Geological Engineering
GE 101 1 Credit
Introduction to Geological Engineering
Multiple aspects of geological engineering as a profession; the
area and scope of the field. (1 + 0) Offered Fall
GE 261 3 Credits
General Geology for Engineers
Study of common rocks and minerals, landforms, erosion. Geologic
materials and engineering application of geology. (Prerequisite: Geology,
science, or engineering majors, or permission of instructor.) (2 + 3)
Offered Spring
GE 365 3 Credits
Geological Materials Engineering
Identification and classification of soils, physical and mechanical
properties of soil, interaction of soils with subsurface water, subsurface
exploration and case studies with an emphasis on permafrost. (Prerequisites:
GEOS 101X or GE 261 and ES 208 or 209.) (2 + 3) Offered Fall
GE 372 3 Credits
Rock Engineering
Rock engineering related to tunnels, slope design and strata control.
Some field work and student report. (Prerequisites: GEOS 101X or GE
261; ES 208 or 209.) (3 + 0) Offered Spring
GE 375 3 Credits
Principles of Engineering Geology and Terrain Analysis
Evaluation of terrain characteristics using basic geomorphic and
engineering principles. Consideration given to Alaskan applications.
(Prerequisite: GEOS 101X or GE 261.) (3 + 0) Offered Fall
GE 376 3 Credits
GIS Applications in Geological and Environmental Engineering
Fundamentals, concepts and components of geographic information
systems (GIS) to engineering design. Introduction to acquiring, manipulating
and analyzing digital terrain data for geological engineering and environmental
applications, and the assessment to mineral resources. (Prerequisite:
GE 261 or equivalent. Recommended: NRM 338. Note: Group projects on
path and site selection for engineering projects are required.) (2 + 3)
Offered Spring
GE 378 3 Credits
Introduction to Geoinformatics
(Crosslisted with GEOS 378)
A multidisciplinary course providing theoetical understanding and hands-on
experience with acquiring field data using palmtops and hand-held GPS; processing
of remote sensing data acquired from airplanes and satellites; concept of data
imntegration in GIS mode; database management; cartographic visualization of
final product. (Prerequisite: PHYS 103X, PHYS 211X or permission of instructor.)
(2 + 3) Offered Spring
GE 381W 2 Credits
Field Methods and Applied Design I
Techniques and geologic mapping and geotechnical instrumentation
applied to engineering design and resource evaluation. (Prerequisites:
ENGL 111X; ENGL 212X or ENGL 213X or permission of instructor; GE 261,
GEOS 421 and GEOS 332 or equivalent.) (0 + 9 + 3)
Offered Summer, As Demand Warrants
GE 382W 4 Credits
Field Methods and Applied Design II
Techniques and geologic mapping and geotechnical instrumentation
applied to engineering design and resource evaluation. (Prerequisites:
ENGL 111X; ENGL 212X or ENGL 213X or permission of instructor; GE 261,
GEOS 421 and GEOS 332 or equivalent.) (0 + 9) Offered Summer,
As Demand Warrants
GE 384 4 Credits
Engineering Geology of Alaska
A survey of the geology of Alaska relevant to the definition of
natural and human induced geological engineering hazards, the evaluation
of sources of and specifications for engineering materials, and the
evaluation of engineering construction sites. (Prerequisites: Admission
by permission of instructor and upper division standing.) (3 + 1 + 2)
Offered Summer, As Demand Warrants
GE 400 1–3 Credits
Geological Engineering Internship
Supervised work experience in engineering organizations. Assignments
will be individually arranged with cooperating organizations from the
private and public sectors. A report of activities must be completed
and reviewed by the sponsoring organization. The report may be held
in confidence at the request of the sponsoring organization. (Prerequisites:
Admission by permission of instructor and upper division standing.)
(1–3 + 0) Offered As Demand Warrants
GE 405 4 Credits
Exploration Geophysics
Theory and application of gravity, magnetic, electrical, electromagnetic,
radioactive and seismic methods as used for geophysical exploration.
Some field work. (Prerequisites: MATH 200X and PHYS 211 or equivalent.)
(3 + 3) Offered Fall
GE 420 3 Credits
Subsurface Hydrology
Hydraulic characteristics of earth materials, engineering problems
and models related to subsurface fluids, and properties of water. (Prerequisites:
GE 261 or GEOS 101X; PHYS 211.) (2 + 3) Offered Spring
GE 422 3 Credits
Vadose Zone Hydrology
Fundamentals of flow and transport in the vadose zone, including
multiphase flow. Methods for characterization of hydraulic properties.
Vadose zone processes relative to ground water contamination. (Prerequisites:
GE 420 or equivalent; or permission of instructor.) (3 + 0)
Offered Spring
GE 430 3 Credits
Geomechanical Instrumentation
Geomechanical instrumentation is widely used by the mining and
construction industries as well as by researchers. Course topics include
the measurement of groundwater pressure, ground deformation, stress
and temperature as well as the planning of monitoring programs, instrument
calibration, maintenance, and installation, data collection, interpretation
and reporting. Case histories are used. (Prerequisites: GE 261 or GEOS
101X; ES 331. Next offered: 2005-06.) (3 + 0) Offered Alternate
Fall
GE 431 2 Credits
Applied Ore Microscopy
Preparation of polished sections of ores. Identification of ore
materials in reflected light by physical, optical and chemical methods.
Applications to ore genesis, drill core interpretation, beneficiation
and process control. (Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.) (3 + 1)
Offered Alternate Fall
GE 435 3 Credits
Exploration Design
Geologic, engineering and economic considerations applied to the
design and development of mineral exploration programs. (Prerequisites:
GEOS 314 or permission of instructor.) (3 + 0) Offered Spring
GE 440 3 Credits
Slope Stability
Slope design for open pit mining and other excavations. Stability
analysis by various methods and on-site measuring and monitoring techniques.
(Prerequisite: ES 331. Next offered: 2005-06.) (3 + 0) Offered
Alternate Spring
GE 441 3 Credits
Geohazard Analysis
Procedures and techniques to evaluate geological factors for geohazards.
Includes landslides, earthquakes, volcanoes, flooding, coastal hazards
and permafrost related problems. (Prerequisite: GE 365, equivalent,
or permission of instructor.) (3 + 0) Offered Fall
GE 471 3 Credits
Remote Sensing for Engineering
Applications of remote sensing to geological engineering problems.
Introduction to digital satellite image processing with hands-on practice.
(Prerequisites: GE 261 or GEOS 101X; PHYS 212X.) (3 + 0)
Offered Fall
GE 480W 3 Credits
Senior Design
Design factors and procedures for the solution of geological engineering
problems. A term design-project is the focus of the course. (Prerequisite:
ENGL 111X; ENGL 211X or ENGL 213X; Senior standing or permission of
instructor.) (1 + 6) Offered Spring
GE 620 3 Credits
Advanced Groundwater Hydrology
Study of groundwater hydrology with emphasis on solute and contaminant
transport, chemical reaction and ion exchange, advection and diffusion,
and computer modeling. (Prerequisite: GE 420 or similar training in
groundwater hydrology.) (3 + 0) Offered Fall
GE 630 3 Credits
Advanced Applied Mining Geology
Investigative procedures used in mining geology from pre-production
to terminal phases of an operation. Models ranging from open-pit to
deep underground mining will be examined. Methods of mapping, sampling,
ongoing evaluation and geotechnical aspects of water and ground control
are examined. (Prerequisite: GE 435.) (2 + 3) Offered Alternate
Fall
GE 631 3 Credits
Electron Microprobe Methods
Applications of electron microanalysis to mineralogy, petrology,
and mineral exploration development, evaluation and processing. Physics
of x-rays, x-ray spectrometry and measurement; qualitative and quantitative
elemental analysis using wave length and energy dispersive spectra.
(Prerequisite: Graduate standing.) (2 + 3) Offered Spring
GE 633 3 Credits
Fluid Inclusion Methods in Mineral and Petroleum Exploration
Study of fluid inclusions in minerals. Thermodynamics, chemical
and physical properties of fluids trapped in rock forming minerals
or petroleum bearing rocks. Laboratory work includes sample preparation,
thermometric and direct-current plasma emission spectrographic analysis.
(Prerequisite: CHEM 331.) (2 + 3) Offered Fall
GE 635 3 Credits
Geostatistical Ore Reserve Estimation
(Cross-listed with MIN 635)
Introduction to the theory and application of geostatistics in the mining industry.
Review of conventional methods of ore reserve estimation, sampling design and
computer applications. Review of classical statistics, log normal distributions
and global estimation. Presentation of fundamental geostatistical concepts
including: variogram, estimation variance, block variance, kriging, geostatistical
simulation. Emphasis on the practical application to mining. (Prerequisites:
MIN 408 or equivalent, STAT 451 or equivalent.) (2 + 3) Offered Spring
GE 649 3 Credits
Hazardous and Toxic Waste Management
(Cross-listed with ENVE 649)
In-depth coverage of hazardous and toxic substance management including legal,
economic and technical issues; taught by an interdisciplinary faculty group
using case studies of current waste management issues. Topics include characterization
of hazardous materials; economics of toxics minimization; hazardous materials
use, storage and disposal; technical aspects of landfill siting; and selection
and design of treatment technologies. (Recommended: Bachelor’s degree
in science or engineering.) (3 + 0) Offered Alternate Fall
GE 666 3 Credits
Advanced Engineering Geology
The interaction between geology and engineering case histories,
student reports. (Prerequisites: Graduate standing, GE 365 and GE 372
or permission of instructor.) (2 + 3) Offered Alternate Fall
GE 668 3 Credits
Tunneling Geotechniques
Tunnel design, case histories, student report. (Prerequisite:
Graduate standing or permission of instructor.) (3 + 0) Offered
Alternate Spring
GE 671 3 Credits
Engineering Application of Digital Image Processing
Quantitative methods of utilizing digital image processing and
engineering information system. Applications include, but are not limited
to, evaluation of the engineering properties of geo-materials, characterization
of joint-surface conditions, enhancement of photoelastic stress patterns
and identification of critical slope failure surfaces. (Prerequisite:
GE 471 or equivalent or permission of instructor.) (2 + 3)
Offered Alternate Spring
GE 692 1 Credit
Graduate Seminar
Topics in geological engineering explored through talks, group
discussions and guest speakers with a high level of student participation.
(Prerequisites: Graduate standing or permission of instructor.) (1 + 0)
Offered Fall, Spring