Overview of the Special Issue “2022 Year of Mineralogy”

“Year of Mineralogy 2022” is a global initiative that aims to highlight the importance of mineralogy not only as a basic science, but also in our everyday lives (Fig. 1). It consists of coordinated activities at regional, national, and international levels, and takes place under the patronage of the International Year of Basic Science for Sustainable Development, which is supported by UNESCO. 2022 marks the bicentennial of the death of French mineralogist René-Just Haüy (1743­1822), who is known as a father of modern mineralogy and crystallography. It is also the 200th anniversary of the publication of “Traité de mineralogy” and “Traité de cristallographie,” which were authored by Haüy. It is, therefore, significant that we have been given an opportunity to publish a special issue of this journal, which reviews contributions of minerals and mineralogy to geology, as a part of our activities during the “Year of Mineralogy.” Minerals are not only interesting natural materials that play significant roles in industry as resources, but are also important in geology and other sciences for providing evidence of research results and as specimens to be preserved for future generations. Mineralogy is a science with a long history. It has played a key role in the development of science and technology, including our understanding of the nature of materials. This special issue consists of eight review articles and one original article by expert mineralogists, petrologists, crystallographers, and geologists in Japan who are leaders in the mineral sciences. Theophrastus wrote that stone comes from earth, based on Aristotle’s four elements─earth, fire, air, and water. Pliny featured stone extensively in his “Natural History.” In the 16th century, when Agricola wrote “De re metallica” and “De Natura Fossilium,” stone was collectively referred to as fossil (dug up), along with current fossils and stone tools. Tagai (2022) traces the history of mineralogy back to the Greek and Roman periods, covering contributions to classical mineralogy by Werner and others, the establishment of classical crystallography by Steno and Haüy, and the inception of modern mineralogy and modern crystallography through the discovery of X-rays by Röntgen and X-ray diffraction experiments by Laue and Braggs. He also reviews the progress in mineralogy and crystallography in modern Japan, which is based on work by Wada. A mineral substance is a naturally occurring solid that has been formed by geological processes, either on the Earth or in extraterrestrial bodies (IMA Nomenclature; Nickel and Grice, 1998). A mineral species is a mineral substance with well defined chemical composition and crystallographic properties, such as an arrangement of chemical bonds in a crystal structure, and which merits a unique mineral name. The Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names, a predecessor of the Commission on New Mineral, Mineral Name and Classification, of the International Mineralogical Association was established in 1959 for the purpose of controlling the introduction of new minerals and mineral names and, of rationalizing mineral nomenclature. Matsubara (2022), in this special issue, outlines the definition of a 地学雑誌 Journal of Geography(Chigaku Zasshi) 131(2)125­128 2022 doi:10.5026/jgeography.131.125