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 University of Calgary Calendar 2019-2020 COURSES OF INSTRUCTION Course Descriptions G Geophysics GOPH
Geophysics GOPH
GOPH 351 355 375 419 453 457 509 517 547 549 551 557 559 565 599 619 645 657 665 667 669 671 673 681 687 695 699 701 703 705 
 

For more information about these courses contact the Department of Geoscience: geoscience.ucalgary.ca/.
 
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: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geology 201 and 202; Mathematics 267 or 277; Physics 211 or 221, and 223.
Antirequisite(s): Credit for 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: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geology 201 and 202; Mathematics 267 or 277; Physics 211 or 221, and 223. 
Antirequisite(s): Credit for 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: 3 units; (3-0)
Notes: This course is not part of the Field of Geophysics.
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Geophysics 419       Computational Methods for Geophysicists
Topics in numerical analysis emphasizing geophysics applications. Topics will include error analysis, Taylor series, root finding algorithms, linear system solver algorithms, LU decomposition, curve fitting, numerical differentiation and integration, numerical solution of ODEs, introduction to PDE solvers.
Course Hours: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 351 or 355; Computer Science 217 or 231 or 235 or Data Science 211; Mathematics 211 and 331.
Antirequisite(s): Credit for Geophysics 419 and any of 619, 599.09 or 699.09 will not be allowed.
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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: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geology 201, Physics 223, Mathematics 211 and one of 267 or 277.
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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: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 351 or 355; Mathematics 331 or 367 or 377; Physics 321.
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Geophysics 509       Independent Study
A written report based on independent study. Originality is emphasized, laboratory and field studies are encouraged.
Course Hours: 3 units; (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: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 355, Mathematics 211 and 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: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 351 or 355; Mathematics 415 and one of 331 or 367 or 377.
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Geophysics 549       Field School
Seismic, gravity, magnetic, electromagnetic, resistivity, induced polarization and topographic surveys will be conducted prior to the Fall Term.
Course Hours: 3 units; (60-70 hours)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 355, 453 and 457, admission to the Major or Honours program in Geophysics and consent of the Department.
Notes: This course occurs in rugged field conditions and varying weather, for which participants must be prepared and equipped. A supplementary fee will be assessed to cover additional costs associated with this course. Students will require consent of the department to drop this course. Data collected will be processed during Fall Term tutorials.
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Geophysics 551       Seismic Theory and Methods
Seismic wave propagation theory; various techniques of exploration seismology.
Course Hours: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 355, Physics 321, 323, Mathematics 211, 415 and one of Mathematics 331 or 367 or 377.
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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: 3 units; (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: 3 units; (3-2)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 351 or 355; and 78 units.
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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: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): One of Mathematics 249, 265 or 275 and 78 units.
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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Geophysics 599       Contemporary Topics in Geophysics
Courses are offered in contemporary topics in areas such as seismology, gravity and magnetics, electrical and electromagnetic methods, exploration and environmental geophysics, and integrated geophysical methods.
Course Hours: 3 units; (3-0) or (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Consent of the Department.
MAY BE REPEATED FOR CREDIT
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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 619       Advanced Computational Methods for Geophysicists
Review of important mathematical models in geophysics (Poisson equation, acoustic wave equation, elastic wave equation) and typical boundary conditions for elliptic and parabolic partial differential equations. Numerical solutions using finite difference, finite volume and finite element approaches. Algorithms for nonlinear constitutive behaviour and introduction to nonlinear optimization/inversion algorithms. Course includes an independent term project.
Course Hours: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Consent of the Department.
Antirequisite(s): Credit for Geophysics 619 and Geophysics 699.09 will not be allowed.
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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: 3 units; (3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 551.
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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: 3 units; (3-0)
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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: 3 units; (3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 551.
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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: 3 units; (3-0)
Prerequisite(s): 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: 3 units; (3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Admission to the graduate program in geophysics.
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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: 3 units; (3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Admission to the graduate program in geophysics.
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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: 3 units; (3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Consent of the Department.
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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: 3 units; (3-0)
Also known as: (Geomatics Engineering 681)
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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: 3 units; (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: 3 units; (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: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Consent of the Department.
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: 3 units; (0-6)
Prerequisite(s): Admission to a graduate program in Geoscience.  
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Geophysics 703       Readings in Geophysics
A written report based on a literature review is required.
Course Hours: 3 units; (0-6)
Prerequisite(s): Admission to a graduate program in Geoscience.
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Geophysics 705       Graduate Skills in Geoscience
Provides incoming graduate students with an overview of professional skills that are key to success in graduate school and beyond. Presentation skills, writing scientific manuscripts, the peer review process, defence and candidacy exams, intellectual property and innovation, and networking basics.
Course Hours: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Consent of the Department
Antirequisite(s): Credit for Geophysics 705 and 699.56 will not be allowed.
Also known as: (Geology 705)
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