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 University of Calgary Calendar 2014-2015 COURSES OF INSTRUCTION Course Descriptions G Geophysics GOPH
Geophysics GOPH
GOPH 351 355 375 449 453 457 509 517 547 549 551 557 559 565 645 649 653 657 659 665 667 669 671 673 681 683 687 695 699 701 703
 

Instruction offered by members of the Department of Geoscience in the Faculty of Science.

Department Head - C.M. Henderson
 
Senior Courses
 
Geophysics 351       Introduction to Geophysics
The key geophysical concepts and methods that are used to study the Earth and solve various geoscientific problems. Includes: earthquake seismology, gravity and magnetism, figure of the Earth, isostasy, heat flow, reflection and refraction seismology, radioactivity and geochronology, geodynamics, applications and case studies.
Course Hours: H(3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geology 201, and 202 or 203; Mathematics 253 or 267 or 277 or 283 or Applied Mathematics 219; Physics 211 or 221, and 223.
Antirequisite(s): Credit for both Geophysics 351 and 359 will not be allowed.
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Geophysics 355       Exploration Geophysics
An introduction to refraction seismic, reflection seismic, gravity and magnetic methods applied to exploration for hydrocarbons, and their use in engineering studies.
Course Hours: H(3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geology 201; Geology 202 or 203; Mathematics 253 or 267 or 277 or 283 or Applied Mathematics 219; Physics 211 or 221, and 223. 
Antirequisite(s): Credit for both Geophysics 355 and 365 will not be allowed.
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Geophysics 375       Natural Disasters and Critical Earth Phenomena
Causes of disasters such as earthquakes, tsunami, volcanic eruptions, mud flows, landslides, avalanches, flooding, tornadoes and hurricanes, and other critical phenomena such as sinkholes, ozone depletion and radiation, carbon dioxide and global warming, El Nino, toxic natural materials and pollution, and extraterrestrial impacts. Surveys of historic disasters and their effects on life on Earth. Methods of prediction and prevention of disasters and precautions for the mitigation of their effects.
Course Hours: H(3-0)
Notes: A non-major course for students in all faculties. Not available as a course in the Field of Geophysics.
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Geophysics 449       Petrophysical Techniques
Principles of petrophysical well logs as related to cores, cuttings, fluids and seismograms and application to petroleum exploration and exploitation.
Course Hours: H(3-2)
Prerequisite(s): Geology 381 and Geophysics 351 or 355.
Antirequisite(s): Credit for more than one of Geology 449, 649, Geophysics 449, 649, will not be allowed.
Also known as: (Geology 449)
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Geophysics 453       Mining Geophysics
Electromagnetic, resistivity, induced polarization, self-potential, radiometric and gravity methods applied to problems in the search for metallic mineral deposits.
Course Hours: H(3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geology 201 and Physics 223 and Mathematics 253 or 267 or 277 or 283 or Applied Mathematics 219 and Mathematics 211.
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Geophysics 457       Physical Properties of Rocks
Physical properties of minerals and rocks, their relationship to geophysical measurements and surveys.
Course Hours: H(3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 355; 351 or 359; Mathematics 331 and Physics 321.
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Geophysics 509       Independent Study
Senior thesis. A written report based on independent study. Originality is emphasized, laboratory and field studies are encouraged. Published material may be included.
Course Hours: H(0-9)
Prerequisite(s): Consent of the Department and of a Departmental faculty member who will act as a supervisor.
MAY BE REPEATED FOR CREDIT
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Geophysics 517       Time Series Analysis and 1D Data Processing
Analysis of geophysical time series, especially real and synthetic seismic signals, is introduced using theoretical concepts and their practical application in a computational lab using commercial computational software.
Course Hours: H(3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 355 and Applied Mathematics 415.
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Geophysics 547       Gravity and Magnetics
The nature of the magnetic and gravitational fields of the earth. Theory and applications of the gravity and magnetic methods of geophysical exploration.
Course Hours: H(3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 355; 351 or 359; Mathematics 331 and Applied Mathematics 415.
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Geophysics 549       Field School
Seismic, gravity, magnetic, electromagnetic, resistivity, induced polarization and topographic surveys will be conducted for about 10-12 days prior to the Fall Term. Data collected will be processed during Fall Term tutorials.
Course Hours: H(1T-96 hours)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 355, 453 and 457.
Notes: This course occurs in rugged field conditions and varying weather, for which participants must be prepared and equipped. Students will be required to cover food and accommodation costs, and a supplemental fee will be assessed to cover the costs of equipment and other resources.
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Geophysics 551       Seismic Theory and Methods
Seismic wave propagation theory; various techniques of exploration seismology.
Course Hours: H(3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 355, Physics 321, 323, Applied Mathematics 415, and Mathematics 331.
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Geophysics 557       Multidimensional Data Analysis and Processing
Analysis and processing of 2D and 3D seismic data is explored using theoretical and practical concepts and applied in a computational lab using both commercial computational software and a commercial seismic data processing system.
Course Hours: H(3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 517.
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Geophysics 559       Geophysical Interpretation
Analysis and integration of geophysical and geological data. Qualitative and quantitative interpretation. Industrial case studies.
Course Hours: H(3-2)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 351 or 355; and Geophysics 457 or Geology 461 or 597.
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Geophysics 565       Environmental Applications of Geophysics
Application of geophysical methods such as resistivity, electromagnetics, and ground penetrating radar to investigations of geological, geotechnical, hydrological, and environmental problems. Small-scale high resolution applications of other geophysical methods (seismic, gravity, magnetics).
Course Hours: H(3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Mathematics 249 or 251 or 265 or 275 or 281 or Applied Mathematics 217 and completion of 9.5 FCE in Science or Engineering.
Antirequisite(s): Credit for Geophysics 565 and either 365 or 465 will not be allowed.
Also known as: (formerly Geophysics 465)
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Graduate Courses

Graduate students are urged to read the Geoscience Department section in the Graduate Studies calendar. Only where appropriate to a student's program may graduate credit be received for courses numbered 500-599. Courses numbered 600 are available to fourth-year students who obtain Departmental approval and who have credit for the prerequisite courses.
 
Geophysics 645       Seismic Wave Propagation
Seismic body and surface waves, reflection, refraction, diffraction, anelasticity, anisotropy, ray methods, point and line source solutions to the equation of motion, finite-difference methods for seismic waves, additional topics depending on current research interests.
Course Hours: H(3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 551 or consent of the Department.
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Geophysics 649       Advanced Petrophysical Techniques
Application of petrophysical well logs and their relation to cores, cuttings, fluids and seismograms. Case studies applied to petroleum exploration and exploitation.
Course Hours: H(3-2)
Prerequisite(s): Consent of the Department.
Antirequisite(s): Credit for more than one of Geology 449, 649, Geophysics 449, 649, will not be allowed.
Also known as: (Geology 649)
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Geophysics 653       Electromagnetic and Induced Polarization Topics
Topics in electromagnetic and induced polarization exploration as applied to the search for metallic minerals.
Course Hours: H(3-0)
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Geophysics 657       Seismic Signal Analysis
Advanced methods of seismic data analysis in exploration and production geophysics. Topics include velocity analysis, polarization filtering, median filtering, migration, inversion and tomography.
Course Hours: H(3-0)
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Geophysics 659       Practical Seismic Modelling, Migration, and Inversion
Concepts and techniques of seismic imaging (migration) are explored. Practical considerations such as algorithm characteristics and data geometry are emphasized; poststack and prestack migration and DMO methods are examined from the Kirchhoff, Fourier, and downward continuation perspectives.
Course Hours: H(3-3/2)
Notes: Some familiarity with seismic data and computer programming is assumed.
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Geophysics 665       Theoretical Seismology
Seismic ray theory, inverse theory, full-wave methods, matrix methods, numerical methods, additional topics depending on current research interests.
Course Hours: H(3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 551 or consent of the Department.
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Geophysics 667       Introduction to Microseismic Methods
Use of microseismic methods as surveillance technology during hydraulic-fracture treatment of tight reservoirs. Methods for acquiring, processing and interpreting microseismic data. Methods for picking events, determining hypocenter location and magnitude, and interpreting the stimulated rock volume.
Course Hours: H(3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 355, 551 and Mathematics 211, or the equivalent. Students should be enrolled in the graduate program in geophysics or receive the consent of the Department.
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Geophysics 669       Global Seismology
An introduction to theory and practice of global seismology. Topics include: seismograph systems, global wave propagation, moment tensors, shear-wave splitting, surface waves, receiver functions, seismic tomography and teleseismic receiver functions.
Course Hours: H(3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Basic knowledge of seismic wave theory, Fourier analysis and vector calculus. Students should be enrolled in the graduate program in geophysics or receive consent of the instructor.
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Geophysics 671       Inverse Theory and Applications I
An introduction to the mathematical and numerical techniques of geophysical inversion. Topics include least squares, singular value decomposition, and Tikhonov regularization. Development of numerical codes to solve real inverse problems is stressed.
Course Hours: H(3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Knowledge of linear algebra and vector calculus, and some familiarity with statistics. Also, students should be enrolled in the graduate program in geophysics or receive consent of the instructor.
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Geophysics 673       Inverse Theory and Applications II
Multidimensional real-world inverse problems, such as constrained seismic, gravity, or resistivity inversion. Fourier, maximum entropy, Bayesian approaches and iterative solution techniques such as Kaczmarz and conjugate gradient are covered.
Course Hours: H(3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 671 or consent of the instructor.
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Geophysics 681       Advanced Global Geophysics and Geodynamics
Elasticity, figure of the Earth, Earth structure and seismology, gravity and its temporal variations, isostasy, tides, Earth rotation and orientation, time, plate flexure, glacial rebound, continental drift, geodetic observation methods for geodynamics.
Course Hours: H(3-0)
Also known as: (Geomatics Engineering 681)
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Geophysics 683       Dynamics of the Earth
Fluid mechanics and Earth rheology, heat flow and mantle convection, magneto hydrodynamics and core dynamics, stresses, folding and diapirism, faulting and earthquake mechanism.
Course Hours: H(3-0)
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Geophysics 687       Theory of Seismic Imaging
The theories of wave propagation in acoustic and elastic media are used to develop the major algorithms used in seismic imaging (migration). Green's theorem, Huygen's principle, Kirchhoff diffraction theory, raytracing, wavetracking, multidimensional Fourier analysis, and Radon transforms are explored.
Course Hours: H(3-0)
Notes: Elementary knowledge of vector calculus and partial differential equations is assumed.
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Geophysics 695       Research Topics and Tools
An introduction to seismic structural imaging and interpretation, seismic velocity anisotropy, and multicomponent seismology, including seismic survey design for PS converted waves. Discussion of software packages used for graduate research programs.
Course Hours: H(3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Consent of the Department.
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Geophysics 699       Selected Topics in Geophysics
Courses are offered in specific topics in areas such as seismology, environmental geophysics, potential methods, integrated geophysical studies, and geodynamics.
Course Hours: H(3-3)
MAY BE REPEATED FOR CREDIT
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Geophysics 701       Advanced Independent Study
A written report based on laboratory and field studies is required.
Course Hours: H(0-6)
Notes: Open only to graduate students in the Department of Geoscience.
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Geophysics 703       Readings in Geophysics
A written report based on a literature review is required.
Course Hours: H(0-6)
Notes: Open only to graduate students in the Department of Geoscience.
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