The geology curriculum is designed to meet the requirements of industry, graduate school, and government. For the B.S. degree, the students are required to complete departmental requirements, capstones, core discipline options, and elective (58 - 62 credits) and the supporting requirements (16 credits) in addition to the General Education Program requirements and the completion of at least 120 credits. The department requires that to receive a degree in Geology, students must have a grade of C- or better in the required geology courses, and an average of C- or better in the supporting courses.
Courses required for the B.S. in Geology are listed below. Some courses require field trips for which the students are expected to pay for room (if required) and board. Field camp is taken during the summer at institutions other than the University of Maryland, College Park, that offer camps approved by the department.
REQUIREMENTS EFFECTIVE MARCH 2016
GenEd Program: Minimum 40 credits (for freshmen entering in Fall 2012 and after.)
Or CORE Program: 46 credits
Departmental Requirements: 58-62 credits
Supporting Requirements: 16 credits
Note: Completion of the degree requires completion of 120 credits
REQUIRED GEOLOGY COURSES:
- One of the following:
- GEOL110 - Introductory Geology Laboratory (1)
- GEOL 102 - Historical Geology (4)
- GEOL 322 - Mineralogy (4)
- GEOL 341 - Structural Geology (4)
- GEOL 342 - Stratigraphy and Sedimentation (4)
- GEOL 423 - Optical Mineralogy (4)
- GEOL 443 - Petrology (4)
Total credits: 28
GEOLOGY CAPSTONES:
- GEOL 393 - Geology Senior Thesis I: Proposal (3)
- GEOL 394 - Geology Senior Thesis II: Research (3)
- GEOL 490 - Field Camp (6)
GEOLOGIC CORE DISCIPLINES: Choose one course from each of the following groups.*
Quantitative Reasoning:
- GEOL 351 - Statistics for Geoscientists (3)
- GEOL 413 - Geoscientific Modeling (3)
- GEOL 447 - Observational Geophysics (3)
Surface Processes:
Geophysics:
- GEOL 412 - Geology of the Terrestrial Planets (3)
- GEOL 446 - Geophysics (3)
- GEOL 455 - Marine Geophysics (3)
- GEOL 457 - Seismology (3)
Geochemistry:
- GEOL 444 - Low-Temperature Geochemistry (4)
- GEOL 445 - High-Temperature Geochemistry (4)
- GEOL 463 - Economic Geology (3)
Geobiology:
- GEOL 331 - Principles of Paleontology (4)
- GEOL 435 - Environmental Geochemistry (3)
- GEOL 436 - Biogeochemistry (3)
- GEOL 437 - Global Climate Change, Past and Present (3)
Total credits: 15-18
GEOLOGY ELECTIVE:
- Any 3 - 4 credit 300 - 400 level GEOL course not taken to satisfy the above requirements or appropriate substitution with the approval of the department.
Total credits: 3-4
SUPPORTING COURSES
Required Courses:
- One of the following:
- CHEM 131/2 - Chemistry I - Fundamentals of General Chemistry and laboratory (4)
- CHEM 135/6 - Chemistry for Engineers and laboratory (4)
- MATH 140 - Calculus I (4)
- MATH 141 - Calculus II (4)
- One of the following:
- PHYS 161 - General Physics: Mechanics and Particle Dynamics (3) and PHYS 174 - Physics Laboratory Introduction (1)
- PHYS 171 - Introductory Physics: Mechanics and Relativity (3) and PHYS 174 - Physics Laboratory Introduction (1)
Total credits: 16
OVERALL Total credits: 75-78
Matriculated Geology majors are expected to take all courses on campus unless specific departmental permission is given.
* Or appropriate substitutions with the approval of the department.
RESOURCES AND ANCILLARY PROGRAMS