ENV2637

Environmental science 2 - resource management issues

Mr Wayne Kirstine

8 points - Second semester - Four 1-hour lectures and four hours of practical work/fieldwork per week - Gippsland, Distance and Berwick - Prohibition: GAS2012 - Note: Detailed study guides are provided, and a basic rock/mineral kit is available to allow distance education students to conduct practical and fieldwork activities near home. There is no requirement for on-campus attendance.

Objectives On completion of this subject students should be conversant with the basic physical and chemical processes that shape the lithosphere and hydrosphere; appreciate the central role of the soil in providing for viable and sustainable ecosystems; use knowledge of the earth's soil, water and energy resources to comment critically on environmental impacts, resource management, and the sustainability of human activities.

Synopsis Topics covered include the identification and structure of representative minerals and rocks; the role of plate tectonics in shaping the oceanic and continental crust and in accounting for earthquake and volcanic activity; mechanical and chemical weathering processes; soil formation and properties; soil erosion and management; structure and evolution of streams; channel flow; management of water resources; mining and its impacts on the environment; fossil fuel and renewable energy resources; the nature of waste and its disposal and management.

Assessment Written assignments: 40% - End-of-semester examination: 60%

Prescribed texts

Montgomery C Environmental geology 4th edn, W C Brown, 1995

Back to the 1999 Science Handbook