Envg. 708 Soil Mineralogy Credit Hours (3)
Course Objectives
This course is designed to understand the minerals occurring in the soil environment, structural properties, identification and their role in environmental chemistry, pollutant stabilization and engineering.
Course Contents
Concept and significance. Crystal structures and properties of important minerals in soils and sediments especially clay minerals. Carbonate, sulfate, sulfide and phosphate minerals; Phyllosilicate, allophane and imogolite in soils; Kaolin, halloysite and serpentine minerals: structural and morphological characteristics; Micas: structures, formulae, properties and weathering; Vermiculite: structure, composition and properties; Smectites: structure and properties; Chlorites and Inter-stratification in layer silicates. Importance of soil minerals in the economy of Pakistan. Soil minerals composition impact on the environment.
Practical: Mineral identification and quantification techniques involving theory and practice with x-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, (SEM and TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and chemical methods.
Outcomes
The students will be able to identify and quantify soil minerals using the knowledge and skills gained during the course.
Recommended Books:
- Environmental Mineralogy II by Vaughan, D.J., and Wogellius, R.A., European Mineralogical Union and Mineralogical Society of Great Britain & Ireland, London, UK, 2013.
- Inorganic Constituents in Soil: Basics and Visuals by Nanzyo, M., and Kanno, H., Springer-Verlag, Netherlands, 2018.
- Soil Mineralogy with Environmental Applications by Dixon, J.B. and Schulze, D. G., Soil Science Society of America, Madison, USA, 2002.