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Glassy, Amorphous and Nano-Crystalline Materials pp 311–325Cite as

Thermophysical Properties of Natural Glasses at the Extremes of the Thermal History Profile

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Part of the book series: Hot Topics in Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry ((HTTC,volume 8))

Abstract

Natural amorphous glassy silicates are widely distributed and are found in quantities that range from micrograms to kilo tonnes and, hence, their occurrence is from microscopic glassy inclusions to “glassy mountains” [1]. These natural glasses have two generic origins which may be generalised as vitreous glasses, formed from the melt state by relatively rapid cooling at cooling rates that inhibit crystal formation, or diagenetic glasses, formed by a dissolution-precipitation mechanism where crystallisation is inhibited by the Ostwald's rule of stepwise petrogenesis [2]. The thermal histories of a range of natural glasses are depicted in the schematic of Fig. 19.1 and vary significantly from the typical conditions used in the glass industry which are optimised between processing speed and energy conservation. In the extremes, tektites like moldavites are formed by extremely fast heating and melting at very high temperatures (> 3,000 K) followed by quenching at extreme cooling rates (≥10 K/s). By contrast the formation of amorphous glasses from mineral diagenesis or biotic processes occurs at much lower temperatures and over longer time periods; the formation of sedimentary opal, for example, occurs at ambient temperatures, it is essentially isothermal, and takes place over long periods of time of the order of months to years.

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Abbreviations

DEGAS:

High vacuum hot extraction gas analysis by mass spectroscopy

GAB:

Great Artesian (Australian) Basin

LVT:

Lunar volcanic theory

Opal-A:

Amorphous opal

Opal-CT:

Cristobalite-tridimite ordered opal

Opal-C:

Cristobalite ordered opal

Opal-AG:

Amorphous gel-like opal

Opal-AN:

Amorphous network-like opal

TIT:

Terrestrial impact theory

TMA:

Thermomechanical analysis

XRD:

X-ray diffraction

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry and Forensic Science, University of Technology, Sydney, 123, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia

    Paul Thomas

  2. Solid-State Physics Section, Academy of Sciences, Institute of Physics, v.v.i., Cukrovarnická 10, CZ-162 00, Praha 6, Czech Republic

    Jaroslav Šesták

  3. Chemisch-Geowissenschaftliche Fakultat, Universitat Jena, Burgweg 11, 07749, Jena, Germany

    Klaus Heide

  4. Netzsch-Gerätebau GmbH, Wittelsbacherstraß e 42, 95100, Selb, Germany

    Ekkehard Füglein

  5. Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Department of Physical Chemistry, Slovak University of Technology, Radlinského 9, SK-812 37, Bratislava, Slovak Republic

    Peter Šimon

Authors
  1. Paul Thomas
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  2. Jaroslav Šesták
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  3. Klaus Heide
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  4. Ekkehard Füglein
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  5. Peter Šimon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul Thomas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , New Technologies - Research Centre in th, University of West Bohemia, Univerzitní 8, Plzeň, 30614, Czech Republic

    Jaroslav Šesták

  2. , Institute of Physics, v.v.i., Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republi, Cukrovarnická 10, Prague 6, 16200, Czech Republic

    Jiří J. Mareš

  3. , Institute of Physics, v.v.i., Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republi, Cukrovarnická 10, Prague 6, 16200, Czech Republic

    Pavel Hubík

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Thomas, P., Šesták, J., Heide, K., Füglein, E., Šimon, P. (2011). Thermophysical Properties of Natural Glasses at the Extremes of the Thermal History Profile. In: Šesták, J., Mareš, J., Hubík, P. (eds) Glassy, Amorphous and Nano-Crystalline Materials. Hot Topics in Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2882-2_19

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