128 A Tribute to Rodney C. Ewing: Celebrating a Half-Century of Transformative Contributions to Geoscience, Mineralogy, and Material Science
Honoring Prof. Rodney C. Ewing (1946–2024), this session celebrates over 50 years of groundbreaking contributions to mineralogy, geoscience, and materials science, from atomic-scale processes to field-scale applications.
Monday, 20 October 2025
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
HBGCC, 217A
Twenty Years of Uranium Peroxide Mineralogy and Chemistry
Paper number: 128-4
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 2:25 PM – 2:40 PM
Authors
Abstract
I began working on aspects of uranium mineralogy when I joined Rod Ewing's group as a post-doc in 1995. Several years later I became facinated by the existance of studtite (and its lower hydrate metastudtite), the only known peroxide-bearing minerals. This led to a series of studies with several graduate students that vastly expanded the field of uranyl peroxide chemistry. We discovered and documented about 70 unique nanoscale uranyl peroxider cage clusters that form spontaneously in aqueous solution, and studied their properties including in extreme environements. We applied some of this new knowledge to solve problems in the uranium mining industry and to identity new formation processes for uranyl peroxide minerals. I will provide an overview of our findings and their significance.
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 57, No. 6
doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-412220
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