Syllabus

PNS0134 Minerals in soils and sediments and their X-ray identification and quantification, 5.0 Credits

Subjects

Education cycle

Grading scale

Language

Prior knowledge

Objectives

After the course, the PhD student should be familiar with the main groups of minerals most commonly encountered in soils and sediments and have a basic knowledge of their structures properties, occurrence and origins. They will understand how minerals are defined and classified. Students will also understand basic diffraction theory and gain a practical knowledge of how to identify minerals by X-ray diffraction methods, particularly how these methods and ancillary techniques are applied to clay mineral identification. They will also have a basic understanding of the principles and methods of using X-ray powder diffraction to quantify minerals.

Content

The course will cover the basic concepts necessary to understand what minerals are and how they are classified according to their crystal structures and compositions. It will explain how these features affect mineral properties, and in turn how such properties may influence the properties of soils and sediments. Emphasis will be placed on mineral groups that are of the most common occurrence in soils and sediments. The structure and properties of different clay minerals will be covered in detail along with the classification of clay minerals. The origins of minerals in soils and sediments will be explained in terms of the concepts of neoformation, transformation and inheritance. X-ray methods and identification of minerals, particularly clay minerals, will be covered in some detail including practical exercises. Students will also learn the basics of how to quantify minerals in soils and sediments by the application of X-ray powder diffraction methods.

Additional information

Responsible department

Department of Soil and Environment