Teaching Mineral Physics Across the Curriculum
Glenn A. Richard, Educational Coordinator, Mineral Physics Institute, SUNY-Stony Brook
Robert C. Liebermann, President, COMPRES--COnsortium for Materials Properties Research in Earth Sciences, SUNY-Stony Brook
This website is for anyone interested in exploring the physical properties of Earth materials, or who would like to study relationships of deep Earth processes to phenomena that occur on the Earth's surface. Applications can be found throughout the geoscience curriculum in diverse fields such as mineralogy, petrology, structural geology, geophysics, seismology, and environmental geochemistry. Although the primary audience is undergraduate geoscience students, there are also topics covered that will be of interest in middle and high school geoscience classes, and for the interested public.
What is Mineral Physics?
Mineral physics is the science of materials that compose the Earth and other planets. Mineral physicists do not always study minerals or use only physics; they employ the principles and techniques from chemistry, physics, materials science and biology to address mineralogical problems and processes within planetary interiors.
Why Teach Mineral Physics?
Research in mineral physics is essential in interpreting observational data from many of the disciplines in the Earth sciences, including geodynamics, seismology, geochemistry, petrology, geomagnetism, and planetary science, as well as materials science and even climate studies, as illustrated in the figure on the right (click on the image to see a larger version).
All of the natural sciences devote a great deal of their focus on processes that occur on the Earth's surface. Our understanding of these processes can be enriched by insight into how the Earth's surface and atmosphere have developed and continue to evolve over time. Much of this evolution is the result of surface manifestations of deep Earth phenomena. Mineral Physics helps us understand the properties of materials that are involved in these deep Earth phenomena, which include:
- Propagation of seismic waves
- Earth's gravitational field
- Earth's magnetic field
- Plate tectonics
- Mantle convection
- Eruptions of kimberlites
- Volcanism
- Hot spots
- Evolution of the Earth's interior
- Release of gases from the Earth's interior into the atmosphere.
Mineral Physics also focuses on properties of materials that may make them economically useful. Some of these properties are:
- Superconductivity
- Optical properties
- Magnetic properties
- Potential for generating, storing, conducting, and releasing energy
- Potential for information storage
- Chemical properties
See Wikipedia: List of materials properties for a list of properties than may be of interest.
Teaching Activities Related to Mineral Physics
From the On the Cutting Edge Teaching Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry collections.
Elasticity and sound wave velocities
- Mineral Physics Activity Sets – J. Michael Brown and Anastasia Chopelas, University of Washington
High-pressure behavior
- Crystal Structures as Geobarometers – Kent Ratajeski, Montana State University
- Calculating Pressures and Temperatures of Petrologic Events: Geothermobarometry – Donna L. Whitney, University of Minnesota
- Progressive Metamorphism of Pelitic Rocks: A Lab Assignment to Facilitate Translation from AFM Space to P-T Space – Jane Selverstone, University of New Mexico
- Working with Electron Microprobe Data from a High Pressure Experiment - Calculating Mineral Formulas, Unit Cell Content, and Geothermometry – Brandon Schwab, Humboldt State University
- Sodium: Stony Brook's Artem Oganov Explains Discoveries - This 16-minute Youtube video explains how sodium changes its properties under pressure.
X-ray diffraction and scattering
- Single Crystal X-Ray Diffraction Tutorial – Christine Clark and Barb Dutrow, Eastern Michigan University and Louisiana State University
- X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRD) -Barbara L. Dutrow and Christine M. Clark, Louisiana State University and Eastern Michigan University
- Mineral Synthesis and X-Ray Diffraction Experiments – Dexter Perkins and Paul Sorensen, University of North Dakota
- Determination of Chemical Composition, State of Order, Molar Volume, and Density of a Monoclinic Alkali Feldspar Using X-Ray Diffraction – Guy L. Horvis, Lafayette College
- Better Living Through Minerals:X-Ray Diffraction of Household Products – Barb Dutrow, Louisiana State University
- Synthetic Alkali Halides - Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota
- Making Solid Solutions with Alkali Halides (and Breaking them) – John Brady, Smith College
Phase transitions in minerals
- Phase Fun with Feldspars : Simple Experiments to Change Chemical Composition, State of Order, and Crystal System – Guy L. Hovis, Lafayette College
- Synthetic Alkali Halides - Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota
- Making Solid Solutions with Alkali Halides (and Breaking them) – John Brady, Smith College
- Sodium: Stony Brook's Artem Oganov Explains Discoveries - This 16-minute Youtube video explains how sodium changes its properties under pressure.
- Stony Brook's Oganov on New Superhard Phase of Boron – This 8-minute YouTube video explains the discovery of a new superhard phase of boron, a major advance described in Nature. Led by Oganov, a research team has discovered a new phase that shows charge transfer from the B2 to the B12 clusters, which thus play the same roles as cations and anions in normal ionic salts.
Phase Equilibria and Phase Diagrams
- Teaching Phase Equilibria Tutorial from Integrating Research and Education – Dave Mogk and Dexter Perkins (editors), Montana State University and University of North Dakota
- Thermodynamics "Crash Course" by Alex Navrotsky, UC Davis, including Outline (Microsoft Word 25kB Jun16 09), and Powerpoint presentations on Fundamentals (PowerPoint 9.4MB Jun18 09), Partial Molar Qualities (PowerPoint 2.7MB Jun18 09), Complex Solid Solutions (PowerPoint 5.9MB Jun18 09), and Phase Diagrams (PowerPoint 5.3MB Jun18 09)
- Phase Equilibria - Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota
- Plagioclase Phase Diagram - Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota
- Crystallization and Melting of Diopside - Anorthite - Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota
- Phase Diagrams in Vivo - Erich U. Peterson, University of Utah
- Phase Diagrams - Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota
- Useful Phase Diagrams - John Brady, Smith College
- Phase diagrams From Kitchen Chemistry - John Brady, Smith College
- Binary Eutectic In-class Exercise (Di-An) - Allen Glazner, Univ. North Carolina
- Constructing a Two Component Phase diagram Using Experimental Data in the Hypothetical System A-B - R.K. Smith, Univ. Texas San Antonio
- Ternary System: Determination of Crystal-Liquid and Crystal-Crystal Proportions Using the Lever and Tangent Rules - R.K. Smith, Univ. Texas San Antonio
- The use of visualization and sketches of thin sections to encourage a better understanding of phase diagrams: Binary and ternary phase diagram exercises - Jennifer M. Wenner and Drew S. Coleman, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and University of North Carolina
- Calculating a Simple Phase Diagram: Diamond=Graphite - Dexter Perkins, University of North Dakota
Defects
- From 2D to 3D: Escher Drawings, Crystallography, Crystal Chemistry, and Crystal "Defects" - Peter Buseck, Arizona State University
Hot Spots
- Is Yellowstone Volcanism Formed by a Deep-Seated Mantle Plume -- Kent Ratajeski, Montana State University
- The Cretaceous Superplume -- Kent Ratajeski, Montana State University
- Testing the Fixed-Hotpsot Moving-Plate Model -- Sara Harris, University of British Columbia
- Hot Spot Lesson--Mantle Plumes -- from the ERESE project.
Instructional Modules
There are a number of instructional modules for teaching about Mineral Physics, developed with the support of COMPRES, the Consortium for Materials Properties Research in Earth Sciences. These modules address a variety of instrumentation, topics, and techniques.
We'd also like to see instructional modules on the following topics:
Phase Transitions
What types (displacive, reconstructive, order-disorder)? Why are they important? Changes in crystal structure, unit cell volume results in density changes... What are the impacts--e.g. seismic structure of crust/mantle.... How can these be used to interpret Earth (e.g. structure state of alkali feldspars as thermometer; aluminosilicates in interpreting metamorphic conditions; SiO2 polymorphs, alpha, beta quartz, cristobalite, coesite....impact and deep crustal burial .... olivine-beta phase and seismic discontinuities...)
Bulk Modulus
What is it, and why is it important? The bulk modulus (K) of a substance is a quantification of its resistance to uniform compression. It can be defined as the change in pressure necessary to cause a specified relative change in volume.
K = -V * ∂p/∂V
where:
- V = volume
- p = pressure
Crystal defects
What are the different types of defects: omission, substitution, Frenkel; point defects, dislocations, etc.; How do these affect physical and chemical processes in Earth? Melting--application in igneous petrology; Deformation mechanisms--application in structural geology, etc....)
New Frontiers (Exciting new Research Results)
What are the really "hot topics" emerging in the field of mineral physics? What is the importance and implications of discovery of post-perovskite on the structure of mantle, coupling with outer core and relation to Earth's magnetic field, electrical conductivity? We would like to encourage development of teaching activities that derive from the primary scientific literature, and demonstrate how data and data products are used to replicate or simulate authentic research results.
Additional Mineral Physics Topics
We are interested in expanding our resource collection in the following areas. If you have a teaching activity, website, article, or course syllabus related to any of these topics, please contribute it using a form on the Mineralogy contribute a resource page.
- Anelasticity (attenuation and dispersion)
- Electrical properties
- Equations of state
- Fracture and flow
- Instruments and techniques:
- Diamond-anvil, high-pressure apparatus
- Multi-anvil, high-pressure apparatus
- Magnetic properties
- Neutron diffraction and scattering
- Neutron sources
- NMR, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and other magnetic techniques
- Optical, infrared, and Raman spectroscopy
- Physical thermodynamics
- Plasticity, diffusion, and creep
- Synchrotron X-radiation sources
- Shock wave experiments
- Surfaces and interfaces
- Thermal expansivity
- Thermal properties
- Transport properties
Contribute a Resource
Please use the following links to contribute a mineralogy resource:
- Contribute a teaching activity: problem sets, laboratory exercises, etc.
- Contribute a URL: links to URLS that contain useful information such as related webpages (e.g. facilities, government agencies, faculty course we bpages), PowerPoints, tutorials, etc.
- Contribute an article: that are recommended for class use; independent study reading, group discussions and presentations....
- Contribute a course syllabus
About this project
Developed as a collaboration between the On the Cutting Edge geoscience faculty professional development program (NSF DUE 06-18482) and the COMPRES program (NSF EAR 06-49658).