This course introduces students to the basic concepts of Medical Geology/Geochemistry. Medical Geology/Geochemistry is the study of the interaction between abundances of elements and isotopes and the health of humans and plants.

This activity is a stand-alone problem set that involves converting mineral formulas to mole and weight %. The results are plotted on diagrams, some of which require projections. Students are asked to consider when they would use such diagrams, and also the shortcomings of projections.

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Each spring, students in a 300-level field course collect samples from urban community gardens to monitor soil lead concentrations.

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Two sections in the Mountain View of the Stillwater Complex are readily accessible for field-based teaching of petrologic and geochemical principles: (a) a section through the Ultramafic series in the vicinity of the old Mouat Chrome Mine and (b) a section through the Banded series exposed on the mine road  mile south of the junction with the West Fork USFS road. Both sections provide ideal field settings to demonstrate a number of relatively simple concepts that we commonly discuss in abstract terms in the classroom. To this end, the Mountain View field site has many advantages: it is readily accessible to large numbers of students, the rocks are well exposed and unaltered, detailed maps are readily available, there is a very large petrologic and geochemical database, a number of seminal papers on this area have been published, the mineralogy is simple and the constituent minerals in all rock types are easily identified with a simple 10x hand lens. In addition, this area demonstrates the importance of the Stillwater Complex as a major economic resource.

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The NAVDAT project is compiling existing age, chemical, and isotopic data from Late Cretaceous to Holocene extrusive and intrusive igneous rocks from the western United States, British Columbia, and northern Mexico into a web-accessible electronic database. NAVDAT will be integrated into a geographic information system (GIS) to allow visualization of complex age-compositional patterns in volcanism throughout the study region. The addition of necessary relational and graphical tools will allow users of the database to address a wide variety of issues concerning the geologic evolution and present volcanic state of western North America.

This assignment is ostensibly about geothermometry, but is also part of a sequence of assignments where students learn about mineral components -- what they represent (in regards to solid solution phenomena especially), and how they calculated. I begin with olivine because its components are simple, and reasonably good thermometers do not require long equations. I also use this assignment to teach about binary solid solutions and phase diagrams, though the interpretations of such are based within other assignments.

This is part of a sequence of assignments where students learn about mineral components -- what they represent (in regards to solid solution phenomena especially), and how they calculated. Though students will not use a binary solid solution diagram per se, I use this HW assignment to re-emphasize such concepts. This assignment also allows students to begin tests of equilibrium, so they must understand the concept and use of an equilibrium constant.

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This activity is a Web investigation and research exercise starting with the 2003-present Anatahan volcanic eruptions in the Mariana arc, and concluding with a petrologic examination of published Mariana arc lavas data sets.

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In this lab exercise, students use and substantial spreadsheet of major, minor and trace element data compiled from studies of the Dinkey Creek pluton (Sierra Nevada batholith) and its microgranular mafic enclaves. The use of the Excel Add-in Petroplot is a must for this exercise to save time. The Petroplot Add-in and its instructions can be found at the following web site: Petroplot Add-in

Some familiarity with Excel is assumed. I've included a handout introducing the problem and discussing mafic enclaves in the Sierra Nevada batholith. Pictures of typical enclaves are provided and can be dumped into Powerpoint for lecture purposes. Several questions [and answers] about to the student-produced graphs are included, but certainly are not exhaustive. The utility of the exercise is to familiarize students with major and trace element discrimination diagrams and spreadsheet databases as tools to consider if magma mixing can explain the origin of the mafic enclaves in this pluton.

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Explore naturally occurring frozen methane deposits under the sea with renowned geochemist Miriam Kastner and discover whether or not they are a hazard to climate change. (53 minutes)

The pet rock project is a semester-long project in which each student randomly selects an igneous or metamorphic rock from the instructor or brings in a rock from an appropriate locality, and follows all of the steps a petrologist would take to interpret an igneous or metamorphic rock from an unknown area. This project runs in the background of the petrology class during the initial part of the semester while the student acquires the petrologic skills to make more sophisticated interpretations. The culmination of the project is for each student to spend several hours with the instructor using the electron microprobe to identify more difficult minerals with certainty, to produce high quality digital backscattered electron images and to obtain quantitative electron microprobe analyses of selected minerals that aid in the interpretation of the pet rock. Ultimately, the student interprets the rock, generally with the assistance of the instructor, writes a report explaining the process and results and presents the results to the class.

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This is a laboratory-style investigation wherein students examine the petrography and major-element geochemistry of 6 samples of mid-ocean ridge basalt and related differentiated lavas recovered from the Cleft segment of southern Juan de Fuca Ridge, a medium spreading-rate MOR in the northeast Pacific Ocean. Lava types range from basalt to dacite.

After some initial background information on basalts, the MOR environment, and the study area students investigate four thin sections, beginning with typical basalts and ending with a dacite. They are led through a series of directed questions that help them gain familiarity with commonly occurring minerals and textures in mid-ocean ridge lavas. Questions direct students toward the interpretation of quench-related textural features and crystallization sequence, as well as a few other textural observations and petrographic techniques. After proceeding through the initial four thin sections and associated questions student are then asked to undertake "full thin-section descriptions" of the remaining two samples.Â

After investigating the thin-sections and determining a possible crystallization sequence from the petrographic data gathered (plagioclase followed by olivine followed by augitic clinopyroxene followed by pigeonite), students examine a P-T phase diagram to constrain possible pressures of formation. Discovering that crystallization pressures were low (less than ~ 0.75 GPa) students then examine a phase diagram of the olivine-plagioclase-augite-quartz system (olivine-quartz-augite ternary, projected from the plane of plagioclase saturation) [Walker, 1979]. Students draw 2 possible liquid lines of descent (LLD) onto the diagram, and then use their petrographic observations to qualitatively plot the samples along that LLD, determining a relative sequence of chemical evolution for the suite of samples. Lastly, given those determinations, student graph the major element data for the lava suite to infer paths of chemical evolution and the effects of fractional crystallization (possibly coupled with magma mixing).

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This undergraduate petrology course surveys the distribution, chemical composition, and mineral associations in rocks of the earth's crust and upper mantle, and establishes its relation to tectonic environment. The emphasis of the course is on the use of chemistry and physics to interpret rock forming processes.

Pre-lab material provides background on the Hawaiian hotspot and the current eruption utilizing maps, diagrams, information, photographs, and video footage of the Pu'u 'Ō'ō-Kupaianaha eruption with written questions that test understanding of this material.
Examination of hand samples and thin-sections of lavas from a distinct interval of the Pu'u 'Ō'ō-Kupaianaha eruption with group partners in lab.
Working within groups assigned to particular intervals of the eruption to make time-series analyses of whole-rock geochemistry from the Pu'u 'Ō'ō-Kupaianaha eruption to evaluate crustal processes of magmatic evolution.
Interpretation and synthesis of background information, petrography, and geochemistry, and presentation of results and interpretation with group partners at the beginning of the next lab period.

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Pre-lab material provides background on the Hawaiian hotspot and the current eruption utilizing maps, diagrams, information, photographs, and video footage of the Pu'u 'Ō'ō eruption with written questions that test understanding of this material.
Examination of hand samples (available on request) and photomicrographs of lavas from a distinct interval of the Pu'u 'Ō'ō eruption with group partners in lab.
Working within groups assigned to particular intervals of the eruption to make time-series analyses of lava geochemistry from the Pu'u 'Ō'ō eruption to evaluate crustal processes of magmatic evolution.
Interpretation and synthesis of background information, petrography, and geochemistry, and presentation of results and interpretation with group partners at the beginning of the next lab period.

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In this multi-week project, students collect samples in the field, analyze them using various tools and instruments, then present their results and interpretations.

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This course discusses phase transitions in Earth's interior. Phase transitions in Earth materials at high pressures and temperatures cause the seismic discontinuities and affect the convections in the Earth's interior. On the other hand, they enable us to constrain temperature and chemical compositions in the Earth's interior. However, among many known phase transitions in mineral physics, only a few have been investigated in seismology and geodynamics. This course reviews important papers about phase transitions in mantle and core materials.

The Central American volcanic arc displays large arc-parallel variations in chemical composition that yield important clues concerning the complex origin of magmas in subduction zones. In this exercise, students use data compiled for the NSF MARGINS program to compare heights, volumes, and whole-rock compositions of 39 Quaternary volcanic centers along the Central American arc, together with crustal thicknesses, to assess the possible sources of the magmas and the petrologic processes that have modified them prior to eruption.

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This set of problems involves calculations of changes in radiogenic isotope ratios. It requires students to understand the concept of an isochron and how isotope ratios change (or do not change) during magma mixing and crystal fractionation.

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This activity provides an approach to teach field methods that is programmed to avoid common pitfalls in teaching field methods to students. The two common problems that are avoided is familiarity with equipment and improved group function.

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In this exercise, students use a data table of depth, porosity, Pb-210 activity, CaCO3 concentration, 14C age and d13C values to calculate mass accumulation rates, linear sedimentation rates, CaCO3 dissolution and contributions of terrestrial vs aquatic organic matter in a hypothetical coastal sediment core.

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