Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: OPTICAL MINERALOGY AND PETROGRAPHY

Department: *Earth Science*

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Course Type: Laboratory

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisite(s): ESCI 322

Description: This is a lab course focused on the identification of minerals with petrographic microscopy. Principles of crystallography, mineral optics, and mineral chemistry will be covered in the first third of the course. The second third of the course will focus on the identification of minerals in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks with emphasis on petrogenetic interpretation. The last third of the course will involve each student working on specific petrologic themes in the context of regional tectonics or magmatic processes. Taught every other Fall.