This course covers the nature, identification, composition, and meaning of minerals and mineral assemblages. An investigation of processes that shape the Earth's surface, including weathering, mass movements, and the effects of water, wind, and ice. Students examine how such processes govern the evolution of landforms in differing climatic, tectonic, and lithologic settings. Field and laboratory study focuses on the role of active surficial processes, as well as glaciation and other past events, in development of the landscape of west-central Vermont. Implications for human activities and maintenance of natural systems are also discussed.
Fresh water is the most fundamental resource sustaining life on the continents.
This course is an introduction to the study of water and its interactions with the geologic environment. Basic hydrological processes such as precipitation, streamflow, and the subsurface flow of ground water are analyzed by quantitative methods. Climatic and human-induced changes in the hydrological cycle are examined, and current issues and policies are discussed in light of the increasing demands and impacts of a technological society on water resources and associated natural systems. Soils constitute the fundamental link between atmosphere, water, biota, and rock. Knowledge of the physical, chemical, and biological processes operating in soils is essential when assessing natural cycles as well as anthropogenic alterations to those natural cycles.