Courses - Spring 2027
GEOL100
Credit only granted for: GEOL100 or GEOL120.
Additional information: CORE Distributive Studies Physical Science Laboratory Course only when taken concurrently with GEOL 110.
A general survey of the rocks and minerals composing the earth, its surface features and the agents that form them, and the dynamic forces of plate tectonics.
GEOL102
Historical Geology
Credits:
4
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: GEOL120 or GEOL100; and GEOL110. Or permission of CMNS-Geology department.
Earth's history as revealed through the principles of stratigraphy and the processes of physical geology. Emphasis on formations and geologic development of the North American continent.
GEOL110
Physical Geology Laboratory
Credits:
1
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F
Prerequisite: Must have completed or be concurrently enrolled in GEOL120 or GEOL100.
The basic materials and tools of physical geology stressing familiarization with rocks and minerals and the use of maps in geologic interpretations.
Students must pay a $50.00 lab materials fee.
GEOL120
Environmental Geology
Credit only granted for: GEOL100 or GEOL120.
A review of geologic factors underlying many environmental problems and the interactions between population and physical environment: geologic hazards, land-use planning, conservation, mineral resources, waste disposal, land reclamation, and the geologic aspects of health and disease. The course is aimed at lower division students in education and liberal arts, and should be useful to any student concerned with geologic perspectives of environmental problems.
GEOL123
Cross-listed with: AOSC123.
Credit only granted for: AOSC123, GEOG123, or GEOL123.
Study of the major components of Earth's climate system and climate change history. Discussion of 21st century climate change prediction, mitigation and adaptation efforts.
Cross-listed with AOSC123. Credit only granted for AOSC123 or GEOL123.
GEOL125
Wicked Problems and Solutions in Climate Change
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Cross-listed with: AOSC125.
Credit only granted for: GEOL125 or AOSC125.
If you were born after 1970, climate change is a part of the world you know. Why has it been so difficult for individuals, communities, nations and the global community to mitigate, adapt and reduce societal vulnerability to its present and future dangers? Climate change is a wicked problem: difficult to unravel because it has so many tangled dimensions. Using Kim Stanley Robinson's climate fiction novel "Ministry for the Future" to introduce the complexity of climate problems and solutions, we will develop the scientific, economic, psychological and social aspects of not only the wicked problem but wicked solutions - pathways to sustainability in the 21st century - your century. Along the way we will role play the conditions, choices, actions and events by which these same problems, illustrated on the UMD campus, could untangle the wickedness of the problem and illuminate the wickedness of plausible solutions.
GEOL204
Dinosaurs, Early Humans, Ancestors, and Evolution; The Fossil Record of Vanished Worlds of the Prehistoric Past
What good is the fossil record? What relevance or insights might the remains of ancient living things have for our modern world? This course examines how the record of ancient life was made, and how we use diverse scientific techniques to reveal the information it contains. We will look at how the various inhabitants of our planet changed through time, and how different ecosystems such as reefs, forests, and grasslands were assembled. We will see how our own species came to be, and of our spread across the world from our ancestral home in Africa. We'll examine how the fossil record contains evidence of climate changes and extinction events far exceeding what we are currently experiencing, and how we can use these as warnings for our future. We'll address who are the owners and stakeholders in the evidence of the fossil world. Students will learn how to read and interpret the primary scientific literature, and how to present scientific information to others through various media.
GEOL322
Mineralogy
Credits:
4
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: GEOL120 or GEOL100; and GEOL110. And (CHEM131 or CHEM135) and (CHEM132 or CHEM136).
Restriction: Permission of instructor is required for non-degree seeking students.
Basic mineralogy for geology majors. The principles of morphologic crystallography, crystal chemistry, and determinative mineralogy.
GEOL340
Geomorphology
Credits:
4
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: GEOL120 or GEOL100.
Restriction: Permission of instructor is required of non-degree seeking students.
Analysis of landforms, organized on the basis of the geologic processes that have operated during the late Cenozoic. Constructional and erosional landforms related to physical systems operating on geologic structures through time.
GEOL393
Geology Senior Thesis I: Proposal
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F
Prerequisite: PHYS141 or PHYS161; and MATH141; and (CHEM131 or CHEM135) and (CHEM132 or CHEM136); and must have completed at least two upper-level geology courses and be concurrently enrolled in a third.
Restriction: Junior standing or higher; and must be in Geology program.
The first semester of the two-semester Geology Senior Thesis. Emphasis is on developing a plan for original research in the geosciences and presenting that plan both in writing and in public presentations that adhere to geosciences professional standards.
GEOL394
Geology Senior Thesis II: Research
Prerequisite: GEOL393; and must have completed at least three upper level GEOL courses.
Restriction: Must be in Geology program; and junior standing or higher.
The second semester of the two-semester Geology Senior Thesis. Investigation of specific original research question in geosciences. Emphasis is on completion of original research proposed in GEOL393 and presentation of results both in writing and in public presentations that adhere to geosciences professional standards.
GEOL435
Environmental Geochemistry
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: MATH115 and (GEOL436 or GEOL444).
Restriction: Nondegree-seeking students require the permission of the instructor.
Credit only granted for: GEOL489W or GEOL435.
Formerly: GEOL489W.
An understanding of geochemical cycles of Earth's surface systems including soils, rivers, lakes, and estuaries and causes and implications of alteration of geochemical cycles. Topics include chemical weathering, soils, chemical composition of inland waters, hydrologic tracers, salinization, eutrophication, nutrient and metal pollution, and global geochemical cycles.
GEOL437
Global Climate Change: Past and Present
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: MATH115 or MATH140; and (GEOL100 or GEOL120); and (CHEM131 or CHEM135); and (CHEM132 or CHEM136).
Cross-listed with: AOSC437.
Jointly offered with: GEOL637, AOSC685.
Credit only granted for: GEOL437, GEOL637, AOSC437 or AOSC685.
Introduction to the processes by which climate varies, the paleoclimate record, and projections of climate change into the 21st century, including discussion of climate sensitivity to external radiative forcing.
GEOL443
Petrology
Credits:
4
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: Must have completed or be concurrently enrolled in GEOL423.
Restriction: Non-degree-seeking students require the permission of the instructor.
Study of igneous and metamorphic rocks: petrogenesis, distributions, chemical and mineralogical relations, macroscopic and microscopic descriptions, geologic significance.
GEOL445
High Temperature Geochemistry
Credits:
4
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: MATH115 and GEOL322.
Restriction: Non-degree-seeking students require the permission of the instructor.
Review of chemical principles and their use in understanding processes of Earth, and solar system formation and differentiation. Topics include nucleosynthesis and cosmochemical abundances of elements, bonding and element partitioning, equilibrium thermodynamics and phase stabilities, radiogenic isotopes and geochronology, kinetics, and diffusion.
GEOL447
Observational Geophysics
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: MATH141; and (PHYS141, PHYS161, or PHYS171).
An introduction to practical signal processing, data analysis, and inverse theory in geophysics.
GEOL457
Seismology
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: MATH141; and (GEOL120 or GEOL100); and GEOL110; or permission of CMNS-Geology department.
Recommended: PHYS171, PHYS141, or PHYS161.
Restriction: Non-degree-seeking students require the permission of the instructor.
Credit only granted for: GEOL457 or GEOL489A.
Formerly: GEOL489A.
General overview of the basics of seismology, starting with wave propagation, seismic reflection and refraction. Applications to the determination of the seismic velocity and anisotropy structure of the Earth. Earthquake generation, postseismic deformation and creep events, relation to faulting and plate tectonics.
GEOL488
Geology Colloquium; Geology Colloquium
Credits:
1
Grad Meth:
S-F
GEOL497
Recent Advances: Geology
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: Must have completed at least 2 upper-level GEOL courses.
Corequisite: GEOL393; and a third upper-level geology course.
Restriction: Must be in Geology program; and GPA of 3.0 or better in both overall and in all courses required for the major; and senior standing; and to be taken as late as possible in the program.
Credit only granted for: GEOL497 or GEOL489H.
Formerly: GEOL489H.
A survey of important recent advances in geological sciences in the context of the methods and practices of scientific research.
GEOL497H
Recent Advances: Geology
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
Prerequisite: Must have completed at least 2 upper-level GEOL courses.
Corequisite: GEOL393; and a third upper-level geology course.
Restriction: Must be in Geology program; and GPA of 3.0 or better in both overall and in all courses required for the major; and senior standing; and to be taken as late as possible in the program.
Credit only granted for: GEOL497 or GEOL489H.
Formerly: GEOL489H.
A survey of important recent advances in geological sciences in the context of the methods and practices of scientific research.
GEOL499
Special Problems in Geology
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
Reg, P-F, Aud
GEOL615
Planetary Habitability and Surface Chemistry
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Prerequisite: GEOL445; or permission of instructor.
Credit only granted for: GEOL615 or GEOL789B.
Formerly: GEOL789B.
Introduction to emerging areas of research pertaining to the formation of planetary bodies, the evolution of habitable environments, and the capacity of life to emerge in environments found within and/or outside of our Solar System.
GEOL635
Environmental Geochemistry
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud, S-F
Restriction: Nondegree-seeking students require the permission of the instructor.
Jointly offered with: GEOL435.
Credit only granted for: GEOL635, GEOL789W, GEOL435 or GEOL489W.
Formerly: GEOL789W.
Additional information: Students must have prior coursework similar to the content offered in undergraduate courses: MATH115; and (GEOL100 or GEOL120); and (GEOL436 or GEOL444); and CHEM131 and CHEM132; or (CHEM135 and CHEM136).
Geochemical cycles of Earth's surface systems including soils, rivers, lakes, and estuaries and causes; and implications of their alteration. Topics include chemical weathering, soils, chemistry of inland waters, hydrologic tracers, salinization, eutrophication, nutrient and metal pollution, and global geochemical cycles.
GEOL647
Observational Geophysics
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Credit only granted for: GEOL789O or GEOL647.
Formerly: GEOL789O.
Additional information: Students must have prior coursework similar to the content offered in undergraduate courses: MATH140, MATH141, and PHYS141; and (PHYS161 or PHYS171).
Introduces graduate students to instrument design and performance, signal processing, data analysis and inverse theory in geophysics.
GEOL654
Fluvial Geomorphology Seminar
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Recommended: GEOL452 and GEOL340.
Restriction: Non-degree-seeking students require the permission of the instructor.
Credit only granted for: GEOL654 or GEOL789B.
Formerly: GEOL789B.
Fluvial geomorphology is the study of the movement of water and sedimentin stream channels. This includes: formation of channels, open channel hydraulics, sediment transport or bedload and suspended load, river morphology and landscape evolution. The course is designed for graduate students and advanced undergraduates.
GEOL656
Engineering and Environmental Geology
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Restriction: Non-degree-seeking students require the permission of the instructor.
Credit only granted for: GEOL656 or GEOL789Z.
Formerly: GEOL789Z.
Additional information: Students must have prior coursework similar to the content offered in undergraduate courses GEOL100, GEOL110, MATH141, and PHYS141.
An overview of mechanical aspects of earthquakes as a result of fault instability. Quantitative approaches on soil and rock strength, instability on earthquakes, landslides, land subsidence, and geotechnical aspects of oil/gas exploration are discussed. Emphasis is on theoretical framework of mechanics of earthquake and faulting, earthquake source mechanisms, earthquake scaling relations, the seismic cycle etc.
GEOL657
Seismic Wave Propagation
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Recommended: GEOL100 or GEOL120; and (MATH241 and MATH246); and (PHYS260 or PHYS273).
Restriction: Non-degree-seeking students require the permission of the instructor.
Credit only granted for: GEOL657 or GEOL789A.
Formerly: GEOL789A.
Additional information: Students must have prior coursework similar to the content offered in undergraduate courses MATH141 and (PHYS141, PHYS161, or PHYS171).
A description of the physics of seismic wave propagation and their applications to the determination of the structure of the Earth and the mechanics of earthquakes.
GEOL680
Geodynamics
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud, S-F
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
Recommended: Familiarity with MATLAB or MATHEMATICA.
The mechanics and dynamics of the Earth's interior and their applications to problems of Geophysics. This course considers several rheological descriptions of Earth materials (brittle, elastic, linear and nonlinear fluids, and viscoelastic) and emphasizes analytical solutions to simplified problem.
GEOL683
Cosmochemistry
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Recommended: GEOL650.
Credit only granted for: GEOL683 or GEOL789K.
Formerly: GEOL789K.
Introduction to current theories behind the origin, age and evolution of our solar system. The primary focus will be on the interpretation of petrologic, chemical and isotopic data obtained from meteorites, and planetary materials collected by sample return missions to the Moon and asteroids. Includes in-depth discussion of the mechanisms of formation of the asteroids and planets and the origin of the Moon and Mars. Includes hands-on examination of lunar samples from the Apollo missions as well as various types of meteorites.
GEOL688
Geology Colloquium; Geology Colloquium
Credits:
1
Grad Meth:
S-F
GEOL789M
Recent Advances in Geology; Special Topics; Classification and Machine Learning in the Geosciences
Credits:
3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
Prerequisite: MATH240 or equivalent; or permission of CMNS-Geology department; Some experience in computer programming; Non-degree-seeking students require the permission of the instructor.
Course Description: How can we tell if a landform is a volcano or an impact crater, if a seismic signal is an earthquake or noise, if two dinosaurs are related to one another, if a given township contain critical minerals, and if a flood event took place last week in Maryland? In each case, the answer involves classifying geoscientific datasets. Increasingly, machine learning techniques are essential in tackling these challenges. This course will introduce you to classification and its associated methods, such as clustering, graphs, and neural networks. You'll engage in hands-on analysis of real-world datasets, discuss key publications and applications, and learn to use Python programming to solve these classification problems.
Course Description: How can we tell if a landform is a volcano or an impact crater, if a seismic signal is an earthquake or noise, if two dinosaurs are related to one another, if a given township contain critical minerals, and if a flood event took place last week in Maryland? In each case, the answer involves classifying geoscientific datasets. Increasingly, machine learning techniques are essential in tackling these challenges. This course will introduce you to classification and its associated methods, such as clustering, graphs, and neural networks. You'll engage in hands-on analysis of real-world datasets, discuss key publications and applications, and learn to use Python programming to solve these classification problems.
GEOL789R
Recent Advances in Geology; Geoscience Communication
Credits:
2 - 4
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud, S-F
GEOL789Y
Recent Advances in Geology; Co-Evolution of Life and Envrionment from Archean to Present
Credits:
2 - 4
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
GEOL798
Seminar in Geology
Credits:
1 - 3
Grad Meth:
Reg, Aud
GEOL799
Master's Thesis Research
Credits:
1 - 6
Grad Meth:
S-F
GEOL898
Pre-Candidacy Research
Credits:
1 - 8
Grad Meth:
Reg
GEOL899
Doctoral Dissertation Research
Credits:
6
Grad Meth:
S-F
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