Sedimentary Basins & Geophysical techniques (ERTH3105)

Course overview

The course covers the formation and analysis of sedimentary basins and how geophysical techniques can be applied to explore the subsurface. Sedimentary basins host many mineral, energy, and water resources, and are currently being explored as reservoirs for carbon dioxide sequestration to mitigate the effects of climate change. This course includes an overview of sedimentary basin formation and fill processes and how basins are shaped by tectonic forces. Planned activities include weekly practicals where you will learn to interpret wireline logs and seismic data and two afternoon field trips to locations around Brisbane, and a 5-day field trip during the mid-semester break where you will gain hands-on experience measuring and interpreting outcrop and core materials. This course is highly relevant to students interested in careers in geology, hydrogeology, climate science, oceanography, and mining or geological engineering.

This course covers advanced topics in sedimentary geology, including basin formation, basin fill processes, facies analysis, and the use of geophysical techniques to visualize and explore basin fill sequences. The focus of the course is on the entire depositional system and basin fill architecture, rather than identifying individual rocks and environments.ﾠ The course is hands on, and will include two day trip practicals to look at outcrop and drill core, as well as a 5 day field trip to the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland during the mid-semester break. Course activities and practicals will explore the tectonic environments of basins, sequence stratigraphy, downhole logging, and geophysical techniques for rock characterization. We will also discuss the natural resources found within basins, such as groundwater, energy, and sedimentary ore deposits. This course is of benefit to geologists, marine and environmental scientists, and engineers.

Course requirements

Assumed background

ERTH2003, or an equivalent course in sedimentary geology (ie, geomorphology, marine geology, coastal processes, etc).

Prerequisites

You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:

ERTH1000 and ERTH2003

Incompatible

You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:

ERTH3100

Course contact

Course staff

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Additional timetable information

The in-semester break field trip will run 22-26 April 2025 and is estimated to cost $400. Attendance on this trip is mandatory - if you cannot attend the trip, you cannot enrol in this course!

Aims and outcomes

Sedimentary Basins & Geophysical Techniques provides an advanced course for undergraduates focused on the evolution of sedimentary basins, which are host to a variety of mineral, energy, and groundwater resources. The course combines advanced concepts in sedimentology and stratigraphy with the geophyscial techniques used to analyze subsurface environments. This course aims to be of broad interest to all Earth Science students, and will be particularly important for students pursuing careers in groundwater resources, hydrogeology, petroleum and mining.   

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

Assessment

Assessment summary

Assessment details

Practical Write ups

• In-person

Mode

Written

Category

Practical/ Demonstration

Weight

60%

Due date

Week 2 practical task: Due in class week 3 - 12/03/2025 3:00 pm

Week 3 practical task: Due in class week 4 - 19/03/2025 3:00 pm

Week 4 practical task: Due in class week 5 - 26/03/2025 3:00 pm

Week 5 practical task: Due in class week 6 - 2/04/2025 3:00 pm

Week 6 practical task: Due in class week 7 - 9/04/2025 3:00 pm

Week 7 practical task: Due in class week 8 - 16/04/2025 3:00 pm

Week 8 practical task: Due in class week 9 - 30/04/2025 3:00 pm

Week 9 practical task: Due in class week 10 - 7/05/2025 3:00 pm

Week 10 practical task: Due in class week 11 - 14/05/2025 3:00 pm

Week 11 practical task: Due in class week 12 - 21/05/2025 3:00 pm

Task description

Submission guidelines

Submit via Turnitin.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

See the Additional assessment information section further below for information relating to extension and deferral applications.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

You are required to submit assessable items on time. If you fail to meet the submission deadline for any assessment item, then 10% of the maximum possible mark for the assessment item (assessment ‘marked from’ value) will be deducted as a late penalty for every day (or part day) late after the due date. For example, if you submit your assignment 1 hour late, you will be penalised 10%; if your assignment is 24.5 hours late, you will be penalised 20% (because it is late by one 24-hour period plus part of another 24-hour period). 

Field notes from Bowen Basin Trip

Mode

Written

Category

Notebook/ Logbook

Weight

5%

Due date

2/05/2025 12:00 pm

Due the week after the trip.

Task description

Submission guidelines

Submit via Blackboard and Turnitin.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

See the Additional assessment information section further below for information relating to extension and deferral applications.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

You are required to submit assessable items on time. If you fail to meet the submission deadline for any assessment item, then 10% of the maximum possible mark for the assessment item (assessment ‘marked from’ value) will be deducted as a late penalty for every day (or part day) late after the due date. For example, if you submit your assignment 1 hour late, you will be penalised 10%; if your assignment is 24.5 hours late, you will be penalised 20% (because it is late by one 24-hour period plus part of another 24-hour period). 

Field Report- Bowen Basin

Mode

Written

Category

Paper/ Report/ Annotation

Weight

35%

Due date

30/05/2025 12:00 pm

Task description

Submission guidelines

Submit via Blackboard and Turnitin.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

See the Additional assessment information section further below for information relating to extension and deferral applications.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

You are required to submit assessable items on time. If you fail to meet the submission deadline for any assessment item, then 10% of the maximum possible mark for the assessment item (assessment ‘marked from’ value) will be deducted as a late penalty for every day (or part day) late after the due date. For example, if you submit your assignment 1 hour late, you will be penalised 10%; if your assignment is 24.5 hours late, you will be penalised 20% (because it is late by one 24-hour period plus part of another 24-hour period). 

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Should you fail a course with a grade of 3, you may be eligible for supplementary assessment. Refer to my.UQ for information on supplementary assessment and how to apply.

Supplementary assessment provides an additional opportunity to demonstrate you have achieved all the required learning outcomes for a course.

If you apply and are granted supplementary assessment, the type of supplementary assessment set will consider which learning outcome(s) have not been met.

Supplementary assessment can take any form (such as a written report, oral presentation, examination or other appropriate assessment) and may test specific learning outcomes tailored to the individual student, or all learning outcomes.

To receive a passing grade of 3S4, you must obtain a mark of 50% or more on the supplementary assessment.

Additional assessment information

This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

Plagiarism

Evidence of excessive collaboration or plagiarism (including copying) between submitted work will be dealt with according to University Disciplinary Procedures (seeﾠhttp://ppl.app.uq.edu.au/content/3.60.04-student-integrity-and-misconduct).

Assessment Submission

It is the responsibility of the student to ensure the on time, correct and complete submission of all assessment items.

Please ensure you receive and save the submission confirmation for all submitted items, you may be asked to produce this as evidence of your submission.

Turnitin

All written assessment must be submitted via the appropriate Turnitin submission portal, which can be found within the Blackboard site. You are responsible for ensuring that your submission is complete. It is wise to re-enter the Turnitin portal and confirm that your submission is there and that it has not been altered during the submission process.

By submitting work through Turnitin you are deemed to have accepted the following declaration “I certify that this assignment is my own work and has not been submitted, either previously or concurrently, in whole or in part, to this University or any other educational institution, for marking or assessment”.

In the case of a Blackboard outage, please contact the Course Coordinator as soon as possible to confirm the outage with ITS.

Assessment/Attendance

Please notify your Course Coordinator as soon as you become aware of any issue that may affect your ability to meet the assessment/attendance requirements of the course. Theﾠmy.UQﾠwebsite and the Electronic Course Profile (ECP) for your course also provide information about your course requirements, the rules associated with your courses and services offered by the University.

A note for repeating students in this course

Any student who enrols in a courseﾠmust notﾠbe given exemption or partial credit from their previous attempt(s) for any individual piece of assessment.ﾠInstead, the student must successfully complete all of the learning activities and assessment items within the study period of enrolmentﾠ(PPL Assessment - Procedures).

If the same assessment item is set from one year to the next, repeating students are allowed to submit the same work they submitted in previous attempts at the course. Where possible SENV recommends that you use the feedback you received in your last attempt to improve parts of the item where you lost marks. Resubmission of an altered or unaltered assessment item by a repeating student (where the same assessment has been set) will not be considered as self-plagiarism.

Applications for Extensions to Assessment Due Dates

Extension requests are submitted online via my.UQ – applying for an extension. Extension requests received in any other way will not be approved. Additional details associated with extension requests, including acceptable and unacceptable reasons, may be found at my.UQ.

Please note:

• Requests for an extension to an assessment due date must be submitted through your my.UQ portal and you must provide documentation of your circumstances, as soon as it becomes evident that an extension is needed. Your application must be submitted on or before the assessment item's due date and time.
• Applications for extension can take time to be processed so you should continue to work on your assessment item while awaiting a decision. We recommend that you submit any completed work by the due date, and this will be marked if your application is not approved. Should your application be approved, then you will be able to resubmit by the agreed revised due date.
• If an extension is approved, you will be notified via your my.UQ portal and the new date and time for submission provided. It is important that you check the revised date as it may differ from the date that you requested.
• If the basis of the application is a medical condition, applications should be accompanied by a medical certificate dated prior to the assignment due date. If you are unable to provide documentation to support your application by the due date and time you must still submit your application on time and attach a written statement (Word document) outlining why you cannot provide the documentation. You must then upload the documentation to the portal within 24 hours.
• If an extension is being sought on the basis of exceptional circumstances, it must be accompanied by supporting documentation (eg. Statutory declaration).
• For extensions based on a SAP you may be granted a maximum of 7 days (if no earlier maximum timeframe applies). See the Extension or Deferral availability section of each assessment for timeframes. Your SAP is all that is required as documentation to support your application. However, additional extension requests for the assessment item will require the submission of additional supporting documentation e.g., a medical certificate. All extension requests must be received by the assessment due date and time.
• An extension for an assessment item due within the teaching period in which the course is offered, must not exceed four weeks in total. If you are incapacitated for a period exceeding four weeks of the teaching period, you are advised to apply for Removal of Course.
• If you have been ill or unable to attend class for more than 4 weeks, you are advised to carefully consider whether you are capable of successfully completing your courses this semester. You might be eligible to withdraw without academic penalty - seek advice from the Faculty that administers your program.
• Students may be asked to submit evidence of work completed to date. Lack of adequate progress on your assessment item may result in an extension being denied.
• There are no provisions for exemption from an assessment item within UQ rules. If you are unable to submit an assessment piece then, under special circumstances, you may be granted an exemption, but may be required to submit alternative assessment to ensure all learning outcomes are met.

Applications to defer an exam

In certain circumstances you can apply to take a deferred examination for in-semester and end-of-semester exams. You'll need to demonstrate through supporting documentation how unavoidable circumstances prevented you from sitting your exam. If you can’t, you can apply for a one-off discretionary deferred exam.

Deferred Exam requests are submitted online via mySi-net. Requests received in any other way will not be approved. Additional details associated with deferred examinations, including acceptable and unacceptable reasons may be found at my.UQ.

Please note:

• Applications can be submitted no later than 5 calendar days after the date of the original exam.
• There are no provisions to defer a deferred exam. You need to be available to sit your deferred examination.
• Your deferred examination request(s) must have a status of "submitted" in mySI-net to be assessed.
• All applications for deferred in-semester examinations are assessed by the relevant school. Applications for deferred end-of-semester examinations are assessed by the Academic Services Division.
• You’ll receive an email to your student email account when the status of your application is updated.
• If you have a medical condition, mental health condition or disability and require alternative arrangements for your deferred exam you’ll need to complete the online alternative exam arrangements through my.UQ. This is in addition to your deferred examinations request. You need to submit this request on the same day as your request for a deferred exam or supplementary assessment. Contact Student Services if you need assistance completing your alternative exam arrangements request.

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Library resources are available on the UQ Library website.

Additional learning resources information

Reading materials will be posted in Blackboard. There is no required textbook for this course.

Additional costs

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

• Student Code of Conduct Policy
• Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
• Assessment Procedure
• Examinations Procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.