There have been significant advances in high-pressure experimental techniques, computational capability, and analytical tools in recent years. In experimental mineralogy the combination of synchrotron radiation sources and high-pressure techniques such as the diamond-anvil cell and multi-anvil device has led to accurate refinements of crystal structures and precise determination of physical properties and equations of state of minerals at high pressure and temperature. A wide range of in-situ spectroscopic methods are currently used to sample the electronic, magnetic, dielectric, elastic, transport, and thermodynamical properties of minerals at conditions relevant to the interiors of the Earth and other terrestrial planets. In computational mineralogy the continuous development and implementation of theory and algorithms together with the exponential increase in computing power go hand-in-hand with the experimental advances and allow the determination, understanding and prediction of mineral properties over a wide range of pressure and temperature conditions.

This session reflects these advances in mineral sciences, bringing together scientists with interests in the fields of high-pressure mineralogy and study of the Earth and planetary interiors. Topics in this session include structure refinement, equation of state, thermoelasticity, phase transitions, magnetism and spin collapse, melting, dehydration and decarbonation, thermal and electrical conductivities. We welcome the participation of mineralogists, geophysicists, geochemists, seismologists, petrologists, computational scientists, geodynamicists, and planetologists.