Geology Minor (B.Sc.) (18 credits)
Offered by: Earth & Planetary Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Degree: Bachelor of Science; Bachelor of Arts and Science
Program credit weight: 18
Program Description
The Minor Geology offers students from other departments the opportunity to obtain exposure to the Earth Sciences.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Required Courses (6 credits)
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EPSC 210 | Introductory Mineralogy. | 3 |
Introductory Mineralogy. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Elementary crystallography, chemistry and identification of the principal rock-forming and ore minerals, in hand specimens and using optical microscopy. Demonstrations of other techniques applied to the identification of minerals and to the analysis of their composition and structure. Optional 2-day field trip. | ||
| EPSC 212 | Introductory Petrology. | 3 |
Introductory Petrology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A survey of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks and the processes responsible for their formation. The laboratory will emphasize the recognition of rocks in both hand-specimen and thin section using optical microscopes. | ||
Complementary Courses (12 credits)
3 credits, one of:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EPSC 201 | Understanding Planet Earth. | 3 |
Understanding Planet Earth. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Learn about Earth's origin, its place in the solar system, its internal structure, rocks and minerals, the formation of metal and fossil fuel deposits, and the extinction of dinosaurs. Discover the impact of the volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and mountain chains on Earth's past, present and future. Explore 125 million-year-old Mount Royal. | ||
| EPSC 233 | Earth and Life Through Time | 3 |
Earth and Life Through Time Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Interpretation of stratified rocks; history of Earth with special emphasis on the regions of North America; outline of the history of life recorded in fossils. | ||
9 credits selected from the list below and other 300-level and higher courses in Earth and Planetary Sciences may be substituted with permission.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EPSC 231 | Field School 1. | 3 |
Field School 1. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Geological mapping of selected areas, preparation of maps, reports from field notes, aerial photographs, etc. | ||
| EPSC 303 | Structural Geology. | 3 |
Structural Geology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Primary igneous and sedimentary structures, attitudes of planes and lines, stress and strain, fracturing of rocks, faulting, homogeneous strain, description and classification of folds, foliation and lineation, orthographic and stereographic projections. | ||
| EPSC 334 | Invertebrate Paleontology. | 3 |
Invertebrate Paleontology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Preservation of fossils; the fossil record of invertebrates; use of fossils in stratigraphy and paleoecology; fossils in evolutionary studies. Fossils of invertebrates are studied in the laboratory. | ||
| EPSC 350 | Tectonics. | 3 |
Tectonics. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Rheology of the Earth, mechanics of the crust and mantle and core, convection in the mantle, evolution and kinematics and deformations of the oceanic and continental plates, thermal evolution of the Earth, the unifying theory of plate tectonics. | ||
| EPSC 452 | Mineral Deposits. | 3 |
Mineral Deposits. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. A systematic review of the nature and origin of the major types of metallic and non-metallic mineral deposits; typical occurrences; geographic distribution; applications to exploration. Emphasis on magmatic ores, massive sulfides, iron formations. | ||
| EPSC 561 | Ore-forming Processes. | 3 |
Ore-forming Processes. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Physicochemical controls of hydrothermal mineral deposition. Discussion of fluid inclusion theory and application; stable isotope systematics, wall-rock alteration; ore mineral solubility and speciation; and mechanisms of mineral deposition. | ||