Courses

Introduction to applied and solid-earth geophysics; the gravitational, seismic, magnetic, thermal, and radioactive properties of rocks and earth materials; methods of measurement and their applications to the exploration of the Earth's interior. Physical properties of the earth’s interior. Some field trips are required.

Prerequisites: MATH 102 and PHYS 102

Body and surface forces, stress, strain, elastic moduli, equation of motion, yield strength. Types of elastic waves, their propagation, reflection/refraction, travel-time curves and their application to the study of the Earth's interior. Causes and effects of earthquakes; methods of locating and determining magnitudes of earthquakes; interpretation of seismograms; occurrence frequency of earthquakes and risk analysis, earthquake prediction, earthquakes related to human activity, seismometry.

Prerequisite: GEOP 202

Topics covered include: Fourier transform; partial differential equations of geophysics; linear operators; convolution; correlation techniques; digital filters; the FFT algorithm; analytic continuation; probability distributions; trend surface analysis; with emphasis on computer applications of these tools to geophysical data;MATLAB would be used to illustrate the techniques numerically.

Prerequisites: MATH 201, ICS 103 and GEOP 202

Principles of the seismic method; exploration objectives and requirements of seismic data acquisition; the seismic pulse - its generation and transmission; partition of seismic energy at an interface; seismic energy reflection, refraction, attenuation, and travel time - distance functions; reflection time corrections; field testing and procedures with emphasis on multiple coverage and design of source and receiver arrays for signal enhancement; well velocity survey; the synthetic seismogram and the convolutional model. The laboratory work includes seismic field demonstrations, computational exercises using software packges. A field trip to a seismic crew is required.

Prerequisite: GEOP 202

Objectives of processing; basic data processing sequence; the digital tape format; demultiplex, trace editing and gain removal; design of digital filters; deconvolution; residual static correction; seismic velocity analysis; migration including Kirchoff, finite difference, and frequency domain methods; computer lab sessions on the use of common seismic software packages.

Prerequisites: GEOP 205 and GEOP 315

A continuous period of eight weeks of summer working in the industry to gain practical experience in the fields of geophysics. The student is required to submit a written report and give an oral presentation in a seminar at the department about his experience and the knowlegde he gained during his summer work.

Prerequisite: ENGL 214, Junior standing and Approval of the Department

Topics will depend on student's and instructor's interest. They may vary from acquisition and interpretation of geophysical data from the field or the laboratory to computer models and simulation of theoretical problems of interest in geophysics, or a mixture of both. Weekly consultations with the instructor as well as a written report are required.

Prerequisite: Senior Standing

The course is devoted to the gravity and magnetic exploration methods, starting with a survey of the theory of potential, the coverage will include field instruments and procedures, methods for the acquisition, reduction and processing of data. Special emphasis is placed on data analysis and computer modelling.

Prerequisite: GEOP 205

Weekly discussion and presentation of research topics of geophysical interest. The theme of the seminar varies from year to year depending on the interest of the coordinator of the seminar. Participants are expected to make presentations and lead discussions on the subject of interest.

Prerequisite : Senior Standing

Electrical properties of minerals and rocks. Principles of resistivity, self potential, induced polarization, and electromagnetic methods. Emphasis on physical bases, instrumentation, field procedures, and interpretation using electrical software packages.

Prerequisite: GEOP 202

ELECTIVE COURSES

Topics covered include: seismic resolution; types of events on seismic sections; characteristics of events; vertical seismic profiling; geologic aspects of velocity; seismic response of various stratigraphic and structural features; direct hydrocarbon indicators; 2-D and 3-D seismic exploration technique; introduction to seismic stratigraphy.

Prerequisites: GEOP 205 and GEOP 315

General aspects of well logging; drilling mud and casing; compositional properties of rocks, porosity, permeability, and fluids content. Logging techniques - resistivity, self potential, gamma ray, neutron, density, sonic, calipers, dipmeters, etc. Determination of formation factor, water saturation, shaliness, estimation of permeability. Well log patterns of known rock units and the geological interpretation of well logs. Differentiation of oil and gas zones. Correlation between logs and tying wells to seismic sections.

Not to be taken for credit with PETE 303. Students can take either GEOP 430 or PETE 303 for credits.

Prerequisite: GEOP 202.

Basic physical principles applied to the study of earth material properties and earth dynamical processes; discussions of a variety of geological phenomena such as heat and fluid flow, rock rheology and deformation, lithospheric flexure and isostatic equilibrium, mechanics of plate tectonics.

Prerequisites: GEOP 202, and PHYS 301

Methods and techniques of paleomagnetism and their application to a variety of geological problems in regional and global tectonics, geochronology, paleogeography, rock fabric analysis, etc. Students conduct a small-scale study as a term project.

Prerequisite: GEOP 202

Practical and theoretical aspects of seismic refraction and electrical resistivity methods as applied for siting and control of engineering projects, such as dams, tunnels, highway cuts and water supply. Correlation between parameters of field data and rock mechanics, such as joint frequency, rock quality designation, strength and solution cavities. Interpretation techniques and field work constitute the main part of the course.

Prerequisite: GEOP 202

An introductory course on the atmosphere, weather, and climate. Discussion topics cover: an overview of the Earth’s atmosphere, energy in the atmosphere, general atmospheric circulation, atmospheric physics and dynamics, clouds and precipitation, storms, air masses and fronts, weather analysis and forecasting, remote sensing in meteorology, general climatology, climatic classification, climatic change, climate dominated by different air masses, climate and water resources, applied climatology, and weather modification and climate.

Prerequisite: Junior Standing.

Application of geophysical methods to environmental problems such as impact-assesment, clean-up, city planning, and siting of civic, industrial, and military critical facilities. Techniques include seismic, eletrical and electromagnetic sounding, ground - penetrating radar, magnetics, gravity, and borehole geophysics.

Prerequisite: GEOP 202, and Senior Standing.

Basic concepts and techniques of inverse theory and application to geophysical problems; focus on linear inverse problems in gravity, magnetic, seismic, and electrical data modeling and interpretation.

Prerequisites: GEOP 202, and MATH 202

Contents to be arranged.

Prerequisites: Senior standing and permission of the Department.

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