Earth and Planetary Sciences Liberal Program - Core Science Component (B.Sc.) (45 credits)
Offered by: Earth & Planetary Sciences (Faculty of Science)
Degree: Bachelor of Science
Program credit weight: 45
Program Description
The B.Sc. (Liberal) program in Earth and Planetary Sciences provides the graduate with a solid core of knowledge of Geology, Geophysics, Earth Systems Science, and Planetary Science while allowing for a broadening of the student's educational experience with courses from the other sciences or the arts. The program is flexible, allowing students to assemble a truly interdisciplinary degree.
Degree Requirements — B.Sc.
This program is offered as part of a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree.
To graduate, students must satisfy both their program requirements and their degree requirements.
- The program requirements (i.e., the specific courses that make up this program) are listed under the Course Tab (above).
- The degree requirements—including the mandatory Foundation program, appropriate degree structure, and any additional components—are outlined on the Degree Requirements page.
Students are responsible for ensuring that this program fits within the overall structure of their degree and that all degree requirements are met. Consult the Degree Planning Guide on the SOUSA website for additional guidance.
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 (21 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. | ||
| EPSC 220 | Principles of Geochemistry. | 3 |
Principles of Geochemistry. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Basic concepts in geochemistry and the application of geochemical principles of chemistry to geological subdisciplines. Particular emphasis on origin of elements, controls on their distribution in Earth and cosmos, isotopes, organic geochemistry and water chemistry. Application of phase diagrams to geology. | ||
| 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 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. | ||
| 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 320 | Elementary Earth Physics. | 3 |
Elementary Earth Physics. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Physical properties of Earth and the processes associated with its existence as inferred from astronomy, geodesy, seismology, geology, terrestrial magnetism and thermal evolution. | ||
Complementary Courses (24 credits)
3 credits, one of:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| EPSC 331 | Field School 2. | 3 |
Field School 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Two week field studies in selected branches of the geosciences. | ||
| EPSC 341 | Field School 3. | 3 |
Field School 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Two week field studies in selected branches of the geosciences to examine processes in geology. | ||
plus 21 credits chosen from the following:
Note: Courses at the 300 or higher level in other departments in the Faculties of Science and Engineering may also be used as complementary credits, with the permission of the Director of undergraduate studies.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| 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 340 | Earth and Planetary Inference. | 3 |
Earth and Planetary Inference. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to modern techniques for combining geological, geophysical, and geochemical measurements with theoretical knowledge about Earth and other planets. Use of tools from time series analysis and inverse methods to build models and test hypotheses within the Earth and Planetary Sciences. | ||
| 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 355 | Sedimentary Geology. | 3 |
Sedimentary Geology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The origin, classification, diagenesis and economic importance of sedimentary rocks. The physical properties of sedimentary rocks, the processes by which sediments are transported and deposited, and the environments in which they accumulate. Introduction to techniques for describing and analyzing sedimentary rocks in thin section, hand specimen, and on the outcrop. | ||
| EPSC 423 | Igneous Petrology. | 3 |
Igneous Petrology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Physical properties, nucleation, crystallization, differentiation and emplacement of magmas. Integrated studies on various rock suites. | ||
| EPSC 425 | Sediments to Sequences. | 3 |
Sediments to Sequences. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Advanced techniques for interrogating the sedimentary record. Exploration of both descriptive and quantitative approaches to describing and interpreting the stratigraphic record, including sedimentary facies analysis, seismic stratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy, and chemostratigraphy. Other topics include methods for dating and age-calibrating the stratigraphic record and approaches to analyzing sedimentary cycles. | ||
| EPSC 435 | Applied Geophysics. | 3 |
Applied Geophysics. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Methods in geophysical surveying including gravity, magnetism, electromagnetism, resistivity and seismology; application to exploration and near surface environmental and hydrological targets are included, along with field applications of techniques. | ||
| EPSC 445 | Metamorphic Petrology. | 3 |
Metamorphic Petrology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The origin, classification and petrological significance of metamorphic rocks, from the point of view of theory, experiment and field observations. | ||
| 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 501 | Crystal Chemistry. | 3 |
Crystal Chemistry. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Discussion of crystal structures and compositions of important mineral groups, especially oxides, sulphides and silicates. Solid solution. Relation of structure to morphology and to chemical and physical properties of the rock-forming minerals. | ||
| EPSC 519 | Isotopes in Earth and Environmental Science. | 3 |
Isotopes in Earth and Environmental Science. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The theory and application of stable and radioactive isotope measurements in the Earth and environmental sciences, including applications in geology, hydrology, climatology, biogeochemistry, and ecology. | ||
| EPSC 530 | Volcanology. | 3 |
Volcanology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The physical mechanisms which drive volcanoes and volcanic activity are presented. Descriptive, practical and theoretical approaches to the study of volcanoes are discussed. | ||
| EPSC 547 | Modelling Geochemical Processes. | 3 |
Modelling Geochemical Processes. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Modelling will be applied to construct equilibrium and transport models that quantitatively investigate geochemical processes occurring on Earth and other planets. Topics include, but are not restricted to: box modelling of the transport of elements between geochemical reservoirs, chemical reactions of components during flow through systems, interactions between multiple, competing reactions and/or processes. Model applications will vary from the core and mantle of planets to their surface environments and humans' impact upon them. | ||
| EPSC 548 | Igneous Petrogenetic Mechanisms. | 3 |
Igneous Petrogenetic Mechanisms. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Investigation of the primary mechanisms causing the diversity of igneous rock compositions on the Earth, other planets, asteroids, and meteorite parent bodies. | ||
| EPSC 549 | Hydrogeology. | 3 |
Hydrogeology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction to groundwater flow through porous media. Notions of fluid potential and hydraulic head. Darcy flux and Darcy's Law. Physical properties of porous media and their measurement. Equation of groundwater flow. Flow systems. Hydraulics of pumping and recharging wells. Notions of hydrology. Groundwater quality and contamination. Physical processes of contaminant transport. | ||
| EPSC 550 | Selected Topics 1. | 3 |
Selected Topics 1. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Research seminar and/or lecture with readings in topics concerning aspects of current interests in Earth Planetary Sciences. | ||
| EPSC 551 | Selected Topics 2. | 3 |
Selected Topics 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Research seminar and/or lecture with readings in topics concerning aspects of current interest in Earth Planetary Sciences. | ||
| EPSC 552 | Selected Topics 3. | 3 |
Selected Topics 3. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Research seminar and/or lecture with readings in topics concerning aspects of current interest in Earth Planetary Sciences. | ||
| 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. | ||
| EPSC 567 | Advanced Volcanology. | 3 |
Advanced Volcanology. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An in-depth approach to physical and chemical processes associated with volcanic systems. Examination of magma chamber dynamics, magma behaviour in conduits, and eruption mechanisms. Study of eruptive products including pyroclastic deposits, lava flows and lava domes, and volcanic gases. Volcanic-tectonic and magma-hydrothermal interactions. | ||
| EPSC 570 | Cosmochemistry. | 3 |
Cosmochemistry. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Examines the implications of phase equilibria and the compositions of meteorites and the solar system for the formation and internal differentiation of the terrestrial planets and the nature of chemical fractionation processes in both planetary interiors and the solar system as a whole. | ||
| EPSC 590 | Applied Geochemistry Seminar. | 3 |
Applied Geochemistry Seminar. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Seminar course devoted to field case studies that illustrate the applications of geochemical principles to solving geologic problems. Each student will prepare and lead a class devoted to a geochemical subject of their own choosing. | ||
| ESYS 300 | Earth Data Analysis. | 3 |
Earth Data Analysis. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An applied introduction to programming and statistical image processing tools used in Earth system science, typically covering linear regression, statistical significance, Fourier analysis, empirical orthogonal function analysis. Use of global remote-sensing and in-situ observations. | ||
| ESYS 301 | Earth System Modelling. | 3 |
Earth System Modelling. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Introduction o principle concepts of systems modelling related to Earth system science and environmental science, including simple numerical models, conservation laws of mass, energy, and momentum, discretization of governing differential equations, the stability of numerical schemes, and exploration of the ideas of equilibria, feedbacks, and complexity. | ||
| ESYS 500 | Collaborative Research Project. | 3 |
Collaborative Research Project. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The main steps in developing an Earth System Science research project: identifying knowledge gaps using scientific literature, designing a research strategy (observational, analytical or computational), conducting the research, analyzing and synthesizing results, and communicating results as a formal scientific report. | ||