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 University of Calgary Calendar 2023-2024 COURSES OF INSTRUCTION Course Descriptions G Geophysics GOPH
Geophysics GOPH
GOPH 351 355 375 419 420 457 509 517 547 549 551 557 559 565 599 619 629 657 665 667 669 671 673 675 699 705
 

For more information about these courses contact the Department of Earth, Energy, and Environment: science.ucalgary.ca/earth.
 
Senior Courses
 
Geophysics 351       Introduction to Geophysics and Planetary Physics 
Key physical concepts and methods used to study Earth and other planetary bodies. Seismology, gravity, magnetism, figure of the Earth, isostasy, heat flow, radioactivity, geochronology, geodynamics. Applications and case studies.
Course Hours: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geology 201 and 202; and Mathematics 267 or 277; and 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 and Environmental Geophysics
Geophysical surveying methods applied to resource exploration, environmental monitoring, and engineering applications. Surveying theory and interpretation for refraction seismic, reflection seismic, gravity, electrical and electromagnetic methods.
Course Hours: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geology 201 and 202; and Mathematics 267 or 277; and 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. Error analysis, Taylor series, 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): Mathematics 211; and Mathematics 267 or 277; and Geophysics 351 or 355; and 3 units from Computer Science 217, 231, 235 or Data Science 211.
Antirequisite(s): Credit for Geophysics 419 and any of 619, 599.09 (Comp Methods for Geophysic) or 699.09 (Comp Methods for Geophysicists) will not be allowed.
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Geophysics 420       Inversion and Parameter Estimation for Geophysicists 
Numerical algorithms for estimation of model parameters. Objective functions, norms, root finding, curve fitting, least squares regression, unconstrained optimization, constrained optimization, gradient ascent/descent, Newton-Raphson. Applications to a variety of geophysical survey methods.
Course Hours: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Mathematics 211; and Mathematics 267 or 277; and Geophysics 351 or 355; and 3 units from Computer Science 217, 231, 235 or Data Science 211.
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Geophysics 457       Physical Properties of Minerals, Soils and Rocks
Properties of minerals, soils, and rock. Mathematical models of properties and geophysical methods used to measure those properties in the lab and field. Quantitative assessment of experimental error.
Course Hours: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 351 or 355; and Mathematics 211; and Mathematics 267 or 277.
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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       Geophysical Signal Processing I
Analysis of geophysical time series using one dimensional and multidimensional signal processing theory. Practical applications using commercial and open-source computational software.
Course Hours: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 355 and 419; and Mathematics 211; and Mathematics 267 or 277.
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Geophysics 547       Global and Mineral Exploration Applications of Geophysics
Theory of gravity, magnetic, resistivity, induced polarization, self-potential, and radiometric methods. Gravitational and magnetic fields of Earth. Large scale, low resolution survey applications to global geophysics and mineral exploration.
Course Hours: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 457; and Mathematics 211; and Mathematics 267 or 277.
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Geophysics 549       Field School
Seismic, gravity, magnetic, electromagnetic, resistivity, induced polarization, and topographic surveys. Team-based experiential learning with geophysical surveying including data acquisition, processing, and interpretation.
Course Hours: 3 units; (60-70 hours)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 355, 419, and 457.
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 with Hydrocarbon Applications 
Theory of acoustic and elastic wave propagation; constitutive models and boundary conditions. Applications to hydrocarbon exploration and environmental monitoring.
Course Hours: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 355, 419 and 517; Physics 321, 323; Mathematics 211; and Mathematics 367 or 377.
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Geophysics 557       Geophysical Signal Processing  II
Advanced analysis and processing of multidimensional geophysics data using theoretical and practical concepts of digital signal processing. Practical applications using commercial and open-source computational software.
Course Hours: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Geophysics 517.
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Geophysics 559       Imaging, Inversion, and Interpretation of Geophysical Data
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 and 355; and Mathematics 211; and Mathematics 267 or 277.
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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): Geophysics 457; and Mathematics 211; and Mathematics 267 or 277.
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 Department of Earth, Energy, and Environment 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): Admission to a graduate-level Geoscience program or consent of the Department.
Antirequisite(s): Credit for Geophysics 619 and Geophysics 699.09 will not be allowed.
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Geophysics 629       Geophysical Programming
Tools and techniques for efficient software development for multidimensional geophysical processing and inversion. Various programming languages and platforms will be used to build projects through all development stages. Shared and distributed memory, and high performance computing in the context of various geophysical applications.
Course Hours: 3 units; (3-3)
Prerequisite(s): Admission to a graduate-level Geoscience program or consent of the Department.
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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 Passive Seismic Monitoring
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): Admission to a graduate-level Geoscience program or 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): Admission to a graduate-level Geoscience program or consent of the Department.
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Geophysics 675       Independent Study   
A written report based on laboratory and field studies, or literature review is required.
Course Hours: 3 units; (0-6)
Prerequisite(s): Consent of the Department.
MAY BE REPEATED FOR CREDIT
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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): Admission to a graduate-level Geoscience program or 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): Consent of the Department.   
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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): Consent of the Department.
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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): Admission to a graduate-level Geoscience program or 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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