INVESTIGATING EARTH'S SURFACE

Credit Hours: 3 · Undergraduate Lower-Level

Students will learn the fundamental processes that shape the Earth’s surface and explore the relative time scales and magnitudes on which these processes operate through hands-on experiences. This will include field investigations on campus and around the Houston-Galveston area (with specific emphasis on bayou/riparian, coastal, and urban systems) as well as case studies from the US National Parks that exemplify these various landforms and processes. To provide the foundational knowledge for these investigations, students will spend some class time learning about Earth’s major systems (geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, and atmosphere), but this course will focus primarily on Earth’s geosphere and its geomorphology.