Undergraduate - UnitESC1022 - Planet earth: Surface processes

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Science
Organisational Unit	School of Geosciences
Offered	Clayton Second semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Ms Marion Anderson

Synopsis

A continuation of the introduction to Geosciences. Topics include: Minerals, igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, metamorphic rocks and their formation processes; Plate tectonics and surface processes; mountain building and ocean basis formation; Micropalaeontology and its applications to basin analysis; Structural geology - how rocks and the crust deform over geologic time; Geochemistry and groundwater.

Outcomes

On completion of this unit students will be able to:

Identify rock-forming minerals, and common rock types;

Describe the chemical and physical processes involved in the formation of common minerals and igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks;

Discuss the major features of mountain belts, ocean basins and continents, and describe some of the plate tectonic processes which form them;

Identify and describe microfossils associated with basin formation;

Identify the features of, and recognise and explain the processes which deform rocks and minerals;

Describe geochemical processes that affect the rocks and minerals at the Earth's surface;

Apply these skills and principles to rocks examined in field environments.

Assessment

Examination (2 hours): 50%
Laboratory work, quizzes, assignment and two field excursions: 50%

Chief examiner(s)

Ms Marion Anderson

Workload requirements

Three 1-hour lectures per week and eight 3-hour practicals per semester

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Geosciences

Prerequisites

ESC1011 or ENV1011, or permission