Meeting Time: nominally 12:30 - 5:00 PM Tues, Thurs. But see below. This course is usually quite front loaded. We will probably choose to work on a weekend day at some point. A schedule is kept up to date outside of Canvas.
Meeting Place:
Instructor: Prof. Craig Jones, Benson Earth Sciences 440C.
TA: Wolfgang Lopez, Benson Earth Sciences - Room 322 (southwest cubical)
Course Objectives: Field geophysical skills will be developed through a combination of lecture and practical field exercises with an emphasis on the latter. Techniques to be covered are those used in resource exploration, environmental studies, engineering, and archaeology, and include: seismic refraction, gravity, magnetics, electrical resistivity, and (if equipment permits) ground penetrating radar. Laboratories will consist of field experiments and computer modeling/interpretation exercises.
General course goals:
Course framework: The course will be dominated by fieldwork that will (hopefully) be concluded by the end of October (ideally, sooner than that). We will be working at Spruce Gulch, with one day doing gravity and magnetics at the old silver mining site of Caribou above Nederland. Usually field days alternate with lab days. Usually a lab period will start with a preview of the technique we will use the next field time, then we will discuss the goals of the reduction of the field data and how to use the software to achieve those goals. We will then use computers to conduct our analysis (either in a lab or using personal laptops in a classroom). As noted farther down, this schedule is subject to change depending on pandemic conditions.
Student responsibilities:
Absences can only be excused if the instructor is notified prior to the class in question unless special circumstances prevent such notification, in which case notification should be completed as soon as possible.
Prerequisites: GEOL 2700, MATH 1300, PHYS 1110, or instructor consent. Students should have taken GEOL 3330.
Text:
Introduction to Applied Geophysics, Burger, Sheehan, and Jones. Please note that this was recently moved to Cambridge University Press, but the previous printing from Norton is nearly identical. Errata sheets are online. You can download the software from Cambridge. We are in the process of updating the book, so input about the text is welcome.
Supplementary texts:
Field Geophysics, 3rd or 4rth edition, Milsom. Pocket-sized, contains info on many different techniques, but the summaries can be somewhat cryptic. There is an electronic version available through the library, though this rather defeats the purpose of a pocket-sized field reference....
Applied Geophysics, 2nd Edition, Telford, Geldart, and Sheriff (not explicitly ordered at the bookstore). Comprehensive reference guide for the serious geophysicist. There is also an electronic version of this textnow...
Grading: Grading for GEOL 4714 (Field Geophysics) will be based upon five major areas. Elaboration on these areas is given below.
1) Data collection - 20%. Attendance and class (field) participation.
2) Field notebook - 10%. A single set of field notes will be prepared for each measurement type being made. Responsibility will be rotated through all students and grading will be for neatness, completeness, clarity and accuracy. (First lab each student has his or her own notes that are turned in). Please check the field notebook guidelines for details.
3) Reading quizzes - 10%. Short quizzes at start of lectures on material derived from reading for that topic.
4) Data reports - 35%. Prepare neat reports which include statement of problem that was investigated, explanation of procedures used, presentation of data, analysis, interpretation. Yes, neatness does count, as does completeness. Please check the lab report guidelines for details.
5) Practical exam - 25%. Written exam over material covered.
Graduate students (GEOL 5714) will also take a field final if conditions permit, which will account for 25% of the grade in GEOL 5714, other aspects reduced proportionally.
The usual disclaimers: As with any course at CU, contact the instructor ASAP if you have conflicts with the course schedule for any reason or need any kind of special accomodation. Details are under Campuswide Policies, below, which should be familiar to you at this point in your academic career.
All students enrolled in a University of Colorado Boulder course are responsible for knowing and adhering to theHonor Code. Violations of the Honor Code may include but are not limited to: plagiarism (including use of paper writing services or technology [such as essay bots]), cheating, fabrication, lying, bribery, threat, unauthorized access to academic materials, clicker fraud, submitting the same or similar work in more than one course without permission from all course instructors involved, and aiding academic dishonesty. Understanding the course's syllabus is a vital part of adhering to the Honor Code.
All incidents of academic misconduct will be reported to Student Conduct & Conflict Resolution: StudentConduct@colorado.edu. Students found responsible for violating theHonor Code will be assigned resolution outcomes from Student Conduct & Conflict Resolution and will be subject to academic sanctions from the faculty member. Visit Honor Code for more information on the academic integrity policy.
If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit your accommodation letter from Disability Services to your faculty member in a timely manner so that your needs can be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities in the academic environment. Information on requesting accommodations is located on the Disability Services website. Contact Disability Services at 303-492-8671 or DSinfo@colorado.edu for further assistance. If you have a temporary medical condition, see Temporary Medical Conditions on the Disability Services website.
If you have a temporary illness, injury or required medical isolation for which you require adjustment, let the instructor know as soon as possible.
Campus policy requires faculty to provide reasonable accommodations for students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments, or required attendance. Please communicate the need for a religious accommodation in a timely manner. In this class, I need to know with enough time to adjust schedules, should that be necessary. So please provide dates where an accommodation is requested as soon as possible.See the campus policy regarding religious observances for full details.
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Please know that faculty and graduate instructors are required to inform OIEC when they are made aware of incidents related to these concerns regardless of when or where something occurred. This is to ensure the person impacted receives outreach from OIEC about resolution options and support resources. To learn more about reporting and support a variety of concerns, visit the Don’t Ignore It page.
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To be clear, "AI" as popularly expressed is currently still large language models. These are ill-equipped to do calculations and have no understanding of the particular circumstances encountered in this class. Therefore, I strongly discourage the use of such AI models in this class. Should you decide that you will use one, the specific model used and the purpose it was employed must be included in any lab report where it is used. You are responsible for any mistakes an AI makes.