The following is the planned schedule of course offerings for the Department of Geology. Please note that some courses are offered in both the Fall and Spring, some courses are offered in the Fall or Spring only, and some are offered in alternating years. Special Topic (GEOL 4/ 5/ 60095 ST:) course descriptions are available at the bottom of the page.

Please contact the department office, undergraduate advisors, graduate coordinator, or the course instructor for additional information regarding offered courses. This plan may change during the course of a semester. Check back here for changes.

Geology Undergraduate Course Descriptions

Geology Graduate Course Descriptions

2013-2014 Catalog Information (click "Class Search" for course descriptions for last five catalog years)

Check the Registrar's Schedule of Classes for current course schedules.

Geology Field Camp is offered every summer, during Summer Session I.

Core Courses Offered Each Semester ( Basic Science CORE Courses)

• GEOL 11040 (3) Earth Dynamics
• GEOL 11041 (1) Earth Dynamics Lab (pre or co-requisite: Earth Dynamics)
• GEOL 11042 (3) Earth History ( optional field trip)
• GEOL 11043 (1) Earth History Lab (pre or co-requisite: Earth History) ( optional field trip)
• GEOL 21080 (3) Oceanography
  

Courses Offered Primarily for the Geology Major

• GEOL 23063 (4) Earth Materials I (Fall)
• GEOL 31080 (4) Structural Geology (Spring) ( required field trip)
• GEOL 34061 (4) Invertebrate Paleontology (Fall at Kent Campus, Spring at Stark Campus) ( required field trip)
• GEOL 42035 (3) Scientific Methods in Geology (Fall 2013, Spring 2014)
• GEOL 31070 (4) Earth Materials II (Spring) ( required field trip)
• GEOL 32066 (4) Geomorphology (Fall)
• GEOL 44070 (4) Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (Spring) ( required field trip)

Geology Upper Division and Graduate Course Offerings Plan

FALL 2013

• GEOL 6/ 70094 (1) College Teaching - Applied Geology
• GEOL 6/ 70080 (1) Research Orientation
• GEOL 4/ 52067 (3) Introductory Hydrogeology ( required field trip)
• GEOL 4/ 52078 (4) Engineering Geology ( required field trip)
• GEOL 6/ 72083 (3) Rock Slope Stability
• GEOL 4/ 51080 (3) Tectonics and Orogeny
• GEOL 6/ 74030 (3) Systematic Invertebrate Paleontology I
• GEOL 4/ 54074 (3) Paleoceanography
• GEOL 4/ 5/ 60095 (3) Fluvial Processes (see description below)
• GEOL 4/ 53040 (3) Geochemistry 

SPRING 2014

• GEOL 4/ 5/ 60095 (3) ST: Environmental Mineralogy
• GEOL 4/ 5/ 60095 (3) ST: Paleomagnetism
• GEOL 4/ 5/ 60095 (3) ST: Watershed Hydrology
• GEOL 4/ 5/ 60095 (3) ST: Paleontology Seminar
• GEOL 4/ 5/ 72030 (3) Remote Sensing
• GEOL 6 /72084 (3) Foundation Engineering
• GEOL 6/ 73063 (3) Sedimentary Petrology
• GEOL 6/ 74038 (3) Paleolimnology
• GEOL 4/ 52068 (3) Contaminant Hydrology and Hydrogeology

Fall 2014

• GEOL 6/ 70094 (1) College Teaching - Applied Geology
• GEOL 6/ 70080 (1) Research Orientation
• GEOL 4 / 52067 (3)  Introductory Hydrogeology ( required field trip)
• GEOL 4 / 52069 (3) Hydrogeochemistry
• GEOL  6 / 74032 (3) Systematic Invertebrate Paleontology II
• GEOL 6 / 74065 (3) Sedimentology
• GEOL 4 / 52078 (4) Engineering Geology ( required field trip)
• GEOL 6 / 72082 (3) Introduction to Soil Mechanics
• GEOL  4 / 52074 (3) Env. Core/Well Logging
• GEOL 4 / 50095 (3) ST: Natural Hazards & Geologic  Disasters
• GEOL 4 / 53042 (3) Environmental  Geochemistry

Spring 2015

• GEOL 4 / 52068 (3) Contaminant Hydrogeology
• GEOL  6 / 74030 (3) Systematic Invertebrate Paleontology I
• GEOL  6 / 74034 (3) Micropaleontology
• GEOL  6 / 72079 (3) Advanced Engineering
• GEOL  4 / 51025 (3) Geophysics
• GEOL 4 / 5 / 60095-001 (3) ST: Watershed Hydrology
• GEOL 4 / 5 / 60095-002 (3) ST: Environmental Mineralogy
• GEOL 4 / 52030 (3) Remote Sensing

New Courses

Spring 2014

ST: Paleomagnetism
This course explores how paleomagnetic and rock magnetic techniques can be applied to a range of problems in earth science, including: plate motions and paleogeography; deformational processes;  the structure and age of the crust; reconstructing past depositional and environmental conditions; and the behaviour and evolution of the geomagnetic field. Emphasis will be placed on building a real-world understanding of theoretical concepts through data analysis and discussions of the current scientific literature.

ST: Watershed Hydrology
In this course, we will address basic questions like: "Where does the water go when it rains?"; "What pathways does it take to the stream channel?"; and "How long does water reside in a watershed?" Working at the plot, hillslope, and watershed scales, we will focus mainly on surface and near-surface water to understand how hydrologic processes are regulated by landscape characteristics, human activities and climate dynamics and how hydrology impacts patterns of water quality and geomorphology. Course will include one weekend field trip, plus occasional outdoor lab times.

Spring 2013

ST: Urban Hydrology
In this course we will investigate the science and management of water in cities and built environments. The course is designed with geology majors and conservation biology minors and grad students in mind, and we will approach the subject from an interdisciplinary perspective, integrating hydrology, geology, biology, architecture/engineering, and the social sciences. The course will include readings, discussions, data analysis, one or more field trips, and designing an urban rain garden. GEOL 40095 / 50095 / 60095 (3 credits), Tuesday & Thursday 12:30 pm to 1:45 pm. For more information, contact: Dr. Anne Jefferson ajeffer9@kent.edu McGilvrey 235C.

ST: Geological Hazards (Stark Campus)
Application of basic principles of geology to understand Earth's naturally occurring hazards, their frequency, magnitude, and potential to change in response to human activity. Case studies and student projects will be utilized during the semester to explore and discuss these hazards. GEOL 40095 (3 credits). Instructor: Eric Taylor. 

Fall 2012

ST: Environmental Mineralogy
This course will explore reactions between minerals and aqueous solutions, including growth and dissolution, surface complexation, and redox reactions. We will focus on the role of these reactions in chemical weathering, contaminant mobility, microbe-mineral interactions, and an understanding of mineral-water interface processes and mechanisms at the molecular level. Common analytical methods used in mineral-water interface studies will be introduced. A series of cases studies will be placed in a historical and geological context with emphasis on the underlying mineralogy and (bio)geochemistry. An emphasis will also be placed on the potential role of remediation and the societal impacts of environmental contaminants. GEOL 40095 / 50095 / 60095 (3 credits) Instructor: D. Singer.

ST: Advanced Sedimentology
Fluid dynamics, grain transport, sedimentary structures, granulometry, bedform and facies sequences, and facies architecture. Interpretation of continental and marine classic depositional environments and processes. GEOL 40095 / 50095 / 60095 (3 credits) Instructor: N. Wells.

ST: Marine Processes
The sea is the ultimate repository for material eroded from the continents, plays a critical role in climate change and is integral to the cycling of energy and matter in the Earth System. This special themes course will explore some of the mechanisms (physical, chemical, and biological) thorough, which the ocean operates, and how it influences climate on seasonal, inter-annual, and where applicable, glacial-interglacial times scales. Emphasis will be placed on understanding the relative importance of these processes and how they have varied through time, and the potential outcomes of human induced changes to these processes. GEOL 440095 / 50095 / 60095 (3 credits) Instructor: J. Ortiz.