GEOL3315 -- IGNEOUS/METAMORPHIC PETROLOGY
http://www.geo.utep.edu/pub/jasper/petrology
Instructor: Dr. Jasper Konter
Office:
Phone:
Email*:
GEOL 404a
747-5507
jgkonter@utep.edu
Office Hours:
TBA
*Note: I cannot guarantee prompt response on webCT, so please use above email address for
electronic communication
Course lecture day/time: MW 8:30 – 9.20 am (23432)
Lab time: M 9.30–12.30 pm (25405), or 3.00–5.50 pm (23433)
or W 11.30 – 2.30 pm (24897), or 2.30-5.30 pm (26786)
Room: GEOL. 123, lab in GEOL 320 (backroom with microscopes).
Course Ref. Number: 23432
Course Description: Study of the formation of rocks. Starting from Earth’s structure and which
rocks go where in the planet, we will work our way through making both igneous and metamorphic
rocks, where the minerals involved and the rock and mineral chemistry will be the main topics. This
class also has a laboratory associated that you will be expected to attend and participate in.
Prerequisites: Mineralogy will help.
Laboratory: Register for and attend the scheduled laboratory sessions. Lab sections begin
meeting on the 2nd week of classes. The lab TAs are:
Lauren Storm -- lpstorm@miners.utep.edu
Valerie Finlayson -- vafinlayson@miners.utep.edu
Required Textbook:
Title: An introduction to igneous and metamorphic petrology
Author: Winter
Publisher: Prentice Hall, 2001
Class Policies
Attendance: While attendance will not be taken in class, we will have a regular in-class quiz
(Question of the Day) that will require your participation (see grading policy below). In
addition, some aspects of the course material will be covered in more detail in class than is given the
text, so it is highly recommended that you actually attend the lectures.
Grading: See below for more information on grading policy. Note that this lecture course is
67% of your grade. The laboratory course makes up the remaining 33%.
+
Question of the Day
Mid-Term Exam 1
Mid-Term Exam 2
Final Exam
7%
20%
20%
20%
Laboratory grade
33%
Lecture = 67%
100%
Letter grade breakdown:
A = 90%+
B = 80 – 89%
C = 70 – 79%
D = 60 – 69%
F = < 60%
Question of the Day: We will set up a schedule, where one-by-one each student will have to
come up with a review question covering the material of the previous lecture. The student responsible
for the question should email me their question before lecture for approval. The rest of the
class will have to answer the question and turn in their answer. After that the student that
designed the question will explain the answer. The question will be posed at the beginning of
the lecture and everyone will have a few minutes to write down the answer, after which they
will all be collected. The questions will count a total of 7% toward your grade (each correct
question counts as 1%), after which you can gain up to 3 points (3%) for extra credit.
Laboratory assignments: Assignments will be due for the labs. Each assignment will have
a specified “due date”, which will typically be one week after the assignment is given. Labs must
be turned in at the BEGINNING OF LAB. NO LATE LABS WILL BE ACCEPTED.
No labs may be submitted through email unless prior arrangements have been made (with an
excused absence).
Free-lab-pass: Your lowest graded lab will not be counted in your final grade tally. This
means that you have ONE no-questions-asked excused lab. If you are late with one of the labs
(did not turn it in at the beginning of the lab on the due date), that will count toward your free-
lab-pass, and you will have no more excused labs, so all other forgotten, late etc labs will count
as a “0”.
Lab format: must be LEGIBLE. Messy work will not be tolerated and will be returned
without a grade. Correct grammar and spelling will be expected and deductions will be taken
for ambiguous or incomprehensible answers.
Late labs: Because the lowest lab grade is dropped (see above), late work will NOT be
accepted.
Working together on homework: Studies have shown that students learn best when they
work together. We encourage you to work with each other on assignments. However, each
student must turn in his or her own assignment, written using his or her own words. Any
student who fails to follow this rule will receive zero credit for the question, and if the offense
is severe, for the assignment. Plagiarism will be reported to the Dean of Students – see below.
Exams: There will be two Midterm exams and one final exam. The exams will each cover
only the preceeding section of labs and lectures.
Make-up/early exams: Make-up exams will not be given except when a student misses the exam
for a legitimate reason, such as illness or family emergency (a doctor's note is required in the
case of illness). Please contact me as soon as possible if such a situation arises. Anyone with
sporting event conflicts must provide at least 2 weeks notice with appropriate signed
paperwork.
Note that make-up and/or early exams will be substantially more difficult than the standard exam given
to the rest of the class.
Drop Policy: The course drop deadline is March 30. The last day to completely withdraw
from all courses is May 3. You will need to fill out a Drop Card with the Registrar’s Office to
drop the course. Non-attendance will NOT result in being dropped, but you will get zeros for
the remaining work and likely fail the class.
Plagiarism: Blind copying of intellectual material (text) from resources such as books,
journals and the internet is plagiarism and is illegal. Instead you should write things in your own
words with a proper reference to your source. If any exercises or labs require you to look up
an answer in something else than the class textbook, I will expect you to reference the source
and write in your own words. Any plagiarized work will receive “0” for the whole assignment and
cannot be redone or made up, and will be reported to the university (Dean of Students).
Students with Disabilities: If you think that you may have a disability or if you are
experiencing learning difficulties, please contact the Disabled Student Services Office (915-7475148, voice or TTY), in the Union East, Room 106.
Tentative schedule
Week Dates
1
18-Jan
Lecture Topic
Introduction & Earth structure
Chapter
1
No lab week 1
2
23-Jan
25-Jan
Earth structure continued & Classification
1
Textures in igneous rocks
2
3
Lab: Common igneous minerals & microscopes
3
30-Jan
Magma properties
4
1-Feb
Field relations
4
Lab: Common igneous minerals & microscopes Ctnd
4
6-Feb
Phase diagrams 1
6
8-Feb
Phase diagrams 2
7
Lab: Field trip Transmountain road
5
13-Feb
Phase diagrams 3
7
15-Feb
Major Elements
8
Lab: Transmountain thin sections
6
20-Feb
Review
22-Feb
Midterm 1
Lab: Suswa
7
27-Feb
Trace elements & Isotopes
9
29-Feb
Traces, isotopes and modeling
9
Lab: Geochemistry lab (Georoc/PETDB)
8
5-Mar
Magma generation
10
7-Mar
Magma diversification 1
11
Lab: Juan de Fuca (MOR)
9
10
12-Mar
SPRING
14-Mar
BREAK
19-Mar
Magma diversification 2
11
21-Mar
Volcanic rocks & tectonic setting
background:1220
Lab: Fractionation and crystallization
11
26-Mar
Catch-up day/Finish rocks & settings
28-Mar
Review
Lab: Samoa/Microprobe lab – pending new technician
12
2-Apr
Midterm 2
4-Apr
Metamorpic rocks intro
21
Lab: Common metamorphic minerals
13
9-Apr
Metamorpic rocks continued
21
11-Apr
Classification 2 & facies
22, 25
Lab: Common metamorphic minerals
14
16-Apr
Thermodynamics
5, 27
18-Apr
Metamorphic structures & textures
23
Lab: Interpreting Microprobe data (Transmountain)
15
16
23-Apr
Metamorphic structures & textures 2
23
25-Apr
Metamorphic assemblages
24
30-Apr
Lab: Interpreting Microprobe data (own) +
thermobarometry
Metamorphic reactions
26
2-May
Review
Lab: Interpreting Microprobe data & catch-up
17
7-May
Final Monday May 7th 10am - 12.45pm