Research Facilities

Graduate Program in Petroleum Geology and Geophysics in the Department of Geological Sciences

The Department of Geological Sciences faculty and students conduct research into Petroleum Geology from the perspective of sedimentary, stratigraphic, structural and geochemical relationships with the occurence of petroleum. These studies include those of seismic and sequence stratigraphy, biostratigraphic markers, organic productivity, source rocks, and acoustic, magnetic and gravitational geophysics.

The Department has a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the Hydrocarbon Industry. This relationship is driven by the variety of research directions our faculty pursues and the diversity of the courses that we offer our Undergraduate and Graduate students. The result is that many of our students are employed by the petroleum companies. Recruiters are impressed with our students and their outstanding capability for analysis, interpretation and modeling in sedimentology, stratigraphy, tectonics, geochemistry and hydrology. We have an active student chapter of the AAPG which sponsers field trips, seminars and informal social events in the department.

Courses

Within the three focus areas of Orogenic Systems, Global Change and Environmental Geology, we offer specialized courses that prepare our students to be perspective employees or summer interns associated with hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation. Some of these courses are listed below. For a more complete listing of these and other courses in Geology, you should click on the link to the Geological Sciences page of the Graduate Bulletin.

503--Regional Stratigraphy and Biostratigraphy of North America.
508--Palynology.
510--Organic Sedimentation and Coal Genesis.
511--Advanced Paleontology.
515--Marine Micropaleontology.
516--Sedimentology.
517--Advanced Micropaleontology.
518--Surface to Subsurface Stratigraphy.
531--Plate Tectonics.
536--Geophysics.
537--Field Methods in Geophysics.
543--Non-Metallic Economic Geology.
545--Geological Oceanography.
546--Marine Geophysics.
547--Solid Earth Geophysics.
548--Environmental Geophysics.
550--Sedimentary Simulations and Sequence Stratigraphy.
553--Marine Sediments.
554--Applied Seismology.
555--Elementary Seismology.
560--Earth Resource Management.
710--Paleogeography.
711--Paleoclimatology.
712--Paleobiogeography.
713--Environmental Aspects of Paleontology.
714--Exploration Micropaleontology and Biostratigraphy.
715--Stable Isotope Geochemistry.
716--Eustasy and Global Variations in Sequence Stratigraphy.
717--Organic Geochemistry.
731--Advanced Structural Geology.
733--Rock Mechanics.
735--Regional Tectonics.
743--Decision Making in Environmental Resource Management.
744--Decision Making in Energy Resource Management.
745--Petroleum Geology.
747--Advanced Coal Petrology.
750--Basin Analysis Seminar.
751--Carbonate Petrology.
752--Sandstone Petrology.
764--Seismic Reflection Interpretation.
765--Exploration Seismology.
766--Advanced Seismology.
801--Seminar in Paleontology.
802--Seminar in Paleobotany.
803--Seminar in Paleoceanography.
804--Seminar in Stratigraphy.
818--Seminar in Geophysics.
819--Seminar in Tectonophysics.
831-834--Seminar in Structural Geology.
851--Seminar in Sedimentology.

Facilities: The physical facilities we have with a particular orientation towards hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation include:

Andean Geophysical Laboratory	Radioisotope Geochemical Laboratory
Boundary Layer Stress & Sediment Transport (BLASST) Lab	Satellite Oceanography Laboratory
Coastal Processes & Sediment Dynamics (CPSD) Laboratory	Seismology-Geophysics Laboratory
Electron Microscopy Center	Seismotectonics Laboratory
Geochemistry and Orogenesis Lab (GO-Lab)	Subsurface Computer Modeling Lab
Geophysical Exploration Laboratory (GEL)	Sequence Stratigraphy Web Server
Hydroclimatology and Remote Sensing Lab	Stable Isotope Laboratory
Marine Sediments Research Laboratory	Tectonics and Geophysics Laboratory
Oceanic Geochemistry Laboratory	Tectonics and Sedimentation Laboratory
Petrology-Geochemistry-Volcanology Laboratory	Electron Probe Microanalysis Facility

Associated Faculty and their Research Interests

Many of our faculty focus on research topics with a particular orientation towards hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation. Some of these faculty include:

Dr. David Barbeau
Geodynamic evolution and regional tectonics of foreland and intraforeland basin systems; Kinematic histories of deformational belts using growth structures and kinematic sequence stratigraphy; Sedimentary lithofacies distribution in contractional, halokinetic and extensional growth strata; Sedimentary provenance using petrography, detrital-zircon geochronology, thermochronometry, stable isotopes and electron microscopy; Energy research; Sequence stratigraphy of siliciclastic deposystems; Tectonic development of basement-involved uplifts and their associated basins; Magnetostratigraphy; and Geology & the sense of place

Dr. Arthur Cohen
Paleoecology, palynology, wetlands restoration, hazardous waste and groundwater remediation utilizing organics, coal and peat petrology; Holocene climate and sea-level changes; peat resources and utilization.

Dr. James Kellogg
Applied geophysics, GPS geodesy, gravitytectonic studies, tectonics of active margins, Andean orogenic belt, GIS, seamounts
Research Activites

Dr. Christopher Kendall
Sequence Stratigraphy, Basin Modeling, Sedimentary Simulation, 3-D Seismic Interpretation, Middle East Stratigraphy, Hydrocarbon Exploration & Reservoir Characterization, Carbonates petrography and depositional systems.

Dr. Camelia Knapp
Analysis of Crustal Expression of the Vrancea Seismogenic Zone of Romania, Project DRACULA (Romania), Gas Hydrates of Gulf of Mexico (USA) and Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan).

Dr. James Knapp
Analysis of the structural and geodynamic evolution of the continental lithosphere through integration of seismic reflection and refraction data, structural analysis, and geologic data. Application of geological and geophysical analysis to exploration and production of hydrocarbons.

Dr. Pradeep Talwani
Freshwater reservoir induced seismicity, fluid pressure flow in crystalline rocks, seismotectonics and neotectonics of stable continental regions, strain rate measurement using GPS, paleoseismology, crustal structure of the South Carolina Coastal Plain, the Charleston earthquake of 1886, seismic hazard analysis and seismicity of South Carolina

Dr. Robert Thunell
Reconstructing paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic conditions using deep sea sediments; measuring the production and flux of sediments in the ocean; calibration of paleoclimate proxies.

Dr. William Kanes
A "Distinguised Professor Emeritus" is a key player in developing world wide contacts and projects with the Hydrocarbon Industry.

AAPG Student Chapter

Currently within a body of some 80 graduate students, we have a very active AAPG student chapter of some 25 students.

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