EENS 2120

 Spring Semester 2014

Petrology
Instructor: Stephen A. Nelson

Room 208 Blessey Hall
email: snelson@tulane.edu  Office Hours - MWF 1:00 - 3:00 PM

Laboratory Instructor: Heng Hu email: hhu1@tulane.edu

 

I.  COURSE GOALS & OBJECTIVES

Since Rocks are the basic building blocks of the Earth, this course is designed to give the student a fundamental background in rocks, necessary to understand the Earth.  The student will learn the  principles behind rock forming processes and will learn to examine rocks in hand specimen and thin section, both as a means of identifying and describing the rocks and as a means of extracting clues to formulate hypotheses about how the rocks formed in nature. 

II. TEXTBOOKS

Required Textbooks:

Earth Materials by Hefferan and O'Brien (H&O)

An Introduction to the Rock Forming Minerals, 2nd Ed., by Deer, Howie & Zussman (DHZ)


Supplementary Textbook:

Petrography, 2nd Edition by H. Williams, F.J. Turner, and C.M. Gilbert: (WTG)

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 and Labs 15% Lab Midterm 15%
Lecture Midterm 20% Lab Final 20%
Lecture Final 25% Field Trip Participation 5%

 

Field Trip: The Field Trip is scheduled for April 10 -13 (Thursday through Sunday). Make plans now so you won't have any excuses for not attending. (No excuses will be accepted.)
 
IV.  WEB PAGE

A Web site has been developed for this course.  It  includes course materials, including a copy of this syllabus, lecture notes, announcements from the instructor, and Internet links.  The site can be found on the internet at: http://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/eens212/

Be sure to check this web page regularly throughout the course for important announcements and updates.

In addition PDF versions of the actual lectures will be posted on the Blackboard site for this course as they become available.

  
V. TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF LECTURES AND LABS

Date

Topic

Readings
Jan 14 Lecture: Textures & Structures of Igneous Rocks H&O p. 181-197, 227-263
Lab I: Textures of Igneous Rocks in Hand Specimen H&O p. 185-197
Jan 16 Lecture: Textures & Structures of Igneous Rocks &
General Classification of Igneous Rocks		 H&O p. 197-211
Lab II: Textures of Igneous Rocks in Thin Section WTG p. 53-67
Jan 21 Lecture: Simple 1 & 2 Component Phase Diagrams

H&O p. 50-65

Lecture Notes
Lab III: Calculation of Norm & Classification of Igneous Rocks Handout
Jan 23 Lecture: Ternary Phase Diagrams Lecture Notes
Lab IV: Minerals in Igneous Rocks Handout
Jan 28 Lecture: Ternary Phase Diagrams (cont.) Lecture Notes
Lab V: Ternary Phase Diagrams Handout
Jan 30 Lecture: The Interior of Earth and Formation of Magmas

H&O Ch. 1 &

p. 212-216
Lab V: Ternary Phase Diagrams (Cont.) Handout
Feb 4 Lecture: Magmatic Differentiation H&O 216-227
Lab VI: Basalts & Gabbros in Hand Specimen & Thin Section WTG p. 94-135
Feb 6 Lecture: Magmatic Differentiation H&O 216-227
Lab VII: Variation Diagrams in Petrology Handout
Feb 11 Lecture: Igneous Rocks of the Oceanic Lithosphere H&O p. 264-268
Lab VIII: Andesites & Diorites in Hand Specimen & Thin Section WTG p. 137-158
Feb 13 Lecture: Igneous Rocks of the Oceanic Lithosphere H&O p. 264-268
Lab IX: Trace Elements in Igneous Processes Handout
Feb 18 Lecture: Igneous Rocks of Convergent Margins H&O p. 268-278
Lab X: Siliceous Rocks in Hand Specimen & Thin Section WTG p.159-192
Feb 20 Lecture: Igneous Rocks of Convergent Margins (cont.) and Igneous Rocks of the Continental Lithosphere H&O p. 268-278
H&O p. 278-294
Lab XI: Projected Phase Diagrams Handout
Feb 25 Lecture: Igneous Rocks of the Continental Lithosphere (cont.) H&O p. 278-294
Lab XII: Ultrabasic & Alkaline Rocks in Hand Specimen & Thin Section WTG p. 193-258
Feb 27 Lecture: Pyroclastic Rocks

Lecture Notes

H&O p. 249-262
Lab XIII: Isotopes in Igneous Processes Handout
Mar 4,6 Mardi Gras /Spring Break  
Mar 11 Lecture:  Types of Metamorphism H&O Ch. 15
Lab XIV: Pyroclastic Rocks WTG p.260-274
Mar 13 lECTURE MIDTERM EXAM  
No Lab  
Mar 18 Lecture: Metamorphic Rock Textures H&O Ch. 16 & 17
Lab - LABORATORY MIDTERM EXAM  
Mar 20 Lecture:  Triangular Plots in Metamorphic Petrology

Lecture Notes

H&O p. 526-530
Lab: XV: Metamorphic Minerals & Textures WTG p. 438-453
Mar 25 Lecture: Metamorphic Mineral Assemblages H&O Ch. 18
Lab XVI: Triangular Plots in Metamorphic Petrology  
Mar 27 Lecture: Metamorphic Mineral Assemblages & Thermodynamics & Metamorphic Reactions Lecture Notes
Lab XVI: Triangular Plots in Metamorphic Petrology (cont.) Handout
Apr 1 Lecture:  Thermodynamics & Metamorphic Reactions

H&O Ch. 18

Lecture Notes
Lab XVII: Thermodynamics and Metamorphic Reactions

Lecture Notes

Handout
Apr 3 Lecture: Metamorphic Reactions

H&O Ch. 18

Lecture Notes
Lab XVIII: Contact Metamorphic Rocks in Hand Specimen and Thin Section WTG p. 476-499
Apr 8 Lecture: Metamorphic Reactions Lecture Notes
Lab XIX: Low - Medium Grade Metamorphic Rocks in Hand Spec. WTG p. 514-546
Apr 10-13 Field Trip to Central Texas Handout
Apr 15 Lecture: Contact Metamorphism

H&O p. 450-452

Lecture Notes
Lab XX: Low to Medium Grade Metamorphic Rocks in Thin Section WTG p. 514-546
Apr 17 Lecture: Regional Metamorphism H&O Ch. 16 & 18
Lab XXI: High Grade Metamorphic Rocks in Hand Specimen WTG p. 547-571
Apr 22 Lecture: Regional Metamorphism H&O Ch. 16 & 18
Lab XXII:  High Grade Metamorphic Rocks in Thin Section WTG p. 547-571
Apr 24 Lecture: Radiometric Age Dating of Igneous & Metamorphic Rocks

H&O 64-74

Lecture Notes
Lab XXIII: Radiometric Age Dating of Igneous & Metamorphic Rocks Handout
Apr 29 Review and Ketchup day
May 7 LECTURE FINAL EXAMINATION 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M
May 10 LAB FINAL EXAMINATION 8:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M

Learning Outcomes for this Course

  1. The student will gain an understanding of the processes responsible for forming igneous and metamorphic rocks.

  2. The student will gain an understanding of how the chemical composition, structure and texture of rocks can be used to interpret past geologic processes and the geologic history of the earth.

  3. The student will be able to identify igneous and metamorphic rocks in hand specimen and thin section.

  4. The student will learn how to manipulate chemical data using computer programs and spreadsheets.
Obtain a PDF version of this Syllabus

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