Semester:
Offered:
How igneous rocks form and reveal the processes and fluxes involved in the circulation of the solid Earth. The course begins with the essential elements of igneous petrology, rock description and nomenclature, mineralogy, phase diagrams, processes of melting and crystallization, trace elements. We then consider the formation of igneous rocks at modern igneous settings, spreading centers, convergent margins and ocean islands. We conclude with investigations of igneous phenomenon of the past, such as large igneous flood basalt provinces, anorthosites, komatites and the igneous history of the Moon.
Notes
Includes a weekly three-hour lab to be arranged. This course fulfills the EPS sub-discipline requirement of Geology, Geophysics and Planetary Science. Given in alternate years.
Exam Group
FAS10_F