GEOL 100
Earth Resources and Natural Hazards
1. Catalog Entry
GEOL 100
Earth Resources and Natural Hazards
Credit hours (4)
Examines the effects of geologic processes and hazards on human activities, the appraisal of human impact on the natural physical environment, and the geologic occurrence, availability and use of mineral and energy resources. GEOL 100 will satisfy half the general education laboratory science requirement. Students who have earned credit for GEOL 103 may not also earn credit for GEOL 100. General Education credit – Physical and Natural Sciences.
2. Detailed Description of Course
This course gives students an overview of environmental geology, the branch of geology that deals with man's interaction with the natural physical environment. The scope of environmental geology encompasses the recognition and amelioration of three major problems that face humans. The first is naturally occurring geologic processes and hazards such as flooding, mass wasting, volcanic activity, earthquakes, coastal erosion, and health as it relates to the geologic setting. The second deals with human-induced environmental problems such as pollution, waste disposal, and engineering as it applies to natural materials and existing topography. The third involves location, use, and conservation of geologic resources such as water, soil, minerals, and energy as well as land-use planning.
Topics addressed in this course include, but are not limited to:
1) The philosophical basis and fundamental concepts involved in environmental
geology
2) Natural earth cycles
3) Natural hazards
a. River flooding
b. Mass movement
c. Earthquakes and related phenomena
d. Volcanic activity
e. Coastal hazards
4) Water
5) Soils
6) Waste disposal
7) Geologic aspects of environmental health
8) Minerals, energy, and the environment
9) Land-use and decision-making
The laboratory portion of this course is designed to supplement and complement the
lecture portion of this course by giving students practical experience in interpreting
topographic maps, examining geologic hazards, investigating the location and use of
mineral, water, and soil resources, waste disposal, and land-use planning. In addition
to in-class exercises, field trips may be taken. The content of the laboratory portion
of the course consists of exercises that deal with the following:
1) Topographic map interpretation
2) River flooding
3) Mass wasting
4) Earthquakes
5) Volcanic activity
6) Coastal hazards
7) Surface hydrology
8) Groundwater
9) Waste disposal
10)Mineral resources
11)Energy exploration
12)Landscape evaluation
13)Hazard evaluation
3. Detailed Description of Conduct of Course
Lectures, demonstrations, case histories, audio/video presentations, classroom discussions, laboratory exercises and reading assignments will be used.
4. Goals and Objectives of the Course
1) Students will become acquainted with the scientific method as it applies to
geology.
2) Students will learn about the effect of geologic processes as natural hazards
on human life and property.
3) Students will learn to assess and come to appreciate human impacts on the natural
environment, including artificially produced
hazards and disruption of natural systems.
4) Students will learn about the necessity of assessing the human need for and
the use of natural geologic resources.
5) Students will understand the fundamental need to live and work in harmony with
the natural world and to minimize environmental
impacts.
6) Students will learn how to prudently evaluate landscapes for uses that match
the intrinsic suitability of the land for a variety of uses,
and how to manage human wastes properly.
7) Students will apply knowledge gained in lecture to practical problems in the
laboratory.
8) Students will obtain the background knowledge they will need for some of their
upper level geology courses.
9) Students will be able to:
a. Distinguish between findings that are based upon empirical data and those
that are not;
b. Apply scientific principles within the context of a specific scientific
discipline to solve real world problems
5. Assessment Measures
Lecture exams, pop quizzes, and a final examination will be used to assess the students' knowledge of geologic hazards, waste management, geologic resources, and prudent landscape evaluation and utilization. Laboratory exercises and exams will be used to assess the students' skill in reading and interpreting topographic and geologic maps, in assessing geologic hazards, resources and landscape use and analyzing geologic conditions.
6. Other Course Information
GEOL 100 is a required course for a major and minor in geology. GEOL 100 partially
fulfills the general education requirement in laboratory science.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1) AGI/NAGT, 2006, Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology (7th edition), Prentice
Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 320 p.
2) Blatt, Harvey, 1998, Laboratory Exercises in Environmental Geology, (2nd edition),
McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 177 p.
3) Bloom, Arthur L., 1978, Geomorphology, Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs,
New Jersey, 510 p.
4) Bryant, Edward, 1991, Natural Hazards, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,
England, 294 p.
5) Bullard, Fred M., 1984, Volcanoes of the Earth, University of Texas Press,
Austin, Texas, 629 p.
6) Craig, James R., Vaughan, David J., and Skinner, Brian J., 1988, Resources
of the Earth, Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ,
395 p.
7) Duxbury, Alyn C. and Duxbury, Alison B., 1989, An Introduction to the World's
Oceans (2nd edition), Wm C. Brown Publishers,
Dubuque, Iowa, 408 p.
8) Ehrlich, Paul R. and Ehrlich, Anne H., 1972, Population Resources Environment,
(2nd edition), W. H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco,
CA, 509 p.
9) Fetteer, C. W., Jr., 1980, Applied Hydrogeology, Charles E. Merrill Publishing
Co., Columbus, OH, 488 p.
10)Hamblin, W. Kenneth, 1992, Earth's Dynamic Systems (6th edition), Macmillan
Publishing Company, New York, NY, 647 p.
11)Hatcher, Robert D., Jr., 1990, Structural Geology, Merrill Publishing Company,
Columbus, Ohio, 531 p.
12)Keller, Edward A., 1992, Environmental Geology, Macmillan Publishing Co., New
York, NY, 521 p.
13)Keller, Edward A., 2005, Introduction to Environmental Geology, (3 rd edition),
Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, 672 p.
14)Levin, Harold L., 1991, The Earth Through Time (4th edition), Saunders College
Publishing, Philadelphia, PA, 649 p.
15)McHarg, Ian L., 1971, Design with Nature, Doubleday & Co., Inc., 197 p.
16)Montgomery, Carla, 2003, Environmental Geology (6 th edition), McGraw-Hill,
Hightstown, New Jersey, 554 p.
17)Pipkin, Bernard W. and Cummings, David, 1983, Environmental Geology, Star Publishing
Co., Belmont, CA, 212 p.
18)Press, Frank and Siever, Raymond, 1986, Earth, W. H. Freeman and Company, New
York, NY, 656 p.
19)Rahn, Perry H., 1986, Engineering Geology, Elsevier Science Publishing Co.,
New York, NY, 589 p.
20)Smith, David G. (ed.), 1981, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences,
Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, NY, 496 p.
Review and Approval
September 2005
June 20, 2015