Earth's Resources and Raw Materials

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 6
• Convenor: Professor Hilary Downes
• Assessment: a poster (25%), two reports (25% each) and a data analysis (25%)

In this advanced module we will cover the formation of economic deposits of sedimentary and igneous origin with examples from the petroleum and extractive industries. Key subjects include:

• the hydrocarbon play concept
• hydrocarbon reservoir rocks
• the principles of ore geology.

We will examine the formation and distribution of ores and sedimentary deposits of economic importance. First, we will concentrate on hydrocarbon origin, migration and habitat. Lectures will outline petroleum source rock deposition, maturation and migration of petroleum and the character of petroleum reservoirs with examples from the North Sea. Other lecture topics are concerned with ores/economic deposits developed in sedimentary rocks, including coal, placer deposits, evaporites, residual deposits and ironstones. The final part of the module will focus on magmatic, hydrothermal and epithermal ore deposits.

Indicative syllabus

• Classification of ore deposits
• Ore deposit formation
• Magmatic ore deposits (1) - mafic and ultramafic magmas
• Magmatic ore deposits (2) - subduction zones
• Magmatic ore deposits (3) - granites and pegmatites
• Hydrothermal ore deposits and brines
• Sedimentary ore deposits
• Environmental and economic considerations
• Geoscientists and ore deposits
  
  

By the end of this module, you will understand the formation of oil and gas and of hydrocarbon reservoirs, and ore geology.