The weathering of rocks, and the development of regolith/soils will be covered in the first part of this course.  Sediments, cations and anions will be tracked through various depositional environments, from rivers, to deserts, to marginal marine environments and the deep sea. Fundamental concepts for deciphering depositional environments such as sedimentary textures and structures are included early in the course. The course will finish with a treatment of modern stratigraphic disciplines: lithostratigraphy, magnetostratigraphy, seismic stratigraphy, chronostratigraphy and geologic time.

Laboratory: Practical work will be designed to help students recognise sedimentary structures in hand specimen and microscopic thin section. Students will be taught to recognise depositional environments in the field during a field trip to the NSW south.

On satisfying the requirements of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

Assessment will be based on:

• Laboratory and field work 50%
• Examination 50%

A maximum of 39 hours of lectures/tutorials and 26 hours of laboratory classes.

At least one first year EMSC, GEOL or CHEM course