Foreword: surface reactivity of minerals

Mineral surfaces have long been recognized as critical loci for the interactions between minerals and the environment, thereby ultimately controlling several mineral properties, most notably their reactivity. Therefore, mineral surface studies are of increasing interest to the scientific community. The recognition of this important aspect stimulated the organization of an international workshop on surface reactivity of minerals, held on 10–11 April, 2006 at Gargnano sul Garda, Brescia, Italy. The workshop was intended to be a forum for presenting and discussing recent results as well as possible trends in mineral surface studies. About 40 Italian and 10 non-Italian scientists attended the workshop, with a good proportion of young researchers. Importantly, the audience was composed not only of Earth scientists, but also included a significant number of researchers from other fields such as physics, chemistry, engineering, materials science and biology.