EASC 202: Introduction to Mineralogy
| Credits: | 3 |
Pre-requisites: | EASC 101 CHEM 121 |
Lecture (hrs/week): | 2 |
| Terms: | Fall |
Co-requisites: | None |
Lab (hrs/week): | 3 |
| Instructors: | Cameron, Thorkelson | ||||
| Course Notes: | |||||
Description:
Since minerals are the basic building blocks of earth materials, this course is designed to give the student a fundamental background in minerals, necessary to understand earth materials. Introduction to Mineralogy will examine the physical and chemical characteristics of the main rock-forming and economic minerals. Lectures will cover the principles of symmetry, mineral chemistry, and mineral-forming environments. Laboratory exercises will deal with basic mineral identification. Students must provide their own hand lens and mineral identification kits.
Course Topics- Basic crystallography – including elements of symmetry, atomic order, and stereographic projection.
- Physical, chemical, optical and diffractive properties of minerals; modern methods of mineral identification.
- Characteristics of the main silicate and non-silicate mineral groups; mineral associations and paragenesis; basic phase equilibria.
- Economic interest and scientific application of minerals.
Nesse, William D., Introduction to Mineralogy, 2000. Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-510691-1
(*You should also have a mineral identification “handbook” and a Geological dictionary.)