Geological Sciences

Sample Courses

  • Geology of national parks examines selected geologic features in United States national parks and the processes that form them.
  • Volcanoes and earthquakes looks at the mechanisms that cause earthquakes and volcanoes, with a focus on plate tectonics, associated hazards, and relevant areas in Oregon and the western United States.
  • Geology of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest explores the region’s geologic and tectonic history, and the plate tectonic processes responsible for its evolution.
  • Earth materials provideds an understanding of basic and compound symmetry, Miller indices, crystal structure, chemical bonding, and nonsilicates.
  • Structural geology looks at the origin of geologic structures including faults, folds, and tectonites, with a focus on kinematic and dynamic analysis of deformation of earth materials.
  • Structural geology laboratory and field includes field trips, map and cross-section generation, and some computer-based exercises aimed at collection and interpretation of field and map data for structural analysis.
  • Field geology consists of geological fieldwork in selected parts of Oregon, and emphasizes mapping at several scales in sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic areas.

Hands On Learning

Research facilities at the Depart ment of Geological Sciences include satellite- and laser-based surveying equipment, a scanning electron microscope and electron microprobe, and computer systems that are truly cutting edge.

Professor Ray Weldon often takes his students on research trips. “In recent years, I’ve worked with students in Oregon, California, and Turkistan in Central Asia,” he says. “We’re studying earthquakes—looking at evidence of historic and prehistoric earthquakes to make predictions about further earthquakes.”

 


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