Fall 2007
GEOL 554/765

Camelia Knapp
camelia@geol.sc.edu

T-Th 8:00-9:15 p.m.

PSC 101

INSTRUCTOR:   Dr. Camelia C. Knapp    EWSC Room 206   phone: 7-8491  e-mail: camelia@geol.sc.edu

LECTURES: T, Th 8:00 - 9:15, PSC 101

OFFICE HOURS: by appointment

LECTURE NOTES: Lecture notes in Powerpoint will be posted on Blackboard following lecture, and will be available for your review.

LABS: There are no scheduled labs for this class. Parts of lectures will be dedicated to the applications.

TEXTBOOK:   Required: " Exploration Seismology" by Academic Advantage, Smarttext #3
                                    (to be found in the SC Bookstore, 801 Main Street, Columbia, SC 29201, tel: 799-7188).
                          Recommended:
                          "Exploration Seismology" (2nd Edition) - 1995 - Sheriff, R.E. and Geldart, L.P. Cambridge University Press, 592 p.
                           "Whole Earth Geophysics" - 1999 - Lillie, R.J., Prentice Hall, 361 p.
                          "Seismic Data Analysis" - 2001 - Yilmaz, O., Society of Exploration Geophysicists.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Seismic exploration is one of the most powerful techniques for subsurface imaging, at scales from centimeters to tens of kilometers. Through the study of acoustic waves propagated through the Earth's layers and echoed back to the surface, we can learn about the structure, stratigraphy, and lithology of the Earth. Applications include environmental geology, petroleum exploration, regional tectonics, marine geology, engineering, and archeology.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:  This course is offered to undergraduate and graduate students, and will provide first-hand experience with seismic data acquisition, processing, and interpretation. There are no prerequisites, and everything can be learned in the class. Although this is a 3 credit class, at least half of the time will be dedicated to learning how to process seismic data using state-of-the-art software. Enrollment is limited to the number of available computer workstations.

ASSIGNMENTS Assignments will be handed out most every week. A week is allowed to complete the assignments, unless otherwise specified. A penalty of 5% per day after the due date will be applied unless a very good reason is presented in advance for not being able to complete the assignment.

EXAMS: All exams will be based on the lectures and textbook readings.  There will be a total of two mid-term exams (no final). The exam scores will be equally weighted, and will count for 30% of your final course grade.

FINAL PROJECT: A field oriented final project is planned for this class to collect shallow seismic reflection data. Graduate students will be expected to write their class project as a publishable paper, whereas undergraduate students can turn in their projects as reports. 

GRADING:

Exams (2 midterms)                                        30%

Lab Assignments                                             40%

Final Project                                                    20%

Quizzes                                                            5%

Class Participation                                             5%

ATTENDANCE: The attendance policy is simple: Come to class. An excused absence will be tolerated, but any more than 3 absences will become a problem.

SOFTWARE: Lab exercises represent the main part of this course. Practical demonstrations will make use of state-of-the-art Landmark Graphics ProMAX software.

LOGISTICS: The emphasis in this class is on learning-by-doing, so most of the class time is organized around lab exercises and a final project at the end of the semester. This course will be primarily taught in the lab and will provide hands-on in building processing flows to every week, to the point that you will be able to process an entire seismic line by the end of the semester.

 

Schedule of Course Topics

This course is offered in an on-line format through Blackboard v.6
All course materials for registered class members can
be found by following the link to:

http://blackboard.sc.edu/