Overview

Everything we use that has not been grown either contains or relies on materials that have been sourced by a geologist. In this free course, An introduction to geology, you will be introduced to some key geological processes that impact everyday life, as you discover the link between volcanoes and your mobile phone, and find out why tiny marine wildlife is at the core of the plastics industry.You will learn about the various types of rock, and explore how, where and why different rocks and natural resources form across the Earth. You will also look at some of the environmental and sustainability considerations that geologists need to take into account when extracting and processing these resources.This course material was originally written for FutureLearn in 2016. It was published on OpenLearn in April 2019.This OpenLearn science course is produced with the kind support of Dangoor Education, the educational arm of The Exilarch's Foundation.

Syllabus

Week1Week 1: Building stone
Introduction to Week 1
1.1 What is a rock?
1.1.1 Igneous rocks
1.1.2 Sedimentary rocks
1.1.3 Metamorphic rocks
1.2 Watch out for concrete
1.3 Rock textures
1.4 Identifying rock textures
1.5 Identifying rocks: going into the ‘field’
1.6 The rock cycle and plate tectonics
1.7 So, how old is the Earth?
1.8 And how do we know that?
1.8.1 Relative dating
1.8.2 Absolute dating
1.9 What is plate tectonics? Continental drift and sea floor spreading - part 1
1.10 What is plate tectonics? Continental drift and sea floor spreading - part 2
1.11 Plate tectonics – part 1
1.12 Plate tectonics – part 2
1.13 Week 1 quiz
1.14 Summary of Week 1
Further reading
Acknowledgements
Week2Week 2: Metals, metals everywhere
Introduction to Week 2
2.1 Opening up a smartphone
2.2 Where do the metals come from?
2.3 Pegmatite
2.4 Bauxite – amazing things that a lot of rain can do
2.5 From soil to soda cans
2.6 Soda cans from bauxite
2.7 Another source of Al
2.8 Sand, sandstone and quartzite
2.9 The geological sorting hat
2.10 From sands into sandstone and quartzite
2.11 Copper
2.12 Porphyry ore deposits
2.13 Bursting balloons of copper mineralisation
2.14 Porphyry copper ring of fire
2.15 Under ancient seas
2.16 What type of rock is oceanic crust?
2.17 Hydrothermal vents
2.18 Black smokers
2.19 How much ore for a metre of Cu cable?
2.20 Zones at Parys Mountain
2.21 Ancient people and metals
2.22 From ancient peoples to modern mines
2.23 Mineral maps
2.24 Week 2 quiz
2.25 Summary of Week 2
Further reading
Acknowledgements
Week3Week 3: Ubiquitous petroleum
Introduction to Week 3
3.1 Oil comes from the ground
3.2 Plastics and transport fuel
3.3 Fertilisers
3.4 What is oil?
3.5 Where does it come from?
3.6 Why doesn’t it just rot?
3.7 It’s a trap!
3.8 If it’s buried, how do we find it?
3.9 Seismic exploration – part 1
3.10 Seismic exploration – part 2
3.11 Biostratigraphy
3.12 Economics of oil production
3.13 More economics of oil
3.14 Week 3 quiz
3.15 Summary of Week 3
Further reading
Acknowledgements
Week4Week 4: Breaking and fixing our planet
Introduction to Week 4
4.1 Breaking and fixing our planet
4.2 Geological (extraction) in your pocket
4.3 Ice ages build the modern world
4.4 Aggregate extraction
4.5 Impact of dredging
4.6 Rare earth elements
4.7 Extraction and processing
4.8 Geoengineering: crazy ideas or will they save the planet?
4.9 The atmospheric bath tub
4.10 Interviews on Leverhulme centre for climate change remediation
4.11 What’s wrong with Dave Beerling’s big idea?
4.12 Small bugs solve a lot of problems
4.13 Toxic waters escape, but toxic conditions remain
4.14 Geology to the rescue!
4.15 Bioremediation – what survives, thrives
4.16 Week 4 quiz
Final conclusion and goodbye
References
Further reading
Acknowledgements