Rocks and Minerals through the Microscope
tutor: Mike Horne
for the Centre for Life Long Learning
University of Hull
course code - U0802PS
Course starts Wednesday 14th January 2009 - ten Wednesday evenings from 7 - 30pm until 9 - 30pm at the University of Hull, Department of Geography.
Please enroll before the course starts
This course provides an opportunity for students to discover the exciting world of rocks and minerals as they appear through the microscope. Students will use equipment that is not normally available to the amateur and specimens from the University's collection, to reach a deeper understanding of the rocks and minerals.
topics covered will incude:
Introduction to the main classes of rock types.
Rock textures in hand specimen.
How to prepare thin sections.
How to use a polarising microscope.
The optical properties of minerals visible using a polarising microscope - crystal shape, colour, birefringence, pleochroism, etc.
The common rock forming minerals in thin section, such as quartz, feldspar, micas, calcite, etc. and some rarer minerals.
The optical properties of rocks - mineralogy, texture, grain size, etc.
Some of the more common rock types - such as granite, basalt, slate, gneiss, marble, limestone, and sandstones. etc.
Each class will normally consist of one hour of lectures/talks with the aid of slides, OHP, video-microscope, and demonstrations. Followed by one hour of practical work, with personal advice from the tutor, using specimens and thin sections in the University collection.
Students will be asked to keep a record of the rocks they study and write a report on one of the topics covered in the class. More experienced students may prefer to undertake a project on an aspect the subject that interests them.
recommended reading: (these books and others will be available in a Book Box)
Penguin Dictionary of Geology
W S Mackenzie & A E Adams 1994, Rocks and Minerals in Thin Section
D Dixon 2000, Beginner's guide to geology
Preparing thin sections by hand
(Risk assessment for laboratory work)
Last run January 2003 and January 2006
