Office of Academic Affairs
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Berhampur
EES 311: Mineralogy Laboratory (2)
Prerequisites:EES 301 either credited or registered
Learning Objectives:
Since minerals are the basic building blocks of earth materials, this course is designed to give the student a fundamental background in minerals, necessary to understand Earth processes. The students will learn the identification of minerals in hand samples and thin sections as well as identification of the crystallographic and optical properties of the minerals.
Course Contents:
Unit-1: Physical Properties of Minerals
Color, luster, streak, form, cleavage, fracture, hardness, other relevant properties of specific minerals.
Color and pleochroism, habit, relief, cleavage, extinction type and angle, interference figures,
interference colors, and other properties etc.; Identification of rock-forming minerals using a polarizing
microscope.
Unit-2: X-Ray Diffraction:
Sample Preparation, Analyses of X-Ray Diffractometer Measurements.
Identification of Common Minerals of these Groups:
Suggested Readings :
- Mottana, A., Crespi, R., and Liborio, G., 1978, Simon and Schuster’s Guide to Rocks and Minerals (6 th edition), Fireside Books.
- Nesse, W. D., 2014, Introduction to Optical Mineralogy (4 th Edition), Oxford University Press.
- Dana, J. D., 2008, Manual of Mineralogy and Petrology, Palala Press.
- Mackenzie, W. S., and Adams, A. E., A Colour Atlas of Rocks and Minerals in Thin Section (2 nd Edition), Manson Publishing Ltd.
- Klein, C., 2007, Minerals and Rocks: Exercises in Crystal and Mineral Chemistry, Crystallography, X-ray Powder Diffraction, Mineral and Rock Identification, and Ore Mineralogy (3 rd Edition), Wiley.
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