LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the course is to provide a basic knowledge of morphology, crystal structure, investigation methods in X-ray crystallography, and crystal chemistry of the minerals. On the basis of these aspects a classification and description of the main minerals, primarily rock forming minerals, is supplied together with their chemical and physical properties, focusing the optical ones. The macro and microscopic observations of mineral properties are described and a method of systematic optical study of transparent crystals is showed using polarized transmitted light microscopy.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

To know: the structure, the crystal-chemistry and the classification of minerals; the main minerals and their distribution; the physical properties of minerals; identify the minerals that make up the rocks both on a macroscopic scale and in a thin section.

PREREQUISITES

Principles of General and Inorganic Chemistry and Laboratory.

TEACHING METHODS

The teaching consists of some lectures and a part of a theoretical-practical laboratory. Lectures in the classroom are delivered through multimedia presentations. The laboratory exercises are aimed at the practical application of the theoretical knowledge acquired during the lectures.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The course program includes the presentation and discussion of the following topics:

Basics of morphological and structural crystallography

Mineral definition. Amorphous and crystalline state. The crystal lattice. The unit cell. Fundamental laws of crystallography and Miller indices. Stereographic projection. Symmetry operators: rotation and rotoinversion axes. Crystal systems and symmetry classes. Survey of the main morphologies exhibited by minerals. The Bravais lattices. Symmetry operators: screw axes and glide planes. Space groups. X-ray diffraction theory.   Bragg equation. The powder method. X-ray powder diffractometer. Identification of crystals by using the Hanawalt index.

Basics of crystal chemistry

Chemical bonding in minerals. Close-packed arrangement of atoms. Examples of minerals characterized by close-packed or near close-packed structure. Coordination polyhedra. Pauling rules Isomorphism. Polymorphism.

Classification and description of the main minerals, primarily rock-forming minerals

Mineral classification based on chemical composition. Description of the main morphological, structural, crystal chemical and physical aspects for the most common minerals, in particular the rock-forming minerals. Great attention is reserved to the silicate minerals and to their crystal chemical classification.

Exercises

Identification of the morphological symmetry of crystal models and stereographic projection of their faces. Exercises on reciprocal lattice, X-ray diffraction methods and crystal chemical aspects of minerals.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

C. KLEIN MINERALOGIA Zanichelli, Bologna, 2004.
F. MAZZI & G.P. BERNARDINI CAROBBI MINERALOGIA 1 - Fondamenti di cristallografia e ottica cristallografica USES, Firenze, 1988.
C. CIPRIANI & C. GARAVELLI CAROBBI MINERALOGIA 2 - Cristallografia chimica e mineralogia speciale USES, Firenze, 1987.
W.A. DEER, R.A. HOWIE & J. ZUSSMAN Introduzione ai minerali che costituiscono le rocce Zanichelli, Bologna, 1994.