Undergraduate Geology Degrees at TCU

Available as a major or minor on the B.A. and B.S. degrees.

Students planning to pursue technical jobs or qualify for graduate work in geology are strongly advised to satisfy the requirements for the B.S. degree. Geology courses required for the B.S. degree require off-road field trips (particularly 4516 which requires a high degree of physical fitness and mobility). Some required courses in Geology involve intensive microscope work. A total of 132 semester hours is required for graduation with the B.S. degree.

Geology courses required for the B.A. degree require off-road field trips and involve intensive microscope work.

Minor: Any minor approved for the B.A. degree is acceptable.

The B.A. degree with a major in Geology is devised primarily for the student seeking a curriculum combining geology with another field of study. This program is designed for maximum flexibility with careful advising that takes into account the student's stated goals. A total of 124 semester hours is required for graduation with the B.A. degree.

Grades of C or better in GEOL 30213 (Mineralogy), GEOL 30223 (Petrology) and GEOL 30423 (Structural Geology) are a prerequisite for admission to courses at the 40000 level or above.

10113 Understanding the Earth. Two hours of lecture and two hours of laboratory per week. A study of the physical environment of the planet Earth, its make-up, the processes that mould its surface features and an introduction to the resources that it provides.

10123 Earth History. Prerequisite GEOL 10113. Two hours of lecture and two hours of laboratory per week. The earth's evolution, covering both its history of shifting continents and spreading oceans, and the origin and evolution of life. Field Trip required.

10143 Earth Resources and the Environment. Prerequisite GEOL 10113. Two hours lecture and two hours of laboratory per week. The earth as a source of various natural resources, including problems of shortages and exploitation. Field Trip required.

20213 Our Geological Legacy. Prerequisite: GEOL 10113. Three hours of lecture per week. For the non-science major. Places society's relationship to geological phenomena within a scientific framework. Evaluates the apparent immutability of the earth. Field Trip required.

30003 Honors Seminar. Reading assignments on and discussion on topics of great importance in the field of geology.

30103 Science, Scientists and Society. Three hours of lecture per week. A cross-disciplinary course in the natural sciences. The workings of science and scientists studied by examining recurring themes and selected episodes in the history of science. The scientific enterprise considered within the changing intellectual, cultural and social milieu in which it was practiced from Epicurus and Aristotle though Einstein and Heisenberg.

30113 Meteorology Three hours of lecture per week. A study of weather, climate and weatherforecasting.

30193 Environmental Stewardship Seven weekly seminars in the Spring and then, in the summer, either the Costa Rica Experience or the The Skye Experience (10 day trips to those locations).

30203 Catastrophes, Controversies, Genesis & Geology. Three hours of lecture per week. The workings of science and scientists considered by examining the emergence of geology as a science in the late 18th and early and early 19th centuries and its development through the Victorian Age, including the rise and demise of scriptural geology and the impact of geologic thought on social mores and religious beliefs.

30213 Mineralogy. Prerequisite GEOL 10113 or permission of the instructor. Two hours of lecture and one three hour laboratory period per week. A composite course consisting of an introduction to crystallography and a study of the common minerals.

30223 Petrology. Prerequisite: GEOL 30213. Two hours of lecture and one three hour laboratory period per week. A basic course in the origin and identification of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. Field trip required.

30233 The Rock Cycle. Prerequisite GEOL 10113 or permission of the instructor. Field seminar on the megascopic aspects of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. Description and interpretation of features seen at scales between that of the individual basin and that of an entire basin.

30323 Introduction to Marine Science. Prerequisite GEOL 10113, or permission of the instructor. Three hours of lecture per week. A study of the oceans including physiography, chemical, physical, biological, and geological processes and related products.

30393 Environmental Earth Resources. Prerequisite: one year chemistry, GEOL 10113 or permission of the instructor.. Two hours of lecture and one three hour laboratory period per week. Chemical weathering, chemical and physical properties of soils, clay mineralogy, sedimentary rocks, ion exchange phenomena.

30423 Structural Geology. Prerequisite GEOL 30213 or permission of the instructor. Two hours of lecture and one three hour laboratory period per week. An introductory study of the deformation of the Earth's crust. Field trips required.

30573 Stratigraphy. Prerequisite Geol 10123 or permission of the instructor. Three hours of lecture. An introduction to the practical and theoretical aspects of stratigraphy and depositional systems. This course uses practical examples and field- and literature-based projects to familiarize students with the basic theoretical stratigraphic framework in which geology exists. An off-road field trip will be required.

40013 Honors Research. The student will be required to do independent research on geologic problem, submit a paper and give an oral presentation of the findings. A faculty supervisor will be appointed for each research problem.

40223 Sedimentology. Prerequisite GEOL 30223 or permission of the instructor. Two hours of lecture and one three hour laboratory period per week. Principles and techniques of facies analysis, including the description and origin of sedimentary textures and sedimentary structures, and the collection and analysis of paleocurrent data. Field trips required

40313 Invertebrate Paleontology. Prerequisite GEOL 10123 or permission of the instructor. Two hours of lecture and one three hour laboratory period per week. Major groups of invertebrate fossils, their morphology, classification, paleoecology, geologic distribution and phylogeny. Field trips required.

40413 Map Interpretation. Prerequisite: GEOL 30423 or permission of the instructor. Two hours of lecture and one three hour laboratory period per week. The construction and interpretation of geological maps

40493 Geomorphology. Prerequisite GEOL 10113 or permission of the instructor. Two hours of lecture and one two hour laboratory per week. Endogenic and exogenic processes and land forms; geologic control; short-term, long term and human-imposed landscape development; morphometric analysis and study of recent movements; environmental geomorphology.

40516 Summer Field Course in Geology. Prerequisite GEOL 10123, 30223, 30423 or permission of the instructor. Field investigations and mapping. Those planning to enroll should contact the Department of Geology by March 1 of the year in which enrollment is contemplated. Field work in rough and robust terrain required; a high degree of physical fitness recommended.

40893 Senior Thesis. Prerequisites; junior or senior status, a grade point of at least 3.00, and permission of instructor. Three hours of independent study with a focus on original research. The student is required to produce a bound thesis in a form suitable for publication in a scientific journal. Students are strongly recommended to enroll for this course in the penultimate semester of their degree plan with the expectation that the work may take more than a semester to complete.

40970 Senior Problems in Geology. Prerequisite; permission of instructor. Field and laboratory problems for advanced undergraduate students. Fifty clock hours of laboratory and field work for each semester credit (1-6 sem. hrs.)

50233 Optical Mineralogy and Petrography. Prerequisite: GEOL 30223 or Permission of the instructor.Two hours of lecture and one three hour laboratory period per week. Analysis of the behavior of light in crystalline substances, complete treatment of crystal optics and the identification of non-opaque, rock-forming minerals using immersion media and thin section techniques. Intensive use of the microscope required.

50251 Scanning Electron Microscopy. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor. Use of the S.E.M. in geological applications.

50331 Basic Seismics. Prerequisites: GEOL 30423 and GEOL 40223. Three hours of lecture per week for five weeks. An introduction to techniques of gathering, processing and interpreting seismic data.

50341 Interpreting Seismic Data. Prerequisites: GEOL 50331 or equivalent. Three hours of laboratory per week for five weeks. A Practicum in interpreting seismic data.

50351 Seismic Stratigraphy. Prerequisites: GEOL 50331 or equivalent. Three hours of lecture per week for five weeks. An introduction to the principles of seismic stratigraphy and their application in oil and gas exploration.

50361 Basic Well Log interpretation. Perquisite: GEOL 40223. three hours of lecture per week for five weeks. An introduction to the use of borehole geophysical logs in formation evaluation, correlation and subsurface facies analysis.

50413 Global Tectonics and Basin Analysis. Three hours of lecture per week. Explores the relationship between plate motion and the evolution of sedimentary basins.

50423 Petroleum Geology. Origin, migration and entrapment of hydrocarbons, exploration and production techniques used in the petroleum industry.

50493 Hydrogeology. Prerequisite Geol 10113 and Math 10524. Two hours of lecture and two hours of laboratory per week. Principles of groundwater flow, aquifer analysis, chemical and physical properties of groundwater.

50543 Sedimentary Environment and Facies. Three hours of lecture per week. Facies analysis and facies models applied to the problem of interpreting stratigraphic sequences and reconstructing paleogeography.

50602 Preparation of Environmental Impact Statements. Two laboratory periods per week. The methodology of environmental impact statement preparation from initial collection of data to final report drafting is covered. The course offers problem-oriented exercises where students are trained to take the initiative in EIS preparation. (Also offered as Biology 50602).

50603 Introduction to Geochemistry. Prerequisite: GEOL 30223, CHEM 10114-10124 or permission of the instructor. Three hours of lecture per week. Application of basic chemical principles to understanding the origin, distribution and migration of chemical elements in the earth's lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and biosphere.

50613 Igneous and Metamorphic Petrology. Prerequisite: GEOL 50233. Two hours of lecture and one three hour laboratory period per week. Petrogenesis of igneous and metamorphic rocks based on field, petrographic, chemical and isotopic data. Inferences on the evolution and dynamics of the crust and mantle. Involves use of microscope.

50623 Volcanology. Prerequisites: GEOL 50233. Two hours of lecture and one three hour laboratory period per week. Types and processes of volcanic eruptions; characteristics of modern volcanic products; recognition and significance of ancient volcanic deposits in the stratigraphic record. Involves use of microscope. Field trip required.

50712 Environmental Geology. Prerequisites: GEOL 10113; GEOL 30223 recommended. Three hours of lecture per week for ten weeks. Geologic processes, earth resources and engineering properties of crustal materials in the activities of society.

50721 Geographic Information Systems. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Three hours of lecture per week for five weeks. An introduction to computer systems for creating and managing large data bases and to techniques for displaying ind interpreting layered environmental geologic data.

50731 Remote Sensing Technology. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor. Three hours of lecture per week for five weeks. An introduction to the technology used in remote sensing, including MSS, TM and SPOT, thermal scanners and radar imaging.

50741 Image Processing. Prerequisite: permission of the instruction. Three hours of lecture per week for five weeks. An introduction to processing techniques used to enhance the display of remote sensing images with emphasis on those techniques useful in resource mapping.

50751 Image Interpretation. Prerequisite: permission of the instructor. Three hours of lecture per week for five weeks. Geologic and resource mapping and environmental monitoring using satellite images.

50783 Environmental Chemistry. Prerequisites: GEOL 10113, CHEM 10114-10124 or permission of the instructor. Three hours of lecture per week. Chemistry of water soil energy, and air as related to environmental problems. Subjects include: nutrients and eutrophication, fluorocarbons, sulfur and nitrogen oxides, Eh-pH relationship, natural carbonate reactions, and cation exchange phenomena.

50883 Introduction to Environmental Engineering Technology. Introduction to fundamentals of pollution control technology; impact of federal and state legislation on the construction, modification and control of industrial plants. Other topics include hazardous pollutants, modification to ambient quality, and basic pollution modeling. (Also sited as Biology.)

5901 Computer applications in Geology. Prerequisites: COSC 10403 or equivalent. Three hours of lecture per week for five weeks. The use of microcomputers in Geology.

50912 Statistical applications for microcomputers. Prerequisite Geol 50901. Three hours of lecture per week for ten weeks. Statistical treatment of directional data and the use of multivariate and special regression techniques analysis of variance, discriminate function analysis and factor analysis in solving geologic problems.

50922 Mapping applications for Microcomputers. Prerequisite: GEOL 50901. Three hours of lecture per week for ten weeks. Selecting and using mapping and drafting software.