Geology 313 is divided into 10 units:

Unit 1Resources: An Introduction
Unit 2Plate Tectonics and the Origins of Resources
Unit 3 Resource Exploitation and the Environment
Unit 4 Energy from Fossil Fuels
Unit 5 Nuclear Power and Other Energy Alternatives
Unit 6 The Abundant Metals
Unit 7 The Geochemically Scarce Metals
Unit 8 Industrial Minerals
Unit 9 Water and Soil Resources
Unit 10Resource Development and International Trade

Unit 1 gives an introductory overview of resource use by humans and the evolution of resource exploitation throughout human history. The theory of plate tectonics is covered in Unit 2; it focuses on the role the theory plays in explaining geological processes and the global distribution of Earth’s resources. Unit 3 looks at environmental issues associated with resource exploitation and use.

Units 4–9 focus on individual resource categories, emphasizing resource occurrence, extraction, and use. Unit 4 looks at fossil fuels as sources of energy and examines coal, petroleum, natural gas, oil sands, and oil shales. Unit 5 explores alternative sources of energy, including nuclear, solar, wind, hydrogen, hydroelectric, tidal, and geothermal energy. Resources from which metals are obtained are classified as geochemically abundant (within the Earth’s crust) or scarce. Unit 6 covers the abundant metals including iron, aluminium, magnesium, titanium, and silicon. Unit 7 looks at the scarce metals, which are grouped into ferro-alloy metals, base metals, precious metals, and special metals. Unit 8 covers industrial minerals which comprise building materials, materials used in the production of fertilizers, and other non-metallic minerals used as sources for chemical elements. Unit 9 discusses the roles of soil and water as resources and their distribution and exploitation. The final unit (Unit 10) explores resource development and international trade. It concludes with an overview of the major economic and political implications of the unequal geographic distribution of resources.

The Student Manual contains information you will need to complete Geology 313 successfully. Please read it carefully and refer to it whenever you have a question about the mechanics of the course.