About Volume 15

This special issue is dedicated to the rapidly growing field of numerical modelling of microstructures. While computer codes and computer power evolve, simulations of geological structures become an important tool in the Earth Sciences. In recent years numerical modelling has been used to understand the complex dynamics of developing microstructures in natural rocks. These models allow us to understand the spatial and temporal evolution of natural patterns and ideally give input parameters for constitutive equations.

In this issue a range of modelling examples using different methods on different scales is presented. Five of the seven contributions in this issue present examples that are part of the "Elle" modelling package.

The first contribution by Koehn and Arnold presents a study of fracture development using a lattice spring model. The second contribution by Becker et al. deals with the development of disequilibrium structures in solid melt systems using a front-tracking approach. The structures in the numerical model are directly compared with in-situ experiments using analogue materials. In the third contribution, Jessell shows how parts of grains are swept by grain-boundaries during grain coarsening. Natural examples of un-swept core-structures of grains are compared with the outcome of the numerical model. In the fourth contribution, Jiang et al. present a study of kink-band development in anisotropic materials. They use the commercially available software FLAC for their simulations. The fifth contribution by Koehn et al. deals with physical-chemical interactions in solid-fluid systems. They study the development of cusp-instabilities at free crystal surfaces and the interaction of anti-cracks and cracks. Contribution six by Park et al. shows the exchange of cations between Garnet and Biotite in a reaction-diffusion model. In the last contribution, Park et al. study the development of inclusion patterns in rotating Garnets with a three dimensional model.

All contributions contain colour illustrations and animations. They give a short introduction and some examples of a newly developing field. We hope that you enjoy them.

- Daniel Koehn and Anders Malthe-Sørenssen