GEOL 5730 - Forensic Geoscience

Introduction to geologic, geophysical, and geochemical techniques employed by forensic investigators. For majors in chemistry, biology, anthropology, and geology.

Requisites:
Credit Hours: 4
Repeat/Retake Information: May not be retaken.
Lecture/Lab Hours: 2.0 lecture, 2.0 laboratory
Grades: Eligible Grades: A-F,WP,WF,WN,FN,AU,I
Learning Outcomes:

Graduate students are expected to perform at a higher level than their undergraduate counterparts. They are expected to have a more sophisticated grasp of current debates regarding the course topics.
Graduate students are expected to prepare and lead discussions of case studies for 10% of their grade. Their term papers are worth 30% of their grade as opposed to 20% for the undergraduate students.
Be able to describe the common types of economic ores, the distribution of operating and abandoned mining operations and characteristics of mining products and waste materials (tailings).
Be able to describe the major igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks in terms of their mineralogic composition, formation processes and occurences in a plate tectonic context.
Be able to select appropriate geophysical tools for locating specific buried targets (e.g., trenches, plastic or metal containers, voids, etc.).
Describe common commercial materials in terms of their mineralogic content.
Describe the analytical techniques used to identify hydrocarbon compounds.
Know the basic groups of minerals and their elemental and crystallographic properties.
Know the basic tools for mineral identification including macroscopic properties, petrographic microscopy, cathodoluminescence, electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and infrared and Raman spectroscopy.
Know the geochemical characteristics of surface and ground waters.
Know the relationship between naturally occurring hydrocarbons and refined hydrocarbon products as well as the common uses of these products.
Understand generally how pollen and fossils help restrict areas of investigation.
Understand the major classifications of soils and other unconsolidated materials and their characteristic textures, mineralogic and organic material content and their typical occurrences.
Understand the principles underlying geophysical techniques including magnetometer surveying, resistivity imaging, ground-penetrating radar and electromagnetic conductivity sensing.
Understand the proper technique for sampling soils and waters for laboratory analysis.