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Mineral Matters (2005-2011 )

The Mineral Matters column presents discussions and updates on recent mineralogical studies that focus on or are relevant to the materials applications of minerals. Also included are articles on mineral nomenclature.

A Brief History of Mineral Symbols

By Laurence N. Warr | June, 2021

At some stage you may have abbreviated the name of a mineral when writing a thesis, report, or publication. This could have been for a common mineral such as quartz (Qz) or muscovite (Ms). But there are some more noto­ riously long mineral names for which a short­ ened version can be rather useful. Take, for example, the 34 letter ­long potassic­magnesio­ fluoro­arfvedsonite (usefully abbreviated to “Pmfarf”, where “arf” represents “arfvesonite”)…

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December 2025 --The Variscan Orogeny in Europe – Understanding Supercontinent Formation

The Variscan orogen formed between 380 and 300 million years ago through several accretionary and collisional cycles, culminating with the construction of the Pangea supercontinent. This process occurred via sequential opening and closure of oceanic basins, synchronous detachment of Gondwana derived continental ribbons, and their outboard amalgamation onto the Laurussia margin. The Variscan orogen is rather unique compared with other orogenic belts on Earth: its overthickened and dominantly magmatic crust in the central belt, surprisingly minor mantle involvement in the magmatic and geodynamic processes, coherent and pulsed magmatism along the collision suture, and its complex accretionary history. Because its final product, Pangea, is the youngest and best-understood supercontinent on Earth, the Variscan orogeny offers clues for understanding the mechanisms of supercontinent formation.