Environmental Geology

There is now a greater interest in the environment than ever before and we face concerns about the environmental impacts of almost every aspect of our daily lives. Water, soil, air and the biological environment can all be changed dramatically by the activities of industrial societies like our own, not least through mechanisms which are controlled by essentially geological processes. Waste disposal, contamination of land by industry, the impacts of mining, water pollution and even air quality (through the dispersion of airborne mineral particles) are affected by geological processes and phenomena controlled by the composition, distribution, structure and behaviour of the underlying rocks. Everyday environmental problems are thus influenced to a greater or lesser extent by geology. The course aims to provide a broad overview of these many and various aspects of environmental geology, providing the scientific framework for understanding key environmental issues. The course is new and is being presented via the Internet and through a series of study days. We hope you will find the course interesting, useful and, above all, enjoyable as we explore together the application of geology in improving our understanding of the environment.