Course Description
This course covers structure, chemical composition, stability, and occurrence of major rock-forming minerals. Labs concentrate on mineral specimen identification and optical microscopy. Prereq: CHEM 10100 & 10200 or equivalent.
Lectures
Tu, Th 9:30-10:50 HGS 180 Instructor
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Labs
Tu 2:00-3:20 or 3:30-4:50 HGS 313 Teaching Assistant
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Class Website
The syllabus and other class materials will be posted on Canvas.
Textbooks
No specific textbook is required for this course. However, you will find that a standard mineralogy text is a very useful reference, not only for this course but for your remaining studies and beyond. I recommend any of the following:
Manual of Mineral Science, 23rd edition, by C. Klein and B. Dutrow (ISBN 0471721573). Older editions will also serve you well.
Introduction to Mineralogy, by W. D. Nesse (ISBN 0195106911). Minerals: Their Constitution and Origin, by H.-R. Wenk and A. Bulakh (ISBN 0521529581). Mineralogy and Optical Mineralogy, by M. D. Dyar, M. E. Gunter, and D. Tasa (ISBN 0939950812). Includes useful software. |
In addition, you may find the following helpful for specific aspects of mineralogy:
An Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals, 3rd edition, by Deer, Howie, and Zussman (ISBN 0582300940). Solid reference for mineral descriptions.
Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry, by F. D. Bloss (ISBN 0939950375). Well written and well illustrated. Introduction to Crystallography, by D. E. Sands (ISBN 0486678393). Concise. An Introduction to the Mineral Sciences, by A. Putnis (ISBN 0521429471). Interesting twist on mineralogy, with an emphasis on defects, kinetics, and phase transformations. |
Course Outline
The course will cover mineralogical concepts and mineral descriptions in parallel. Likely subjects include:
Overview of mineral chemistry
Unit cells; Bravais lattices Pauling's Rules Simple structures; close packing Point symmetry Space symmetry X-ray diffraction Chemical analysis Phase diagrams Defects Color and optical properties |
Native elements
Oxides Halides Hydroxides Silicates: nesosilicates sorosilicates cyclosilicates inosilicates phyllosilicates tectosilicates octohedral silicates Carbonates Sulfates Phosphates Other -ates Sulfides |