Mineralogy of Earth and Planets and Analytical Methods

The course aims to provide students mineralogical topics useful for acquiring in-depth and modern knowledge of the origin, distribution and evolution of minerals in terrestrial and planetary environments.
The main minerals of Earth and Planets will be described. Main topics concern the study of rock-forming minerals in magmatic, metamorphic and sedimentary context and ore minerals. A specific topic is about clay minerals, relevant both for their scientific role as the interface between inorganic and organic environment, and for the importance in the geotechnical and applied fields. The operative procedures of the main mineralogical analytical techniques will be elaborated, in particular the X-ray diffraction

Students will acquire a critical approach in the evaluation and use of minerals as indicators of current and past environmental conditions, as important economic resources and as indicators of the superficial and internal dynamics of the planets. Students will learn the main operating procedures of the mineralogical analytical instruments and data analysis protocols. These techniques will be applied to selected case studies of scientific and applicative interest.