Geology 400-level Courses
General Information
Students must enroll in 4 x 24 pt papers in addition to GEOL 480 (PGDipSci), GEOL 490 (BSc Hons) or GEOL 495 (1st year MSc) to satisfy their relevant degree requirements. Geology offers a wide range of 400-level papers, not all of which are run every year. Paper selections are based on student interest and staff availability and are made at meetings with 400-level students the first week of the term. GEOL 400 papers are for students who are taking the 4 year Honours degree, or who have completed the BSc or equivalent degree and are pursuing MSc or Postgraduate (PGDipSci). GEOL 400 papers are not normally available to undergraduate students.
Up to nine (9) 400-level 24 pt papers are available for 2011 (in addition to the special topics papers GEOL 450 & 451). These are to be constructed from 2 complementary 12 pt modules with several options available. Some half modules (6 pts) are also offered. A module may be credited to no more than one paper. The papers and modules are described briefly below – students should talk to the staff member(s) involved for more detailed information. Please note that official transcripts will list the titles of papers only, not those of the constituent modules.
A preliminary meeting will be held with 400-level students on Tuesday -1st March at 9am in Quad 6 to explain and discuss the options.
The 400-level organisational meeting will follow a few days later, when students should have decided which modules to take and the corresponding papers they will enroll in this year. Students should also be prepared to finalise the timetable at this meeting so they will need to know the meeting times of any papers they are taking outside the department.
Papers:
GEOL 421 Sedimentary basin analysis: pattern and process
GEOL 422 Volcanology, petrology and geochemistry
GEOL 427 New Zealand paleobiodiversity
GEOL 432 Geological hazards and the environment
GEOL 433 Environmental geology
Modules
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AFC: Topical issues in petrology (Alan Cooper)
Recent offerings: mantle petrology, kimberlites, diamonds, UHP metamorphism, carbonatites. -
ARG1: Controlled-source seismology (Andrew Gorman)
Overview of seismic acquisition and processing including collection of field data, digital theory as applied to seismic data, prestack and post-stack seismic processing; practical work involving the processing of a complete seismic line. -
ARG2: Geophysical interpretation (Andrew Gorman)
Overview of geophysical interpretation techniques used in sedimentary basin including basic seismic correlation, seismic stratigraphy, well log analysis, geophysical inverse theory, 2-D, 3-D and 4-D seismic models, synergies of multiple geophysical methods. -
ARG3: Earthquake hazards (1/2 module, Andrew Gorman)
Earthquakes and earthquake hazard, measuring earthquakes, ground response, assessing regional hazard probabilities, microzoning. -
AusIMM. Environmental Geochemistry for Modern Mining (½ module, Robert Seal, USGS)
Two-day short course examining and summarising current topics in environmental geochemistry as they relate to modern mining from exploration through permitting, production, and closure -
CEM: Environmental geochemistry (1/2 module, Candace Martin)
Content varies according to the interests of students but may include some of the following: weathering process and soil formation; uses of mineralogic, elemental and isotopic tracers; origin of surficial deposits including loess; geochemical and mineralogical hazards including radioactive waste and asbestos; geochemistry of modern agricultural practices; geochemical cycles of selected elements. -
DEL: New Zealand terrestrial paleobiodiversity (Daphne Lee)
New Zealand terrestrial paleobiodiversity (plants and invertebrates) from the Cretaceous to the present. Topics may include: Nothofagus; NZ fossil insects; NZ's changing paleogeography and Oligocene “drowning”; Cenozoic climate change; Lake Manuherikia and freshwater ecosystems; Quaternary paleoecology; origin of NZ alpine biotas; paleobiodiversity and conservation. Practical work will include two fossil-collecting field trips. -
DP: Tectonic processes (Dave Prior & Richard Norris)
Content varies according to the interests of students but may include some of the following: the rheology of the lithosphere (jelly sandwich v. creme brulée); critical wedges from the sandbox to the Southern Alps; tectonics and erosion; S Pacific plate motions; the Southern Alps and the Alpine Fault; subduction zones and accretionary prisms; crustal extension and rifting; geodesy and Earth deformation, North Island tectonics, slow earthquakes, etc. There will also be a short project involving finding and analyzing some data. -
GSW1: Paleomagnetism (Gary Wilson, Marine Science)
Principles and applications of paleomagnetism to environmental processes & history. Topics covered will include: the geomagnetic field, rock and mineral magnetism, collecting and presenting palaeomagnetic data, statistical analysis, palaeomagnetic poles and tectonics, magnetostratigraphy and geochronologic applications, environmental magnetism, climate change applications, and palaeothermometry. Practical work for the term project will include collection and analysis of palaeomagnetic samples using the Otago Paleomagnetic Research Facility. -
GSW2: Sedimentary basin analysis (Gary Wilson, Marine Science)
A detailed investigation of sequence stratigraphic concepts from outcrop to seismic stratigraphic scales and including well log analysis focusing on examples from the Wanganui and Canterbury basins and including a two-day fieldtrip to south Canterbury. We will also examine glacial processes and development of basins at glaciated continental margins focusing on the Victoria Land Basin and further developing the concepts of cyclostratigraphy, orbital controls on sedimentation, and time series analysis of sedimentary successions. -
JDLW1: Topical issues in physical volcanology (James White)
Environments of volcanism, basaltic and potassic systems, subaqueous volcanism, seamounts and island arcs, caldera and dome systems, subaerial composite cone systems. -
JDLW2: Volcanic hazards (1/2 module, James White)
Volcanism and volcanic hazards, hazard assessment and zoning, prediction and monitoring. -
JMP: Ore geochemistry (Michael Palin)
Chemical equilibria of aqueous solutions, metal solubility, mineral precipitation, and wall rock alteration; determination of age, temperature and sources of fluids and metals using stable and radiogenic isotopes and trace elements; case studies of selected magmatic- and metamorphic-hydrothermal ore deposits. -
REF1: Paleoceanography (Ewan Fordyce)
To consider the recent geological history of oceans and oceanic processes, with emphasis on the Southern Ocean: ocean circulation, nutrients, stable isotopes, pH - modern and ancient; Quaternary oceanography; evolution of ocean basins - tectonics, tracers (e.g. B-Sr) etc; biomineralisation; paleoclimatology - O isotopes, Mg/Ca. -
REF2: Vertebrate paleobiology and evolution (Ewan Fordyce)
Patterns, processes, principles and techniques in vertebrate paleobiology. Sessions will emphasise the Mesozoic and Cenozoic of New Zealand and adjacent parts of Gondwanaland and the Southern Ocean, and the origins of the New Zealand vertebrate fauna. Case studies will be drawn from fish, reptiles, birds and mammals depending on the interests of students and staff. Other disciplines - molecular biology, geochemistry - will be introduced as appropriate. -
RJN: Landslide hazards (½ module, Richard Norris)
Landslide hazard and ground failure, mechanisms of slope failure, factors in landslide occurrence, effects of long- and short-term changes, landslide mapping and hazard assessment. - VT: Slip and flow: Mechanics of faults and shear zones (Virginia Toy)
The course aims to provide students with advanced-level tools to interpret both kinematics and dynamics of localised deformation in the Earth’s lithosphere from data they are likely to observe in field and laboratory studies.
Module-Paper Combinations
(click on image to view fullsize pdf)
Note: additional combinations are possible through GEOL 450 & 451 Special Topics.