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Engineering, Mathematics and Science
150
Career opportunities
A wide range of career options is potentially available to
geography graduates. The combination of a broad-based
discipline and training in highly relevant transferable skills is
valued in today’s job market, where adaptability and flexibility
are widely regarded as assets. Careers taken up by graduating
geography students in recent years include urban and regional
planning, environmental consultancy and research and teaching
as well as positions in such areas as financial services (including
insurance), foreign affairs, leisure and tourism and overseas
development.
Did you know?
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In recent years, Sophister year geography students
have been involved in academic staff-led fieldwork in
Iceland, Mallorca and Zambia, and in making digital
video documentaries as part of their assessed work.
Further information
Tel: +353 1 896 1576
Geology
Students who wish to study Geology apply to the Science
degree (TR071) and may select Geology as their specialist
area for the 3rd and 4th years.
Junior Freshman (first) year prerequisite: Geology 1101
Senior Freshman (second year) prerequisite: Geology
GL2205, GL2206.
For details of the first two years of the Science course,
including entry requirements, see page 140.
What is Geology?
Geology is the science of the Earth. It investigates the
composition and evolution of this dynamic planet and its living
organisms. It embraces the study of such diverse topics as
dinosaurs, volcanoes, meteorites and earthquakes. It also deals
with the origin and concentration of the materials on which our
society is based.
What will you study?
For details of the topics covered in the Junior and Senior Freshman
(first and second) years see pages 141-143. Fieldwork is an essential
and integral part of Sophister (third and fourth year) geology.
In the Junior Sophister (third) year, a thorough grounding is
provided in all major branches of geology. You will learn how
each of the rocks contains information on the processes that
formed them and the environment in which this took place. You
will also study their response to forces in the Earth which cause
them to bend, buckle and crack; the measurement of geological
time; investigation of the subsurface; and the evolution of life. In
addition, you will learn skills in computing and data presentation.
In the Senior Sophister (fourth) year you will take three
compulsory courses:
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Project (recent projects incorporating fieldwork have been
based in various parts of Europe and also in North America)
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Fieldwork
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Geological literature and seminars
You will also select seven optional subjects from a wide range
covering both academic and applied areas of geology. Optional
subjects include:
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Petroleum geology and exploration
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Continental tectonics and landscape evolution
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Hydrogeology and groundwater quality
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Global igneous petrology
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Metamorphic petrology
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Planet formation and the early Earth
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Introduction to micropalaeontology
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Palaeobotany, palynology and organic petrology
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Economic geology
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Laboratory project
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Radiogeneic isotope geoichemistry and mass spectometry
