Planetary Materials

Professor Brad Jolliff

Office: Rudolph Hall Room 340

Course Number – EPS 567, Fall 2017, Room 333

Course Description:

In-depth look at planetary suites of materials from the Moon, Mars, Vesta, and selected other achondrite meteorite groups, as well as chondrites and their components. Mineralogy, geochemistry, petrography, petrology, and geochronology of samples and their geologic & planetary settings. Relationships between samples and orbital mineralogical and geochemical data. Comparative planetology and origins.

Credits: 3, taught via three one hour lectures per week or two 1.5 hour lectures per week

Pre-requisites: EPS 352 Earth Materials and 437 Petrology or Permission of Instructor

Textbooks: Will provide electronic and some other materials

Supplemental reading: Selected recent journal issues and articles

Semester Project: Analytical and writing. Analyze a rock sample (prepared polished sample, lunar, martian, HED or other meteorite (depending on availability) or terrestrial analog) for petrographic and microbeam analysis (EPMA and possibly scanning laser Raman spectroscopy) or other geochemical analysis. On basis of analysis, interpret origin. Result: short paper write-up (8-10 pages).

Exams: 2, 20% each

Project: 20% - Grade will be based 1/3 on analytical work and 1/3 on written report, 1/3 on class presentation.

Class Participation: 15%

Case Studies and Homework: 25%

Syllabus

Course Outline: Planetary Materials, Preliminary
Week	Topic	Other
1	Overview of Planetary Sample Suites	PM Ch 1; McSween Ch 1,2 (p. 1-76)
2	Lunar Samples, Mineralogy	RIM Ch. 5; Assign Project (analytical)
3	Lunar Samples, Geochemistry	RIM Ch. 5, cont; Lunar Thin Sections
4	Lunar Samples, Apollo vs. Meteorites	McSween 137-140, 153-162; Korotev
5	Martian Meteorites, Mineralogy; Exam 1	McS paper; McS 131-136, 173-182
6	Martian Meteorites, Geochemistry	PM Ch 6
7	Martian Surface Analyses (in-situ)	J. Bell Book papers
8	Martian Remote Sensing Min. & Geochem.
9	Meteorite Groups & Classification	Meteorite Sample Thin Section Set
10	Chondrites and their Parent Bodies	Meteorite Thin Section Set
11	Achondrites (HEDs & others), Vesta,
12	Iron and Stony Iron Meteorites
13	Construction and Evolution of Planets
14	Student Presentations of Term Projects	Project results due, short paper
15	Comparative Planetology & Predictions
	Exam Week or last week of class	Exam 2

Topics will include case studies, including group discussion of assigned readings.

When meeting in three one-hour sessions per week, typically one of the three sessions will be devoted to case studies or labs.