Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Unit Convenor
Norman Pearson
Contact via norman.pearson@mq.edu.au
E5B 205
9:00-5:30 Mon-Fri
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Credit points |
Credit points
4
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
Permission of Executive Dean of Faculty
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
Co-badged with GEOS876
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit provides hands-on training and operation of state of the art instrumentation used in inorganic geochemical analysis to determine major element, trace element and isotopic composition of rocks and minerals. The unit comprises lectures, group instrument instruction and individual projects. The project includes planning the analytical strategy, data collection, data presentation and interpretation.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Name | Weighting | Due |
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Assignment 1 | 10% | 20 March 2015 |
Assignment 2 | 30% | 22 April 2015 |
Assignment 3 | 20% | 22 May 2015 |
Seminar | 10% | 29 May 2015 |
Test 1 | 10% | 24 April 2015 |
Test 2 | 10% | 3 June 2015 |
Class Participation | 10% | Each session |
Due: 20 March 2015
Weighting: 10%
Assignment 1will be based on the concepts and skills covered in days 1, 2 and 3. The exercises undertaken in the tutorials in these sessions will provide a framework for self-assessment of your progress and in the preparation of the assignments.
Due: 22 April 2015
Weighting: 30%
This practical project will involve EMP instrument usage and the data generated during the practical will be used in the assignment.
Due: 22 May 2015
Weighting: 20%
This practical project will involve use of the laser ablation ICP-MS and the data generated during the practical will be used in the assignment.
Due: 29 May 2015
Weighting: 10%
The theme of the seminar day is “Recent Advances in Analytical Geochemistry”. A list of topics will be provided in week 2 and you will choose a topic based on one of the instrument techniques covered in the course. Your brief will be to prepare a brief overview of the advances in the analytical method and its application. Each student will be required to produce a PowerPoint presentation (maximum 5 slides) on your topic and give this as a short seminar. A mark will be awarded based on content and presentation.
Due: 24 April 2015
Weighting: 10%
This will be an ‘in-class test’ and involve a 1-hour written examination. This will cover the material presented in the first half of the unit and consist of a combination of short answer questions on definitions and concepts and an essay section requiring further descriptions of concepts and theory.
Due: 3 June 2015
Weighting: 10%
This will be an ‘in-class test’ and involve a 1-hour written examination. This will cover the material presented in the second half of the unit and consist of a combination of short answer questions on definitions and concepts and an essay section requiring further descriptions of concepts and theory.
Due: Each session
Weighting: 10%
The class mark will be awarded on the basis of performance in the laboratory practicals and participation in class discussions.
Required and Recommended Texts
There are no prescribed textbooks for this course. A copy of Powerpoint lecture presentations will be available on the unit’s WEB page.
The following books are recommended for additional reading. Potts, P.: A Handbook of Silicate Rock Analysis. Blackie (on reserve) Rollinson, H.: Using Geochemical Data. Longman
Unit Web Page
Web resources are on the GEOS776 page in iLearn (http://www.mq.edu.au/iLearn/student_info/index.htm).
This site will have pdfs of lectures, tutorials and assignments, and echo recordings of pre-recorded lectures.
Information for students about access to online units is available at https://ilearn.mq.edu.au/login/MQ/
Unit of study timetable 2015
Week 1: Introduction to Geochemical Analysis
25 February 2015: 12:00 – 14:00 Lecture 1 Introduction
• Overview of analytical methods, instruments and laboratories
• Analytical procedure
• Concepts in analytical geochemistry
• Instruments and methods – a virtual tour of the Geochemical Analysis Unit
• Measurement and calibration
• Analytical strategy
27 February 2015: 14:00 – 16:00 Geochemical Analysis – Basics
Tutorial 1
• Instrument calibration and standardisation
• Standards and Reference Materials
• Reporting and presenting geochemical data
Week 2: Sampling and Planning an Analytical Program
4 March 2015: 12:00 – 14:00 Lecture 2
• Introduction to uncertainty
• Sampling
• Uncertainty of sampling
• Sampling strategy
• Instrument limits of error
6 March 2015: 14:00 – 16:00 Tutorial 2 Planning an Analytical Program
Week 3: Data Quality
11 March 2015: 12:00 – 14:00 Lecture 3 Geochemical data
• Basic statistics refresher
• Uncertainties in quantitative analysis
• Accuracy and precision
• Internal and external precision
• Counting statistics
• Outliers
13 March 2015: 14:00 – 16:00
Tutorial 3 Quality assurance – how reliable are your analytical data? Standards and Reference Materials
Week 4: X-ray Analytical Techniques I
18 March 2015: 12:00 – 14:00 Lecture 4 X-ray spectrometry – Basic quantitative X-ray analysis
• What are X-rays?
• How are X-rays produced?
• Characteristic X-rays
• X-ray lines and spectra
• Wavelength X-ray spectrometer
• Energy X-ray spectrometer
20 March 2015: 14:00 – 16:00Tutorial 4 Characteristic X-ray lines and spectra; Mineral Identification
Week 5: X-ray Analytical Techniques II
25 March 2015: 12:00 – 14:00 Lecture 5 X-ray spectrometry – Basic quantitative X-ray analysis
• X-ray fluorescence spectrometry
• Interaction of X-rays and matter
• Attenuation and fluorescence
• Matrix corrections
27 March 2015: 14:00 – 16:00 Lecture 6 Mineral analysis I – major elements
• Electron Microprobe (EMP) Instrumentation
• Quantitative mineral analysis
• Interaction of the electron beam and material
• Electron imaging
• ZAF matrix corrections
• phi-rho-z matrix corrections
• Preparation of samples
Week 6: X-ray Analytical Techniques III
1 April 2015: 12:00 – 14:00 Tutorial 6 Mineral chemistry – data reduction and quality
1-2 April 2015: Electron microprobe practical sessions (times to be advised)
Week 7: Data reporting and presentation
22 April 2015: 12:00 – 14:00 Workshop Data presentation in your thesis or manuscript; Self-assessment and critical review
24 April 2015: 14:00 – 16:00
Assessment In-class Test q
Week 8: Spectroscopy
29 April 2015: 12:00 – 14:00 Lecture 7 Spectroscopy
• Principles of spectroscopy
• Raman spectroscopy
• Infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR)
1 May 2015: 14:00 – 16:00
Tutorial 7 Spectroscopy
Week 9: Mass Spectrometry I
6 May 2015: 12:00 – 14:00 Lecture 8 Introduction to mass spectrometry
• Isotopes
• Types of mass spectrometer
• Trace element analysis by ICP-MS
• Isotope ratio measurement
• Basics of ICP-MS
• The ICP as a source of ions
• Quadrupole mass analyser
• Detecting and counting ions
8 May 2015: 14:00 – 16:00 Tutorial 8 LAM-ICPMS – trace element analysis practical sessions (times to be advised)
Week 10: Mass Spectrometry II
13 May 2015: 12:00 – 14:00 Lecture 9 Mineral analysis II – trace elements and isotope ratios
• Laser ablation ICP-MS
• Types of laser
• Ablation processes
• Calibration and quantification
• Time-resolved analysis
15 May 2015: 14:00 – 16:00
Tutorial 9 ICP-MS data reduction and quality
Week 11: Mass Spectrometry III
20 May 2015: 12:00 – 14:00 Lecture 10 Isotope geochemistry – Multi-collector ICP-MS
• Radiogenic and stable isotope systems
• isotope ratio measurement
• multiple collector mass spectrometer
• mass bias
• radioactive decay
• isochron
• In-situ geochronology
22 May 2015: 14:00 – 16:00 Tutorial 10 U-Pb zircon – data reduction and quality
Week 12: Communicating Your Results – Report and Thesis Preparation
27 May 2015: 12:00 – 14:00 Workshop “Analytical Methods” in your thesis or manuscript
29 May 2015: 14:00 – 16:00 Seminars New Frontiers In Geochemical Analysis “Developments in Analytical Methods”
Week 13: Review and In-class Assessment
3 June 2015: 12:00 – 14:00
Assessment In-class test
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