SUBJECT
Environmental mineralogy
lecture
master
2
Semester 2
Spring semester
Information content: Mineral phases (solid crystalline compounds) participating or forming in environmental processes – their properties and environmental role.
Topics covered:
Typical size range of environmental mineralogy: the nanometer-to-micrometer range. Special properties related to the size range (as opposed to the micro- and macroscopic size range). Overview of the applicable analytical methods.
Minerals of the most important natural environments: soils, aerosols, non-consolidated freshwater and sea sediments. Biomineralisation: bacterial precipitates. Mineralogical aspects of waste management and deposition. Remediation of sites contaminated by mining activities. Monument and building conservation, protection of mineral- and rock-based cultural heritage. Minerals of the human body. Health risk related to minerals (asbestos, erionite, cristobalite etc.)
- Papp, G., Weiszburg, T.G. (ser.ed. 2000): EMU Notes in Mineralogy Vol. 2: D.J. Vaughan, R.A. Wogelius (ed.): Environmental Mineralogy. Eötvös Univ. Press, Budapest, pp. 1–434. (university textbook)
- G.D. Guthrie, B.T. Mossman (1993) Health effects of mineral dusts, Reviews in Mineralogy, MSA Washington DC. Vol. 28 (library)
- J.F. Banfield, A. Navrotsky (2001) Nanoparticles and the environment, Reviews in Mineralogy, MSAWashington DC. Vol. 44 (library)