Learn to calculate
percentage ionic bonding using electronegativity.
Define coordination
number.
Learn how to use the radius
ratio rule to predict coordination number.
Understand Pauling's rules
and use them to rationalize crystal structures.
Learn about covalent
bonding in minerals and hybridization of orbitals.
Learn about the systematics of
silicate structures.
Ionic substitutions in
crystals
Learn to use Goldschmidt's
rules to predict elemental substitutions in minerals.
Understand coupled
substitutions.
Define incompatible and
compatible trace elements.
Distinguish among
camouflage, capture and admission.
Weathering: Dissolution
Learn to use the
solubility product to calculate the solubilities of
simple salts.
Learn to use the
saturation index to determine if a water might be in
equilibrium with a mineral.
Understand the common-ion
effect.
Weathering: Redox
reactions
Define oxidation and
reduction.
Learn rules for assigning
oxidation states to elements in compounds.
Learn to balance
oxidation-reduction reactions.
Learn about acid-mine
drainage.
Define Eh and learn to use
the Nernst equation.
Learn to construct and use
Eh-pH diagrams.
Weathering: Acid
hydrolysis
Learn that weathering
reactions are acid-base reactions between carbonic acid
and rock-forming minerals.
Learn about the role of
acid hydrolysis in regulating atmospheric CO2.
Weathering: Kinetics
Understand the controls on
the rates of weathering.
Solid products of
weathering
Learn about the structure
and properties of clay minerals.
Discover how clay
mineralogy in soils is related to climatic factors.
Learn about uses of clays
in environmental remediation.
Chemistry of continental
waters
Discover controls of
behavior of elements in river and other surface waters.
Define ionic strength and
alkalinity.
Comprehend the effects of
acidification of continental waters.
Reading
Assignment
This
topic will take many weeks to complete. In general, you
should follow relevant sections of Chapter 3 in Andrews et al. (1996)
(1st. ed.) or Chapters 4 and 5 in Andrews et al.
(2004) (2nd. ed.) as we
go along. In addition, you also should read the
following chapters in Faure (1998) as we discuss each
subtopic in class:
If
you are using Andrews et al. (2004) (2nd. ed.), you are
not responsible for the following sections of
Chapter 4: Box 4.10, pp. 112-140; but you are
responsible for Boxes 4.13 and 4.15. Similarly, you are
not responsible for the following sections of
Chapter 5: pp. 161-180. However, you are responsible for
everything else in Chapter 4 and 5.
