Course

Environmental Geology

Faculty
Science & Technology
Department
Earth & Environmental Sciences
Course Code
EAES 2605
Credits
4.00
Semester Length
15 weeks
Max Class Size
35
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Lab
Course Designation
None
Industry Designation
None
Typically Offered
Fall

Overview

Course Description
This course explores the interaction between Earth and human activities. Students will investigate how geology is applied to solving environmental problems such as natural hazards, exploitation of resources and global issues of environmental change. Field trips may be required.
Course Content

1.Introduction to humans and the environment

  • Population
  • Urbanization
  • Sustainability

2. Terrain analysis

  • Surficial materials
  • Soil classification
  • Glacial geology

3. Natural hazards

  • Flooding
  • Mass movements
  • Earthquakes
  • Volcanoes

4. Environmental resources and risk assessment

  • Risk assessment
  • Water resources
  • Mineral extraction
  • Energy resources
  • Solid waste disposal

5. Global environmental change

  • Climate change
  • Trends in resource usage

6.  Lab and field topics may include

  • Air photo interpretation
  • Terrain and terrain stability mapping
  • Earthquakes
  • Mass movement
  • Volcanic hazard mapping
  • Groundwater contamination
  • Climate change implications
  • Urban geology
Means of Assessment

Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. The instructor will present a written course outline with specific evaluation criteria at the beginning of the semester. Evaluation will be based on the following:

Field reports and assignments (none more than 20%) 10-30%

Lab assignments                                                      10-30%

Lab tests                                                                 20-30%

Term tests                                                               15-25%

Final exam                                                               25-30%

Total                                                                        100%

  

 

 

 

 

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, successful students will be able to:

1. Discuss the drivers of the relationship between humans and their environment.

2. Classify terrain based on physical properties such as surficial materials, expressions and processes.

3. Explain the causes, processes and potential mitigations of various natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, mass wasting events and volcanoes.

4. Describe how the components of environmental risk and hazard assessment apply to various environmental issues.

5. Discuss how the relationship between humans, their environment and resources will change in the future.

 

Textbook Materials

Consult the Douglas College Bookstore for the latest required textbooks and materials. Example textbooks and materials may include:

  • Keller, E.A., Environmental Geology, current edition, Prentice Hall
  • Earle, S., Environmental Geology, Pressbooks

Requisites

Prerequisites

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer Details for EAES 2605
Alexander College (ALEX) ALEX SCIE 2XX (4)
Athabasca University (AU) AU GEOL 207 (3)
College of the Rockies (COTR) COTR GEOL 220 (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU GEOG 2XXX (4)
Langara College (LANG) LANG GEOL 1XXX (3)
LaSalle College Vancouver (LCV) LCV EOS 2XX (3)
Okanagan College (OC) OC EESC 2XX (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU EASC 209 (4)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU GEOL 2391 (3)
University Canada West (UCW) UCW GEOG 2XX (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO EESC_O 2nd (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV EOSC_V 2nd (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC GEOG 2XX (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC EOS 2XX (1.5)
Vancouver Community College (VCC) No credit
Vancouver Community College (VCC) VCC EVSC 2XXX (3)
Vancouver Island University (VIU) VIU GEOL 2nd (4)

Course Offerings

Summer 2024