Journal of Geosciences, 63 (2018), 75–76 DOI: 10.3190/jgeosci.265 Editorial Foreword to the special issue arising from the international con- ference “Tourmaline 2017” Jan CEmpírEk, milan NOvák Department of Geological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic Twenty years ago (June 1997), the first Tourmaline relating, for example, some tourmaline species (e.g. oxy- Conference was organized by Milan Novák (Moravian dravite/povondraite) to salinity trends. Horst Marschall Museum, Brno, Czech Republic) and Frank Hawthorne (Goethe University, Germany) provided an overview of (University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada). This meet- tourmaline isotopic systematics where “no element is ing brought together an international group of scientists left behind” and discussed the need for more studies on to discuss tourmaline research and to advance tourmaline isotopic systems. Vincent van Hinsberg (McGill Uni- science, and this led to a host of fruitful collaborations. versity, Canada) presented new work on trace elements Results of this conference were published in special is- in tourmaline, demonstrated the challenges in obtaining sues of the European Journal of Mineralogy and Journal and interpreting such data, and showed the potential for of the Czech Geological Society. Over the years, this carefully collected data. Robert Trumbull (GFZ German meeting attained mythical status among tourmaline re- Research Centre for Geosciences, Germany) showed that searchers, and a second edition was long overdue. tourmaline has many applications when it comes to inter- In June 2017, at the 20th anniversary of the first preting the genesis of ore systems, and he focused on B conference, Jan Cempírek and Milan Novák (Masaryk isotopic studies. One of the key outcomes of the meeting University) reconvened 61 scientists from 17 countries was the recognition that tourmaline’s unique structure at the same location near Nové Město na Moravě (Czech has a complex control on its composition: both short- Republic) to assess progress in tourmaline research, to and long-range element order determine what major and discuss new challenges, and to catalyze community ef- trace elements can be accommodated. Understanding and forts for advancing tourmaline science. quantifying this control holds great promise to expand A series of eight keynote lectures over the three-day tourmaline’s use as an indicator mineral. conference highlighted the state-of-affairs, challenges, A field trip to eight classic tourmaline localities in and future directions for tourmaline research in mineralo- the eastern part of the Bohemian Massif followed the gy, petrology, and geochemistry. These were interspersed conference, led by Milan Novák and Jan Cempírek with with numerous contributed presentations and posters. Petr Gadas, Radek Škoda, and Renata Čopjaková. Out- With the experience of having attended both meetings, crops permitted all of the attendees to collect tourmalines Darrell Henry (Louisiana State University, USA) began of variable origins: from abyssal pegmatites, through with a historical perspective on the issues leading to orthogneisses, metacarbonates and granitic pegmatites the 1997 conference and a broad overview of progress (LCT as well as NYF family) to nodular granites. A field since that time. Ferdinando Bosi (Sapienza University of guide (Buriánek et al. 2017) supplemented overviews Rome, Italy) reviewed the complexities of the tourmaline given by tourmaline researchers at each locality. structure and chemistry, as well as the advances in struc- One of the aims of the Tourmaline 2017 conference ture determination that have highlighted the importance was promoting experience transfer to students; the 23 of short-range order. Andreas Ertl (University of Vienna, students from 10 countries who joined the conference Austria) focused on tourmalines with tetrahedral boron, a presented results from a large variety of interesting stud- finding first reported at the 1997 meeting. Federico Pez- ies, pushing the boundaries of tourmaline research further zotta (Natural History Museum of Milan, Italy) presented into unknown areas. This special issue, which presents tourmaline in gem pegmatites. Eleanor Berryman (GFZ ten papers on various topics, also includes several re- German Research Centre for Geosciences, Germany) dis- markable student papers. cussed experimental work on tourmaline that has allowed The first article by Darrell Henry and Barbara Dutrow quantitative correlations to be made between select ma- brings a review of tourmaline research history. The in- jor elements in tourmaline and fluid chemistry. Barbara crease in number of publications, especially in last 20 Dutrow (Louisiana State University, USA) highlighted years, is remarkable and shows how important group of the utility of tourmaline as an indicator of the fluid phase, minerals tourmaline became. www.jgeosci.org Jan Cempírek, Milan Novák The second contribution by Barbara Dutrow and Dar- discusses optical (NIR-vis-UV) spectra of several types rell Henry reviews the behavior of tourmaline as a moni- of colored tourmalines from Brazil, whereas Elizabeth tor of hydrothermal fluid composition. Tourmaline clearly Lévy et al. used XANES for determination of the Fe3+/ became very useful in exploration and petrogenetic re- Fe2+ ratio in schorlitic tourmalines. search of multiple (e.g., porphyry, VMS, orogenic gold Tamás Spránitz and colleagues present the first com- or U, Cu, Mo) types of ore deposits and hydrothermal prehensive petrological study of tourmaline-rich rocks environment in general. from Sopron area in north-western Hungary. Using The third and fourth papers by Zbyněk Buřival and tourmaline, they successfully traced a large part of the Milan Novák, and Emily Scribner et al. deal with meta- magmatic and metamorphic history of the area. somatic processes and tourmaline formed by replacement The two final contributions by Shoshauna Farnsworth- of garnet and amphiboles. In the latter case, unusually Pinkerton et al. and Oleg Vereshchagin et al. deal with Ca,Ti-rich tourmalines formed, possibly with high Fe3+ tourmaline applications in provenance of sedimentary contents, in calc-alkaline lamprophyre dikes. rocks using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy The fifth article by Peter Bačík uses site-occupancy (LIBS) and multi-mineral approach. Clearly, tourmaline unconstrained approach to assess the structural response can provide useful information on provenance of sedi- of tourmaline octahedral sites to compositional changes mentary rocks; however, Vereshchagin et al. conclusively in simple Fe–Mg–Al–Li tourmalines. Besides the bond- showed that multi-mineral approach combined with de- valence relations, the study emphasized effects of Jahn- trital zircon dating should be ideally employed, as many Teller distortion that can be the decisive factor in cation rock types lack tourmaline. occupancy in tourmaline. We would like to thank to the Editorial Board of the Jour- Two subsequent papers focus on spectroscopic proper- nal of Geosciences, Chief Editor Dr. Vojtěch Janoušek in ties of tourmaline – the team led by Simone F. da Silva particular and all referees for their help. Participants of the international symposium “Tourmaline 2017”. Buriánek D, Cempírek J, Čopjaková R, Gadas P, Haifler Galiová M, Zachař A (2017) Tourmalines of the Eastern J, Houzar S, Hreus S, Loun J, Novák M, Kocáb J, Part of the Bohemian Massif. Masaryk University, Brno, Krmíček L, Škoda R, Toman J, Trumbull R, Vašinová- and Tigris, Zlín, pp 1–78 76.