Geological Sciences Courses

GES 101 - Principles of Earth Science (3 hours)
Gen. Ed. FS
The earth in space; weather, earth materials, and geological processes that control development of the earth's surface.

GES 102 - Principles of Earth Science Laboratory (1 hour)
Laboratory related to GES 101. One two-hour laboratory per week. Prerequisite: GES 101 or equivalent, or concurrent enrollment.

GES 110 - Principles of Historical Geology (3 hours)
Gen. Ed. FS
Introduction to history of the earth and its life forms; methods used by geologists to decipher earth history using rocks and fossils. Theory of evolution, origins of life, fossilization, animal and plant extinctions, mountain building, plate tectonics, and the Ice Age.

GES 111 - Principles of Historical Geology Laboratory (1 hour)
Gen. Ed. FS
Laboratory related to GES 110. Study and interpretation of topographic and geologic maps, earth history, and fossils. One two-hour laboratory per week. Prerequisite: GES 110 or equivalent, or concurrent enrollment.

GES 201 - Mineralogy (4 hours)
The crystalline state: physical and chemical properties of minerals; occurrence, association, and origin of the silicate and more important non-silicate minerals. Lecture and laboratory. Prerequisites: GES 101; one semester of college chemistry, or consent of the instructor.

GES 300 - Oceanography: the Human Perspective (3 hours)
Gen. Ed. TS
Introduction to scientific oceanography and its relationship to human life. History of oceanography and its technology; crustal movements; the ocean as a source of mineral resources; the variety of ocean life such as jellyfish and sharks, and their danger; whales and the human perspective of "lower" life; sound and submarine warfare, waves and their potential energy and destructive capacity; human pollution. Prerequisite: one college-level science course.

GES 302 - Invertebrate Zoology (4 hours)
Detailed biological survey of major groups of invertebrate animals. Emphasis on marine phyla with good fossil representation. Dissection of representative types. Lecture and laboratory. Cross listed as BIO 302. Prerequisite: elementary zoology or biology or historical geology with laboratory, or consent of instructor.

GES 321 - Paleontology (4 hours)
Life, from its earliest record to the present. Emphasis on large scale aspects of evolution. General survey of pertinent concepts in morphology, genetics, taxonomy, and ecology; introduction to elementary quantitative methods; megascopic and microscopic study of major types of fossils. Lectures, laboratory work, independent research, field trips. Prerequisite: GES 110, 111, 302; or consent of instructor.

GES 407 - Sedimentology (4 hours)
Geology of sedimentary deposits: sedimentary processes; genetic interpretation of sediments and sedimentary rocks. Lectures, laboratory, independent research, field trips. Prerequisite: GES 202.

GES 421 - Stratigraphy (4 hours)
Concepts and methods in description, classification, correlation, and interpretation of stratified rocks. Field studies. Prerequisite: GES 321.