Mineralogy and Crystal Chemistry - GLY 4200C

Fall Term, 2012

Final grades have been posted to the FAU server. They will be available to students on Saturday, December 8. The good news is everyone passed the course. Lab Final keys are posted, with statistics. The web pages for petrology should be up next week.

• Course syllabus
• Activity Sheet This page lists lecture topics for each class meeting, project assignments and due dates and reading assignments, and will be updated after each lecture.
• Something to Think About (PowerPoint)
• Word List for Midterm 1 - September19, 2012
• Word List for Midterm 2 - October 24, 2012
• Word List for Final Examination - November 30, 2012

Homework

• Homework 1 KEY - 20 points possible - Grades ranged from 10.0 to 20.0, mean was 16.0
• Homework 2 KEY - 24 points possible - Grades ranged from 13.0 to 24.0, mean was 20.6
• Homework 3 KEY - 20 points possible - Grades ranged from 9.0 to 20.0, mean was 15.5 - one student did not turn in HW, and six were received late
• Homework 4 KEY - 10 points possible - Grades ranged from 7.0 to 10.0, mean was 9.0
• Homework 5 KEY - 20 points possible - Grades ranged from 10.0 to 20.0, mean was 17.9 - two students did not turn in homework
• Homework 6 KEY - 18 points possible - Grades ranged from 7.5 to 15.5, mean was 12.7 - two students did not turn in homework
• Homework 7 KEY - 25 points possible - Grades ranged from 10.0 to 22.5, mean was 16.7 - one student did not turn in homework
• Homework 8 KEY - 10 points possible - Grades ranged from 1.0 to 10.0, mean was 8.1 - two students did not turn in homework
• Homework 9 KEY - 25 points possible - Grades ranged from 21.5 to 25.0, mean was 24.4 - (2 anonymous contributions...)
• Homework 10 KEY - 15 points possible - Grades ranged from 14.0 to 15.0, mean was 14.9

Exams

• Midterm 1 Key - Statistics are posted. Class average 75.8%, which is the highest in the last five years
• Midterm 2 Key - Statistics are posted. Class average was 79.6%.
• Pop-Quiz 2 Key - Given on November 21, 2012
• Final Examination Key - Statistics are posted. Class average was 73.4%.

Laboratory Schedule -

• Monday section
• Wednesday section

Field Equipment - List of suppliers

Laboratory Keys

Lab 2 Key - Average grade: 18.8/20

Lab 3 Key - Average grade: 18.0/20

Lab 7 Key - Average grade: 19.4/20

Lab 8 Key - Average grade: 19.1/20

Lab 9 Key - Average grade: 19.6/20

Laboratory Presentations

All presentations are PowerPoint files.

Lab Quiz 1 Key - Statistics are posted - class average was 75.8% - there is room for improvement

Lab Quiz 2 Key - Statistics are posted - class average was 83.8%

Lab Quiz 3 Key - Statistics are posted - class average was 79.1% - better, but still room for improvement

Laboratory Final Key -

Lab Final Closed Notes - Monday      Wednesday Statistics are posted.

Lab Final Open Notes -   Monday    Wednesday

 

Lecture Presentations

* Presentation is preliminary - material will be added or removed

Supplemental Notes

• Color in Minerals
• Crystal Class
• Elemental Abundances in the Earth and Geochemical Classification of the Elements
• Lever Rule An Adobe PDF version is here
• Magnetism
• Nitrates
• Piezoelectricity
• Pyroelectricity
• Veins and Vein Mineralization
• X-ray Crystallography lecture notes (PDF file)

Additional Information Sources

Chemical Bonding

• Chemical Bonding A complete review of chemical bonding by Ken Drews. Material covered exceeds the scope of this course, but it is a good review.
• Chemical Bonding Index Links to a series of pages with information about various types of bonds
• ICSD Chemistry Zone: Bonding Lessons Links to a number of web pages, some of which have very good information and animations - CAUTION This link is often very slow.
• Understanding Chemistry: Bonding A good deal of useful information here about bonding, but not specifically applied to minerals

Constants

• Physical Constants and Energy conversion Direct from the National Institute of Standards

Crystallography

• Minerals, Crystals and Their Systems An illustrated article by Charles Lewton-Brain
• Crystallography branch of the Mineral database. Written by David Barthelmy, the Mineral Database contains a wealth of useful information. The crystallography page contains links to pages on each of the 32 crystal classes, including Java Applet Crystal Models, available in both mono and stereo views. You can manipulate the models, and add Miller Indices of the crystal faces. Models may be viewed in motion or stationary, and may be seen in several different visual formats.
• Making Matter: The atomic structure of materials A site featuring VRML "3-D" graphics to show and discuss the structures of many materials, including several different types of minerals and mineralogically important structures. There are discussions of close packing, packing of different size atoms, examples of octahedral and tetrahedral holes in structures, etc. Many common mineral structures are shown. The site is in France, and viewing the structures requires large downloads and VRML capability in your browser. Best to visit this site when the Internet isn't too busy.
• M.C. Escher Sketching Tool
• Mineral Structure Database From the Mineralogical Society of America - under construction, but useful
• Simple, Common, and Interesting Molecules 3-D representations of a number of molecules, including a selection of minerals.

Elements

• WebElements Periodic Table The periodic table of the elements with links to information about each element.

Glossary

• Mineral and Gem Terminology Easy to use glossary of various mineral and gem terms.

Journals

• Geological Materials Research Abstracts on-line, the articles are in pdf format and must be downloaded
• American Mineralogist Journal of the Mineralogical Society of America - contents from 1916-present are on-line, with abstracts available in pdf format

Mineral Data

• Alphabetical Mineral List A very comprehensive list of minerals, with more data than most people will need.
• Athena Mineral Databases A series of databases, including mineral lists, mineral search, and mineral pictures. They are developing a search engine for mineral locations, an unusual feature.
• Mineralogy Database More than you ever wanted to know! Information on 4442 Mineral species as of 8/31/08. Includes images and .wav files for pronouncing mineral names.
• Mineral Keys Trying to identify an unknown mineral? There are a variety of keys based on physical and optical data available at this site.
• Mineral Gallery Data on minerals by name, by class, and by groupings (birthstones, gemstones, etc.). Produced by Amethyst Galleries, Inc., a commercial site ("The First Internet Rock Shop!").
• The Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom An excellent general reference site, with mineral data, photos, etc. Financed by some banner advertising, but not enough to be offensive.
• Mineral Structure database Joseph Smyth collection of mineral structures, illustrated with drawings of many structures.

Mineral Images

• Alan Guisewite Personal Collection Images arranged in various ways, but easy to use.
• Musee de mineralogie, Ecole des Mines de Paris Link is to the mineral catalogue page, which has links to short descriptions of minerals in their collection, many with photos. In French, with some English, but easy to navigate.
• Ken's Fluorescent Minerals Nine images of minerals fluorescing under ultraviolet light, and links to additional pages of images.
• Mineral Gallery Has images of many minerals. Produced by Amethyst Galleries, Inc., a commercial site.
• Smithsonian Gem and Mineral Collection Gems and Minerals part of "The Dynamic Earth" presentation of the Smithsonian

Mineral News

• Amphorous C - as hard as diamond - Stanford News 10-17-11
• The $1 Billion Mission to reach the Earth's Mantle - Tom Levitt, CNN

Mineral Resources

• USGS Mineral Resources Division Links to many government mineral resource files. Map based Java applet may be painfully slow at times.

Mineral Societies

• Mineralogical Society of America

Museums

• The Dynamic Earth - Uses the Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian for a multimedia presentation with several sections, including Gems and Minerals and Rocks and Mining

Newsletter

• The Lattice Newsletter of the Mineralogical Society of America, available on-line through 2004
• Elements Magazine - New home of the Lattice starting 2005

Optical Mineralogy

• Birefringent Crystals in Polarized Light An Interactive Java Tutorials from Olympus Microscopes showing the addition and subtraction colors of a mineral displaying first order white interference colors.
• Index of Refraction Measurement Both the Becke Line and Oblique Illumination methods are covered. An excellent subpage with illustrations of the oblique illumination procedure results is here. These pages were created by J.M. DeRochette.
• Interference Colors An "unofficial" web page of the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay. Professor Steve Dutch is the author. It has excellent explanations of the phenomenon of interference colors.
• Optical Mineralogy Course Notes Dr. Greg Finn of Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, has a complete set of lecture notes for a course in optical mineralogy online. Diagrams explaining the physical principles behind optical mineralogy are available, as well as photomicrographs illustrating many of the points discussed. Excellent reference for those wanting to know more about the subject.
• Relief An illustrated guide to the Becke line method
• UCLA Thin Section Mineral Index An alphabetical index to approximately one hundred web pages containing images of minerals in plane polarized and crossed Nicols, as well as useful optical data about the mineral.
• University of British Columbia Earth and Ocean Sciences Image Collection Collections of slides relating to various aspects of geology, including mineralogy and petrology.

Phase Diagrams

• Mineral Stability and Phase Diagrams Prof. Stephen Nelson, Tulane University. Good coverage of the topic, including the thermodynamics behind the subject.
• Two Component Phase Diagrams - Prof. Stephen Nelson, Tulane University, has a concise summary of much of the material we covered on binary phase diagrams.
• Binary Eutectic Phase Diagrams Prof. Lynn Fichter, James Madison University
• Binary Solid Solution Diagrams Prof. Lynn Fichter, James Madison University
• Phase Diagrams - Prof. Lynn Fichter, James Madison University
• Ternary Phase Diagrams Prof. Stephan Nelson, Tulane University

Physical Properties

• The Physical Characteristics of Minerals Extensive links to descriptions of many physical, and some chemical, properties of minerals
• Minerals Laboratory Web Page Prof. Gary Girty, San Diego State University. Discusses bonding and physical properties of minerals, with photos and Flash animations.
• Tensors This reference from Wolfram research defines a tensor and explains some of the properties. Clicking on the various links available at the site will probably provide you with more information than you ever wanted to know about the subject.

Symmetry

The following links have information and graphics which help to clarify the concepts of symmetry

• Crystal Systems, Symmetry Operations and Crystallographic Axes Descriptions of symmetry operations, with kinks to the seven crystal systems, leading to links to 32 crystal classes
• Introduction to Space Groups Bernhard Rupp's short introduction of symmetry concepts, including point group operations, crystal systems, Bravais Lattices, and Space Groups
• Jill Banfield's Crystal Structure Movies A large collection of Quicktime movies illustrating crystal structures.
• What is Crystal Habit? Descriptions of many crystal forms, both closed and open, with examples of minerals exhibiting the forms

PageURL:  http://www.geosciences.fau.edu/Resources/CourseWebPages/Fall2012/GLY4200C_F12/index_4200_F12.html

Questions or comments? mailto: warburto@fau.edu

Last updated: December 7, 2012