| PREREQUISITES | GEOL 101 and 102 (Grade C or above) CHEM 211 (can be a co-requisit) |
| CLASS MEETS | Monday / Wednesday 10:30 - 11:45 am, Planetary Hall Room 126 LAB either Wednesday 12:30 - 3:15 pm, 2074 David King Hall or Wednesday 3:30 - 6:15 pm, 2074 David King Hall |
| INSTRUCTORS | Dr. Julia Nord, 3055 David King Hall Email Address - jnord@gmu.edu Chris Seminack, 3056 David King Hall |
| OFFICE HOURS | Julia - Monday 3:30 - 5:00 in the lab others TBD |
| TEXTS | Dyar, Gunter, & Tasa, Mineralogy and Optical Mineralogy, Mineralogical Society of America, 2008 order from MSA |
| LABORATORY TEXT | Nesse. Introduction to Optical Mineralogy. Oxford University Press. 2nd edition.
Simon and Schuster. Guide to Rocks and Minerals
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| SUPPLIES | Pen Knife Magnifying glass (10* or better) Pencils Colored pencils |
| OBJECTIVES |
* Skills in identifying and classifiying minerals in hand-samples in both the laboratory and the field
* Ability to observe, document concisely and correctly, and interpret mineralogical data collected in both the laboratory and the field setting.
* Appreciation of the importance of mineral resources in society |
| LABORATORY GUIDELINES | Each lab has been designed to take approximately 6 hours of conscientious work. If this is a problem - or labs are taking much longer than this - please come and see me. You may work with a partner, but all work handed in must be entirely your own. Labs must be handed in at the beginning of the next lab period. Late labs will be graded for one half credit. Labs will not be accepted after graded labs have been returned |
| LAB EXAM | You must pass this to pass the course Identify the "big ten" minerals in Hand Sample and Thin Section Demonstrate proficiency in microscope techniques You may retake this exam if needed |
| FIELD TRIPS | Three fields trips will be offered. You may attend all BUT you must attend one. Friday, Sept. 28 - Sunday, Sept. 30th. - Franklin NJ Sunday, Oct. 28th - Gold panning. Saturday, Nov. 10 th - Contrary Creek I would like you to participate in the Mineral Show November 16-18 |
| DATE | TOPIC | READINGS | LABORATORY |
|---|---|---|---|
| WEEK 1 AUGUST. 27 |
What is Mineralogy? What is a mineral? The "Big 10" minerals. | Preface and Chapter 1 | |
| AUGUST. 29 Wednesday | Physical properties of minerals | Chapter 2 | LAB 1 Physical properties of Minerals. Tactics to identify minerals in Hand Sample (HS) Hardness, fracture and luster. |
| WEEK 2 SEPTEMBER 3 | LABOR DAY | ||
| SEPTEMBER 5 Wednesday | Chemical elements. 6 Crystal Systems. Mineral classification. Systematic mineralogy. | Chapters 1 and 4 | LAB 2 Hand Specimen Mineralogy. Streak, color, diaphaneity, and cleavage. The "Big 10" minerals |
| WEEK 3 SEPTEMBER 10 | Atoms and bonding. Silicate structures. Ionic sizes. | Chapter 3 | |
| SEPTEMBER 12 Wednesday Geological Society of Washington | Light. | Nesse. Chapters 1, 2 & 3 DGT, Chapter 5 Literature Assignment 1. |
LAB 3 Introduction to petrographic microscope Thin Sections (TS). Light (PPL and X-pols) Nesse. Chapters 1, 2 & 3 DGT, Chapter 5 |
| WEEK 4 SEPTEMBER 17 | EXAM 1 | ||
| SEPTEMBER 19 Wednesday | Crystallization. Symmetry concepts, 2-D and 3-D space, symmetry operations and elements. Cubic symmetry. | Chapters 4 and 11 | Mineral Quiz 1 LAB 4 |
| WEEK 5 SEPTEMBER 24 Northern Virginia Mineral Club meeting. | Big Bang and elements. Journey to the Center of the Earth. Minerals and Igneous rocks | Chapter 7, 20 | |
| SEPTEMBER 26 Wednesday | Color in Minerals. Chemical substitution One component phase diagrams e.g. quartz | Chapter 7 Literature Assignment 1 due today. |
LAB 5 Precipitation. Anisotropic minerals. Pleochroism Extinction Interference colors or birefringence Carbonates in TS and HS Nesse Chapters 5,6 &10 |
| SEPTEMBER 28th - 30th friday saturday sunday | 3 day Field trip - Franklin NJ | ||
| WEEK 6 OCTOBER 1 | Minerals in Sedimentary rocks Carbonates and solid solution | Chapter 20 Literature Assignment 2 due October 15th |
OCTOBER 3 Wednesday Geological Society of Washington | Bonding revisited, Phase diagrams and phase rule. | Chapters 8 and 20 | Mineral Quiz 2 LAB 6. |
| WEEK 7 OCTOBER 9 | Mineral formulae. Minerals in Metamorphic rocks. | Chapter 10, 20 | OCTOBER 10 Wednesday | Plotting mineral compositions on diagrams Phase diagrams - binaries and soild solution. | Chapter 10, 20 | LAB 7. Anisotropic minerals. Uniaxial an biaxial monoclinic, orthorhombic and triclinic symmetry Biaxial interference figures and 2V. |
| WEEK 8 OCTOBER 15 | Economic Minerals | Chapter 21, 23 Literature assignment 2 due today. |
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| OCTOBER 17 Wednesday Geological Society of Washington | <Economic Minerals including asbestos | Chapter 21, 23 Literature Assignment 3 |
Mineral Quiz 3 LAB 8 |
| WEEK 9 OCTOBER 22 Northern Virginia Mineral Club meeting. | Exam 2 | ||
| OCTOBER 24 Wednesday | Inernal order and symmetry Plane lattices. H-M symbols | Chapters 11 and 12
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LAB 9 |
| OCTOBER 28 Sunday | Gold Panning | Potomac, Maryland | |
| WEEK 10 OCTOBER 29 | Stereographic projections Point groups and space groups Miller indicies | Chapter 11 and 12
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| OCTOBER 31 Wednesday | Silicate minerals & classification | Chapter 6 ,22 Literature assignment 3 due today. |
Mineral Quiz 4 In lab today Mineral Quiz 5 LAB 10. |
| WEEK 11 NOVEMBER 5 | Making a Thin Section | Rock cutting shed. Literature Assignment 4 |
|
| NOVEMBER 7 Wednesday | Chemical analysis of minerals | Chapter 9/td>
Nesse Chapter 13 |
LAB 11 Phyllosilicates and Inosilicates. |
| NOVEMBER 10 Saturday | Contrary Creek, acid mine drainage | near Lake Anna, VA | |
| WEEK 12 NOVEMBER 12 | Robert Hazen's paper. An Introduction. | Chapter 11 | |
| NOVEMBER 14 Wednesday Geological Society of Washington | Extraterrestrial mineralogy. Mars Rovers | Mineral Quiz 6. This is done one-on-one. Get Chris or I when you are ready to take this quiz LAB 12 Lab 12 is due on Wednesday November 30th |
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| NOVEMBER 16th-18th friday saturday sunday | 21st Annual Gem Mineral and Fossil Show | ||
| WEEK 13 NOVEMBER 19 | Mineral Show Show and Tell | Literature Assignment 5 Literature assignment 4 due today |
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| THANKSGIVING NOVEMBER 21 - 25 | NO CLASSES | ||
| WEEK 14 NOVEMBER 26 Northern Virginia Mineral Club meeting. | Mineralogy and magnetism. G Nord. | Handouts | |
| NOVEMBER 28 Wednesday | Asbestos | TBD | LAB 13 Describing a thin section |
| WEEK 15 DECEMBER 3 | Dr. Robert Hazen | Dr Hazen's paper | |
| DECEMBER 5 Wednesday | Presentations | LAB 14 Smithsonian lab - do anytime after November 15th. due wednesday December 5th. LAB EXAM |
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| DECEMBER 12th wednesday | FINAL EXAM 10:30 - 1:15 p.m. | ||
| DECEMBER 19th monday Geological Society of Washington | |||
| DECEMBER 24th monday Northern Virginia Mineral Club meeting. |
| Exam I | 25 points |
| Exam II | 30 points |
| Final Exam | 35 points |
| 12 of 14 Labs lowest 2 are dropped | 60 points |
| 5 of 6 Mineral quizzes lowest is dropped | 25 points |
| Literature assignments | 20 points |
| Pesentation | 5 points |
| TOTAL | 200 points |
Please be familiar with THE HONOR CODE.