An Online (Distance Education) Course offered by the University of British Columbia

EOSC 311

The Earth and Its Resources

One of the topic modules below will be linked to a sample lesson.  Students who register for this course can see all the lessons.



Module 1.  Course introduction and Understanding Geology


Get yourself familiar with the course flow and familiarize yourself with some basic geology, we will need this as we progress through the course
Earth

Module 2.  What's in my cell phone?

We will investigate what Earth materials go into making a cell phone – there are quite a lot! We will take a look at what they are, where in the world they come from. We will focus on copper and explore how copper deposits form, their geological setting and typical rock types, and how and where we mine for copper in BC.Natural Copper

Module 3.  What's the fuss about fossil fuels?

This week we are going to look at how sediments and sedimentary rocks form, and in particular, the processes and environments where fossil fuels formed. We will explore oil, gas, coal and tar sands and consider the vast amount of geological time it takes for these deposits to build up and to develop into useable fuels.
pumpjack

Module 4.  Water, what is it good for?

This week we are going to take a deep dive into the geological aspects of water.  We will consider how water relentlessly shapes our planet through erosion and deposition of sediment, and how vast glaciers calved out the beautiful mountains in BC only 10-20,000 years ago. We will also look at water as a resource exploring ground water aquifers and BC’s famous Hydropower!
Kardzali Reservoir in Bulgaria

Module 5.  Bling bling – who wants a diamond ring?

In the last of our modules we will investigate the interior of the earth, what the internal structure is and how scientists have worked this out. We will look at the formation of the diamonds at over 150 km depth in the Earth, and follow these deep-seated minerals on their journey to the surface where they are prized as the most precious of gemstones.
Diamond Ring

Module 6.  Review

Summary of this course and its relationship to your own major.

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See samples of other Distance Ed courses offered by the UBC Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Science Dept.
See learning goals and textbook info for this course.

Photo credits:
1) Earth: NASA public domain. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/resources/786/blue-marble-2002/
2) Metals:  I, Jonathan Zander / CC BY-SA.  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/NatCopper.jpg/507px-NatCopper.jpg
3) Fossil Fuels:  Pumpjack south of Midland TX.  Photo by Eric Kounce.  Public domain. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/West_Texas_Pumpjack.JPG/320px-West_Texas_Pumpjack.JPG
4) Water: Kardzali Reservoir in Bulgaria, photo by Joanapeewa / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)  Reservoir
5)  Diamond: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Diamond.jpg

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