G300: ENVIRONMENTAL AND URBAN GEOLOGY SYLLABUS

B. Examples of the Need for Scientific Information
1. Love Canal
a. History of the Project
b. Analysis of Decisions Made
c. After-the-Fact Studies of the Site
2. The Alaskan Pipeline Project
C. Requiring the Use of Scientific Information
1. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969
a. Purpose(s) of the Act
b. Environmental Impact Statements
D. Forecasting Based on Scientific Information
II. Soils
A. Reasons to Collect Information about Soils
1. Soils as a Resource
2. Soils as a Filter
3. The Problem of Soil Erosion
B. Nature and Origin of Soils
C. Erosion Problems
1. Erosion Problems in the Past
2. Erosion in the U.S.
D. Soil Erosion and Land Use Decisions
1. Government Policies Affecting Erosion
III. Water Resources
A. Physical Aspects
1. Hydrologic Cycle
a. Processes
b. Spatial and Temporal Scales
2. Streams
a. Discharge
b. Hydrographs
c. Types of Streamsa.
(1) Effluent
(2) Influent
3. Up-basin vs Down-basin Nature of Streams
4. Characterizing a Watershed
5. U.S.G.S. Cataloging System
a. Types of Watersheds
b. Limitations of the System
B. Examples of Water Management Problems
1. Colorado River Basin
a. Allocation of the Water
b. Long-term vs. Short-term trends in the Annual Flow
c. Central Arizona Project
2. Northeast U.S.
a. Droughts
b. Watershed Protection Program in New York
3. Lakes, Streams, and Wetlands
a. Characteristics
b. Types and Spatial Scales of Processes Acting
IV. Groundwater
A. Water in the Ground
1. Basic Data
B. The Flow of Ground Water
1. Darcy's Law
2. Conductivities of Soils and Rocks
C. Extrapolating from Drill Hole Data
1. Contour Maps
2. Flow Nets
D. Evaluation of Ground Water Resources
1. Types of Aquifers
2. Yield of an Aquifer
3. Recharge of an Aquifer
E. Managing Ground Water Resources
1. Long Island, New York
2. Ogallala Aquifer
F. Water Law
1. Prior Appropriation vs. Riparian Rights
V. Hazards and Risks
A. Distinction between them
B. Types of Hazards
C. Evaluation of Risk
D. Examples of Risk Analysis
1. Insurance for Floods and Earthquakes
2. Land Capability Analysis
3. Appropriate Land Use
E. Reducing Risk
1. Mitigation Steps
a. Zoning
b. Insurance
VI. Pollution
A. Types of Contaminants
B. Assessment of Harm
1. Epidemiology
C. Sources of Contamination
1. Point Sources
2. Non-Point Sources
D. Processes involved
1. Paths Taken
2. Effects Depend on:
a. Nature of the Compound
b. Interactions with the Medium and other Compounds
E. Examples
1. Point Sources
a. Septic Systems
b. Landfills
c. Reilly Tar & Chemical Superfund Site
2. Non-Point Sources
a. Effects on Lakes and Streams
F. Control of Pollution
1. Source Reduction
2. Remediation Techniques
G. Government Policies Affecting Pollution
1. "Command and Control" Measures
a. Best Available Technologies
b. National Pollution Discharge Elimination, System (NPDES) permits
2. "Market" Approaches
VII. Floods
A. Terminology
B. Flood Frequency
1. Recurrence Intervalsa.
a. Calculation
b. Reliability
C. Example
1. Midwest, 1993
D. Flood Control
1. Structural Approaches
2. Non-Structural Approaches
E. Predicting Flood Magnitude
1. Exceedance Probability
2. Computer-Model Forecasts
F. Land Use and River Flooding
1. Effects of Urbanization
a. Long Island, NY
G. Flood-Hazard Policy and Planning
1. Need for Non-Structural Approaches
2. National Flood Insurance Program
3. Current Policy
H. Example
1. Rapid City, SD
VIII. Earthquakes
A. Causes of Earthquakes
B. Movement on Faults
1. Geometric characteristics
2. Time Frames
C. Earthquake Records
1. Reading Seismograms
a. Types of Waves
b. Times of Arrival and Paths
c. Amplitude of the Waves
D. Earthquake Magnitude
1. Magnitudes based on Amplitude
2. Moment Magnitude
E. Earthquake Intensity
1. Scale
2. Determination
F. Earthquake Prediction
1. Efforts
2. Reasons for Failure
G. Identifying Earthquake Hazards
1. Mapping Faults (CA)
2. Locating Epicenters (Midwest)
3. Problems
a. Blind Faults (CA)
b. Small Data Sets (Oklahoma)
H. Statistical Forecasting
1. Exceedance Probabilities
2. Seismic Risk Map
3. Repeat-Time Studies
I. Predicting Intensities
1. Attenuation
2. Duration of the Motion
3. Local Ground Conditions
J. Earthquake Prediction Requirements
1. Need a "Model"
a. Elastic Rebound
b. Complexity of the Actual Situation
2. Data Collection
a. Repeat Times
b. Crustal Tilting
c. Foreshock Activity
K. Earthquake Disaster Planning
1. Proposed National Insurance Program
2. Land-Use Planning
a. Example: San Francisco
3. Building Codes
IX. The Coastal Zone
A. The Nature of Coastlines
1. Sea-Cliff Coasts
2. Barrier Island Coasts
3. Estuaries
4. Salt Marshes
B. Coastal Processes
1. Erosion and Deposition
C. Coastline Engineering
D. Changes in Estuarine Systems
1. Modifications due to Development
a. Biological Studies of the Effects of Development
b. Conversion of Wetlands
E. Coastline Management
1. Structural and Non-Structural Approaches
2. Attitudes about Land Use
3. Coastal Zone Management Legislation