Problems in Economic and Environmental Geology - supplemental college coursework

Problems in Economic and Environmental Geology

A self-guided course of study in issues particularly related to Water Quality Science

for preparation of junior-senior level geology and water quality science majors

by Russ Colson

Course Description: This independent study self-learning module provides a guided opportunity to practice applying concepts particularly related to Water Quality Science within an Economic and Environmental Geology course. It includes science reasoning challenges, real-world geology problems, and self-guided labs. Problems include lab and challenges in surface and ground water hydrology, phase diagrams, pollutant migration, geochemistry, environmental law, EPA water quality criteria, remote sensing, and other issues related to water quality science.

Each of the lessons below provides both a topical review (sometimes brief enough that you may need to supplement with outside reading), often with recorded asynchronous lectures, and a set of self-guided lab exercises that engage you in applying the topical concepts to science reasoning challenges or real-world problems. These are substantive online labs, many requiring experimental documentation, reasoning and problem solving, and should be done slowly and carefully so as to figure out the concepts involved, with the exercise of figuring it out being more valuable than the ‘answer’ that comes at the end.

These materials are appropriate for a 1 semester credit college course, meaning that 45 hours is a reasonable time to complete the course. These lessons are intended as supplemental labs within a course in Economic and Environmental Geology, particularly in support of a Water Quality Science component. Although not intended as a stand-alone course, a person with a strong science background and a willingness to do the suggested online readings and work through the lessons slowly and carefully might successfully navigate this course independently.

Geochemistry Review and Modes of Pollutant Transport:

Gold, Pollution, and Farmland Part 1 Lecture: Geochemical differentiation (12:57 min)

Gold, Pollution, and Farmland Text Part 1 Text: Partitioning puzzles, interactive text

Gold, Pollution, and Farmland Part 2 Lecture: Core formation, Ore formation and Pollutant migration (25:48 min)

Gold, Pollution, and Farmland Part 2 Text: Core formation, Ore formation, and Pollutant migration, interactive text

Phase diagrams and Environmental Geochemistry:

Chemistry and Phase Diagrams in Geology: Lecture

Phase Diagrams in Aqueous Geochemistry: Interactive Text

Aqueous Geochemistry and Ore Deposits: Interactive Text

Isotopes and Atoms: Lecture

Isotopes, Geothermometers, and Climate: Interactive Text

Follow the Carbon--Geochemical Cycling: Interactive Text