Minor Geology (18 credits)

Offered by: Earth & Planetary Sciences     Degree: Bachelor of Science

Program Requirements

The Minor Geology offers students from other departments the opportunity to obtain exposure to the Earth Sciences.

Required Courses (6 credits)

  • EPSC 210 Introductory Mineralogy (3 credits)

    Offered by: Earth & Planetary Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Earth & Planetary Sciences : Elementary crystallography, chemistry and identification of the principal rock-forming and ore minerals, in hand specimens and using optical microscopy. Demonstrations of other techniques applied to the identification of minerals and to the analysis of their composition and structure. Optional 2-day field trip.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    • Fall

    • 2 hours lectures, 3 hours laboratory

    • Prerequisite(s): CHEM 110 or equivalent, or permission of the instructor.

    • A nominal fee is charged to cover expenses of materials and supplies for identification kits (pen magnet, streak plate, hand lens and acid bottle) used to identify minerals during laboratory exercises.

    • Des frais seront prelevés pour couvrir l'usage des collections d'enseignement et les accessoires (loupe, aimant, bouteille d'acide chlorhydrique dilué, plaque de porcelaine) essentiels à l'identification des minéraux pendant les travaux pratiques.

  • EPSC 212 Introductory Petrology (3 credits)

    Offered by: Earth & Planetary Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Earth & Planetary Sciences : A survey of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks and the processes responsible for their formation. The laboratory will emphasize the recognition of rocks in both hand-specimen and thin section using optical microscopes.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    • Winter

    • 2 hours lectures, 3 hours laboratory

    • Prerequisite: EPSC 210

Complementary Courses (12 credits)

3 credits, one of:

  • EPSC 201 Understanding Planet Earth (3 credits)

    Offered by: Earth & Planetary Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Earth & Planetary Sciences : Learn about Earth's origin, its place in the solar system, its internal structure, rocks and minerals, the formation of metal and fossil fuel deposits, and the extinction of dinosaurs. Discover the impact of the volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and mountain chains on Earth's past, present and future. Explore 125 million-year-old Mount Royal.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    • Fall or Winter

    • 3 hours lectures; afternoon field trips

    • Restriction: Not open to students who have taken or are taking EPSC 233.

  • EPSC 233 Earth and Life History (3 credits)

    Offered by: Earth & Planetary Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Earth & Planetary Sciences : Interpretation of stratified rocks; history of Earth with special emphasis on the regions of North America; outline of the history of life recorded in fossils.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    • Fall

    • 3 hours lectures

9 credits selected from the list below and other 300-level and higher courses in Earth and Planetary Sciences may be substituted with permission.

  • EPSC 231 Field School 1 (3 credits)

    Offered by: Earth & Planetary Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Earth & Planetary Sciences : Geological mapping of selected areas, preparation of maps, reports from field notes, aerial photographs, etc.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    • Prerequisite: EPSC 240, or permission of the instructor.

    • This field course, given in the U.S,.has an additional fee projected to be $628.08 to cover the costs of transportation, some meals and accommodation as well as other field expenses. The fee is only refundable prior to the deadline to withdraw with full refund. The Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences subsidizes a portion of the cost for this activity.

  • EPSC 303 Structural Geology (3 credits)

    Offered by: Earth & Planetary Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Earth & Planetary Sciences : Primary igneous and sedimentary structures, attitudes of planes and lines, stress and strain, fracturing of rocks, faulting, homogeneous strain, description and classification of folds, foliation and lineation, orthographic and stereographic projections.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    • 2 hours lectures, 3 hours laboratory

    • Prerequisite(s): EPSC 231, or permission of the instructor.

    • Not open to students who have taken EPSC 203.

  • EPSC 334 Invertebrate Paleontology (3 credits)

    Offered by: Earth & Planetary Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Earth & Planetary Sciences : Preservation of fossils; the fossil record of invertebrates; use of fossils in stratigraphy and paleoecology; fossils in evolutionary studies. Fossils of invertebrates are studied in the laboratory.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    • Winter

    • 2 hours lectures and one laboratory period

    • Prerequisite: EPSC 201 or EPSC 233 or ENVR 202 or permission of instructor

  • EPSC 350 Tectonics (3 credits)

    Offered by: Earth & Planetary Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Earth & Planetary Sciences : Rheology of the Earth, mechanics of the crust and mantle and core, convection in the mantle, evolution and kinematics and deformations of the oceanic and continental plates, thermal evolution of the Earth, the unifying theory of plate tectonics.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    • Winter

    • 3 hours lectures

    • Prerequisite(s): EPSC 320

  • EPSC 452 Mineral Deposits (3 credits)

    Offered by: Earth & Planetary Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Earth & Planetary Sciences : A systematic review of the nature and origin of the major types of metallic and non-metallic mineral deposits; typical occurrences; geographic distribution; applications to exploration. Emphasis on magmatic ores, massive sulfides, iron formations.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    • Fall

    • 2 hours lectures, 3 hours laboratory

    • Prerequisite: EPSC 220, enrolment in U2 or U3 EPS program

  • EPSC 561 Ore-forming Processes (3 credits)

    Offered by: Earth & Planetary Sciences (Faculty of Science)

    Overview

    Earth & Planetary Sciences : Physicochemical controls of hydrothermal mineral deposition. Discussion of fluid inclusion theory and application; stable isotope systematics, wall-rock alteration; ore mineral solubility and speciation; and mechanisms of mineral deposition.

    Terms: This course is not scheduled for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    Instructors: There are no professors associated with this course for the 2024-2025 academic year.

    • Winter

    • 3 hours seminar

    • Prerequisite: One course in ore petrology (EPSC 451 or EPSC 452) or equivalent, or permission of instructor

Faculty of Science—2024-2025 (last updated Apr. 3, 2024) (disclaimer)
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