At the dawn of the twenty-first century, there is a great demand for earth's strategic resources, both in first-world and developing countries; reserves dwindle, controversy ensues over the damage done to the environment by their extraction and processing, and conflicts arise over control of their pricing and distribution. An understanding of these conflicts requires insight into the geological processes that form and distribute strategic earth materials. This class serves as introduction to understanding the geologic processes that control formation, distribution, and extent of strategic earth materials reserves (stone and gravel, base metals, ores, gems, petroleum, nuclear energy sources, and specialty materials for medical, technological, and military sectors), cost and environmental impacts of extraction, and efforts to control these resources. We will also address the current fossil fuel situation and prospects for alternate energy resources.
Format: lecture, three hours per week, with integrated in-class exercises. Grading will be based on two hour exams, a final, exercises, and a semester project.
Prerequisites: one 100-level Geosciences course or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limit: 20.
Hour: PYLE