Minerals & Environ

Catalog description

(PN) A nation's wealth and quality of life of its citizens are significantly determined by its control and extraction of mineral resources, but there is always a negative environmental consequence of resource extraction, transformation and use. In addition, our personal and environmental health is impacted not only by what we do with these mineral resources and their waste products but also where we happen to live, relative to certain potentially hazardous mineral deposits. In this course you will learn about minerals (the building blocks of our planet Earth) and then apply that chemical & crystallographic knowledge to more deeply understand a wide variety of environmental issues (e.g., groundwater contamination, soil development and swelling clays, asbestos, silicosis, acid mine drainage, radon, mercury and lead poisoning.). Prerequisites: none. Includes a weekly 2-hour lab.