The mid-infrared reflectance of mineral mixtures (7-14 microns)

Mid-infrared reflectance spectra were measured (using an interferometer spectrometer with a 4/cm resolution) of a number of mineral mixtures (including quartz-microcline, quartz-hornblende, microcline-albite, microcline-hornblende, albite-hornblende, and albite-augite mixtures containing different proportions of the components, each in the 75-250 micron size range), and the spectra were compared with those of single components. It is shown that the mid-infrared reflectance spectra of particulate mixtures of these minerals combine linearly by volume within a very small error, as long as particles are much larger than the wavelength.