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ESCI-421 - Earth Materials II - Spring 2012 Lecture Meetings: MWF 2:00-2:50 in Akeley-Lawrence 208 |
Course Overview: Petrology is the study of rocks. This course covers igneous and metamorphic rocks. These rocks are commonly covered together because they can both be considered as the result of the chemical process of crystallization, either directly from a magma in the case of igneous rocks, or recrystallization of another rock in metamorphic rocks. The occurrence, texture, mineralogy, and chemistry of these rocks reflects the processes that formed them at many scales, from the microscopic to the tectonic. By the end of the course students will:
- Be able describe and classify rocks in both hand sample and thin section
- Interpret common textures of igneous and metamorphic rocks
- Be able to interpret the phase relations of igneous and metamorphic rocks
- Understand the significance or major and trace element compositions of igneous rocks
- Be able to perform calculations modeling the chemical and isotopic evolution of magmas
- Be familiar with the tectonic processes of magma genesis in different tectonic environments
- Understand how metamorphic rocks reflect the tectonic processes that formed them
- Be able to think like a rock!
Course Structure:
Class meetings will consist of lectures and in-class problem solving
sessions. Labs will generally involve examination of rocks in
both hand sample and thin section, with questions designed to focus
students on interpretation of the rocks. There will be "out of
class" lab quizzes like mineralogy. There will also be online
reading quizzes. Three exams will be given covering primarily
lecture material, two midterms and a final.
Text: Principles of Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, 2nd ed., 2010, Winter, John D., Prentice Hall, ISBN 978-0-321-59257-6
Other Materials: 10x hand lens (preferably a triplet)
Grading: A single grade is assigned integrating lecture and laboratory performance. Grading will be on a curve, but set no more stringently then the standard 90/80/70/60 scale. The weighting of course work will be as follows:
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Labs/Assignments |
20% |
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Lab Quizzes |
20% |
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Reading Quizzes |
10% |
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Midterm Exams |
30% |
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Final Exam |
20% |
Office Hours: Formal office hours will be M 10-11 & 3-4, Th 1-2, F 9-11, but please feel free to swing by my office any time, or set up an appointment.
Cheating: Don’t do it! The
university policy on cheating is as follows: “No credit can be given for a
dishonest assignment. At the discretion of the instructor, a student caught
engaging in any form of academic dishonesty may be: (a) given a zero for that
assignment; (b) allowed to rewrite and resubmit the assignment for credit; (c)
assigned a reduced grade for the course; (d) dropped from the course; or (e)
failed in the course.”
Freedom in Learning: Students are responsible for learning the content of any course of
study in which they are enrolled. Under Board of Regents and University policy,
student academic performance shall be evaluated solely on an academic basis and
students should be free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered
in any course of study. Students who believe that an academic evaluation is
unrelated to academic standards but is related instead to judgment of their
personal opinion or conduct should first contact the instructor of the course.
If the student remains unsatisfied, the student may contact the department head
and/or dean of the college which offers the class to
initiate a review of the evaluation.
Disabilities: Any
student who feels s/he may need academic accommodations or access
accommodations based on the impact of a documented disability should contact
and register with Disability Services during the first week of class.
Disability Services is the official office to assist students through the
process of disability verification and coordination of appropriate and
reasonable accommodations. Students currently registered with Disability
Services must obtain a new accommodation memo each semester.
Course Evaluation:
You will have an opportunity to evaluate the course and the instructor using
the IDEA Diagnostic Form at the end of the semester.
Schedule
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Week |
Topic |
Reading |
Lab |
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1/9 |
No class M &W; Course introduction |
Prelude |
0.
Complete optics lab |
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1/16 |
No class M; Intro to Earth; Tectonics |
Ch. 1 |
1. Igneous minerals in hand sample & thin
section |
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1/23 |
Intrusive & volcanic field occurrence |
Ch. 4 |
2. Describing igneous rocks |
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1/30 |
Igneous minerals & classification |
Ch. 3 |
cont. lab 2 |
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2/6 |
Igneous textures; Intro to thermodynamics |
Ch. 2 & 5 |
3.
Granitoids |
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2/13 |
Midterm I (M); Phase diagrams |
Ch. 6 |
cont. lab 3 |
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2/20 |
No class M; Phase diagrams |
Ch 6 & 7 |
4. Mafic intrusives |
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2/27 |
Major & trace elements |
Ch 8 & 9 |
cont.
lab 4 |
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3/5 |
SPRING BREAK |
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3/12 |
Mantle
melting |
Ch.
10 |
5. Basalts & andesites |
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3/19 |
Diversification of magmas |
Ch. 11 |
6. Rhyolites & tuffs |
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3/26 |
Tectonic associations of igneous rocks; Midterm II (F) |
Ch. 13-19 |
Lecture in lab |
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4/2 |
Intro to metamorphism; No class F |
Ch. 16 |
7. Intro to metamorphic rocks |
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4/9 |
No class M; Metamorphic reactions & chemographic diagrams |
Ch. 24 & 26 |
cont. lab 7 |
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4/16 |
Metabasalts & metapelites |
Ch. 25 & 28 |
8. Metamorphic rocks in thin section |
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4/23 |
Thermodynamics & geothermobarometry |
Ch. 27 |
cont. lab 8 |
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4/30 |
FINAL EXAM Monday. 4/30, 8 pm |
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Weeks are listed by the date of the Monday of the week