Plagioclase Phase Diagram

Dexter Perkins

University of North Dakota

This activity is part of the On the Cutting Edge Peer Reviewed Teaching Activities collection. (view details)

This activity was selected for the On the Cutting Edge Reviewed Teaching Collection

This activity has received positive reviews in a peer review process involving five review categories. The five categories included in the process are

Scientific Accuracy
Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
Pedagogic Effectiveness
Robustness (usability and dependability of all components)
Completeness of the ActivitySheet web page

For more information about the peer review process itself, please see https://serc.carleton.edu/teachearth/activity_review.html.

Initial Publication Date: August 7, 2006 | Reviewed: January 19, 2015 (see revision history: 2 events)

Summary

This short exercise involves the binary plagioclase "two-phase loop" phase diagram.

Phase Equilibria/Thermodynamics, Mineralogy | College Lower (13-14), College Upper (15-16)

Expand for more detail and links to related resources

Share your modifications and improvements to this activity through the Community Contribution Tool »

Context

Audience

This exercise is designed for a mid/upper-level undergraduate geology course on the principles of mineralogy.

Skills and concepts that students must have mastered

Students should have knowledge of basic chemistry and of minerals equivalent to what they would learn in an introductory geology class.

How the activity is situated in the course

This activity is the 12th of 36 mineralogy exercises and is used towards the beginning of the course.

Goals

Content/concepts goals for this activity

Students learn how to interpret the plagioclase phase diagram.

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

Learn how to translate a phase diagram into something meaningful.

Other skills goals for this activity

Description of the activity/assignment

In this short exercise, students examine the plagioclase phase diagram and answer questions about melt composition, temperature and cooling, crystalization, and melt:crystal ratios.