4400 International Field Camp

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: GEOL 3300, and permission of Department.

This course is offered on an irregular basis in the form of a Geology field trip abroad, allowing the students to be exposed to geological features that cannot be found in Canada.  In practical terms, this course will acquaint the student with modern methods of structural, stratigraphic, petrologic and/or geophysical analysis.  After mastering these skills, students will undertake an independent geological report project.  Students may be required to travel at their own expense.

Field area in Mexico

4414 Tectonics

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: GEOL 1200 and GEOL 1201 (or their predecessors GEOL 1214 and 1215). and at least one of GEOL 3312, and GEOL 3413 (the latter two may be taken concurrently).

This course describes the major features of the Earth and its place in the solar system. It introduces the evidence for plate tectonics, the analysis of plate movements, and the characteristic rock associations formed in different tectonic environments. Aspects of global change will be considered, including the evolution of tectonic processes through geologic time, changes in the atmosphere and oceans, and the importance of meteorite impacts.

Classes 3 hrs. and lab 3 hrs. a week.

Continental rifting and formation of new ocean crust

4423 Advanced Palaeontology

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: GEOL 1200, GEOL 1201 (or their predecessors GEOL 1214 and 1215), and GEOL 2301.

This course focuses on more specialized areas of palaeontology and their application to geological questions.  One portion of the course deals with paleobotany (fossil plants) and microfossils (palynology, conodonts, foraminifera).  The remainder focuses on applications of palaeontology.  Among the topics to be covered are biostratigraphic techniques in subsurface wells and outcrop, integration with radiometric and sequence stratigraphic techniques, fossil sampling and preparation, practical nomenclature and taxonomy, and the use of fossils for paleoenvironmental determination.

Classes 3 hrs. and lab 3 hrs. a week.

4441 Mineral Resources

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: GEOL 1200, GEOL 1201 (or their predecessors GEOL 1214 and 1215), and GEOL 2301

A study of Earth‘s mineral resources, their classification, genesis and distribution in time and space. Important examples from Canada and abroad will be discussed. Topics will also include mineral exploration techniques, mining methods, metallurgical recovery, net smelter return, and ore reserve estimation/classification. Laboratories will examine a variety of base and precious metal ore deposit types in hand sample and thin section. Mining/exploration practice and resource exploitation are also examined in terms of their environmental impacts.

Classes 3 hrs. and lab 3 hrs. a week.

4450 Advanced Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: GEOL 3312 and 3313.

The topics covered in this course include magmatic petrogenesis; magma types; petrographic provinces and their relations to their tectonic setting; differentiation indices; variation diagrams; distribution trends of major and trace elements; equilibrium and fractional crystallization in selected synthetic systems; phase equilibria in metamorphic systems; reaction balancing methods; porphyroblast-matrix relations; quantification of pressure-temperature-time trajectories. Laboratory work is centered on the acquisition and manipulation of microprobe data.

Classes 3 hrs. and lab 3 hrs. a week.

Microscopic view of granite from the South Mountain Batholith, N.S.

4465 Advanced Sedimentology [GEOG 4465]

3 credit hours
Prerequisites: GEOL/GEOG 2325 and GEOL 3326

This course examines current research on sedimentary rocks and basins and the methods used to understand them. Among the topics to be covered are modern carbonate and evaporite environments, exotic chemical sedimentary rocks and diagenetic cements, volcanogenic sedimentary rocks, sequence stratigraphy in carbonate and siliciclastic successions, applications of ichnology (trace fossils), the use of stable isotopes in the study of terrestrial carbonates, and the use of detrital minerals to interpret basin evolution.

Classes 3 hrs. and lab 3 hrs. a week.

4466 Petroleum Geology

3 credit hours

Prerequisites: GEOL 1200, GEOL 1201 (or their predecessors GEOL 1214 and 1215), GEOL 2305, and GEOL 2325 (the latter two can be taken concurrently).

The origin, migration and accumulation of oil and natural gas. Types of oil bearing structures and basic principles in oil exploration.

Classes 3 hrs. and lab 3 hrs. a week.

4475 Glacial Geomorphology [GEOG 4423]

3 credit hours
Prerequisite: GEOL 3373 or GEOG 3313.

4476 Coastal Geomorphology [GEOG 4413]

3 credit hours

4550 Honours Project

6 credit hours

Prerequisites: Honours standing and permission of Department.

Research project carried out under the supervision of one member of the Department or jointly by more than one faculty member. Originality of the research project is emphasized.

4826 - 4849 Special Topics In Geology

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: restricted to Year 4 students in the Honours program or permission of Department.

Readings and discussions of current literature in geology on selected topics. Such topics as plate tectonics, geochemistry, statistics in geology, isotope geochemistry, petrogenesis, ore genesis, may be included.

Classes 72 hrs. per semester, classes and labs.

4876 - 4899 Directed Study in Geology

3 credit hours

Prerequisite: restricted to Year 4 students in the Honours program or permission of Department.

Intended to supplement or provide an alternative to the regular geology courses in order to meet the special needs and interests of students. The course provides an opportunity to study a particular subject in detail and requires from the student some measure of independence and initiative.

Classes 72 hrs. per semester; classes and labs.