GLG 110 Principles of Geology (4 credits).

How Earth works.  The building blocks of Earth: minerals and rocks.  Earth's dynamic interior: plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanism, and mountain building.  Surface processes associated with streams, ground water, glaciers, wind, and shorelines. Laboratory instruction in identification of common minerals and rocks, the use of topographic maps, and landform identification from topographic maps. Optional weekend field trip.

GLG 115 Life of the Past (4 credits).

Origin, evolution, and major extinctions of life forms set in the context of 3.5 billion years of earth history. Discussion of plants, invertebrate animals, and vertebrates (emphasizing dinosaurs and mammals). Laboratory exercises acquaint the student with representatives of the major fossil groups. Optional fossil collecting trip.

GLG 171 Environmental Geology (4 credits).

Treats those aspects of geology that interface directly with humanity. Past, present and future of geologic hazards, geologically related environmental health problems, mineral resources and energy resources. Human dependence on geologic resources is examined and interrelated with problems of humanity. Field trips required.

GLG 314 Historical Geology (5 credits).

Geological history of the earth with emphasis on North America; origin and evolution of animal and plant life on earth. One Saturday field trip required.

GLG 318 Physical Oceanography (3 credits).

A comprehensive study of the physical ocean; including the origin and nature of tides, waves, and ocean currents; marine geology, resources and pollution.

GLG 330 Service Learning in Geology (1 credit).

This service component for an existing course incorporates community service with classroom instruction in geology to provide an integrative learning experience that addresses the practice of citizenship and promotes an awareness of participation in public affairs. Includes 40 hours of service that benefits an external community organization, agency, or public sector provider.

GLG 332 Mineralogy (4 credits).

Origin, classification, description, and identification of ore minerals and rock-forming minerals.

GLG 333 Petrology (4 credits).

Origin, classification, and identification of common rocks.

GLG 340 Structural Geology (4 credits).

Elementary theory of stress and strain, rock behavior, continuous structures, fracture theory, discontinuous structures, and kinematics of plate motion.

GLG 350 Speleology (3 credits).

Caves, karst and cavernous terrain, their origin, geologic environment and evolution. Field trips and field research required.

GLG 351 Photogeology (3 credits).

Geologic interpretation of aerial photographs. Laboratory work includes field photointerpretation projects.

GLG 358 Writing II: Reporting Geological Information (3 credits).

Techniques and strategies for locating and accessing technical geological information. Preparation of technical reports and presentations on geologic topics with emphasis on the styles and formats of the Geological Society of America and the United States Geological Survey.

GLG 360 Directed Field Trips (1-3 credits).

Geologic field trips to areas of special interest.

GLG 399 Internship in Geology (1-3 credits).

Work experience in Geology. Students have periodic conferences with geology faculty and supervisory personnel of the employing business or agency.

GLG 412 Field Geology of the Midcontinent Region (4 credits).

Regional geology of the Midcontinent including the Ozark, Wichita, Arbuckle, Ouachita, and Boston Mountains, and associated basins. Field methods are introduced; a representative collection of rock samples is made.  Taught in the May intersession of even-numbered years.

GLG 413 Field Geology (6 credits).

Use of Brunton compass, jacob staff, and tape in field methods; aerial photographs and topographic maps in mapping sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks; demonstration of lithostratigraphic succession and correlation in the field; preparation of geological reports from field data. Taught at off-campus field station.

GLG 415 Invertebrate Paleontology (4 credits).

Morphology and taxonomy of invertebrate fossils.

GLG 498 Seminar in Geology (2 credits).

Lectures and discussions of topics in Geology.

GLG 499 Research in Geology (1-3 credits).

Outstanding student obtains enrichment through guided, but independent, original research in geology and geology related subject areas.

GLG 530 Optical Mineralogy (3 credits).

Essentials of optical crystallography; the use of the petrographic microscope in the identification of rock-forming minerals, both in oil-immersion grain mounts and in thin sections.

GLG 540 X-Ray Mineralogy (3 credits).

Principles and techniques of x-ray mineralogy; the use of x-ray powder diffraction in the identification and characterization of minerals and related crystalline phases.

GLG 570 Principles of Stratigraphy (4 credits).

Principles underlying the deposition of sediments; environmental control of lithofacies and biofacies; recognition of ancient depositional environments by key indicators and modern analogs.

GLG 572 Geohydrology (3 credits).

Aquifer properties; elementary theory of groundwater flow through a porous medium; well and aquifer relationships. Laboratories include groundwater case studies and Hydrologic Investigation Atlas interpretations.

GLG 573 Engineering Geology (3 credits).

Engineering properties of rocks and soils; fundamentals of rock and soil mechanics; application of properties and fundamentals to engineering problems concerning swelling clays, slope stability, groundwater, and karst areas. Laboratories include engineering classification of soils, soil strength determination, and hydraulic conductivity testing. Field trip to observe engineering problems of karst required.

GLG 580 Geochemistry (3 credits).

Topics concerning the distribution of the chemical elements in nature.

GLG 581 Geochemical Techniques (4 credits).

Geochemical techniques and procedures used in ore exploration, landfill contamination, and other environmental studies. Detection of trace elements in rocks, soils, plants, and waters using x-ray, emission spectrographic, atomic absorption, and neutron activated techniques. Field trips required.

GLG 590 Applied Geophysics (3 credits).

Application of geophysical methods to geologic problems. Techniques covered include seismic refraction and reflection, gravity, magnetics, direct current and electromagnetic resistivity. Field trips required.