Environmental Geology – (M.Sc.)

Contents

Areas of study
Six core modules plus an independent research thesis form the basis of this MSc. You will also choose two optional modules, enabling you to study areas of personal interest. The core modules are as follows:
Field and Core Logging
Deals with the characterisation of rocks and soils for engineering and environmental investigations, including logging to British Standards, using field sections and drill core. It introduces building a correlation framework from core and collection, plotting and interpretation of structural data, alongside testing and analytical techniques used in engineering and environmental investigations.
Hydrogeology
Introduces rock types as aquifers, the role of hydrogeology in engineering and environmental investigations, and the importance of groundwater in water resource management. The content covers determination of the hydraulic properties of rocks, the basics of groundwater flow, groundwater resource management, groundwater chemistry and contamination.

Geohazards
Examines geological hazards from the global to the local scale, including seismic and volcanic hazards, but also dealing with slope stability, ground collapse and geomedical hazards. It also deals with the concepts of hazard and risk, and engineering techniques for hazards remediation
Geoframeworks
A range of industrial case studies, presented in their professional context, introduce students to key concepts in professional practice including teamwork, presentation skills, professional reporting and sustainability.
Environmental geology
This module trains students in techniques applicable to problems in contaminated land, geological waste disposal and contaminant hydrogeology. Covers basic geochemistry, contaminant transport in the subsurface, sampling and analytical techniques for contaminated land assessment, landfill design and deep geological waste disposal (nuclear/CO2).
Field course
The field course brings together all elements of the course through a study of real ground engineering and hydrogeological problems. The location of the course may vary from year to year, but has recently been to Yorkshire or Devon. Students also receive additional training in field techniques and data handling.
Environmental geology research project
The aim of the project is to extend and unify the student's understanding and awareness of geology applied to engineering and environmental investigations, to allow opportunity for students to demonstrate their capabilities in data collection and analysis and to facilitate the student in devising or recommending creative and appropriate solutions to a specific problem. Recent projects have ranged from investigating issues in engineering geology, through to experimental investigations of techniques for contaminated land remediation.