502179 - PETROGRAPHY

courses

ID:

502179

Duration (hours):

128

CFU:

SSD:

PETROLOGIA E PETROGRAFIA

Year:

2025

Date/time interval

Secondo Semestre (02/03/2026 - 12/06/2026)

Course Objectives

The student should be able to: (i) analyze and characterize magmatic, metamorphic and mantle rocks, from the outcrop to the microscopic scale, (ii) write a petrographic report, and (iii) understand the basic relations between plate tectonics and magmatic and metamorphic processes.

Course Prerequisites

Students are expected to have followed the course of Mineralogy. The required notions are: (i) rock-forming minerals; (ii) physical properties of minerals; (iii) chemical formulae of main silicates; (iv) identification of minerals under the petrographic optical microscope.

Teaching Methods

The course consists of lectures, carried out through PowerPoint presentations, laboratory exercises and field exercises. Laboratory exercises include the study of rocks at the macroscopic and the microscopic scale. The microscopic analysis will be performed with a polarized light microscope (transmitted light). Exercises will involve not only teachers but also tutor students.

Assessment Methods

The assessment of learning outcomes takes place during the course, with four tests “in itinere”. There are two tests on theoretical concepts, both consisting of a series of multiple-choice questions. The remaining two tests mainly consist in writing a petrographic report, at the hand sample and the microscopic scale. The final grade will be the weighted average of the grades obtained in the four tests. Alternatively, the exam consists of a written report (petrographic study of a rock sample both at the hand-sample and the microscopic scale) and an oral test on the theoretical topics.

Texts

- Earth Materials, Introduction to mineralogy and petrology. Cornelis Klein & Anthony Philpotts. Cambridge University Press.
- Introduzione alla petrografia ottica. Angelo Peccerillo & Diego Perugini. Morlacchi editore.
To integrate:
- Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology, Wiley, Myron G. Best.
- Igneous petrogenesis - A global tectonic approach. Marjorie Wilson. Chapman & Hall.
The texts are available at "Biblioteca delle Scienze e della Tecnica".

Lectures. Mineralogical and chemical composition of a rock. Main structures and nomenclature of mantle and magmatic rocks. Composition of the lithospheric mantle. Partial melting and fractional crystallization processes. Magmatism at divergent and convergent plate boundaries. Crustal contamination of mantle-derived melts. Origin of granitoids. Within-plate magmatism in oceanic and continental lithosphere. Main structures and nomenclature of metamorphic rocks. Regional and contact metamorphism. Metamorphic facies, geothermal gradients and relationships with tectonic settings. Metamorphic reactions and phase diagrams.
Exercises. Study of igneous, metamorphic and mantle rocks at the outcrop and the hand-sample scale. Use of the polarized-light optical microscope aimed at the description, classification and microstructural characterization of igneous, metamorphic and mantle rocks. How to write a petrographic report.