2019/2020

2019/2020

DM270

GEO/06 (MINERALOGY)

DEPARTMENT OF EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

APPLIED GEOLOGICAL SCIENCES

PERCORSO COMUNE

1°

1st semester (01/10/2019 - 15/01/2020)

6

48 lesson hours

Italian

ORAL TEST

ALVARO MATTEO (titolare) - 6 ECTS

basic mineralogy, petrology

Basic knowledge (undergraduate level) of symmetry, crystal structure and chemical composition of minerals.

Basic knowledge (undergraduate level) of phase diagrams, mineral phase stability in the inner Earth and mineral phase transformations at P and T

Understanding the role of meteorites as chunks of extraterrestrial rock and metal that periodically hit our planet without a geological context and without a “label” identifying their places of origin.
Acquiring enough information that allow to make guesses about the identity of their parent body. Learning, through the study of meteorites and their classification, important details about the formative processes of the solar system itself.

Lectures: (5 CFU)
Introduction to meteorites: what is a meteorite and classification.
Condrites: definition, age and chemistry, classification (clans and groups), hints on chondrule structure, matrix and refractory inclusions; thermal metamorphism and petrologic types; condensation sequence of minerals from a cooling nebular gas of cosmic composition.
Chondrite parent bodies: hints on asteroids and comets, reflectance spectra; onion shell and rubble pile models; cooling rates.
Achondrites: definition; information on magmatic processes provided by rare-earth elements concentration and by oxygen isotopes; HED association (eurites, diogenites, howardites; hints on crystallization ages and source region composition); SNC meteorites (hints on basaltic shergottites, lherzolitic shergottites, nakhlites, chassignite and ALH84001 meteorites; REE pattern); lunar meteorites; hints on AL meteorites and ureilites.
Achondrite parent bodies: the Moon (terrae and maria; ferroan anorthosits, magnesian suite and alkali anorthosites; mare basalts); HED parent body (stratigraphy, cooling rates); SNC parent body (duration of volcanic activity and planet size); hints on Mars.
Iron and stony-iron meteorites: iron-nickel alloys and phase diagram of iron-nickel system below 1000°C; structural classification (hexahedrites, octahedrites and ataxites) and chemical groups; Widmanstätten pattern and metallographic cooling rates; hints on silicate inclusions; stony-irons: pallasites and mesosiderites.
Iron and stony-iron parent bodies: metallographic cooling rates for various groups of iron and stony-iron meteorites and burial depth; hypotheses on pallasites and mesosiderites formation; reflectance spactra of metallic asteroids.
Meteorites Odyssey and cosmic-ray exposure: hints on Kirkwood gaps and cosmic-ray exposure ages.

During the course some additional seminars on Planetary Science research topics are planned. Moreover a visit to the Planetary Science Museum in Prato, which contains one of the most important meteorite collection in Italy will be organized.

Practicals (1 CFU): the teacher has requested Prof. G. Pratesi of Florence University for the loan of Lunar and meteorite thin sections set during the teaching period. This set of thin sections, belonging to the collection of the Natural Historic Museum of Florence University, is especially devoted for the observations in University courses. These will allow students to characterize at the polarized microscope the different types of meteorites and lunar samples on the basis of their parageneses and textures.

regular lessons + lessons with the support of microscope observations

Meteorites and their Parent Planets
2nd Edition

AUTHOR: Harry Y. McSween, University of Tennessee, KnoxvilleDATE PUBLISHED: April 1999AVAILABILITY: AvailableFORMAT: PaperbackISBN: 9780521587518

One tutor will help students during practicals and for the preparation of the final exam. The final exam is a written test consisting in i) three questions about the entire program of the course and ii) the description of the identification of a meteorite/ lunar sample looking at the photo of one thin section among them studied during the practicals.
At the end of the course, in January, the teacher will be available with students for further discussion and clarification on lectures and practicals.