Mineralogy, G232, Fall 2003
Department of Geosciences,
Instructor: Jerry
Magloughlin, 307
NATRS, 491-1812, jerrym@cnr.colostate.edu
TA: Doug Raszewski,
318 NATRS, 491-1961, rasz@cnr.colostate.edu; office hours
t.b.a.
JM's office hours: (tentative) T 10-11, W 4-5.
Class times: 11-11:50 MW,
Prerequisites: ER 140 or
150, co-requisites C 111 and M 124 and normally (if you are a major) ER 332
Credits: 3
E-Mail: CNR account
required. If you don’t have one, set up
an account on the first floor.
Texts:
Required:
Mineralogy:
Mineral Science, Cornelis Klein
Dictionary
of Geological Terms, American Geological Institute
Simon
& Schuster’s Guide to Rocks and Minerals, 0-671-24417-5, Simon &
Schuster
…a handy and inexpensive guide to
minerals with their properties and nice color photographs.
Other required
items:
a hand lens (8x or 10x is good; up to 14x), a small knife, magnet; REQUIRED!
Recommended: small
card notebook for lab, and a 3 ring binder for lecture.
Precautions: Don’t eat in
lab.
Field trips: I intend to
have a day trip later this semester, timing t.b.a.
Grading:
quizzes: 20% class
assignments: 25%
mineral
paper/project: 10% homework assignments: 15%
mineral final: 10% final
exam: 20%
I keep your grades up to date on a
detailed spreadsheet; you are welcome to check on your status at any time.
The only ‘extra credit’ will be based directly and solely on the reading in the form of questions on lecture quizzes and exams. Grading is initially on a percentage basis (90/80/70/60), with possible curve modification. Late work: assignments lose 25% of their value if not handed in on time. They lose all value after 7 days, but you are still responsible for the material.
Lab work is normally due the meeting
following the session in which it is handed out, at the beginning of class, unless otherwise indicated. After the beginning of class, it will be
considered late and the above deductions will apply. It is your responsibility to turn in
material on time.
Normally there should not be more than 2
working together on an assignment without explicit permission. All names of the participants on an
assignment MUST be present at the time the assignment is handed in.
Subsequent
course:
G364 (Igneous & Metamorphic Petrology, Dr. Idontknow Wellfindout, 4 cr.)
Final lecture
exam:
Tuesday, December 16,
Final lab exam: Wednesday, December 10, in class.
Goals of this course in brief
To learn the
basics of crystallography.
To learn to
identify 90 or so important minerals in hand sample, and their chemistry &
occurrence.
To learn about and learn to use tools
relevant to earth science investigations.
To observe minerals in the field, and
carry out simple field tests to identify them.
To practice
and improve your writing skills, and to learn to produce high quality,
professional documents.
To gain proficiency with the world wide
web, a word processor, and a spreadsheet.
To introduce you to scientific journals
(in mineralogy especially), to learn basic experimentation skills,
and to begin to think about scientific experimentation.
·
Dana’s System of Mineralogy, 1944, 1951, 1962, and in
preparation.
·
Rock Forming Minerals by Deer, Howie, Zussman:
the complete set of volumes; a recent student edition (1993?), new editions of
the individual books?
·
The Glossary of Mineral Species, Michael Fleischer, 1995:
listing of minerals, discredited minerals, and informal names.
·
Reviews in Mineralogy, published by the Mineralogical
Society of America, volumes 1-46, 1974-present. Includes whole editions on
specific groups of minerals.
·
AGI Glossary of Geology: either the hard covered book
(>$80) or the ‘student’ paperback version (ca. $15) will be EXTREMELY
useful, both in this and in future geology courses.
·
American Mineralogist, Canadian Mineralogist, Mineralogical
Magazine
·
Mineralogical Record--more of a general interest magazine
August
25: First day of instruction
September
1: Labor Day—no class
October
20: End of “W” drop period
November
22: Thanksgiving break begins
December
12: Last day of classes
December 15: Final exams begin
Types of
exercises in this course:
Ø Lecture
Ø
Quizzes, tests—lecture or lab or mixed
Ø
Paper, in-class exercises
Ø
Lab/hands-on exercises: minerals, experiments, thin sections
Ø
Computer exercises
Ø
Homework assignments
Ø
Reviews: go over previous labs, previous quizzes/tests,
previous homework assignments
Ø
Field trips
Ø
Student group discussions
To
give you a broad introduction to mineralogy, the history of mineralogy, how to
study minerals, and the utility of mineralogy in the world today. To help you
develop a thought process and a strategy for studying and characterizing earth
materials.
To learn the basics of crystallography and crystal
chemistry.
To learn to identify 90 or so important minerals in hand
sample, along with their chemistry, occurrence, and association.
To
learn to use a variety of tools relevant to earth science investigations, such
as x-ray diffraction, the petrographic microscope, the jolly balance, and
become aware of other instruments available for analyzing and characterizing
earth materials.
To
observe minerals in the field, and carry out simple field tests to identify
them.
To recognize the connections between mineralogy and ‘the big
picture’; to reinforce basic knowledge of about the Earth.
To
recognize and reinforce connections between mineralogy and other fields such as
chemistry, physics, math, statistics, and biology.
To prepare you for and to ease the transition into Igneous
& Metamorphic Petrology, and Sedimentary Petrology & Geochemistry. To provide a base to build on, to help
prepare for other classes & jobs.
Goals of this
course—non-geology
To learn to work with other students, in the process of discussing new information, solving problems, carrying out experiments, teaching each other information, reviewing each others’ work, etc.
To practice and improve your writing skills, and to learn to
produce high quality, professional documents.
To
gain initial exposure, if not already familiar, with e-mail, the world wide
web, a word processor, and a spreadsheet.
To work on three dimensional visualization skills.
To learn about the library facilities for conducting basic
research, and to introduce you to scientific journals (in mineralogy
especially).
To learn basic experimentation skills, and to begin to think
about scientific experimentation.
To
begin trusting your observational skills and learn to make decisions based on
them; including the acceptance of the possibility of uncertainty or multiple
possibilities.
To
take an increasing level of responsibility for your learning; to shift toward a
more ‘doing it for me’ attitude; to start developing professional attitudes
regarding deadlines and quality of work.
Learning to recognize when you do NOT understand something and learning
what to do about it.
To
use computers on a regular basis, utilizing a variety of software (normal and
geological) as part of normal exercises for analyzing data and plotting data.
Specific exercises (varies
from year to year)
Mineralogy:
Identifying and keying out unfamiliar minerals from their physical
properties
Calculating mineral formulas from weight percent oxides/chemical
analyses, and assigning cations to specific sites within the mineral
Identifying symmetry & crystal system in natural specimens
Identify minerals from their XRD powder patterns
Key out and identify unknown minerals from their physical properties
Writing a paper on mineral environments
Experiments with clay minerals
Growing minerals at slow and fast rates
Experiments growing minerals at high temperature