GEOL 3103: Petroleum Geology—Fall 2023
GEOL 3103: Petroleum Geology
Course instructor:
Dr. Jason Loxton
[email protected]Office: A-116E
Phone/Text: 902-224-5506 (My cell. Texting is fine. Please use sensibly.)
Class times: Mon/Weds: 1:10-2:25 pm (CE 326).
Lab: Tuesday: 8:30-11:30 am (A-108)
Drop in hours: I am always happy to meet up to discuss the course, geology, or life in general. I’ll endeavour to
be in my office each Tuesday/Thursday from 1:30 pm to 3 pm, but anytime I am in my office you’re welcome to
pop on by! We can chat in person, via Teams, or on the phone. Whatever makes you the most comfortable.
Textbook and course readings:
Available petroleum geology textbooks are very expensive, so this course will not be using one. (I can point you
towards several if you would like to do additional reading on your own.) Instead, we will be drawing readings
from the free(!) online textbook, Physical Geology, available at: <https://openpress.usask.ca/physicalgeology/>.
Additional readings will be posted throughout the semester to the Moodle page, either as URLs or as PDFs. It is
your responsibility to check the readings list for updates.
Class structure: Classes and labs are in person. You will complete activities for marks in each class, and must
attend to get them. All classes and labs build upon each other, so if you need to be absent for some reason, you
need to catch up as soon as you can. It is important that you be on time to class and lab, both out of respect for
me and your peers, and because we will often cover important material in the first few minutes.
Email logistics: I get a million emails. To make sure you get a response, please include your name and student
number in the email, and the topic of the email in the subject line. Please allow up to 48 hours for a response,
especially on weekends. If you have not heard back from me within 48 please, feel free to remind me. I’ve
probably forgotten! [Note: I am normally much faster than that, but sometimes get bogged down.]
Kids in the classroom: Some of you are parents. There will be times when you struggle to find childcare. You’re
always welcome to bring your kids into class if you need to. You do not need to ask permission.
COVID and absence policy: We don’t know what the future holds, but COVID remains a real concern (in addition
to normal colds and flus). If you are sick, please stay home. You will not be penalized for sick-related absence, &
are not required to show documentation. To ensure you do not lose participation points, however, make sure
you contact me to let me know. Let’s all stay safe!
‘Life gets in the way policy’: Sometimes you fall behind. CBU has ‘official’ justifications, but they don’t cover
much of real life. Breakups, difficulty adjusting to being away from home, and a thousand other things can
throw you off track. I know and appreciate this, and make you a promise: If you fall behind and are willing to put
in the effort to get back on track, I will work with you to make it happen. Reach out to me, and we’ll come up
with a plan together. I will always provide a path forward for anyone willing to try.
Course material:
All course material and updates will be posted on Moodle. Materials will include lecture notes, readings, quizzes,
reviews, and assignments. Please check the course page for updates regularly.
GEOL 3103: Petroleum Geology—Fall 2023
Course goals and learning outcomes:
The goal of this course is to familiarize you with the geological context in which petroleum forms and is
concentrated in economically exploitable deposits. Doing so requires an overview of the basic principles of
physical geology, and so the course will proceed by covering these first, before moving onto more specific
aspects of the petroleum system and the tools used by petroleum geologists to evaluate and describe petroleum
deposits. By the end of the course, you will be able to:
• Identify common examples of rocks and minerals
• Be able to make inferences about sedimentary environments from rock samples or outcrop
• Understand how sequences of events in geological time are determined
• Understand the components of the petroleum system, and how each contributes to the development of
economic deposits of oil
• Read geological and topographic maps, air photos, and LiDAR data
• Know the main methods by which geologists explore for petroleum resources
Originality: Some evaluations in this course may be open book, and labs may be completed in consultation with
your peers; however, all submitted work must be original. Any indication of cooperation or plagiarism on exams
or review questions will result in failure on that assignment and immediate report to the Dean. Please ensure
you are very familiar with CBU’s academic integrity handbook. When in doubt, check with me before
submitting.
ChatGPT (and other generative AI): You may use these services to aid in studying, e.g., asking a question to
satisfy your own curiosity, but are cautioned against doing so, as they frequently provide false information. We
may also use these services during in-class activities, e.g., to fact check results. Any other use of these services to
generate answers for exams or assignments, including answers that are reworked/paraphrased, is forbidden.
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Course organization and topics:
Week of: Topic Lab
September 4 Weds: Intro; the Earth as a system; the No lab
methodologies of geology
READING: Chapter 3
September 11 Mon: Minerals & Igneous and metamorphic Lab 1: Minerals & “Hard Rocks”
rocks (“basement rocks”)
Weds: Interior of the Earth and isostasy
READING: Chapter 3 (& parts of 5, 7, & 10)
September 18 Mon: Plate tectonics LAB 2: Plate tectonics
Weds: Faults and deformation I
READING: Chapter 4
September 25 Mon: Faults and deformation II LAB 3: Structures
Weds: Time, formations, and correlation Virtual Field Trip I
READING: Parts of Chapter 13 (Due Oct. 1)
October 2 Mon: NO CLASS LAB 4: Geological time &
Weds: MIDTERM I correlation
READING: Chapter 19 [Lab!]
GEOL 3103: Petroleum Geology—Fall 2023
October 9 Mon: NO CLASS LAB 5: Weathering & sediment
Weds: Weathering and erosion
READING: Chapters 8
October 16 Mon: Clastic sedimentary rocks LAB 6: Clastic sedimentary rocks
Weds: Chemical sedimentary rocks Virtual Field Trip II
READING: Chapter 9 (Due Oct. 22)
October 23 Mon: Sedimentary environments I LAB 7: Chemical sedimentary rocks
Weds: Sea level change and sequences & sedimentary environments
READING: Chapter 9 [Plus Moodle resources]
October 30 Mon: Source rocks: Environments of formation LAB 8: Field trip! [Weather dependent.]
Weds: Petroleum generation & migration
READING: See Moodle
November 6 Mon: Rock changes: Burial and diagenesis LAB 9: Maps & Air Photos
Weds: MIDTERM II
READING: See Moodle
November 13 READING BREAK READING BREAK
November 20 Mon: Basins LAB 10: Reading core
Weds: Reservoir characteristics (porosity &
permeability)
READING: See Moodle
November 27 Mon: Structures and Traps Lab exam
Weds: Exploration techniques
December 5 Monday: Non-conventional resources
Tuesday: Review
Evaluation:
Item Percentage
Class questions 12.5%
Weekly quizzes/Field trip reports 12.5%
Midterm I 10%
Midterm II 15%
Lab assignments 15%
Lab exam 10%
Final exam 25%
TOTAL 100%
Class exercises: Each class will feature instant response and/or short answer questions/reflective activities that
are designed to cement your understanding. In some weeks, these will be completed during class; in others
you’ll complete them for the next class. If you miss class without a good reason, you forfeit these points.
Lab conduct: You can work in groups during labs to support each other, but written answers must be your own.
The labs are not “tests”. They are completed on a mastery basis, which means that you can check your work
GEOL 3103: Petroleum Geology—Fall 2023
before leaving the lab to ensure you understand, and redo it if you are incorrect. There is no advantage to
copying to “save time”. You should view lab as a place to develop your own skills in a low stakes environment.
Weekly quizzes: There will be a short online quiz at the end of most weeks. The quizzes are designed to help
reinforce material. They are open book and may be completed multiple times, with only your highest-grade
counting. The quizzes will be open from Friday evening until Tuesday before class.
Midterms, lab exam, & final exam: The midterms and final exam will be a mixture of short answer and MCQ
questions. All exams will include theoretical material from the lab. The lab exam will occur during the final lab
period of the year. During the lab exam you will demonstrate the skills you developed over the year, but work
will be on your own. The timing of the final exam is determined by the Registrar, not me. Keep an eye out for
the release of the exam schedule!
Field trip: Weather dependent, we will go on a field trip later in the semester where you’ll get to see examples
of things we studied in class in the real world. The location and timing of this trip will be decided as a class as the
semester progresses.
University Policies and Support:
Student Accommodations: students requiring special accommodation should contact the Jennifer Keeping
Accessibility Centre (JKAC) and inform the instructor of any required accommodations.
Inclement Weather Policy: refer to CBU’s Inclement Weather Policy.
Academic Dishonesty: All incidents of suspected academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism etc.) will be
reported to the Dean. Please refer to CBU’s policy, as well as the various supports to help support your writing
and studying, listed here.
Student counselling: CBU has trained counsellors available to provide emotional support free of charge. See
here.
*****
CBU acknowledges that CBU is in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq
People. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Mi’kmaq and
Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) and Passamaquoddy People first signed with the British Crown in 1726. The
treaties did not deal with surrender of lands and resources but in fact recognized Mi’kmaq and
Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) title and established the rules for what was to be an ongoing relationship
between nations.
[Please see the fantastic website of the Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre for more information about the
>11,000-year history of Mi’kmaq stewardship of Nova Scotia/Mi’kma’ki.]
