Geosciences, Geology Concentration (Geology), B.S.

Geosciences
Warner Cribb
615-898-2379
Warner.Cribb@mtsu.edu

This Geology career pattern is designed for students who plan to become professional geologists or who wish to pursue graduate study in geology.

Academic Map

Following is a printable, suggested four-year schedule of courses:

Geoscience, Geology (Geology Career Pattern), B.S., Academic Map

Degree Requirements

True Blue Core (TBC)	41 hours
Major Requirements	89-90 hours*
Major Core	53 hours
Cognate 1	18-19 hours*
Cognate 2	18 hours*
TOTAL	120-131 hours

*This program requires courses that can also fulfill requirements of the True Blue Core curriculum. If courses for this program are also used to fulfill True Blue Core requirements, the program of study may be completed in 120 hours.

True Blue Core (41 hours)

True Blue Core (TBC) requirements (shown in curricular listings below) include courses in the Foundational Skills areas of Written Communication (WC), Information Literacy (Info Lit), Non-Written Communication (NWC), and Quantitative Literacy (Quant Lit). Knowledge Domains include Human Society and Social Relationships (HSSR), Scientific Literacy (Sci Lit), Creativity and Cultural Expression (CCE), and History and Civic Learning (HCL), which include Discovery and Explorations categories. Students must choose at least one course from each Discovery category.

The following courses required by the major meet True Blue Core requirements:

MATH 1910 (Quant Lit)
CHEM 1110 /CHEM 1111 (Sci Lit)
PHYS 2010 /PHYS 2011 or PHYS 2110 /PHYS 2111 (Sci Lit)

Major Requirements (53 hours)

GEOL 1030 - Introduction to Earth Science 3 credit hours AND
GEOL 1031 - Introduction to Earth Science Lab 1 credit hour
OR
GEOL 1040 - Physical Geology 4 credit hours AND
GEOL 1041 - Physical Geology Lab 0 credit hours
GEOL 1050 - Historical Geology 4 credit hours
GEOL 3000 - Mineralogy 5 credit hours
GEOL 3050 - Field Methods in Geology 3 credit hours
GEOL 3160 - Geologic Literature and Report Writing 2 credit hours
GEOL 4000 - Petrology and Petrography 5 credit hours
GEOL 4020 - Geomorphology 4 credit hours
GEOL 4030 - Invertebrate Paleontology 5 credit hours
GEOL 4070 - Sedimentation and Stratigraphy 5 credit hours
GEOL 4080 - Structural Geology 5 credit hours
GEOL 4130 - Hydrogeology 5 credit hours
PGEO 4530 - Geographic Information Systems 3 credit hours
GEOL 3000-4000 level elective (Geosciences-mentor approved) 3 credit hours

Cognate 1 (18-19 hours)

CHEM 1110 - General Chemistry I 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 1111 - General Chemistry I Lab 0 credit hours (may be counted in the True Blue Core)
CHEM 1120 - General Chemistry II 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 1121 - General Chemistry II Lab 0 credit hours
MATH 1910 - Calculus I 4 credit hours (3 credit hours counted in the True Blue Core; 1 credit hour remaining)
MATH 1920 - Calculus II 4 credit hours OR
MATH 1530 - Applied Statistics 3 credit hours OR
MATH 2050 - Probability and Statistics 3 credit hours
MATH/SCI elective (Geosciences mentor-approved) 3 credit hours

Cognate 2 (18 hours)

PHYS 2010 - Non-Calculus-Based Physics I 0 credit hours AND
PHYS 2011 - Physics Problems Laboratory I 4 credit hours (may be counted in the True Blue Core)
OR
PHYS 2110 - Calculus-Based Physics I 0 credit hours AND
PHYS 2111 - Calculus-Based Physics Laboratory I 4 credit hours (may be counted in the True Blue Core)
BIOL 1110 - General Biology I 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 1111 - General Biology I Lab 0 credit hours
OR
PHYS 2020 - Non-Calculus-Based Physics II 0 credit hours AND
PHYS 2021 - Physics Problems Laboratory II 4 credit hours
OR
PHYS 2120 - Calculus-Based Physics II 0 credit hours AND
PHYS 2121 - Calculus-Based Physics Laboratory II 4 credit hours
GEOL or PGEO elective (Geosciences mentor approved) 3 credit hours
Geology Field Camp in Western U.S. (Geosciences chair approved) 4 credit hours
MATH/SCI elective (Geosciences mentor approved) 3 credit hours

Curriculum: Geoscience, Geology Concentration (Geology)

Following is a suggested pattern of study for the first two years; however, consultation with the assigned advisor is necessary before registration.

Freshman

Written Communication 3 credit hours
Information Literacy 3 credit hours
Non-Written Communication 3 credit hours
History and Civic Learning 6 credit hours
Human Society and Social Relationships 3 credit hours
GEOL 1050 - Historical Geology 4 credit hours
PGEO 4530 - Geographic Information Systems 3 credit hours
GEOL 1030 - Introduction to Earth Science 3 credit hours AND
GEOL 1031 - Introduction to Earth Science Lab 1 credit hour
OR
GEOL 1040 - Physical Geology 4 credit hours AND
GEOL 1041 - Physical Geology Lab 0 credit hours

Subtotal: 29 Hours

Sophomore

Creativity and Cultural Expression Literature 3 credit hours
GEOL major courses 10 credit hours
Human Society and Social Relationships 3 credit hours
MATH 1910 - Calculus I 4 credit hours (Quant Lit)
MATH 1920 - Calculus II 4 credit hours OR
MATH 1530 - Applied Statistics 3 credit hours OR
MATH 2050 - Probability and Statistics 3 credit hours
CHEM 1110 - General Chemistry I 4 credit hours (Sci Lit) AND
CHEM 1111 - General Chemistry I Lab 0 credit hours (Sci Lit)
CHEM 1120 - General Chemistry II 4 credit hours AND
CHEM 1121 - General Chemistry II Lab 0 credit hours

Subtotal: 32 Hours

Junior

BIOL 1110 - General Biology I 4 credit hours AND
BIOL 1111 - General Biology I Lab 0 credit hours
OR
PHYS 2020 - Non-Calculus-Based Physics II 0 credit hours AND
PHYS 2021 - Physics Problems Laboratory II 4 credit hours
OR
PHYS 2120 - Calculus-Based Physics II 0 credit hours AND
PHYS 2121 - Calculus-Based Physics Laboratory II 4 credit hours
PHYS 2010 - Non-Calculus-Based Physics I 0 credit hours (Sci Lit) AND
PHYS 2011 - Physics Problems Laboratory I 4 credit hours (Sci Lit)
OR
PHYS 2110 - Calculus-Based Physics I 0 credit hours (Sci Lit) AND
PHYS 2111 - Calculus-Based Physics Laboratory I 4 credit hours (Sci Lit)
Creativity and Cultural Expression 6 credit hours
GEOL required courses 19 credit hours

Subtotal: 33 Hours

Senior

MATH/SCI electives 6-7 credit hours
Geoscience electives 6 credit hours
GEOL required courses 10 credit hours
GEOL Field Camp 4 credit hours (GEOL 3401 may not be used for this requirement)