What Is The Study Of Minerals Called?

26.04.2023 Grady A. Lowry 0 Comments

Petrology is the study of rocks – igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary – and the processes that form and transform them. Mineralogy is the study of the chemistry, crystal structure and physical properties of the mineral constituents of rocks. Both petrological and mineralogical processes are sensitive to environmental conditions, so the compositions of rocks, and the minerals they consist of, are interrogated to answer fundamental questions across a wide range of geological disciplines.

At CU Boulder, we use petrology to study the formation of volcanoes and their magmatic sources, the evolution of continental crust during the growth and destruction of mountain belts, the genesis of accessory minerals such as REE phosphates in all rock types, the origins of economic concentrations of minerals and petroleum, the make-up of the atmosphere, ocean and life on Earth through time, and the geological processes that occur on other planets.

Petrological and mineralogical research in the department integrates with other technical disciplines such as geochemistry and geochronology, and has common goals shared with economic resources, astrobiology, geobiology, geodynamics, planetary geology, sedimentology, and structure and tectonics,

Petrological facilities in the department are well suited for precise and accurate characterization of the compositions and textures of rocks and minerals, and include a new electron microprobe equipped for submicron scale quantitative chemical characterization down to trace element levels and a Raman microscope-spectrometer capable of fast, non-destructive chemical imaging and vibrational characterization of a diversity of material types.

These microbeam techniques are supported by a broad array of geochemical instrumentation for quantifying the bulk elemental and isotopic compositions of geological materials.
View complete answer

What is mineral and mineralogy?

Minerals are naturally occurring crystalline compounds; mineralogy is the science of these materials. As such, it shares much of its subject matter with metallurgy, crystal chemistry, physical chemistry, and other sciences that deal with solid materials.
View complete answer

Who is a petrologist?

What Does a Petrologist Do? – Petrologists find certain types of rocks and analyze them in a lab, determining their exact composition and how to best extract valuable minerals and natural resources from them. Using geological data, these scientists advise their employers on how to best approach resource extraction from certain sites or how to approach particular kinds of rock.
View complete answer

What is difference between mineralogy and gemology?

Both minerals and gemstones have their independent science whereby the one associated with minerals is called mineralogy, and gemology is one of the branches of mineralogy. Gemology deals with gemstones’ artificial and natural materials and is a branch of mineralogy.
View complete answer

Who studies crystals?

Crystallography is the study of atomic and molecular structure. Crystallographers want to know how the atoms in a material are arranged in order to understand the relationship between atomic structure and properties of these materials. They work in many disciplines, including chemistry, geology, biology, materials science, metallurgy and physics. Crystallographers study diverse substances, from living cells to superconductors, from protein molecules to ceramics. Crystallography began with the study of crystals, like quartz. Today, crystallographers study the atomic architecture of any material that can form an orderly solid – from diamonds to viruses. They also investigate a wide variety of other materials, such as amorphous thin films, membranes, liquid crystals, fibers, glasses, liquids, gases and quasicrystals. Because many crystallographers use x-rays to study crystals, the field is often called “x-ray crystallography.” But modern crystallographers use many other methods as well. Atomic force microscopy, neutron diffraction, electron crystallography, molecular modeling, high- and low-temperature studies, high-pressure diffraction and micro-gravity experiments in space are all methods used by crystallographers to unlock the secrets of structure and function.
View complete answer

What is a mineralogist?

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – MINERAL CAREERS Please also see the Careers in Mineralogy section on this Web Site. What does a mineralogist do? What does a petrologist do? Where do mineralogists work? What education does a mineralogist need? What does a mineralogist do? A mineralogist is a person who studies minerals. Since minerals are defined as naturally occurring solid substances, there is a tremendous range of ideas and processes that can be studied.

This includes everything from the soil surface to the center of the earth ( and maybe a few extraterrestrial materials ).
Most mineralogists are employed by universities where they do research and teach.
Other employers consist of state and federal geological surveys, private mining companies, and a few curating museum collections of minerals The following are areas of interest for members of this Society.

Mineralogy – Crystallography – Crystal and Mineral Chemistry – Crystal Structures – Material Properties – Mineral Physics – Mineral Surfaces – Spectroscopy – Igneous, Metamorphic, and Sedimentary Petrology – Petrography, and Petrogenesis – Major and Trace Element Geochemistry – Isotope Geochemistry – Mineral-fluid Reactions and Geochemistry – Phase Equilibrium – Economic Geology – Ore Deposits – Experimental Mineralogy and Petrology – Clay Mineralogy – Industrial Mineralogy – Environmental Mineralogy – Theoretical Mineral Physics – Gem Materials – Planetary Materials – Biological Mineralogy – Teaching – New Minerals and Mineral Occurrences – Mineralogical Apparatus, Techniques, and Analysis – Mineralogical Nomenclature – Mineral Synthesis – Materials Science – Fluid Phase Petrology – Mineral Thermodynamics and Thermochemistry – Volcanic Processes – Crystal and Mineral Growth – Electron Microscopy – Optical Crystallography and Microscopy – Forensic Mineralogy – Microtextures and Fabrics – Mineral Classification – Fluid Inclusions – Pegmatites – Databases – Symmetry – History of Mineralogy – Ceramic Archeology – Mineral Collection Preservation – Mineral Museums – Single Element Mineralogy and Geochemistry – Philosophy of Natural Sciences – Soil Science – Refractories – Experimental Geochemistry – Meteoritics – Geochronology – Mineral Processing – Kinetics – Geochemical Prospecting – Structural Petrology – Concrete Petrology What does a petrologist do? A petrologist is a scientist that studies rocks.

The first tool that most petrologists use is a petrological microscope.
This is used to view thin sections of rocks ( thin slices of rock that are about a hair’s thickness).
This microscope uses polarized light ( light in which all the waves vibrate in a single direction).
Once this is used, there are many other tools available that are used depending upon what questions are being answered.

For instance there is equipment that can be used to determine the permeability of a rock ( how fast fluids flow through a rock ). This can be of interest to persons studying how much water can be delivered from an aquifer or how best to produce oil or gas from a rock.

Study of rocks is also important in finding deposits of commercially valuable minerals, and in determining the history of the earth. Where do mineralogists work? The vast majority of mineralogists teach at universities. Smaller numbers work at the U.S. Geological Survey and some state geological surveys.

There are also members employed at the national laboratories. Some mineralogists work as museum curators. What education does a mineralogist need? Becoming a mineralogist requires at a minimum a college degree and often postgraduate work. Since most mineralogists work in research or teaching a PhD is the commonest degree that is required.

To prepare for this you need to take a college preparatory track in high school.
It would pay to take as much science and mathematics that you can.
The MSA website has a K-12 teaching subsection that is under construction at the present time and should be checked periodically.
It is a good idea to look at as many minerals as you can.

You might be interested: How To Study For The Psat?

This can include museums, gem & mineral shows, and field trips. Some mineral clubs have junior sections that give younger members some experience with minerals. Natural history museums often have displays of minerals with some educational explanations.
View complete answer

Is mineralogy a branch of science?

mineralogy, scientific discipline that is concerned with all aspects of minerals, including their physical properties, chemical composition, internal crystal structure, and occurrence and distribution in nature and their origins in terms of the physicochemical conditions of formation. Britannica Quiz Everything Earth The goals of mineralogical studies may be quite diverse, ranging from the description and classification of a new or rare mineral, to an analysis of crystal structure involving determination of its internal atomic arrangement, or to the laboratory or industrial synthesis of mineral species at high temperatures and pressures.

The methods employed in such studies are equally varied and include simple physical and chemical identification tests, determination of crystal symmetry, optical examination, X-ray diffraction, isotopic analysis, and other sophisticated procedures. Although much mineralogical research centres on the chemical and physical properties of minerals, significant work is conducted on their origin as well.

Investigators are frequently able to infer the way in which a mineral species forms on the basis of data obtained from laboratory experiments and on theoretical principles drawn from physical chemistry and thermodynamics. This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn,
View complete answer

What are the 3 main ideas of geology?

1.5 Three Big Ideas: Geological Time, Uniformitarianism, and Plate Tectonics. In geology there are three big ideas that are fundamental to the way we think about how Earth works.
View complete answer

What is mineralogy in simple words?

Mineralogy is the systematic study that extensively covers description, crystallography, physical, chemical and environmental features of all minerals.
View complete answer

What is the hardest mineral?

Terminology – Soft – can be scratched by a fingernail, Mohs’ 1-2; Medium – can be scratched by a knife or nail, Mohs’ 3-5; Hard – cannot be scratched by a knife but can scratch glass, Mohs’ 6-9; Diamond is the hardest known mineral, Mohs’ 10. Notes : It must be noted that Mohs’ scale is arbitrary and non-linear, i.e.
View complete answer

What is mineralogy in English?

1 : a science dealing with minerals, their crystallography, properties, classification, and the ways of distinguishing them 2 : the mineralogical characteristics of an area, a rock, or a rock formation mineralogical adjective or less commonly mineralogic
View complete answer

What is the study of stone called?

At CU Boulder, we use petrology to study the formation of volcanoes and their magmatic sources, the evolution of continental crust during the growth and destruction of mountain belts, the genesis of accessory minerals such as REE phosphates in all rock types, the origins of economic concentrations of minerals and petroleum, the make-up of the atmosphere, ocean and life on Earth through time, and the geological processes that occur on other planets.

These microbeam techniques are supported by a broad array of geochemical instrumentation for quantifying the bulk elemental and isotopic compositions of geological materials.
View complete answer

What is the study of rocks?

2. Learn how we study geology on Earth and other planets – On Earth, geologists have the luxury of making observations and collecting rock samples in person. To study rocks and soil on other planets, like Mars, we have to rely on spacecraft that can use their cameras and tools to act as our eyes and hands.

For example, Mars rovers like Curiosity and Perseverance use cameras to send detailed pictures of the Martian surface back to us on Earth so we can explore from a distance. We then compare the images to known substances on Earth to better understand and theorize about how the Martian rocks, soil, and minerals formed.

About the image: The image above, captured by NASA’s Curiosity rover on Mars, shows an outcropping – an area where ancient bedrock underneath the surface is exposed. Outcroppings on Earth are known to form as a result of running water and create gravel that’s a similar size and shape.
View complete answer

What profession is the study of rocks?

What Does a Mineralogist Do? – A mineralogist studies rocks, gems and other minerals, including their chemical and crystalline structures. They may performing chemical, heat, and other tests on samples to identify them or determine their properties. Those working for mining companies often work on enhancing the processing of minerals from ores.

They monitor sample collection, preparation, and analysis.
They help improve recovery of desirable minerals and concentrate their quality.
They analyze, interpret, and report mineralogical data.
Some evaluate the value of land based on the presence of minerals.
The metals and rare earth minerals they help process are used in scientific equipment that monitors the environment, such as sensors on satellites, GPS devices, and radio collars used to track wildlife.

They’re also used in computers that analyze data about the environment.
View complete answer

Is A diamond A mineral?

Diamond, a mineral composed of pure carbon. It is the hardest naturally occurring substance known; it is also the most popular gemstone. Because of their extreme hardness, diamonds have a number of important industrial applications. *Estimate.
View complete answer

Are crystals a mineral?

It is common for people to refer to rocks as minerals and crystals as stones and gemstones as rocks, but these names have different meanings in the universe of rock hounds and gem lovers. Good knowledge of finding the best combination or mineralogy requires understanding the differences between them.

A mineral is a naturally present inorganic element, whereas a rock is two or more minerals bound together.
Crystallization refers to the mineral’s crystalline structure, and there are many distinct types of crystals.
Despite their similarity, the names “mineral” and “crystal” are not interchangeable.
Even though they all pertain to inorganic stones, rocks, minerals, and crystals all have distinct characteristics.

Learn much about these materials and how they differ in rock and gem. Minerals The study of minerals, or mineralogy, tells us that minerals occur naturally inorganic substances since geological processes generate them. A highly organized atomic and often crystalline structure characterize their chemical and physical composition.

That out of the 2,000 or so known minerals, each one has a distinct composition remarkable. To identify it, you can use the color, luster, streak, fracture, cleavage, hardness, and crystal form of a mineral. Rocks In contrast, rock is an assemblage of minerals with no specific chemical composition. Three types of rocks are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic: minerals, ranging from pure substances to complex silicates.

Rocks and minerals are studied in petrology and mineralogy, two different disciplines. Crystals People use the term “crystal” to refer to a mineral formed into a crystalline structure. A crystal is just a mineral that is not part of an aggregated solid, like a rock, but instead stands on its own.

Structured lattice-like lattices are used to make crystals.
The outcome is an inorganic, geometric structure.
Throughout human history, crystals have been highly esteemed, and even today, many people believe that wearing or displaying certain crystals will bring good fortune into their lives.
There is some controversy about the magical properties of crystals, but there is no doubt that they emit vibrations.

You might be interested: What Was The Role Of Education In Spartan Society?

Each crystal vibrates at a slightly different frequency, depending on its molecular structure. New Age practitioners believe that beneficial life improvements are linked to “good vibrations.” On the other hand, Crystal vibrations can be used in real-world practical science.

Chemists and geologists are discovering how to improve the energy efficiency of electronic gadgets that rely on crystal vibrations and manage them. Stones Gemology is a discipline of mineralogy that deals with jewels. An amorphous gemstone is not crystallized. In reality, crystalline gemstones are minerals, which means that their atomic structure is defined and regular.

Ruby, emerald, and garnet are examples of crystalline gemstones. A mineral must have monetary and aesthetic value to be considered a gemstone. That’s because it’s a beautiful and long-lasting material that’s chosen for cutting, polishing, and producing jewelry.

Minerals, Crystals, Rocks & Stones: What’s The Difference? However, rocks, minerals, and crystals all have distinct characteristics that characterize them. As an illustration, consider these key distinctions: Unless they are monomineralic rocks, scarce in nature, rocks can be composed of either minerals or crystals.

Crystalline minerals are found in rocks, although they are not the only solid-state molecular structures. As a result, the crystal in a rock may look embedded in other rock types or alone as a geode. The most common misconception about gemstones is that they are incredibly scarce.

While amethyst used to be extremely rare, that is no longer the case.
Similarly, its rarity formerly made it enormously precious, but that has subsequently diminished.
In both rocks and crystals, minerals are the primary constituents.
Mineral,’ on the other hand, can refer to either a taxonomical grouping or a specific combination of minerals consumed as part of a person’s daily diet.

A single mineral, not a slew of them, is responsible for forming crystals, which may be found in rocks. This rigorous geometric patterning is due to a specific type of chemical structure found in crystals as well. Gemstones, rather than minerals and rocks, are the primary focus of the jewelry and timepiece industries because of their beauty and toughness.

No wonder trustworthy jewelry retailers in Chula Vista and around San Diego hire Graduate Gemologists; these professionals are well-versed in the various gemstones and how they are employed in jewelry and watches.
In contrast, minerals and rocks’ physical look and coloring can be highly diverse.
Using the term “crystal” is a way to describe both the mineral’s crystalline look and its molecular structure.

In the world of rock and gem collecting, these three terms all refer to essentially the same thing: specimens that may be bought and sold. Conclusion We can tell the difference between a mineral, crystals, rocks and a gemstone by looking at their composition and use in jewelry.
View complete answer

Is a gold nugget a mineral?

Gold is one of the most popular and well-known minerals, known for its value and special properties since the earliest of time. Most of the natural Gold specimens that have been found since early times have been smelted for production.
View complete answer

Is a quartz a mineral or a rock?

Quartz is one of the most common minerals in the Earth’s crust. As a mineral name, quartz refers to a specific chemical compound (silicon dioxide, or silica, SiO 2 ), having a specific crystalline form (hexagonal). It is found is all forms of rock : igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary.
View complete answer

Why am I drawn to rocks?

Rocks are like fire – In our deepest subconscious, we may be attracted to rocks, much like our primitive attraction to fire. These elements have been an integral part of our ancestors’ evolutionary lives, so it may not be a surprise that, like a moth, we are instinctively drawn to rocks just as we are to fire.

Live Science says we are attracted to fire because we did not practice controlling it as children as our ancestors would have.
As a result, our fascination continues into adulthood: “My preliminary findings indicate that humans are not universally fascinated by fire,” Fessler told Life’s Little Mysteries.

“On the contrary, this fascination is a consequence of inadequate experience with fire during development.” Perhaps, like fire, we could have similar reasons to be drawn to rock collecting and stone collecting; we had not fully developed our interests in rocks as children, carving them into ornaments or tools like our hunter-gatherer ancestors.
View complete answer

Who invented crystals?

The structure of crystals. Early historical notes Probably the first historical references to the use of crystals come from the Ancient Sumerians (4th millennium BC), who included crystals in their magic formulas. Crystals were (and are) also used for healing in traditional Chinese Medicine, which dates back to at least 5000 years. Beautiful specimens of Lapis lazuli (left) and Turquoise (right). (Images taken from external disappeared references) The Ancient Greeks identified quartz with the word “crystal” ( κρύσταλλος, crustallos, or phonetically kroos’-tal-los = cold + drop), that is, very cold icicles of extraordinary hardness. Probably the first reference to crystals in Ancient Rome was reported by Pliny the Elder (I Century AD) in his “Natural History”, where he describes the windows and greenhouses of the richer inhabitants of the Roman Empire being covered by crystals of “Lapis specularis”, the Latin name for large transparent crystals of gypsum. Cover of a trascription of Volume II of the Natural History of “Pliny the Elder”, published in 1668 (Courtesy of Wythepedia ) Crystals of Lapis specularis showing their excellent transparency Deposit of Lapis specularis in Segóbriga (Spain) The vast amount of mineralogical information contained in Pliny’s “Natural History” was preserved and enhanced in “Book XVI on Stones and Metals” which covered the “Etymologiarum” of Isidor of Seville (560-636). Ibn Sīnā “Avicenna” (980-1037), polymath of Persian origin who wrote about 450 books, mainly in philosophy and medicine, classified some minerals by their chemical composition. Vannoccio Biringuccio (1480-1539), Italian metallurgical, associated shapes and angles with certain minerals, and Georg Bauer “Georgius Agricola” (1494-1555), considered the father of mineralogy, made the first classification of minerals based on their physical properties. Mosaics of La Alhambra (Granada, Spain) The German mathematician, astronomer and astrologer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) marveled when a snowflake landed on his coat showing its perfect six-cornered symmetry. In 1611 Kepler wrote “Six-cornered Snowflake” (Latin title ” Strena Seu de Nive Sexangula “) the first mathematical description of crystals.

In this essay, the first work on the problem of crystal structure, Kepler asks: Why do single snowflakes, before they become entangled with other snowflakes, always fall with six corners? Why do snowflakes not fall with five corners or with seven? Despite its modest size, Kepler’s essay is remarkably rich in ideas.

One of his major discoveries was the geometry of the packing of spheres (the well known principle of closest packing in modern structural crystallography). He dealt with the densest cubical packing, and although he was not aware of the densest hexagonal packing, Kepler described two less dense packings for spheres, the hexagonal and the simple cubic.

Moreover, starting from the spherical packings, Kepler drew conclusions about the parallelohedra, the convex polyhedra which can fill space in a regular manner, anticipating the conclusions of R.J. Haüy (1784) and E.S. Fedorov (1885). Kepler’s work contains indirect pointers to the Law of Constant Angles for a six-sided snow crystal.

You might be interested: How To Study For The Hesi Exam?

Thus one can consider Kepler as a forerunner of the discoverers of this law (N. Steno, 1669; M.W. Lomonosov, 1749; Romé de l’Isle, 1783). In addition to Kepler’s work, the greatest contribution to crystallography, paleontology, and geology made during the 17th century was made by the Danish catholic bishop and scientist Nicolaus Steno (in Danish Niels Stensen, 1638-1686) who became professor of anatomy at the University of Padua in Italy, and where he was appointed house physician to Grand Duke Ferdinand II of Tuscany (1610-1670).

During this decade he made his greatest contributions to science.
In Stensen’s work ” De solido intra solidum naturaliter contento dissertationis prodromus ” he observed for the first time the fundamental crystallographic Law of the Constancy of Interfacial Angles.
Using drawings and two brief sentences, Stensen remarked that although crystals of quartz (silicon oxide) and hematite (iron oxide) appear in a great variety of shapes and sizes, the same interfacial angles persisted in every specimen.

This observation, the Law of Constancy of Angles, was confirmed and shown to be true for crystals of many other substances by Romé de l’Isle (1736-1790), after more than a hundred years later, in 1783. Moreover, Stensen discussed the growth of crystals in a fluid medium, but for him, this was only a special case illustrating the main problem of the book: How are solids of all kinds formed in nature? His answer was: if a solid body has been produced according to the laws of nature, it has been produced from a fluid, Constancy of interfacial angles The French mineralogist Jean-Baptiste Louis Romé de l’Isle (1736-1790 ) can be considered as one of the creators of modern crystallography. He was the author of ” Essai de Cristallographie ” (1772), the second edition of which, regarded as his principal work, was published in 1783 as “Cristallographie” in three volumes and an atlas. Digital copy of the book provided by Google from the original one in the Harvard Library However, the definitive solid pillar in the construction of crystallography was set up by the Abbé Haüy ( René Just Haüy, 1743-1822 ), professor of the humanities at the University of Paris, during the last decades of the 18th century. The theory of crystal structure elaborated by Haüy (” Essai d’un Théorie sur la Structure des Cristaux “, 1784), based on his discourses on laws of Symmetry, of Rational Intercepts, and of Constancy of Crystalline Form, does not differ substantially, in its essential points, from the views prevailing nowadays. The previous observations and the mathematical developments introduced during the 19th Century brought us to the modern structural crystallography. In 1830 the German physician Johann Friedrich Christian Hessel (1796-1872) proved that, as a consequence of Haüy’s Law of Rational Intercepts, morphological forms can combine to give exactly 32 kinds of crystal symmetry in Euclidean space (32 point groups), since only two-, three-, four-, and six-fold rotation axes can occur. Hessel’s work Image taken from Wikipedia, Finally, the 14 Bravais lattices and the 32 point groups were the constraints between which the eminent Russian crystallographer Evgraf Stepánovich Fedorov (1853-1919), and independently the German mathematician Arthur Schoenflies (1853-1928), deduced in 1890-1891 the 230 possible space groups that restrict the mutual arrangement of building units (atoms, ions, molecules) inside crystals. Left: Evgraf S. Fedorov (1853-1919) Right: Arthur Schoenflies (1853-1928) Interested readers can have access to an extensive and commented chronology on crystallography and structural chemistry through the work done by M.A. Cuevas-Diarte and S. Alvarez Reverter. All these principles are the pillars on which the modern structural crystallography was built, the crystallography that appeared after X-rays discovery. But let’s go back.
View complete answer

What is mineralogy in geology?

Mineralogy is the systematic study that extensively covers description, crystallography, physical, chemical and environmental features of all minerals.
View complete answer

What is the field of mineralogy?

mineralogy mineralogy, scientific discipline that is concerned with all aspects of minerals, including their physical properties, chemical composition, internal crystal structure, and occurrence and distribution in nature and their origins in terms of the physicochemical conditions of formation. Britannica Quiz The Solid Earth Quiz The goals of mineralogical studies may be quite diverse, ranging from the description and classification of a new or rare mineral, to an analysis of crystal structure involving determination of its internal atomic arrangement, or to the laboratory or industrial synthesis of mineral species at high temperatures and pressures.

The methods employed in such studies are equally varied and include simple physical and chemical identification tests, determination of crystal symmetry, optical examination, X-ray diffraction, isotopic analysis, and other sophisticated procedures. Although much mineralogical research centres on the chemical and physical properties of minerals, significant work is conducted on their origin as well.

What are mineralogy courses in geology?

This course is a basic to advance introduction for the undergraduate students pursuing B.Sc. Geology / Honous degree in Geology/ Engineering Graduate for Civil and Mining. Mineralogy is a pre-requisite course in petrology, geochemistry, and economic geology.

The field of mineralogy cover a very broad area of study that includes, crystallography, chemical mineralogy or mineral chemistry, structures of minerals, genesis of minerals, optical mineralogy etc.
Since mineralogy covers several aspects of geological sciences, it is indeed difficult to decide what aspects need to be included in core mineralogy for beginner students.

Mineralogy also forms a part of curriculum in materials sciences, besides becoming a course in geological sciences. This course includes fundamental of crystallography and structural chemistry of minerals along with descriptive mineralogy. In my opinion crystallography and mineralogy together should continue to form the core course for the graduate students in geological sciences.

As per the syllabus of UGC based on CBCS B.Sc.
Geology, I henceforth use the term Crystallography and Mineralogy is to study rock forming minerals and their paragenesis, optical properties of minerals and crystallographic properties within one single paper as basic to advance for the under graduate students.

This course deals with the naturally occurring minerals in field as well as laboratory analysis data that provide sufficient information how they occur in the nature. It gives idea of modern experimental mineralogical and crystallographic theories which are widely accepted for their origin.

The course emphasis the Crystallographic and Mineralogy which cover the crystals and their characters, crystal form, face, edge, solid angle, interfacial angle and their measurements, crystallographic axes and angles, crystal parameters, Weiss and Miller system of notations, Symmetry element and description of normal class of Isometric, Tetragonal, Hexagonal, Trigonal, Orthombic, Monoclinic and Triclinic system.

Introduction of mineralogy, Definition and characters of mineralogy, common physical properties of minerals, chemical composition, and diagnostic physical properties of minerals such as: Quartz, Orthoclase, Microcline, Hypersthene, Hornblende, Garnet, Muscovite, Biotite, chlorite, Olivine, Epidote, Calcite etc.

Polarizing microscope, its parts and functioning, Ordinary and polarized lights, Common optical properties observed under ordinary, polarized lights and crossed nicols. Optical properties of some common rocks forming minerals.The course definitely provides better understanding to students for the understanding of crystallography, mineralogy, and optical mineralogy and its application involved during the origin and evolution of the rocks.

The course contains video, text, assignment; quizzes, references etc, and I hope it will be useful for the geology students within and outside India. This 4 credits course run online for 16 weeks and finally end with examination. Last but not least, I highly accept any comments, questions, or suggestion for the improvement of this course.
View complete answer

Grady A. Lowry