Introduction to thematic issue on fluid and melt inclusions

During the past century and a half, fluid and melt inclusions in minerals have evolved from being a scientific curiosity (Sorby 1858) to perhaps the most used and dependable tool for determining temperatures, pressures, and compositions of fluid-mediated processes in the Earth’s crust and upper mantle (Roedder 1984). In 2012, research related to fluid and melt inclusions was presented at three international conferences. The Pan American Current Research on Fluid Inclusions (PACROFI) meeting was organized by Iain Samson and held at the University of Windsor, Canada (Fig. 1). The Asian Current Research on Fluid Inclusions meeting was organized by Terry Mernagh and held in Brisbane, Australia. Finally, Bob Bodnar and Iain Samson organized a session entitled “Frontiers in Fluid and Melt Inclusion Research” at the Goldschmidt Conference in Montreal, Canada. This thematic issue of Geofluids contains 15 papers that were presented at one of these three venues. The growth in the number of publications that include data from fluid and/or melt inclusions is summarized in the contribution by Kesler et al. These authors note that, while fluid inclusions in minerals were first recognized nearly 2000 years ago, it was not until about the 1960s that papers began to report fluid inclusion data, and today about 700 publications annually refer to fluid inclusions. Similarly, melt inclusions became more widely used in the 1980s and today about 200 publications each year include melt-inclusion data. These results indicate that the study of fluid and melt inclusions is an active field of research that continues to grow. Melt inclusions and magmatic evolution are the subjects of the next five papers in this issue. Magmatic liquids are a topic not previously covered in contributions to Geofluids; however, it is increasingly being recognized that, at certain crustal and mantle conditions, fluid–magma systems may exhibit a continuum of compositions and properties. The inclusion community is among the leaders in combining the study of fluids with the study of magmas, as reflected by contributions to this issue. Indeed, as noted by Roedder (1984, p. 2),