Paper Structure: This is a professional paper and should strongly resemble the papers you are reading in the peer-reviewed literature about your mineral and related minerals. Title Page showing the title of the report, student name and date submitted. The second page should repeat title and student name, and start of the body of the text. Abstract: The abstract, only a few sentences (200-400 words), should clearly summarize the main conclusions of the paper in a concise fashion. Introduction, which introduces the mineral and its mineral group and discusses its importance (e.g. historical, mineralogical, scientific, economic, etc.), providing background knowledge the reader needs to understand the later sections. Composition of the mineral or mineral group, and how was it determined. Structure of the Mineral. Here it will help to use clearly labeled diagrams. This section should clearly show the type of structure, the arrangement of the ions, the types of bonding, anisotropies in the structure, how any solid solution and/or exsolution occurs in the structure, any unique properties of the atomic arrangement, and be a reasonably complete description of the atomic structure of the mineral. Physical Properties of the mineral or mineral group. For each property or group of properties discussed be sure to relate them as much as possible to the mineral structure, as discussed in the prior section. Geologic Occurrence, what related minerals occur with it, tectonic significance. What geologic processes lead to its formation. Special characteristics. This includes any historical importance, or political significance. It should be clear from your paper what these are. Internet references may be used sparingly in this section if there is no way to avoid them. Where in the world: These minerals were chosen because they were named after someplace, usually a locality where the mineral is found. I want to see at least a few sentence description of the area, its geologic setting and how that mineral got to be in that region. Internet references are allowed in this section. Literature Survey. Part of the importance of the report is the compilation of a key set of references. General references such as textbooks are fine but it is necessary to include reference to work in the scientific literature (showing some familiarity with the important mineralogical journals), particularly relatively recent and well-cited studies. Use the internet to inform yourself and to find sources, but do not use it as a source. Keep in mind that there is no review of most internet data, thus you should never rely heavily on internet references in formal writing. An assessment of the references cited plays an important role in assigning a grade to the report. I want to know what the most highly cited references on each mineral are and what they say. References should be given in full and should be in the format used by the journal American Mineralogist. Hint: This journal has a web page that gives full format information. Prospects for further investigation. This should be a separate section, about one paragraph assessing the possibility of doing further work on this mineral here at UH. If the literature on the mineral is very old or non-existent for: – Composition: Electron microprobe (more than 10 years old) – Structure: Single crystal, powder or TEM methods (more than 30 years old) – Trace element content (laser icpms) Then we have the equipment here to conduct further investigations. However, if the mineral is so rare that few specimens exist, it may be difficult to procure a sample. Try to find an academic, museum, or commercial source for the mineral. If appears possible to find, then further measurements (ie undergraduate research project, anyone?) might be possible. Bibliography. References should be the ones actually cited in the text and only those. You may use internet references for two purposes only: 1) As a source for photos and diagrams about your mineral. 2) As a source for nongeologic information about your mineral such as uses, the origin of the name, historical or political significance, and so forth. Formatting will follow the guidelines of the journal American Mineralogist http://www.minsocam.org/msa/ammin/instructions.html with the exception that Figures and tables should be integrated into the text with captions. Submission: Papers will be submitted by blackboard. The filename must be LastName-MineralName. Acceptable formats are MS Word (.doc, docx) and pdf.