumarolic sublimates
at Vulcano, a tremendous natural
laboratory and one of only a
handful of volcanoes around the
world where serious investigations
of the products of gaseous transfer
have been carried out. The lab
work takes place on the flank of
the volcano.
The experiments are ongoing and
uncontrolled, and equilibrium
conditions are probably not
attained in such a fluctuating
The acicular habit of vurroite is typical of
other sulfosalts deposited under condi-
tions of rapid crystallization as the high-
temperature gaseous emanation cools
and mixes with the atmosphere.
environment. The field work,
which is challenging owing to the
toxicity of the gas phase and the
ever-changing direction of the air
currents, involves careful monitor-
ing of the temperature and gas
compositions at well-established
fumaroles and requires repeated
sampling of mineral sublimates
and encrustations. The tempera-
ture of gaseous emissions fluctu-
ates in a secular fashion; the type
material was collected at a stage of
relatively high-temperature depo-
sition, at 607°C, although it is
also deposited at other fumaroles
on Vulcano over the interval
406–430°C. Vurroite is an exam-
ple of a multicomponent sulfosalt
in which Sn and Cl are essential
constituents, along with Pb, Bi,
As, and S. It also contains minor
Br and traces of Tl and Se.
Robert F. Martin
(bobm@eps.mcgill.ca)
REFERENCE
Garavelli A, Mozgovav NN, Orlandi P,
Bonaccorsi E, Pinto D, Moëlo Y,
Borodaev YuS (2005) Rare sulfosalts
from Vulcano, Aeolian Islands, Italy.
VI. Vurroite, Pb20Sn2(Bi,As)22S54Cl6, a
new mineral species. Canadian
Mineralogist 43: 703-711

ELEMENTS 180 J UNE 2005


2005
June 11–15 42nd Annual Meeting of
The Clay Minerals Society, Burlington,
Vermont, USA. Details: Peter C. Ryan,
Geology Department, Middlebury
College, Middlebury, Vermont 05753,
USA. Tel.: 1-802-443-2557; e-mail:
pryan@middlebury.edu; web page:
www.clays.org/home/HomeAnnual
Meeting.html
June 13–16 EAGE (European Associa-
tion of Geoscientists and Engineers)
67th Annual International Conference
and Exhibition, Madrid, Spain. Details:
EAGE, Sandra Hermus, Conference
Assistant, Standerdmolen 10, 3995 AA
Houten or PO Box 59, 3990 DB Houten,
The Netherlands. Fax + 31 30 6343534;
web page: www.eage.nl
June 14–17 5th International Sympo-
sium: Mineralogical Museums,
St. Petersburg, Russia. Details: Dr. Galina
Anastasenko & Olga Golynskaya,
MM220, Dept. of Mineralogy, Faculty of
Geology, St. Petersburg State University,
7/9, Universitetskaya nab. St. Petersburg
199034, Russia. E-mail: mm_220@
geology.pu.ru; web page: www.miner-
al.pu.ru/conf/engl/info_E.html
June 19–22 American Association of
Petroleum Geologists and Society for
Sedimentary Geology Joint Annual
Meeting and Exhibition, Calgary,
Alberta, Canada. Details: AAPG Conven-
tions Dept., P.O. Box 979, Tulsa, OK
74119, USA. Tel.: 918-560-2679; fax:
918-560-2684; e-mail: convene2@
aapg.org; web page: www.aapg.org/
calgary/globalroundup.cfm
June 19–28 EMU School: Mineral
Behaviour at Extreme Conditions,
Heidelberg, Germany. E-mail:
EMU2005@min.uni-heidelburg.de; web
page: www.univie.ac.at/Mineralogie/
EMU_School-7
June 27–July 1 Joint AIRAPT-EHPRG
International Conference on High
Pressure Science and Technology,
Karlsruhe, Germany. E-mail: airapt-
ehprg@itc-cpv.fzk.de; web page:
http://hikwww2.fzk.de/ehprg
July 3–9 7th International Eclogite
Conference, Seggau, Austria. Details:
Alexander Proyer, IEC-7 Organizing
Committee, Institute of Earth Sciences,
Department of Mineralogy and Petrol-
ogy, University of Graz, Universitaet-
splatz 2, A-8010 Graz; Austria. Fax: +43
316 380 9865; e-mail: iec-7@uni-graz.
at; web site: www.uni-graz.at/IEC-7
July 6–9 ECROFI XVIII: European
Current Research on Fluid Inclusions,
Siena, Italy. E-mail: bonelli5@unisi.it
or ecrofiXVIII@unisi.it; web page:
www.unisi.it/eventi/ECROFIXVIII
July 11–15 Role of Volatiles and
Atmospheres on Martian Impact
Craters, The Johns Hopkins University,
Maryland, USA. Details: Nadine Barlow,
Northern Arizona University. Tel.: 928-
523-5452; e-mail: nadine.barlow@nau.
edu; web page: www.lpi.usra.edu/meet-
ings/volatiles2005/volatiles2005.1st.
html
July 31–August 3 5th International
Dyke Conference (IDC-5), Rovaniemi,
Finland. Details: Dr. Jouni Vuollo, Geo-
logical Survey of Finland, PO Box 77,
FIN-96101 Rovaniemi, Finland. Tel.:
+358 (0)205 504206; fax +358 (0)205
5014; e-mail: jouni.vuollo@gtk.fi; web
page: http://idc5.gsf.fi
ELEMENTS
Ca le n da r
July 31–August 5 Gordon Conference
on Inorganic Geochemistry: Metals
in Ore-Forming Systems: Sources,
Transport, Deposition, Andover, NH,
USA. Attendance by invitation. Contacts:
Steve Garwin (Steve.Garwin@geoin-
formex. com), Christoph Heinrich
(christoph.heinrich@erdw.ethz.ch), or
Jean Cline (cline@ccmail.nevada.edu);
web page: www.segweb.org/Gordon
Conf.pdf
August 7–11 10th International
Platinum Symposium, Oulu, Finland.
Details: Dr. Tuomo Alapieti, University
of Oulu. Tel.: +358-8-553 1432;
mobile phone +358-40-504 4599;
fax: +358-8-553 1484; e-mail: tuomo.
alapieti@oulu.fi; website: http://platinum
symposium.oulu.fi
August 8–11 Earth System Processes
2, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Details:
Chris Beaumont, e-mail: chris.beau-
mont@dal.ca; Don Canfield, e-mail:
dec@biology.ou.dk; or Lee Kump.
e-mail: lkump@psu.edu; web page:
www.geosociety.org/meetings/esp2
August 18–21 Society for Geology
Applied to Mineral Deposits 8th
Biennial Meeting, Beijing, China.
Details: 8th SGA Biennial Meeting, Dr.
Jingwen Mao – Secretary, Institute of
Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of
Geological Sciences, 26 Baiwanzhuang
Road, Beijing 100037, China. Tel.: +86
10 68 32 73 33; fax: +86 10 68 33 63
58: e-mail: mail@sga2005.com; website:
www.sga2005.com
August 21–27 Claysphere: Past,
Present and Future: 13th International
Clay Conference, Waseda University,
Tokyo, Japan. Details: Prof. T. Sakamoto,
Secretary General 13th ICC, Faculty of
Risk and Crisis Management, Chiba
Institute of Science, 3 Shiomi-cho,
Choshi, Chiba 288-0025, Japan. Tel.:
+81-479-30-4645; fax: +81-479-30-
4750; e-mail: icc13@das.ous.ac.jp; web
page: wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/cssj2/13ICC
Aug 22–26 13th International Sympo-
sium On Placer And Weathered Rock
Deposits (PWR-2005) “Placer And
Weathered Rock Deposits in Activated
Platforms and Orogenes”, Perm,
Russia. Details: Prof. Natalia Patyk-Kara,
IGEM RAS (tel.: +7-095-230 8427; fax:
+7-095-230 2179; e-mail: pkara@
igem.ru); Dr. Vladimir Naumov, Perm
State University (e-mail naumov@
psu.ru); Prof. Boris Osovetsky, Perm
State University (e-mail: minmuseum@
psu.ru). Web page: www.iugs.org/iugs/
calendar/placer-meet-announ.pdf
August 23–26 3rd Federation of
European Zeolite Associations (FEZA)
Conference, Prague, Czech Republic.
E-mail: feza2005@jh-inst.cas.cz; web
page: www.jh-inst.cas.cz/~feza2005/
August 23–27 7th International
Symposium on the Geochemistry
of the Earth’s Surface (GES-7), Aix-en-
Provence, France. Details: Jean-
Dominique Meunier, CEREGE, Europôle
Méditerranéen de l’Arbois - BP 80,
13545 Aix-en-Provence cedex 4, France.
Tel.: (+33) 442 971 524; fax: (+33) 442
971 540; e-mail: ges7@cerege.fr; web
page: www.cerege.fr/GES7/index.htm
181
August 23–31 XX Congress of Inter-
national Union of Crystallography,
Florence, Italy. Details: Congress Secre-
tariat, XX Congress and General Assem-
bly of the International Union of Crystal-
lography, c/o Dipartimento di Energetica,
University of Florence, via S. Marta 3,
50139 Firenze, Italy. Tel.: +39-055-
4796209; fax: +39-055-4796342;
e-mail: iucr@iucr2005.it; web page:
www.iucr2005.it
August 28–September 1 Chapman
Conference on The Great Plume
Debate: The Origin and Impact of LIPs
and Hot Spots, Fort William, Scotland.
Details: M. Brill , 2000 Florida Avenue
NW, Washington, DC USA 20009. Tel.:
202-777-7333; fax: +1-202-328-0566;
e-mail: meetinginfo@agu.org; web site:
www.agu.org or www.mantleplumes.
org/Chapman/PrelimNotice.html
August 28–September 1 American
Chemical Society 230th meeting,
Washington, DC, USA. Details: 2005
ACS Meetings, 1155 – 16th St NW,
Washington, DC 20036-4899. Tel.: 202-
872-4396; fax: 202-872-6128; e-mail:
natlmtgs@acs.org
August 29–September 2 Structure,
Tectonics and Ore Mineralization
Processes (STOMP), James Cook
University, Townsville, Australia. E-mail:
stomp@jcu.edu.au or Timothy.Baker@
jcu.edu.au or Thomas.Blenkinsop@jcu.
edu.au; web page: www.es.jcu.edu.
au/STOMP
September 4–20 Vladivostok 2004:
Metallogeny of the Pacific Northwest:
Tectonics, Magmatism and Metalloge-
ny of Active Continental Margins,
Vladivostok, Russia. E-mail: iagodconf@
fegi.ru; web page: www.fegi.ru/iagod
September 5–9 7th International
Symposium on the Cretaceous,
Neuchatel, Switzerland. E-mail: Karl
Föllmi, karl.foellmi@unine.ch or Thierry
Adatte, thierry.adatte@unine.ch; web
site: www.unine.ch/geologie/isc7
September 10–11 Symposium on
Agate and Other Forms of Cryptocrys-
talline Quartz, Colorado School of
Mines, Golden, CO, USA. Details: Peter
Modreski, U.S. Geological Survey.
Tel. 303-202-4766, e-mail: pmodreski@
usgs.gov
September 11–14 AAPG International
Conference and Exhibition, Paris,
France. Details: AAPG Convention
Department, P. O. Box 979, Tulsa, OK,
74101-0979 USA; fax: 1-918-560-2684;
e-mail: convene2@aapg.org; web page:
www.aapg.org/paris/index.cfm
September 11–15 12th International
Meeting on Boron Chemistry, Sendai,
Japan. Contact: Prof. Yoshinori Yamamo-
to, Chairman of IMEBORON-XII, Depart-
ment of Chemistry, Graduate School of
Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-
8578, Japan. Tel: +81 22 217 6581;
fax: +81 22 217 6784; e-mail: yoshi@
yamamoto1.chem.tohoku. ac.jp; web
page: http://hanyu.chem. tohoku.ac.jp/
%7Eweb/IMEBORON/index.html
September 11–16 6th International
Symposium on Applied Isotope Geo-
chemistry (AIG-6), Prague, Czech
Republic. E-mail: aig6@natur.cuni.cz;
website: www.aig6.cz
September 11–16 PacRim6 –
an International Conference on
Advanced Ceramics and Glasses, Maui,
Hawaii, USA. Details: Dr. Sylvia Johnson
or Technical Content Coordinator-
PacRim 6, The American Ceramic
Society, PO Box 6136, Westerville, OH
43086-6136, USA. Fax: 614-794-5868;
e-mail: sylvia.m.johnson@nasa.gov or
mstoltz@ceramics.org; web page:
www.ceramics.org/meetings/pacrim6/
default.asp
September 12–13 Micro-organisms
and Earth Systems: Advances in
Geomicrobiology, University of Keele,
UK. Details: Society for General Microbi-
ology, Marlborough House, Basingstoke
Road, Spencers Wood, Reading RG7
1AG, UK. E-mail: j.hurst@ sgm.ac.uk;
web page: www.sgm.ac.uk/ meetings
September 12–16 68th Annual Mete-
oritical Society Meeting, Gatlinburg,
Tennessee, USA. Details: Kimberly Taylor
(LPI Meeting Coordinator), Program
Services Department, Lunar and Plane-
tary Institute, 3600 Bay Area Boulevard,
Houston, TX 77058-1113, USA.
Tel.: 281-486 2151; fax: 281-486 2160,
e-mail: metsoc2005@ utk.edu or taylor@
lpi.usra.edu; web page: http://geoweb.
gg.utk.edu/2005/ metsoc2005.html
September 12–16 22nd International
Meeting on Organic Geochemistry
(22 IMOG), Seville, Spain. Details: Viajes
El Corte Ingles, Teniente Borges 5,
Seville 41002, Spain. Tel.: +34
954506605; fax: +34 954223512,
e-mail: secretary@imog05.org; website:
www.imog05.org
September 19–22 Workshop on
Oxygen in the Earliest Solar System,
Gatlinburg, TN USA. Contact: Glenn
MacPherson (e-mail: glenn@volcano.
si.edu) or Mary Cloud, Lunar and Plane-
tary Institute, tel.: 281-486-2143;
fax: 281-486-2125; e-mail: cloud@lpi.
usra.edu; web page: www.lpi.usra.edu/
meetings/ess2005
September 19–23 From Tropics to
Tundra: 22nd International Sympo-
sium of the Association of Exploration
Geochemists, Perth, Western Australia.
Details: Promaco Conventions Pty Ltd,
ABN 68 008 784 585, PO Box 890,
Canning Bridge, Western Australia 6153.
Tel.: + 61 8 9332 2900; fax: + 61 8
9332 2911, e-mail: promaco@promaco.
com.au; web page: www.promaco.com.
au/conference/2005/iges
September 25–28 Materials Science
& Technology 2005 (MS&T ’05),
Pittsburgh, PA, USA. Contact: TMS
Meetings Services; TMS; 184 Thorn Hill
Road, Warrendale, PA 15086. Tel.: 724-
776-9000, ext. 243; e-mail: mtgserv@
tms.org; website: www.matscitech.org
September 26–30 Workshop on Dust
in Planetary Systems, Lihue, Hawai’i,
USA. Details: Don Brownlee, tel.: 206-
543 8575 or Sue McCown, Lunar and
Planetary Institute, tel.: 281-486-2144.
E-mail: brownlee@astro.washington.edu
or mccown@lpi.usra.edu; web page:
www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/dust2005
October 1–4 Sheared Magmas in
Nature and Experiment: Bridging
the Brittle and Ductile Fields, Kloster
Seeon, Bavaria, Germany. Details: Jörn
H. Kruhl, Tectonics & Material Fabrics
Section, Technische Universität München,
Arcisstr.21, D-80290 München, Germany,
fax: +49 89 28925852; e-mail: kruhl@
tum.de; web page: http://elite.geophysik.
uni-muenchen.de/school/events.php

October 14–15 Low-Temperature
Thermochronology: Techniques,
Interpretations, and Applications,
MSA/GS short course, Snowbird, Utah,
USA. Details: Peter W. Reiners; e-mail:
peter.reiners@yale.edu or tehlers@
umich.edu or business@minsocam.org;
web page: www.minsocam.org/msa/sc/
ThermChrnlgy_SC_Descrptn.html
October 16–19 GSA Annual Meeting,
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Details: GSA
Meetings, Box 9140, Boulder, CO
80301-9140, USA. Tel.: 303-447-2020,
ext. 164; fax: 303-447-1133; e-mail:
meetings@geosociety.org; web page:
www.geosociety.org/meetings/index.htm
October 24–28 Protostars and Planets
V, Waikoloa Village, The Big Island,
Hawaii, USA. Details: Bo Reipurth,
Institute for Astronomy, 640 N. Aohoku
Place, Hilo, HI 96720; e-mail: reipurth@
ifa.hawaii.edu; web page: http://www2.
ifa.hawaii.edu/CSPF/ppv/ppv.html
October 27–28 Mineral Deposits of
the Urals—6th CERCAMS Workshop,
Natural History Museum, London, Great
Britain. Details: Dr. Reimar Seltmann;
e-mail: rs@nhmac.uk; web page:
www.nhm.ac.uk/mineralogy/cercams/
index.htm
November 6–11 International Gond-
wana 12 Conference, Mendoza,
Argentina. Details: Gondwana 12,
Centro de Investigaciones Geológicas,
Calle 1 # 644, B1900TAC La Plata,
Argentina. Tel./Fax: +54 221 4215677;
e-mail: gondwana@cig.museo.unlp.
edu.ar; web page: http://cig.museo.unlp.
edu.ar/gondwana
November 6–11 Society of Explo-
ration Geophysicists Annual Meeting
and International Exposition, Houston,
Texas, USA. Details: Steve Emery, 8801
S. Yale Ave, Tulsa, OK 74137. Tel.: 918-
497-5539; e-mail: semery@seg.org; web
page: http://meeting.seg.org
November 7–11 20th World Mining
Congress & Expo 2005, Tehran, Iran.
Details: Mr. A. Almasi, Chief of Executive
Committee, 25 Ostad Nejatollahi Ave,
TEHRAN-1599913717 Iran, P.O. Box:
15875 – 7115. Tel.: +98-21-8807799;
fax: +98-21-8805039; e-mail: info@20
wmce2005.com; website: www.20wmce
2005.com/index.php?page=home
November 13–15 Geology Forum 05:
Focus on Exploration, Cape Town,
South Africa. Details: B. Wills, Minerals
Engineering Int., 18 Dracaena Ave.,
Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 2EQ, UK.
Tel.: 44 (0)7768 234 121; e-mail:
bwills@min-eng.com; web page:
www.min-eng.com/geologyforum05/
index.html
November 28–December 2 2005
Materials Research Society Fall Meet-
ing, Boston, MA, USA. Web page:
www.mrs.org/meetings/fall2005
November 30–December 2
5th Fennoscandian Exploration and
Mining Conference, Rovaniem, Finland.
Details: ROVANIEMI-LAPLAND CON-
GRESSES, Ms. Marja-Leena Porsanger,
University of Lapland, PO Box 122,
FIN-96101 Rovaniemi, Finland, tel. +358
(0)16 341 2799, fax +358 (0)16 317 843.
E-mail: congres@ulapland.fi; web page:
www.lapinliitto.fi/fem2005
December 5–9 American Geophysical
Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco,
California, USA. Details: E. Terry, AGU
Meetings Department, 2000 Florida
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009
ELEMENTS
Ca le n da r
USA. Tel.: 202-777-7335; fax: 202-328-
0566, e-mail: eterry@agu.org or
meetinginfo@.agu.org; web page:
www.agu.org/meetings
December 6–10 Sixth European
Meeting on Environmental Chemistry,
Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro.
Details: Serbian Chemical Society
(for EMEC6), Karnegijeva 4/III, P.O. Box
35-08, 11120 Belgrade, Serbia and
Montenegro. Tel./fax: +381-11-
3370467; e-mail: emec6@chem.bg.
ac.yu or SHDOFFICE@tmf.bg.ac.yu; web
page: http://helix.chem.bg.ac.yu/
emec6
December 16–22 13th International
Conference of the Geological Society
of Africa, Cairo, Egypt. Contact: Dr
Mahmoud Abdeen, GSAf Vice-President
(North Africa); e-mail: mmabdeen@narss.
sci.eg; web site: http://gsaf.narss.org
2006
March 12–16 The Minerals, Metals
& Materials Society Annual Meeting
& Exhibition, San Antonio, TX, USA.
Contact: TMS Meetings Services, 184
Thorn Hill Road, Warrendale, PA 15086,
USA. Tel.: 724-776-9000, ext. 243:
e-mail: mtgserv@tms.org; web page:
www.tms.org/Meetings/Meetings2006.
asp
March 26–30 American Chemical
Society 231st Annual meeting, Atlanta,
GA, USA. Details: ACS Meetings, 1155—
16th Street NW, Washington, DC
20036-4899, USA. Tel.: 202-872-4396;
fax: 202-872-6128; e-mail:
natlmtgs@acs.org
April 2–7 European Geosciences
Union (EGU) General Assembly,
Vienna, Austria. Details: EGU Office,
Max-Planck-Str. 13, 37191 Katlenburg-
Lindau, Germany. Tel.: +49-5556-1440;
fax: +49-5556-4709; e-mail: egu@coper-
nicus.org; web page: www.copernicus.
org/EGU/egu_info/prevga.html
April 9–12 American Association of
Petroleum Geologists and Society for
Sedimentary Geology (SEPM) Joint
Annual Meeting, Houston, Texas, USA.
Details: AAPG Conventions Department,
P O Box 979, 1444 S. Boulder Avenue,
Tulsa, OK 74101-0979, USA. Tel.: 918-
560-2679; fax: 918-560-2684; e-mail:
convene@aapg.org
April 17–21 Materials Research
Society 2006 Spring Meeting, San
Francisco, CA, USA. Web page: www.mrs.
org/meetings/future_meetings.html
May 4–6 Society of Economic
Geologists 2006 Conference, Keystone,
Colorado, USA. Web page: www.seg-
web.org/meeting.htm
May 14–17 GAC/MAC Annual Meet-
ing, Montreal, Canada. E-mail: gacmac
2006@uqam.ca, web page:
http://sparky2.esd.mun.ca/~gac/ANN-
MEET/annmeet.html
May 16–20 Geofluids V, the Fifth
International Conference on Fluid
Evolution, Migration and Interaction
in Sedimentary Basins and Orogenic
Belts, Windsor, Ontario, Canada. E-mail:
geofluids5@uwindsor.ca; website:
www.geofluids5.org
June 3–7 Joint 43rd Annual Meeting
of The Clay Minerals Society and
Annual Meeting of the Groupe
Français des Argiles (French Clay
Group), Oléron Island, France. Details:
182
Sabine Petit, Université de Poitiers, CNRS
Hydr’ASA, 40 Av. du Recteur Pineau,
86022 Poitiers Cedex, France. Tel.: 33-
(0)5-49-45-37-56; e-mail: sabine.petit@
hydrasa.univ-poitiers.fr; web page:
http://www.clays.org
July 16–23 Zeolite ‘06, Socorro,
New Mexico, USA. Details: Dr. Robert
Bowman. E-mail: bowman@nmt.edu;
web page: http://cms.lanl.gov/zeo
2006.html
July 22–27 American Crystallographic
Association (ACA) Annual Meeting,
Honolulu, HI, USA. Details: Judith Kelly,
113 Uncle Sam Rd., Phippsburg ME
04562. Tel.: 207-389-9058: fax: 860-
486-4331; e-mail: judith.kelly@uconn.
edu;web page: www.hwi.buffalo.edu/
ACA/meetingspg_list/futuremeetings.
html
July 23–28 19th International Miner-
alogical Association (IMA) Meeting,
Kobe, Japan. Details: Prof. T. Yamanaka.
E-mail: b61400@center. osaka-u.ac.jp;
web page: www.congre. co.jp/ima2006
July 23–28 69th Annual Meeting
of the Meteoritical Society, Zurich,
Switzerland. Details: Rainer Wieler,
Prof., ETH Zürich, Isotope Geology, CH-
8092 Zurich, Switzerland. Tel.:+41 44
632 37 32; fax +41 44 632 11 79;
e-mail: Wieler@erdw.ethz.ch; website:
www.metsoc2006.ethz.ch
August 26–27 GIA Gemological
Research Conference, San Diego,
California USA. Details: Dr. James E.
Shigley, tel.: 760-603-4019; e-mail:
gemconference@gia.edu; web page:
www.gia.edu/newsroom/608/21821/
news_release_details.cfm
August 27–September 1 16th Annual
V.M. Goldschmidt Conference, Mel-
bourne, Australia. E-mail:
goldschmidt2006@tourhosts.com.au;
website: www.goldschmidt2006.org
August 27– September 1 17th Interna-
tional Mass Spectrometry Conference
(IMSC), Prague, Czech Republic. Web-
site: www.imsc2006.org
September 4–12 Volcano International
Gathering, “Volcano: Life, Prosperity,
and Harmony”, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Details: Secretariat, Faculty of Mineral
Technologi, UPN “Veteran” Yogyakarta,
Jl. SWK 104 (Lingkar Utara) Condong-
catur, Yogyakarta 55282, Indonesia. Tel.:
+62-274-486733 Ext. 309; fax: +62-274-
487814; e-mail: info@recent.or.id;
website: http://vig 2006.recent.or.id
ADVERTISERS IN THIS ISSUE
Cambridge University Press
Environmental Isotope Laboratory
Excalibur Mineral Corporation
Geological Society of London
HORIBA Jobin Yvon
Hudson Institute of Mineralogy
Materials Data (MDI)
Meiji America
Rigaku
Rockware
Society for General Microbiology
Universität Bayreuth
J UNE 2005
September 10–14 American Chemical
Society 232nd National Meeting,
Atlanta, GA, USA. Details: ACS Meetings,
1155, 16th Street NW, Washington, DC
20036-4899. Tel.: 202-872-4396; fax:
202-872-6128; e-mail: natlmtgs@acs.org
October 1–6 Society of Exploration
Geophysicists 76th Annual Meeting
and International Exposition, New
Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Details: PO Box
702740, Tulsa, OK 74170-2740, USA.
Tel.: 918-497-5500; fax: 918-497-5557;
e-mail: meetings@seg.org; website:
http://seg.org/meetings
October 14–17 MS&T ’06 (Materials
Science & Technology 2006),
Cincinnati, OH, USA. Contact: TMS
Meetings Services, 184 Thorn Hill Road,
Warrendale, PA 15086, USA. Tel.: 724-
776-9000, ext. 243; e-mail: mtgserv@
tms.org
October 22–25 Geological Society
of America Annual Meeting, Philadel-
phia, Pennsylvania, USA. Details: GSA
Meetings Dept., PO Box 9140, Boulder,
CO 80301-9140, USA. Tel.: 303-447-
2020; fax: 303-447-1133; e-mail: meet-
ings@geosociety.org; web page: www.
geosociety.org/meetings/ index.htm
November 27–December 1 2006
Materials Research Society Fall Meet-
ing, Boston, MA USA. Web page:
www.mrs.org/meetings/future_meetings.
html#f06
December 2006 7th European Meet-
ing on Environmental Chemistry, Brno,
Czech Republic. Details: Dr. Josef
Caslavsky, Institute of Analytical Chem-
istry, Czech Academy of Science, Veveri
97, 61142 Brno, Czech Republic. E-mail:
caslav@iach.cz
December 11–15 American Geophysi-
cal Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco,
California, USA. Details: E. Terry, AGU
Meetings Department, 2000 Florida
Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009,
USA. E-mail: eterry@agu.org; web page:
www.agu.org/meetings
This meeting calendar was com-
piled by Andrea Koziol. To get
meeting information listed, please
contact Andrea at andrea.Koziol@
notes.udayton.edu
150
137
134, 138
156
Inside front cover
173
134
184
175, 177, 179
Inside back cover, back cover
144
183
 Vo ilà

From the WHAT’S NEW

IN THIS ISSUE?
the advertisers; they often track
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And of course, several of our cur-
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We have been busy lining up thematic topics for next I ALSO LEARNED NEVER TO their customers mentioned us.
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year. We will start 2006 with an issue on user research DEFEND ANYTHING I HAD mitted to the
facilities in the Earth sciences, under the guest editor- WRITTEN AGAINST THE THANKS
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promises us outstanding illustrations for the issue he is SCIENTIOUS READER FINDS A both types of issue, to Robert Hazen, guest
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ELEMENTS 183 J UNE 2005


The Rock Concert:
A CELEBRATION
OF DEEP TIME
Bringing the attention of the
general public to our scientific
discoveries is challenging, as
anyone doing outreach can
attest. Here is Joe Skulan’s success
story. Between 500 and 1000
persons visited a one-day display
of the oldest known object from
Earth on April 9 at the University
of Wisconsin at Madison. They
stood in line to peer into a petro-
graphic microscope, toured the
new WiscSIMS Ion Microprobe
Lab, and discussed exhibits about
geochronology and the age of the
Earth. A public talk by Simon
Wilde (Curtin University) preced-
ed the displays. The main attrac-
tion was a microscopic crystal of
zircon. In 1999, this zircon was
dated at 4.4 billion years by
Wilde and along with others
from the Jack Hills metaconglom-
erate (Australia) was analyzed for
oxygen isotope ratio and trace
elements by John Valley and
ELEMENTS
Pa rt in g S h o t
Looking at the 4.4 Ga zircon. PHOTO
NEAL LORD
Aaron Cavosie (UW–Madison);
William Peck (Colgate Universi-
ty); and Colin Graham and John
Craven (University of Edinburgh).
These results, first published in
2001, startled researchers around
the world. High values of δ18O in
pre-4 Ga zircons suggest that
early Earth, instead of being a
turbulent ocean of magma, was
cool enough to have oceans and
possibly continents (see:
www.geology.wisc.edu/zircon).
To create a buzz about an other-
wise arcane subject, Skulan
planned a daylong celebration,
capped with “The Rock Concert”
BY
when The Jazz Passengers played
music composed by Roy
Nathanson to answer the ques-
tion, “What does 4.4 billion years
old sound like?” We all seek new
metaphors for geologic time.
More than 400 persons attended
the concert. Over 200 newspapers
worldwide ran the Associated
184 J UNE 2005
PHOTO BY MATT KUCHTA
Press story. “Apart from that, we
were on BBC live twice, on ABC
and CNN Broadcast News, on
NPR’s Morning Edition, and were
mentioned on the Tonight Show.
Composer Roy Nathanson did a
live interview on Good Morning
Tokyo, and we did a half dozen
other radio interviews on local
stations and for Wisconsin Public
Radio,” concluded Skulan, a
vertebrate paleontologist/isotope
geochemist at the UW-Madison.
A recording of the concert will be
available (see: www.therockcon-
cert.org).