Advanced Igneous Petrology
Igneous rocks and the processes that form them are the focus of this MIT OpenCourseWare course. Students begin by reviewing the chemistry and crystal structure of igneous rock-forming minerals, then examine how those minerals occur together and interact within rock bodies. The course traces the history of igneous petrology alongside recent developments in the field, using a number of well-studied sites worldwide as case studies for how geologists have pieced together the processes behind rock formation. Materials include the full set of course readings, problem sets, and reference data used in the MIT classroom, published freely under a Creative Commons license with no enrollment or certificate fee. The course assumes prior background in mineralogy or petrology and is pitched at an advanced undergraduate or graduate level, building on foundational igneous and metamorphic petrology coursework.