Analytical Methods in the Earth Sciences

Instructor:
Bereket Haileab
bhaileab@carleton.edu

Class Meetings
Friday? 1:30 – 5:30 PM

Required Books and Materials:
None. All readings will be in the form of handouts.

Grading and Evaluations
20% - Lab Reports (4)
40% - Term Project
40% - Class Participation

Overview
This course is intended to present the theory behind various analytical techniques and to give the student practical experience using modern various analytical instrumentation techniques. Topics to be covered include:

1. Petrographic Microscopy and Mineral Identification
2. X-Ray Diffraction
3. X-Ray Fluorescence
4. Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy
5. Ion Chromatography

Lab Reports
A small group writeup (~2 pages) will be expected reporting on the results of the 4 major lab sessions (petrography, XRD mineral identification, XRF chemical analysis, and water chemistry). You will be given a specific question to answer for each report.

Term Project – Research Proposal

The goal of this project is to come up with independent research topics and the procedure required for that research. A ~3 page writeup and a bibliography will be due at the end of the term. Students will submit research ideas 5th week. The final paper should show extensive familiarity with the background of the research topic (you will need to spend a few evenings in the library with a handy copy card), and an ability to apply the techniques and approaches learned in this course.

Dates to remember:

January 30th- Submit a 1 paragraph proposal asking a question, any question you have about any aspect of geology. Each student will schedule a time to review the nature of that question with Bereket or Ben. It is strongly encouraged to have done some library research ahead of time on the topic.

March 15th- Paper is due on the last day of finals.

Further research:

If you have interest, you can arrange to continue work on your term projects over spring break and perform a spring term independent study, in which you perform the research project you outline in the course.

Course Schedule (tentative)

• * Indicates lab report due following week
• (M) Indicates class held on Monday. Class meets Friday unless otherwise noted.