Prerequisites:

Course Contents

This course will focus on the processes and principles involved in the generation of Earth materials, in particular, igneous and metamorphic rocks. Students will gain a broad overview of the Earth as dynamic system that produces a variety of igneous and metamorphic rocks in a wide range of tectonic settings with emphasis on developing skills necessary to understand and evaluate melt generation and crystallization, differentiation and chemical evolution of magma, and metamorphic processes etc. Topics to be discussed in detail are: Classification and Nomenclature of Igneous Rocks; Textures and Petrogenetic Interpretations; Thermodynamic evaluation of phase diagrams; Phase Rule and One Component System; Phase Diagrams for Binary Systems (Solid solution, Eutectic, and Peritectic systems) such as Forsterite Fayalite, Albite Anorthite, Diopside Anorthite, Orthoclase Albite, and Forsteritesilica; Three component Systems (Anorthite Diopside Forsterite, and Anorthite Forsteritesilica); Effect of P, T & fluids on Melting; Chemical Petrology: Major and minor element, and isotopic compositional variations; graphical and mathematical models of magma evolution; Fractionation of trace elements during melting and crystallization; Rare Earth Element (REE) patterns and modeling source magma composition; Generation and diversification of magmas; Mid Ocean Ridge Volcanism; Mantle Plumes and Ocean Island Basalts; Subduction related Arc magma generation; Types of metamorphism; Classification of metamorphic rocks; textures; Metamorphic mineral assemblages and chemographic (ACF, AKF, and AFM) diagrams; Metamorphic Facies; Metamorphic Reactions.

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