Anthony R. Kampf, Ph.D.
Curator, Mineral Sciences

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dr. Kampf conducts research principally in the areas of descriptive mineralogy, crystal chemistry and structural crystallography focusing on the characterization of new or inadequately described minerals.

Kampf has had a longstanding research interest in phosphate minerals, particularly those occurring in pegmatite deposits. Besides conducting the classical mineralogical characterization of numerous individual phosphate species, Kampf has sought to interpret their genetic relationships and mineralogical systematics based upon atomic structure and crystal chemistry.

Pegmatites provide intriguing natural laboratories for the study of mineralogical systems. These deposits of crystalline rock are noted for "giant" crystals that sometimes reach tens of feet in length, as well as for a variety of rare minerals, including phosphates and numerous gem species. Following upon extensive field and laboratory studies on the phosphate minerals of the Palermo pegmatite in New Hampshire, Kampf has studied and collected at phosphate and gem-bearing pegmatites in Maine, South Dakota, Southern California, Namibia, and Brazil.

Minerals occurring in the near-surface oxidation zones of metallic ore deposits have also been the subjects of investigations by Kampf. Included among these are several unusual arsenate minerals from the famous Ojuela mine at Mapimi in Durango, Mexico. The Grand Reef mine in Graham County, Arizona, provided a unique suite of lead-fluoride minerals from which Kampf has described six new species. His structural and crystal chemical investigations on these minerals are yielded significant new insights into the interaction of lead, aluminum, calcium, fluoride, chloride, and sulfate in oxidation-zone environments. These atomic structure studies are also providing insight into the lone-pair effect sometimes demonstrated by divalent lead and other heavy metal cations.

NEW MINERAL DESCRIPTIONS (publication date): whitmoreite (1974), foggite (1975), goedkenite (1975), samuelsonite (1975), olmsteadite (1976), schoonerite (1977), perloffite (1977), jeanbandyite (1982), gainesite (1983), grandreefite (1989), pseudograndreefite (1989), laurelite (1989), aravaipaite (1989), parafransoletite (1992), ferrisurite (1992), artroeite (1995), calcioaravaipaite (1996), philolithite (1998), juanitaite (2000), jacquesdietrichite (2004), redgillite (2005), phosphohedyphane (2006), guanacoite (2006), jahnsite-(NaFeMg) (2008), magnesiopascoite (2008), martyite (2008), meurigite-Na (pending).

ATOMIC STRUCTURE DETERMINATIONS (publication date): verplanckite (1973), whitmoreite (1974), foggite (1975), olmsteadite (1976), bermanite (1976), melonjosephite (1977), schoonerite (1977), minyulite (1977), landsite (1980), kryzhanovskite (1980), calcium oxalate trihydrate (1981), gainesite (1983), villyaellenite (1988), grandreefite (1991), beraunite (1992), parafransoletite (1992), artroeite (1995), laurelite (1996), philolithite (2000), tobermorite 14Å (2000), pararobertsite (2000), aravaipaite (2001), calcioaravaipaite (2003), jacquesdietrichite (2004), bakerite (2004), cobaltarthurite (2005), redgillite (2005), phosphohedyphane (2006), guanacoite (2006), meurigite (2007), jahnsite-(NaFeMg) (2008), magnesiopascoite (2008), martyite (2008).