An experimental course for subject matter not provided in other department offerings. The content will change from semester to semester. Students may elect this course several times as long as different topics are studied. Emphasizes individual and group problem formulation, problem solving of geographic questions by using the scientific method, and combining traditional field exploration with the use of library aids. Analysis of black and white and color infrared photographs for land use planning, environmental assessment, geology, and resource management.
Weekly lab exercises.
Optional field trip. An introduction to plate tectonics i.e., continental drift and seafloor spreading emphasizing the historical development of this new theory. Topics include the theory's influence on improving our understanding of the close relationships between earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, mountain building, the formation of continents, and the origin of and eventual destruction of oceans. GESC 108 or GEOL 160 or GESC 202 or department permission. A study of the world's oceans, including coasts, waves, currents, tides, sediments, marine geology, properties of sea water, the energy balance, oceanographic research techniques, and marine resources, stressing physical oceanography.