EENS 211

Earth Materials - Minerals

Fall, 2007

Dr. Stephen A. Nelson    snelson@tulane.edu

  Office:  Rm 208 Blessey Hall
   Office Phone: 504-862-3194
Office Hours: MWF 1:00 - 4:00 PM
I.  COURSE GOALS & OBJECTIVES

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.  The student will learn the basic principles behind the arrangement of atoms to form crystal structures, how these atoms are coordinated and bonded and how this is reflected in the external form, chemical composition, and physical properties of the crystals..  The student will learn how to identify the most common minerals in hand specimen and, by using optical techniques, learn how to identify the common minerals in thin section.

II. TEXTBOOKS

There are two required textbooks for this course. The first is required reading for the course and the second is a general reference that you will also use in Petrology next semester.

  1. Klein - Manual of Mineral Science, 23rd edition, by Cornelis Klein and Barbara Dutrow.  This text covers crystallography, crystal structure, and crystal chemistry and has useful mineral identification tables. It will be used extensively for lectures at the beginning and end of the course.

  2. DHZ - An Introduction to the Rock Forming Minerals, 2nd Edition, by W.A. Deer, R.A. Howie, and J. Zussman. This is a general reference text covering identification of minerals with the petrographic microscope. It will be used in the lab during the second half of the course .
     

III. COURSE GRADING

The course grade will be determined on the basis of the number of points scored out of a possible 1000 points. These points will be apportioned as follows:

Homework & Labs 15% Midterm Exam 20%
Lab Exam I  10% Lab Final Exam  20%
Lab Exam II 10% Final Exam 25%
NOTE: The pre-requisite for enrollment in EENS 212, Petrology, is a grade of C- or better in EENS 211, Earth Materials.
 
IV.  WEB PAGE

Lecture notes and other course materials can be found on the EENS 211 web page.  This can be found at http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/eens211/ 
 


 

V. TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF LECTURES & LABS

 

Date

Topic

Reading
Aug. 30 Lecture: Introduction to Symmetry Operations Klein  pp.      1-18
                109-128
Lab: Elements of Crystal Symmetry Klein pp. 109-128
Sept.   4 Lecture: The 32 Crystal Classes Klein pp. 109-128
Lab: Elements of Crystal Symmetry (continued) Klein pp. 109-128
Sept.   6 Lecture: Crystal Morphology, Crystal Symmetry, Crystallographic axes Klein pp. 129-131
Lab: Crystallographic Axes and Introduction to Crystal forms Klein pp.  134-142
Sept. 11 Lecture: Axial Ratios, Weiss parameters, Miller Indices Klein pp.  131-134
Lab: Miller Indices of Crystal Faces and Crystal Forms Klein pp.  131-134
Sept. 13 Lecture: Crystal Form, Zones, Crystal Habit, 32 Crystal Classes Klein pp.  134-142
                182-208
Lab: Stereographic Projection of Crystal Faces, Crystal angles, and Zones Klein pp.  169-181
Sept. 18 Lecture: Crystallographic Calculations Klein pp.  182-208
Lab: Crystallographic Angles and Axial Ratio Calculations Klein pp.  182-208
Sept. 20 Lecture: X-ray crystallography: the powder method Klein pp.  307-321
Lab: X-ray Powder diffraction demonstration
        Ionic Spacing in Halite		 Klein pp.  307-321
Sept. 25 Lecture: Twinning in crystals, Polymorphism, Polytypism, Pseudomorphism Klein pp.  227-234
                 266-285 
Lab: LAB EXAM I - Crystallography  
Sept 27 Lecture: Physical Properties of Minerals Klein pp.      19-36
Lab: Twinning and physical properties of Minerals Klein pp.      19-36
Oct.   2 Lecture: Crystal Chemistry Klein pp.      37-65
Lab: Mineral Identification -  native elements, sulfates, sulfides, oxides, hydroxides, halides Klein pp.  331-398
Oct.   4 Lecture: Coordination and Pauling's Rules Klein pp.      66-89
Lab: Mineral Identification - halides, carbonates, tungstates, molybdates, borates, chromates, phosphates, and arsenates Klein pp.  399-433
Oct.  9 Lecture: Mineral Chemistry Klein pp.    90-108
                 321-330
Lab: Mineral Identification - Neso-, soro-, and ino- silicates Klein pp.  483-518
Oct.  11 Lecture: Mineral Stability, phase diagrams Klein pp.  245-256
Lab: Mineral Identification - cyclo- and phyllo- silicates Klein pp.  518-534
Oct.  16 Lecture: Binary phase diagrams, congruent melting Klein pp.  245-256
Lecture Notes
Lab: Mineral Identification - tectosilicates Klein pp.  534-553
Oct.  18 Lecture: Binary phase diagrams, incongruent melting, solid solution, and exsolution Klein pp.  276-282
                143-148
Lecture Notes
Lab: Phase Diagrams Lecture Notes
Oct.  23 Lecture: MIDTERM EXAM  
Lab: No Lab  
Oct.  25 Lecture: Properties of Light: reflection, refraction, dispersion, and refractive indices Lecture Notes
Lab: LAB EXAM II Mineral Identification  
Oct.  30 Lecture: Isotropic Minerals, the immersion method, isotropic indicatrix Lecture Notes
Lab: Optics Lab I. Properties of Light and Introduction to Isotropic Materials Lecture Notes
Nov.  1 Lecture: Uniaxial minerals, uniaxial indicatrix, optic sign, & ray path  Lecture Notes
Lab: Optics Lab II. Introduction to Anisotropic Substances Lecture Notes
Nov.   6 Lecture: Interference phenomena, compensation & optic sign Lecture Notes
Lab: Optics Lab III. Interference and Compensation Lecture Notes
Nov.   8 Lecture: Biaxial Minerals Lecture Notes
Lab: Optics Lab IV. Uniaxial Interference Figures and Summary of Uniaxial Optical Properties Lecture Notes
Nov. 13 Lecture: Biaxial Minerals Lecture Notes
Lab: Optics Lab V. Biaxial Minerals Lecture Notes
Nov. 15 Lecture: Silicate Structures Klein pp.  434-482
Lab: Optics Lab VI. Identification of Olivines and Pyroxenes - Calculation of mineral formulae. DHZ
Nov. 20 Lecture: Olivines, Garnets,& Aluminosilicates Klein pp.  484-504
 
Lab: Optics Lab VII. Identification of Al2SiO5 minerals and amphiboles. DHZ
Nov. 22 HOLIDAY - THANKSGIVING
 		  
Nov. 27 Lecture: Pyroxenes and amphiboles
 		 Klein pp. 505--519
Lab: Optics Lab VIII. Identification of Phyllosilicate Minerals DHZ
Nov. 29 Lecture: Micas, serpentine, and chlorite Klein pp.  519-534
Lab: Optics Lab IX. Identification of Feldspars and Feldspathoids DHZ
Dec.   4 Lecture: Clay Minerals Klein pp.  521-525
Lab: Optics Lab X. Determination of Plagioclase Composition DHZ, Handout
Dec.   6 Lecture: Tectosilicates, Carbonates, oxides, & accessory minerals Klein pp.  534-553
                 368-416
Lab: Optics Lab XI. Identification of Common Metamorphic and Accessory Minerals DHZ
Dec. 14 Lab Final Examination 1:00 to 5:00 PM
Dec. 17 Lecture Final Examination 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM

Obtain a PDF version of the syllabus 

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