13 June 2019

Regular Members’ Monthly Meeting
13 June 2019 (Thursday)
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Understanding the Largest Group of Minerals on Earth: The Silicates
Speaker:Derek Leung
Language:English/Cantonese

Silicates form the most diverse group of minerals on the Earth, owing to both the abundance of silicon and oxygen in the crust but equally importantly due to the polymerisation of silicates.
This talk will highlight two silicate groups, the chain silicates (inosilicates) and the sheet silicates (phyllosilicates). It will also explore the fundamental building blocks of silicates and their relation to crystallography.
Finally, we will see examples of transitional crystal structures from Derek’s current research on palygorskite group minerals.