Program Requirements
The Minor Geology offers students from other departments the opportunity to obtain exposure to the Earth Sciences.
Required Courses (6 credits)
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EPSC 210 Introductory Mineralogy (3 credits)
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: Fall 2024
Instructors: Paquette, Jeanne; Baker, Don (Fall)
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.
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EPSC 212 Introductory Petrology (3 credits)
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: Winter 2025
Instructors: Berlo, Kim (Winter)
Winter
2 hours lectures, 3 hours laboratory
Prerequisite: EPSC 210
Complementary Courses (12 credits)
3 credits, one of:
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EPSC 201 Understanding Planet Earth (3 credits)
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: Winter 2025
Instructors: Moreno Cordeiro De Sousa, Isabela (Winter)
Fall or Winter
3 hours lectures; afternoon field trips
Restriction: Not open to students who have taken or are taking EPSC 233.
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EPSC 233 Earth and Life History (3 credits)
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: Fall 2024
Instructors: Halverson, Galen; Mahmoudi, Nagissa (Fall)
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.
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EPSC 231 Field School 1 (3 credits)
Overview
Earth & Planetary Sciences : Geological mapping of selected areas, preparation of maps, reports from field notes, aerial photographs, etc.
Terms: Summer 2025
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.
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EPSC 303 Structural Geology (3 credits)
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: Winter 2025
Instructors: Boianju, Inga (Winter)
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EPSC 334 Invertebrate Paleontology (3 credits)
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.
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EPSC 350 Tectonics (3 credits)
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
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EPSC 452 Mineral Deposits (3 credits)
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: Fall 2024
Instructors: Williams-Jones, Anthony E (Fall)
Fall
2 hours lectures, 3 hours laboratory
Prerequisite: EPSC 220, enrolment in U2 or U3 EPS program
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EPSC 561 Ore-forming Processes (3 credits)
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.
