Understanding the physical and transport properties of minerals is essential for deciphering geophysical and planetary processes. Building on Haüy’s early recognition of the link between crystal structure and macroscopic behavior, modern spectroscopic, thermal, mechanical, electrical, and magnetic techniques now probe these properties across all scales—from atoms to planets. This issue of Elements explores how minerals respond to external fields. Those interactions reveal clues about the past history of the minerals and influence of dynamic processes that continue to shape the Earth and other planetary bodies at present. This issue presents key concepts in mineral physics alongside recent technological advances that enhance our ability to study planetary interiors. Through selected research areas, the issue illustrates how this knowledge deepens our understanding of planetary evolution and highlights the major scientific challenges that lie ahead. 

• From Atoms to Planets: The Physics of Minerals Across Scales
• Illuminated Worlds: How Spectroscopy Lights the Way in Earth and Planetary Sciences
• The Heat is On: Thermal Transport and Melting
• Carrying the Planet on their Backs: How Minerals Respond to Stress
• Plugged-in Planet: Accessing the Interior of the Earth and other Terrestrial Bodies via Electrical Properties
• Paleomagnetic Recording at the Grain Scale

Milestone   View Advertorial

Excalibur Mineral Corporation

The Geological Society

QUARTZ

Guest Editors: Gerald Raab (Dalhousie University, Canada), Axel Müller (University of Oslo, Norway), Jens Götze (TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany), Yuanming Pan (University of Saskatchewan, Canada), and Sumiko Tsukamoto (LIAG Inst. for Applied Geophysics; University of Tübingen, Germany)

This thematic issue explores the diverse applications of silica, with a particular focus on quartz, across various fields of science, industry, and everyday life. Quartz, a complex polymorph of SiO₂, has played a pivotal role from the Stone Age, through the development of glass, to its current essential uses in hightech industries such as photovoltaics, semiconductors, and precision equipment. The issue will feature a comprehensive insight into the uniting aspects of quartz crystallography, occurrence, and its impact on technological progress. It will also highlight quartz’s value as a geological indicator and the importance of high-purity quartz deposits, aiming to deepen understanding of the mineral’s diversity and the factors influencing its properties and industrial significance.

• Quartz and SiO₂—Simple Yet Exciting Yuanming Pan (University of Saskatchewan, Canada), Jens Götze (TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany), Axel Müller (University of Oslo, Norway), and Gerald Raab (Dalhousie University, Canada)
• The Narrative of Quartz and Silica in the Earth and Other Planetary Bodies Axel Müller (University of Oslo, Norway), Andreas Audétat (University of Bayreuth, Germany), Thomas Monecke (Colorado School of Mines, USA), Karel Breiter (Czech Academy of Science, Czech Republic), and Rune B. Larsen (NTNU Trondheim, Norway)
• Quartz—Hour-Glass for Surface Processes Gerald Raab (Dalhousie University, Canada), Roland Stalder (University of Innsbruck, Austria), Sumiko Tsukamoto (LIAG Institute for Applied Geophysics, Germany; University of Tübingen, Germany), and Georgina E. King (University of Lausanne, Switzerland)
• Quartz-derived Solutions for Renewable Energy Production, Semiconductors, and Beyond Axel Müller (University of Oslo, Norway) and Rainer Haus (Dorfner ANZAPLAN GmbH, Germany)
• Microcrystalline and Amorphous Silica: Materials that Shaped Humanity Elisabetta Gliozzo (University of Florence, Italy), Peter J. Heaney (Penn State University, USA), Yuanming Pan (University of Saskatchewan, Canada), and Carole C. Perry (Nottingham Trent University, UK)
• The SiO₂ Gemstone Family Jens Götze (TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany), Yuanming Pan (University of Saskatchewan, Canada), and Eloïse Gaillou (PSL University, Musée de Minéralogie, France)

• Earth’s Carbon Cycle Thermostat: Beyond the Textbook Model (February 2026)
• Mineral Physics Applied to Earth and Planetary Sciences (April 2026)
• Quartz (June 2026)
• Discovery of Volatiles on the Moon: Renaissance in Lunar Exploration Science & Beyond (August 2026)
• Stromatolites – Deep Time Geochemical Archives of Microbial Ecosystems on Earth (October 2026)
• Zeolites (December 2026)