Program Details : University Catalogs : University of Minnesota

ESCI 1001 - Earth and Its Environments (PHYS, ENV)

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Course Equivalencies:	ESci 1001/ESci 1101/ESci 1005/
Typically offered:	Every Fall, Spring & Summer

Physical processes that shape the Earth: volcanoes, earthquakes, plate tectonics, glaciers, rivers. Current environmental issues/global change. Lecture/lab. Optional field experience.

ESCI 1003 - Dinosaurs and Our World (BIOL, ENV)

Credits:	4.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Dinosaur evolution, ecology, and extinction. Evolution of modern ecosystems from the Mesozoic Era to the Anthropocene (and dinosaurs roles in that evolution). Human interactions with our environment and our roles as historic agents. Structure and function of biological forms, interpreting past life, and the social history of scientific inquiry.

ESCI 1005 - Geology and Cinema (PHYS, ENV)

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Course Equivalencies:	ESci 1001/ESci 1101/ESci 1005/
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Physical processes shaping the Earth, materials it comprises, its nearly five billion year history as told spectacularly, but often wrongly, by Hollywood movies.

ESCI 1006 - Oceanography (PHYS, ENV)

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Course Equivalencies:	ESci 1006/ESci 1106
Typically offered:	Every Fall

How various processes in the ocean interact. Marine biology, waves, tides, chemical oceanography, marine geology, and human interaction with the sea. Labs include study of live marine invertebrates, manipulation of oceanographic data, and discussion using videos showing unique aspects of ocean research.

ESCI 1007 - From Microbes to Mammoths: History of Life on Earth (BIOL)

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Scientific evidence from biology, paleontology, and geology for origin/evolution of life over 4.5 billion years of Earth's history. Biochemical basis of life, biogeochemical cycles, natural selection, origin of species, genetics, phylogeny reconstruction, timescales for evolution.

ESCI 1012 - Natural Disasters (TS)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Every Fall & Spring

Geological processes that give rise to natural hazards and the emerging technologies that allow societies to mitigate their effects.

ESCI 2201 - Solid Earth Dynamics

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Dynamics of solid Earth, particularly tectonic system. Seismology, internal structure of Earth. Earth's gravity, magnetic fields. Paleomagnetism, global plate tectonics, tectonic systems. Field trip. prereq: concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in PHYS 1301 or instr consent

ESCI 2202 - Earth History

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Grading Basis:	A-F only
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Big Bang cosmology, plate tectonics, evolution. Formation of Earth. Chemical evolution of Earth, atmosphere, and ocean. Origin/tectonic evolution of continents. Origin of life, its patterns/processes. Long-term interactions between geosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. prereq: [2201, 2301] or instr consent

ESCI 2203 - Earth Surface Dynamics

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Earth's surface processes, drivers, and implications. Interactions between atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere.

ESCI 2301 - Mineralogy

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Crystallography, crystal chemistry, physics. Physical/chemical properties, crystal structures, chemical equilibria of major mineral groups. Lab includes crystallographic, polarizing microscope, X-ray powder diffraction exercises, hand-specimen mineral identification. prereq: [concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in CHEM 1061, concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in CHEM 1065, concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in MATH 1271] or instr consent

ESCI 2302 - Petrology

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Magmatic and metamorphic processes, with an emphasis on plate tectonic interpretation of rock sequences. prereq: 2301 or instr consent

ESCI 3004 - Water and Society (ENV)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall

For non-science majors. Study of (1) the role of humans as agents influencing the composition (quality) of water resources through domestic, agricultural, industrial, and other land-use practices; (2) the role of water in various ecosystem services which may be at odds with the anthropocentric view of water as a resource; (3) how population increase and climate change, coupled with human actions, is affecting the quality and quantity of available water, leading to lack of access to clean water and decent sanitation, and to severe water shortages (e.g., for irrigation) in some areas, especially in developing nations and politically unstable regions; and (4) how the availability of water shapes a society�s view of water as a resource and its view of the non-human demands for water (which is not uniform across the globe).

ESCI 3005 - Earth Resources

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Fall Odd Year

Geologic aspects of energy/material resources. Resource size/life-times. Environmental consequences of resource use. Issues of international/public ethics associated with resource production, distribution, and use.

ESCI 3006 - Rocks and Stars: Introduction to Planetary Science

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Spring Even Year

ESCI 3006 is designed for students without strong backgrounds in math or physical sciences that are interested in an introductory level survey of planetary science. Students with stronger backgrounds in earth or other physical sciences may also find much of interest, although the approach will be largely non-quantitative. The course will introduce undergraduate students to the dazzling variety of worlds in our solar system and illustrate how many of the planetary scale systems of the Earth compare and contrast to those of other planets. The course will also consider the dynamical and chemical processes that lead to the origin of our solar system and Earth. Additionally, we will also survey recent exciting observations and discoveries of exoplanets, including consideration of how the diversity of other solar systems aids understanding of our own. The physical and chemical principles underlying planetary processes will be a unifying theme of the course. The course will take advantage of the many resources made available by planetary exploration missions, including those producing the most recent new observations. Owing to the fast-moving pace of discovery in planetary science the curricular content will be and updated each time the course is taught. prereq: An interest in the solar system and planets.

ESCI 3202 - Fluid Earth Dynamics

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Dynamics of fluid Earth, mainly surface processes and convection. prereq: concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in 2201

ESCI 3303W - Geochemical Principles (WI)

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Origin of elements (nucleosynthesis, elemental abundances). Geochemical classifications. Isotopes (radioactive, stable). Phase equilibria. Models of Earth's geochemical evolution. Basic geochemical processes that produced Earth's lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere. prereq: [concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in CHEM 1061, concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in CHEM 1065] or instr consent

ESCI 3402 - Science and Politics of Global Warming (ENV)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	ESci 3402/ESci 5402
Typically offered:	Spring Odd Year

Detection/attribution of global warming using concepts of radiation, climate system, and carbon cycle. Effects on society/biodiversity. National/global efforts/controversy over responses/consequences.

ESCI 4102W - Vertebrate Paleontology: Evolutionary History and Fossil Records of Vertebrates (WI)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Spring Even Year

Vertebrate evolution (exclusive of mammals) in phylogenetic, temporal, functional, and paleoecological contexts. Vertebrate anatomy. Methods in reconstructing phylogenetic relationships and origin/history of major vertebrate groups, from Cambrian Explosion to modern diversity of vertebrate animals. prereq: 1001 or 1002 or Biol 1001 or Biol 1002 or Biol 1009 or instr consent

ESCI 4103W - Fossil Record of Mammals (WI)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Spring Odd Year

Evolutionary history of mammals and their extinct relatives. Methods in reconstructing phylogeny. Place of mammals in evolutionary history of vertebrate animals. Major morphological/ecological transitions. Origins of modern groups of mammals. Continuing controversies in studying fossil mammals.

ESCI 4203 - Environmental Geophysics

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	ESci 4203/ESci 8203
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Seismic exploration (reflection and refraction); potential techniques (gravity and magnetics) and electrical techniques of geophysical exploration. prereq: Phys 1301

ESCI 4204 - Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall

Present geomagnetic field at the Earth's surface, secular variation, geomagnetic field reversals. Physical and chemical basis of paleomagnetism: origin of natural remanent magnetization, mineralogy of magnetic minerals, magnetic polarity stratigraphy, apparent polar wander, and environmental magnetism. prereq: 2201, Phys 1302, Math 1272 or instr consent

ESCI 4212 - Geodynamics

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	ESci 4212/ESci 8212
Typically offered:	Spring Odd Year

This course focuses on the dynamics of the solid Earth, particularly that of the lithosphere and the asthenosphere, probing further into the geodynamic problems that are introduced in ESCI 2201 through applications of continuum mechanics. Key continuum mechanics concepts to be examined include constitutive relations for different rheological classes (elastic, plastic, viscous, visco-elastic, visco-elasto-plastic), conservation laws (conservation of mass, momentum, and energy; continuity, force balance, and heat transfer), and simplifications and assumptions involved in their applications. Geodynamic problems to be discussed include plate cooling, lithospheric deformation, mantle convection, shear (viscous and frictional) heating, subduction, faulting, and their effects on the Earth?s thermochemical structures, geoid and topography, and the distributions of earthquakes and volcanism. Analytical solutions and numerical models of simple geodynamic problems are introduced, and recent applications of complex geodynamic models to explain geological, geophysical, and geochemical observations are discussed based on selected scientific journal articles. Graduate students are expected to present and lead paper discussions, and their performance will be graded and counted towards their participation. Instructor?s consent will be required if the following prerequisites are not met: ESCI 2201, MATH 1371 and 1372 (or equivalent), and PHYS 1301 and 1302 (or equivalent).

ESCI 4401 - Aqueous Environmental Geochemistry

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	ESci 4401/ESci 8401
Typically offered:	Periodic Spring

General principles of solution chemistry applied to geology. Solution-mineral equilibria. Redox processes in natural waters. Geochemistry of hydrothermal fluids. Environmental geochemistry.

ESCI 4402 - Biogeochemical Cycles in the Ocean

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	ESci 4402/ESci 8402
Typically offered:	Spring Even Year

Marine biogeochemistry and chemical oceanography. Processes controlling chemical composition of oceans past/present. Cycles of major/minor constituents, including carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, silicon, and oxygen and their isotopes. Role of these cycles in climate system. prereq: [CHEM 1021, CHEM 1022] or instr consent

ESCI 4501 - Structural Geology

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Fundamental concepts related to deformation of Earth's crust. Processes associated with deformation, faulting, folding, fabric development. Lab/recitation include solving problems, conducting physical/numerical experiments. Field trips.

ESCI 4502 - Tectonic Styles

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall

Origin and nature of major types of tectonic disturbances affecting the crust and lithosphere, including analysis of the form and development of individual structural components and relationship to plate tectonics. Changes over geologic time in the nature of orogenic processes. prereq: 4501 or instr consent

ESCI 4602 - Sedimentology and Stratigraphy

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Interpretation of origin of sedimentary rocks through application of basic physical/chemical principles. Modern depositional environments, petrographic microscopy, basin dynamics, stratigraphy. prereq: [2301] or instr consent

ESCI 4701 - Geomorphology

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Origin, development, and continuing evolution of landforms in various environments. Environmental implications. Weathering, slope and shore processes, fluvial erosion and deposition, arid region processes, glacial processes. This course includes lecture and laboratory components, including field trips. Prereqs: MATH 1271 (Calculus I) or equivalent; PHYS 1301 (Physics I: Classical Mechanics) or equivalent. Instructor consent is required to take this course without the prerequisite courses or their equivalents, and it is recommended to take these classes at least concurrently (as co-requisites) with geomorphology. No help will be given on material covered in prerequisite courses.

ESCI 4702 - General Hydrogeology

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Theory of groundwater geology, hydrologic cycle, watershed hydrology, Darcy's law, governing equations of groundwater motion, flow net analysis, analog models, groundwater resource evaluation/development. Applied analysis of steady and transient equations of groundwater motion and chemical transport. Chemistry of natural waters. prereq: [concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in CHEM 1062, concurrent registration is required (or allowed) in CHEM 1066, MATH 1271, PHYS 1201] or instr consent

ESCI 4703 - Glacial Geology

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Typically offered:	Fall Odd Year

Formation and characteristics of modern glaciers; erosional and depositional features of Pleistocene glaciers; history of quaternary environmental changes in glaciated and nonglaciated areas. Field trips and labs. prereq: 1001 or instr consent

ESCI 4801 - Geomicrobiology

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Geosphere/biosphere interactions over temporal/spatial scales. Global biogeochemical cycling, microbe-metal interactions, microbial paleobiology, environmental geomicrobiology, life detection, habitability of planets.

ESCI 5201 - Time-Series Analysis of Geological Phenomena

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall

Time-series analysis of linear and nonlinear geological and geophysical phenomena. Examples drawn from ice age cycles, earthquakes, climatic fluctuations, volcanic eruptions, atmospheric phenomena, thermal convection and other time-dependent natural phenomena. Modern concepts of nonlinear dynamics and complexity theory applied to geological phenomena. prereq: Math 2263 or instr consent

ESCI 5203 - Mineral and Rock Physics

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Periodic Spring

Physical properties of minerals and rocks as related to the composition and dynamics of the Earth's crust, mantle, and core. prereq: 2201, Phys 1302

ESCI 5204 - Geostatistics and Inverse Theory

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Fall Odd Year

Statistical treatment of geological and geophysical data. Statistical estimation. Stochastic processes/fields. Non-linear/non-assumptive error analysis. Cluster analysis. Eigenvalue-eigenvector methods. Regional variables. Correlograms and kriging. Theoretical framework of linear geostatistics and geophysical inverse theory. prereq: Stat 3011 or instr consent

ESCI 5302 - Isotope Geology

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Theory and uses of radioactive, radiogenic, and stable isotopes in geology. Radioactive dating, geothermometry, and tracer techniques in geologic processes. prereq: 3303W or instr consent

ESCI 5503 - Advanced Petrology

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Fall Odd Year

Quantitative approach to modern igneous/metamorphic petrology. Emphasizes thermodynamics of minerals/melts and with applications to phase diagrams, thermobarometry, melting relationships, and energetics of petrologic mass transfer. prereq: 2302, CHEM 1061, CHEM 1065, [MATH 1372 or MATH 1272 or MATH 1572]

ESCI 5705 - Limnogeology and Paleoenvironment

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Periodic Fall

Within-lake, hydrogeologic, and landscape (geological/biological) processes that lead to formation of various proxy records of paleoenvironment. Systems approach to physical, geochemical, biogeochemical, and biotic proxies. Basic principles, case studies. Emphasizes how proxy records relate to paleoclimate. prereq: instr consent

ESCI 3002 - Climate Change and Human History (ENV)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	ESci 3002/ESci 5102
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Spring Even Year

Causes of long-/short-term climate change. Frequency/magnitude of past climate changes; their geologic records. Relationship of past climate changes to development of agrarian societies and to shifts in power among kingdoms/city-states. Emphasizes last 10,000 years.

ESCI 5102 - Climate Change and Human History

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	ESci 3002/ESci 5102
Typically offered:	Spring Even Year

Causes of long-/short-term climate change. Frequency/magnitude of past climate changes, their geologic records. Relationship of past climate changes to development of agrarian societies and to shifts in power among kingdoms/city-states. Emphasizes last 10,000 years. prereq: 1001 or equiv or instr consent

APEC 3611W - Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (ENV, WI)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered:	Every Spring

Concepts of resource use. Financial/economic feasibility. External effects, market failures. Resource use, environmental problems. Measuring impacts of resource development. Economics of alternative resource programs, environmental strategies. prereq: 1101 or ECON 1101 or 1101H or ECON 1101H

ESCI 4701 - Geomorphology

Credits:	4.0 [max 4.0]
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Origin, development, and continuing evolution of landforms in various environments. Environmental implications. Weathering, slope and shore processes, fluvial erosion and deposition, arid region processes, glacial processes. This course includes lecture and laboratory components, including field trips. Prereqs: MATH 1271 (Calculus I) or equivalent; PHYS 1301 (Physics I: Classical Mechanics) or equivalent. Instructor consent is required to take this course without the prerequisite courses or their equivalents, and it is recommended to take these classes at least concurrently (as co-requisites) with geomorphology. No help will be given on material covered in prerequisite courses.

SOC 4305 - Environment & Society: An Enduring Conflict (ENV)

Credits:	3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies:	GloS 4305/Soc 4305
Grading Basis:	A-F or Aud
Typically offered:	Every Fall

Examines the interaction between human society and the natural environment, focusing on the contemporary and global situation. Takes the perspective of environmental sociology concerning the short-range profit-driven and ideological causes of ecological destruction. Investigates how society is reacting to that increasing destruction prereq: 1001 recommended or a course on the environment, soc majors/minors must register A-F

University Catalogs

Environmental Geosciences Minor