Earth Sciences

AIMS

To introduce the principal building blocks of the Earth Sciences: rocks, minerals and their composition, formation and origins. To summarise the formation of the elements at the Big Bang and distribution of the elements throughout both the solar system and the periodic table. To show how elements combine to produce crystal forms, introducing the principles of crystallography and mineralogy. To demonstrate how minerals combine to form rocks. To outline the petrogenesis and variety of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks.

OUTCOMES

The course will provide the student with a fundamental knowledge of rocks and minerals plus a knowledge of the available tools for their identification and the scientific language used in their description.

CONTENT

This course provides an introduction to petrology and will aim to provide an understanding of the compositional variation of the Earth and other terrestrial planets. Topics include:

• rocks, minerals & the rock cycle;
• nucleosynthesis in the early universe;
• meteorites & planetary differentiation;
• crystals and crystal growth;
• silicate melts;
• plutons & plutonic rocks;
• volcano architecture & eruptions;
• lavas;
• pyroclastic rocks;
• sandstones;
• ores & ore minerals;
• limestones & evaporites;
• metamorphic rocks.