Courses

EARTH 101 Earth Systems Revealed (Introductory Geology)

EARTH 101 combines aspects of physical and historical geology. Physical geology examines Earth materials (rocks and minerals) and the processes that create, modify, and destroy them. Historical geology examines the origin of Earth and its development through time. Lectures discuss basic concepts in physics, chemistry, and biology important for understanding the Earth as a system comprised of numerous interacting parts (Earth System Science). Students can expect to learn “how the Earth works” while simultaneously developing basic skills for interpreting and reconstructing geologic history in the field. The course culminates with a required weekend field trip to Baraboo, Wisconsin. Required laboratory sections (2 hr per week) consist of exercises designed to prepare students for the field trip.

Field trip photos:

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Spring 2010 field trip dates: May 21, 22, and 23

EARTH 310 Introductory Aqueous Geochemistry

EARTH 310 emphasizes basic principles of aqueous geochemistry applied to geologic and environmental problems. Topics include thermodynamics, kinetics, acids and bases, pH and alkalinity, carbonate equilibria, surface phenomena, redox chemistry, chemical weathering, and numerical modeling.

EARTH 313 Radiogenic Isotope Geochemistry

EARTH 313 explores the application of radiogenic isotopes to problems in geochemistry, groundwater hydrology, oceanography, ecology, and environmental science. The scope includes radioactive decay, nucleosynthesis, cosmochemistry, geochronology, isotope mixing theory, and numerical modeling.

EARTH 440 Geomicrobiology: Principles and Applications

EARTH 440 examines the interface between microbiology and the geochemical cycling of elements and their isotopes. Topics focus on basic principles in microbiology and aqueous geochemistry, rates and mechanisms of abiotic and biotic mineral weathering and precipitation reactions, the cycling and fractionation of transition metal isotopes (Fe, Mo, Cr, Cu, Zn, etc.) by microbiologic processes, the relationship between microbe-mineral interactions and the evolution of Earth’s atmosphere and hydrosphere, and the application of geomicrobiology to problems in Environmental Engineering.