| CODE | GSC3107 | ||||||||||||
| TITLE | Practical Geophysical Exploration | ||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 03 - Years 2, 3, 4 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 6 | ||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 6 | ||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Geosciences | ||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit will focus on providing hands-on experience to students in using geophysical instruments and conducting geophysical surveys. It will also give them the opportunity to collect, process, analyse and interpret geophysical data and will therefore be a fundamental tool to prepare students for a career in the geosciences, whether academic or commercial. The field work will consist of planned surveys/investigations at suitable locations on campus or elsewhere in Malta or Gozo, in which the students may work in groups or individually, depending on the nature of the field work. Typical geophysical experiments will include some or all of the following (depending on instrument availability): - ambient noise measurements using portable seismographs; - passive and active surface wave dispersion studies using geophone arrays (REMI, MASW, ESAC); - seismic refraction surveys using geophone arrays; - geomagnetic surveying; - resistivity surveying; - gravimetric surveying. Data will be processed and analysed using standard software packages. Study-unit Aims: The study-unit aims to give students a practical understanding and appreciation of the geophysical theory learned in previous study-units. It will provide the students with hands-on experience in geophysical surveying and give them confidence in planning and conducting appropriate surveys. It also aims to make students familiar with recent software packages used in the geophysical context. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - discuss the requirements of a given geophysical investigation in terms of the capabilities and limitations of known geophysical methods; - understand how geophysical instruments operate and how to obtain the best data; - use their scientific knowledge to design an appropriate geophysical experiment; - use geophysical data in the appropriate software and understand the potential and limitations of the said software; - analyse and interpret results. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - plan a survey according to a given brief; - handle geophysical instruments with the proper care and understanding; - work individually or in a team to carry out a geophysical investigation; - transfer data from instruments to a computer and carry out the necessary data handling, analysis and interpretation; - present their results in various formats and communicate them clearly to an audience. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Burger, H.R. , Jones, C., Sheehan, A. (2006) Introduction to Applied Geophysics: exploration of the shallow subsurface, WW Norton & Co. - Milsom, John (2011) Field Geophysics, Wiley. - Lowrie, William (2007) Fundamentals of Geophysics, Cambridge University Press. - Telford, W.M. Geldart, L.P.; Sheriff, R.E.(1990) Applied Geophysics, Cambridge University Press. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Fieldwork, Lectures and Tutorials | ||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Sebastiano D'Amico |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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