Evaporites as Archives and Resources: Sedimentary, Geochemical and Biological Perspectives
A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 1
Special Issue Editors
Interests: mineralogy; gemology; geofluids; igneous petrology; economic geology; sedimentary deposits
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: evaporite deposit; fluid inclusions; bioconstruction; biomineralization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Evaporite minerals, including calcium sulphates, halite and more complex K-Mg salts, are widespread in both marine and continental settings and occur through the entire geological record, from the Precambrian to the present. Classic examples range from the Messinian evaporites of the Mediterranean basin, formed during the Messinian Salinity Crisis (~6 Ma), to Permian and Triassic successions in Central Europe and many other basins worldwide. Studying these minerals is of primary interest because of not only their major economic significance (raw materials for construction, agriculture, chemical and energy industries), but also their scientific value as archives of past environmental and climatic conditions, basin evolution, fluid circulation and biotic adaptation to extreme environments.
Evaporite minerals and rocks provide key information on brine chemistry, hydrological balance and water–rock interaction, hosting unique microbial communities that colonize both brines and crystal surfaces. They are also critical analogues for planetary exploration and potential reservoirs and seals for hydrocarbons, geothermal fluids, and hydrogen and CO2 storage. Moreover, they play a central role in understanding subsurface instability, karst development and associated geo-hazards. Although evaporites have been studied for decades, recent advances in sedimentology, petrography, mineralogy, geochemistry and geomicrobiology continue to reveal new aspects, including the growing recognition that many evaporite fabrics may be strongly influenced, or even directly mediated, by biological and organic processes.
In view of these perspectives, the aim of this Special Issue is to collect original research that sheds new light on the characteristics and evolution of evaporite minerals and rocks from multiple viewpoints and disciplines. We particularly welcome contributions dealing with sedimentological and petrographical features, inorganic and organic geochemistry, geomicrobiology and biosignatures, diagenetic and structural processes, and experimental and modelling approaches, as well as applied studies related to resources, storage, geo-hazards and planetary analogues.
Dr. Alessandra Costanzo
Dr. Mara Cipriani
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- evaporite
- fluid inclusions
- water chemistry
- climate variation
- biomineralization
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