Dislocation in Minerals

Dear Colleagues,

Dislocation is a special microstructure in minerals, representing linear defects including edge, screw, or mixed dislocation types. Dislocation in minerals can act as a record of various geological processes that formed and modified rocks and other geological materials. Therefore, dislocation analysis is a powerful and essential method to study and understand the deformation, evolution, phase transition, and rheological property of minerals. These subjects have great significance in crystallography, mineralogy, microstructural geology, and geodynamics.

At present, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is still the most effective method for high-resolution observation and precise analysis of dislocations, though it cannot be used to analyze large areas in minerals. With the development of technology, the traditional methods (e.g., oxidation decoration in olivine and etch pitting in quartz) that reveal dislocations on the crystal surface have seen great advances in recent years and now allow for more effective analyses of dislocation. X-ray diffraction topography is a well-established method to record in-situ deformation experiments on minerals by means of a stress sensor. Electron-channeling contrast imaging (ECCI) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) have been successfully used to analyze the lattice-preferred orientation, dislocation slip systems and other dislocation microstructures (e.g., dislocation research on garnet and olivine). Recently, premelting decoration—a new method for revealing dislocations in garnet—has been established.

Both original research papers and review articles related to “Dislocation in minerals” are welcome contributions to this Special Issue. The potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Advances in methods of revealing dislocations;
• The relationship between dislocation slip systems and lattice-preferred orientation (LPO);
• Plastic deformation mechanisms of natural and synthetic minerals;
• Numerical modelling of the dislocation dynamics in minerals;
• The relationship among phase evolution, transition, twinning, exsolution and dislocation;
• The estimation of differential stress based on dislocation density.

Prof. Dr. Xiangwen Liu
Prof. Dr. Tao Chen
Dr. Zhanjun Xie
Dr. Lin Wang
Dr. Zhaohui Li
Guest Editors

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