GEO2001F - Mineralogy & Crystallography

Course Outline:

This course covers the fundamentals of physical and chemical mineralogy as a basis for senior courses in petrology. The course comprises four inter-related sections as follows: crystallography, crystallographic calculations and a brief introduction to X-ray crystallography; Crystal optics: the theory and practice of identifying minerals by means of the polarising microscope; Mineralogy: the chemical, physical and optical properties of selected groups of rock-forming minerals; Phase diagrams: interpretation of one, two and simple three component phase diagrams; Classification and petrography of igneous rocks; physical processes in magma chambers; the relationship between chemical and mineralogical composition.