Geologia

Department of Earth Science and Engineering
Undergraduate Syllabuses_2006–07

This publication refers to the session 2006–07. The information given, including that relating to the
availability of courses, is that current at the time of going to press, September 2006, and is subject
to alteration.
© Imperial College London 2006
For details of postgraduate opportunities go towww.imperial.ac.uk/pgprospectus.

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Earth Science and Engineering
The Department of Earth Science and Engineering forms a part of the Royal School of Mines, where
applied aspects of earth science have been taught for more than 150 years. The Higher Education Funding
Council for England (HEFCE) has rated our teaching as excellent in all their most recent assessments. The
BSc and MSci degrees haverecently been accredited by the Geological Society of London. The
Department provides a sound training in the fundamentals of earth science and engineering. The degree
courses have been updated and broadened to meet the challenges of European integration and to
emphasise environmental concerns. There are opportunities for students to spend part of their time
studying at universities abroad.Traditional careers for geoscientists are in the petroleum, mining and
minerals industries, in the civil engineering and water resources industries, in professional, governmental
and transnational organisations, and in research institutes, universities and museums.
We enjoy a close relationship with the neighbouring Natural History Museum in South Kensington,
where students are taught by museumstaff and have access to one of the world’s finest mineral and
fossil collections. The Science Museum Library is on the South Kensington campus and the Geological
Society, the Royal Society, the Mineralogical Society, the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy, the
Institute of Petroleum and the Society of Petroleum Engineers are all nearby. Student membership of all
these societies provides accessto their facilities, including specialist libraries, and attendance at
scientific meetings and social functions. London is also the headquarters of major oil, mining, civil
engineering companies and environmental agencies, and has the highest concentration of professional
earth scientists and engineers in the country.
The Royal School of Mines Building in Prince Consort Road houses lecturetheatres, conference,
computer and class rooms and a range of laboratories for teaching both undergraduates and
postgraduates and for research. The Department has excellent geochemical laboratories, mostly shared
with the Natural History Museum than include the X-ray diffraction laboratory, the scanning electron
microscope, electron probe microanalysis laboratory, fluid inclusion laboratory,inductively coupled
plasma and other chemical analysis and rock preparation facilities. There are laboratories for processing
and interpreting geophysical data, including a seismic interpretation laboratory and a 3-D visualization
facility. Other laboratories are equipped with pilot plant and research equipment to study a wide variety
of problems associated with the extraction of minerals. Theyintegrate specialist activities in mining
engineering, petroleum engineering, rock mechanics, and electrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical
processing and oceanography. Specialist facilities include the geothermal rock testing laboratory, the
autoclave and hydrometallurgical laboratories, the Enterprise PVT laboratory, the ventilation laboratory,
the analytical instrumental laboratory, theelectrochemical and biohydrometallurgical laboratories and
the reservoir characterisation laboratory. Research projects are carried out in cooperation with, and
sponsored by, industry, research councils and other funding bodies. The Department is exceptionally
well-equipped with computers, including workstations and PCs linked to the College network. Most
computer laboratories are available for...