Geol. 311: Mineralogy & Mineral Optics

Class Schedule & Syllabus

Key to readings

KH = Klein and Hurlbut: Manual of Mineralogy (21st edition)
K = Klein: Minerals and Rocks - exercises in crystallography, mineralogy, ....
N = Nesse: Introduction to Optical Mineralogy
'Hot links' will take you to other useful web resources

Date	Lecture Topic	Class Reading	Lab Topic	Lab Reading
	Crystallography
Week 1
29-Aug	Introduction, Symmetry Operations	KH 1-32 HW #1 Ordered patterns Mineralogy on the WWW
1-Sep	Crystal Morphology, Miller indices	KH 32-63 Geometric operations Crystal morphology HW #2	Lab#1 Mineral physical properties Museum of Natural Science	Minls: K ex 22, 23; KH 250-259 Mineral Physical Properties
Week 2
5-Sep	Crystal Classes	KH 63-106 (scan) Miller indices HW #3
7-Sep	Crystallography, internal symmetry	KH 108-146 Crystal symmetry HW #4	Lab#2 Crystal Symmetry, Miller indices Elements, sulfides, oxides	K ex 2, 3, 4 Minls: K ex 28, 30; KH 334-391
Week 3
12-Sep	Crystal structure	KH 146-169 HW #5
14-Sep	Major rock-forming minerals (silicates)	KH 440-557 HW #6 Dana's System of Mineral Classification	Lab#3 Stereographic projections, interfacial angles Halides, carbonates, phosphates, sulfates	K ex 6, 8 Minls: K ex 28, 29; KH 398-436
Week 4
19-Sep	Major rock-forming minerals (silicates)	KH 440-557 HW #7 Intro to silicates
21-Sep	Crystal chemistry	KH 170-220 Review, ionic radii Bonding, coordination Pauling's rules HW #8 - practice exercise Mineral chemistry	Lab#4 Packing, coordination, crystal structures Neso-, soro-, cyclosilicates	K ex 17, 18 Minls: K ex 27; KH 440-474
Week 5
26-Sep	Mineral chemistry	KH 221-249 Analytical methods Chemical substitutions HW #9
28-Sep	Mineral chemistry	KH 221-249 Electron Microprobe analysis	Lab#5 Mineral chemistry, electron microprobe demo Ino-, phyllosilicates	K ex 19, 20, 21, 35 Minls: K ex 25, 26; KH 474-524
Week 6
3-Oct	X-ray crystallography	KH 275-287 X-ray crystallography
5-Oct	Mineral stability, thermochemistry	KH 309-332 HW #10 Mineral thermodynamics Phase rule Simple phase diagrams	Lab#6 X-ray lab; demo XRD	K ex 14, 15 X-ray powder diffractometry Crystal structure determination
Week 7
10-Oct	Mineral assemblages	KH 558-591 HW #11 High-T assemblages Low-T assemblages
12-Oct	Intro Student Projects	In-class handouts	Lab#7 Complete XRD exercises Tectosilicates	K ex 16 Minls: K ex 24; KH 524-557
Week 8
17-Oct	MID-TERM RECESS	Crystallography Review Questions
19-Oct	CRYSTALLOGRAPHY EXAM	Review information Mineral review - key points	Lab#8 PRACTICAL MINERAL ID EXAM	Personal index cards
	Optical Mineralogy
Week 9
24-Oct	Intro Mineral Optics	N Ch 1-3 Optical Mineralogy Isotropic indicatrix
26-Oct	Measurement of refractive index	N Ch 3	Lab#9 Petrographic microscope & isotropic minerals	N Ch 3 Minerals under the microscope
Week 10
31-Oct	Uniaxial minerals, indicatrix	N Ch 4-5 HW #13 Uniaxial indicatrix
2-Nov	Uniaxial interference figures	N Ch 4-5 HW #14	Lab#10 Uniaxial minerals
Week 11
7-Nov	Biaxial minerals, indicatrix	N Ch 6-7 HW #15 Biaxial indicatrix
9-Nov	Biaxial interference figures	N Ch	Lab#11 Biaxial minerals
Week 12
14-Nov	Relations between optics & crystallography	N Ch HW #16
16-Nov	Relations between optics & crystallography	N Ch HW #17 Identifying minerals	Lab#12 Minerals in thin section	UBC Mineral gallery Minerals under the microscope Rocks in thin section
Week 13
21-Nov	Student Projects: progress report	HW #18
23-Nov	Thanksgiving Holiday	NO Class!	No LAB!!	HAVE FUN!!!
Week 14
28-Nov	Review	Optical Mineralogy Review Questions
30-Nov	MINERAL OPTICS EXAM		OPTICS LAB EXAM
Week 15
5-Dec	Student Projects: Presentations
7-Dec	Continue student presentations	Written reports due!

Introduction to Course

Introduce instructor and TA's
Overview of the course, lab schedule, handouts
Books and WWW resources
Highlights of mineralogy
Definition of "mineral"
Chemical classification of minerals
Hand specimen mineralogy; physical properties
Basic symmetry operations

Crystallography - External form

Crystal Classes
Lattice planes, Miller indices
Interfacial angles, stereographic projections

Internal structure and order

Bravais lattices
Space groups
Crystal structures
Introduction to silicate minerals

Systematics of silicate minerals & mineral chemistry

Structures of major silicate mineral groups
Introduction to mineral chemistry
Review of bonding, atomic structure
Ionic radii
Paulings rules

Mineral chemistry

Crystal (molecular) structures
Analytical chemistry
Mineral stoichiometry and mineral formuli

X-ray crystallography

X-ray basics
X-ray diffraction
Some applications

Mineral Associations

Chemical equilibrium & thermodynamics
Mineral stability diagrams
Mineral assemblages
Mineral distributions in the Earth

Student Projects

Purpose and mission
American Mineralogy format, examples
Content guidelines

Crystallography Exam

Study Crystallography Review Questions

Hand Specimen Identification Exam

Review mineral specimens
Use mineral index cards

Optical mineralogy

Light and optical properties of minerals
Optical microscope
Refractive index measurement
Isotropic minerals

Anisotropic Minerals

Uniaxial minerals
Uniaxial Indicatrix
Physical characteristics of uniaxial minerals
Practical study of uniaxial minerals

Biaxial minerals
Biaxial Indicatrix
Physical characteristics of biaxial minerals
Practical study of biaxial minerals

Minerals in thin section

Relations between optics and crystallography
Practical applications

Student Projects

Progress report
Thanksgiving Holiday

Study Optics Review Questions

Mineral Optics Written Exam

Mineral Optics Lab Exam (Practical)

Student Projects

Oral presentations
Written reports

LAST MODIFIED: 9/1/00

BY: Bill Leeman