Themes of the Day:

• Introduction: Crystallization Processes
• Mineral Stability
• Mineral Nucleation

Introduction: Crystallization Processes

• Under what conditions do minerals form?
• The Rock Cycle
  • What determines which minerals are formed?
  • How do minerals nucleate and grow?
  • What types of defects are produced in mineral structures?
  • What structural changes occur after crystallization?

Mineral Stability

• Stability, Instability, and Metastability
• Gibbs Free Energy - free energy of formation from the elements
• Mineral Reactions
  • trydimite = quartz
  • muscovite + quartz = sillimanite + K-feldspar + water
• Free Energy Surfaces in the System Al₂SiO₅

Mineral Nucleation

• Homogeneous Nucleation
  • Nucleation Energy - embryo growth or dissolution
  • Undercooling
  • Critical Growth Radius
• Heterogeneous Nucleation
  • Epitaxial Growth - nucleating on a different mineral

Next up: Crystal Growth