Applied Geosciences - Faculty of Science, HKU - The University of ...

Master of Sciencein the field ofAppliedGeosciencesApply now for entry in September 2012FACULTY OF SCIENCEThe University of Hong Kong

GEOS7021 Geological fieldwork i (3 credits)GEOS8002 Professional practice in applied geosciences (3 credits)GEOS8003 Seminars on unforeseen ground conditions,geotechnical and environmental failures (3 credits)GEOS8020 Project II (9 credits)* Graduates in Earth Sciences cannot take this course as a core course. They cantake another 6 credits from elective course(s) in its place.Other Elective CoursesGEOS7004 Earth science and environmental management (3 credits)GEOS7027 Earth systems (6 credits)GEOS8201 Applied geochemistry (3 credits)GEOS8202 Development and management of mineral resources (3credits)GEOS8213 Global tectonics (6 credits)ENVM7012 Environmental economics and analysis (3 credits)ENVM7013 Sustainability, society and environmental management (3credits)ENVM7016 Environmental policy (3 credits)ENVM7017 Environmental law in Hong Kong (3 credits)ENVM8006 Environmental impact assessment (3 credits)ENVM8011 Environmental auditing and reporting (3 credits)ENVM8012 Environmental health and risk assessment (3 credits)Certain courses not included in the list above may be accepted as alternativeelectives at the discretion of the programme director. Timetabling of coursesmay limit availability of some elective courses.Description of Selected Courses (Provisional)GEOS7004Earth science and environmental management(3 credits)Course coordinator and teacher: Dr GC ZhaoThe course examines major issues of earth science of relevance to environmentalmanagement. Case studies relevant to coastal cities will be presented. Topicsinclude chemical composition of earth materials, geochemical surveys for pollutionmonitoring, geology and human health, environmental change in the QuaternaryPeriod, fluvial and coastal processes and management, environmental impact ofmining and dredging, geological aspects of land use planning, water resourcemanagement and waste disposal.GEOS7010Geology principles and practice(6 credits)Course coordinator: Professor MF ZhouA review of fundamental concepts in geoscience, including earth and geologicalprocesses, surface processes, minerals and rocks, geological structures andgeological map interpretation. The course also introduces the rocks and geologicalformations of Hong Kong.GEOS7011Advanced geology of Hong Kong (6 credits)Course coordinator: Professor LS ChanThis advanced course examines specialist aspects of the rocks and geologicalformations and structures of Hong Kong and their significance in the context ofgeotechnical engineering, environmental management and resource development.Topics include volcanic and granitic rocks, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks,weathering processes, superficial deposits, geology and geological aspects oflandslides.GEOS7012 Site investigation and engineering geologicaltechniques (6 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew Malone (taught by ProfessorMalone, Ir Philip Chung and Ms HY Ho)A professional course on the concepts and skills used in geotechnical siteinvestigation. Topics include the design of site investigations, desk study andwalkover survey, aerial photographic interpretation, soil and rock description andclassification, ground investigation technology and soil and rock laboratory testing.GEOS7015 Rock mechanics (3 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew Malone (taught by Dr Mark Chan)The course introduces the basic concepts of rock mechanics used in geotechnicalpractice. Topics include index properties, strength and deformability of intactrock; distribution and measurement of in-situ stresses; and shear strength ofdiscontinuities in rock masses.GEOS7016 Soil mechanics (3 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew Malone (taught by Ir Philip Chungor Dr Albert Yeung)An examination of the basic soil mechanics theory used in geotechnical practice.The course reviews phase relationships, soil classification, compaction, fluid flow andeffective stress concepts; and provides a more detailed analysis of elasticity, shearstrength and consolidation.GEOS7020 Project I (3 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew MaloneThe first phase of an independent study of a problem in applied geosciences. Itinvolves literature review, data collection and data analysis. Students are requiredto write an inception report and give a presentation on their proposed study. Workis required on the project during the summer following the second semester.Professional geologists are expected to undertake a field mapping task as partof their project.

GEOS7021 Geological fieldwork I (3 credits)Course coordinator: Professor LS ChanSelf-directed study in the field over a 12-month periodleading to the production of maps, field sheets, narrativeaccounts and other geological records for assessment.The fieldwork may be undertaken in association withthe excursions of the Department of Earth Sciences,the local learned societies or independently. (Markedon a pass/fail basis.)GEOS7023 Geology for geotourism(6 credits)Course coordinator: Professor LS ChanThis will be a joint course with GEOS7010 GeologyPrinciples and Practice (6 credits).GEOS7024 Management (3 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew Malone(taught by Ir Ambrose Kwong and Dr CK Lau)This subject will cover most of the following. Engineeringprocesses, programming and procurement strategies:project framework, common methods for obtaininginvestigation, design and construction services andproject programming. Contract management: Engineer’sand contractor’s site organisation, common forms ofcontract, specifications, methods of measurement,quantities and cost estimation, variations and claims,approaches to dispute resolution. Construction sitesafety, health and environmental aspects: Relevantregulations, environmental impacts of works andmitigation strategies. Quality control and qualityassurance.GEOS7027 Earth systems (6 credits)Course Coordinator and teacher: Professor JGMalpasTo provide an appreciation of the Earth System and theinterfaces between its component parts, in order thatstudents might appreciate how informed decisions canbe made on the future exploitation and preservation ofthe planet. To provide a forum for discussion of globalissues facing earth scientists.GEOS8001 Hydrogeology (3 credits)Course coordinator and teacher: Dr J JiaoTo study the role of sub-surface water in engineeringand environmental applications. Topics include thehydrologic cycle, properties of aquifers controllingthe transmissivity, storage and quality of groundwater,quantification of groundwater flow, the fieldinvestigation of groundwater and assessment offield parameters and applications of hydrogeology inengineering and environmental studies.GEOS8002 Professional practice in appliedgeosciences (3 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew Malone(taught by Professor Malone, HF Leung LLB andBevis Mak)An examination of issues in professional practice inapplied geoscience; including regulation of practice,professional ethics and law contracts and risk and safetymanagement.GEOS8003 Seminars on unforeseen groundconditions, geotechnical andenvironmental failures (3 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew Malone(instructors Professor Malone, Ir Ken Ho andDr J Jiao)A series of student-led seminars on case histories oflandslides, collapses of engineering structures, excessivesettlement and environmental disasters. Presentationsof facts and opinions are given by students based onsuggested reading material. Some of the seminars arefacilitated by the experts who were involved in the case.GEOS8005 Field testing and instrumentationin engineering geology (3 credits)Course coordinator: Professor LS Chan (taughtby Professor LS Chan and Dr Cyril Chan)The course introduces several commonly usedgeophysical methods and in-situ testing techniques,including penetration tests, seismic cones, landgeophysical surveys such as seismic refraction,microgravity, magnetic and conductivity surveys,ground penetrating radar, electrical imaging anddownhole geophysical logging, and marine geophysicssuch as seismic and side-scan sonar surveys.GEOS8020 Project II (9 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew MaloneThe second phase of an independent study of aproblem in applied geosciences culminating in thepreparation of a project report of about 8000 words.Students will be required to make a presentation oftheir preliminary results.GEOS8101 Engineering geology andgeotechnical design(6 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew MaloneAn examination of civil engineering design methodologyand the application of soil mechanics theory andempiricism in geotechnical design. Emphasis is given tosoil slopes and embankments, marine reclamations, earthpressure and retaining structures and piled foundations.GEOS8102 Rock engineering andgeomaterials (6 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew MaloneThis course starts with a brief introduction to thedesign methodology and the systems approach in rockengineering, and is mainly focused on the collectionand analysis of engineering geological data for thedesign of rock structures. Uses of rock mechanics inputand empirical classifications in analysis and design ofrock slopes, tunnel excavation and support systems,and rock foundations are demonstrated throughcase histories.

GEOS8201 Applied geochemistry (3 credits)Course coordinator: Professor MF Zhou (taughtby Professor MF Zhou and Dr XD Li)Principles and hands-on experience of analyticaltechniques including nebulization ICP-MS, XRF andXRD; Basics of Environmental Geochemistry, ChemicalWeathering, Clay Mineralogy, and Aqueous Geochemistry;Applications of Geochemistry to environmentalproblems; Case Studies, with an emphasis in Hong Kong.GEOS8202 Development andmanagement of mineralresources (3 credits)Course coordinator: Professor MF ZhouTo provide students with knowledge about theclassification of mineral deposits and their basicfeatures; to understand the processes that lead totheir formation; to gain hands-on experience withmining procedures. Contents: concepts in mineraldeposits and mining industry; exploration and miningmethods, classification of mineral deposit, mineraldeposit models, magmatic oxide and sulfide deposits,skarn deposits, porphyry deposits, coal, oil and gas,resource evaluation.GEOS8204 Basic structural mechanics andbehaviour (3 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew Malone(taught by Professor HK Ng)The subject will cover most of the following: Behaviour ofstructural members subjected to tension, compression,bending, shear and torsion. Buckling of compressionmembers. Statically determinate and indeterminatestructures; including the concept of redundancy ofstructural members. Load transfer mechanisms ofstructural systems including foundations and shoringsystems. General behaviour and basic concepts in designof reinforced concrete members. Structural design offoundations and retaining walls.GEOS8205 Mathematics I (6 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew Malone(taught by Mathematics Dept)This course will cover the following topics: elementaryand advanced calculus, matrix and vector algebra.GEOS8206 Mathematics II (6 credits)Course coordinator: Professor Andrew Malone(taught by Mathematics Dept)This course will cover the following topics: ordinary andpartial differential equations, introduction to probabilityand statistics.GEOS8207 Global climate (6 credits)Course coordinator: Dr ZH LiuProcesses in the oceans and atmosphere. Heating thesystem, development of ocean currents, winds, clouds,and resources. Effects of coupling, climate change,pollution. Atmospheric structure and composition,global ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns, ElNiño-La Niña and case studies of ocean-atmospherefeedbacks, formation of winds, storms and oceancurrents.GEOS8208 Climate change and theenvironment (6 credits)Course coordinator: Dr SH LiThe Quaternary Period comprises the last 2.6 millionyears of Earth history, an interval dominated by climatefluctuations and the waxing and waning of largenorthern hemisphere ice sheets. This course will coverthe many types of evidence used to reconstructocean and atmospheric conditions through theQuaternary.GEOS8209 Climate change and society(6 credits)Course coordinator: Dr J KingThis course will explore the role of humans in globalchange and the environmental responses to suchchanges. It will also take a look at human evolutionand migration from a paleoenvironmental perspective.Elective Courses selected from the MScin Environmental ManagementENVM7012 Environmental economics andanalysis (3 credits)The aim of this course is to equip students with the abilityto undertake an economic analysis of the environment. Itexamines the environment in the context of the marketmechanism and policies for improving environmentalperformance. There is an emphasis on market failureand strategies for internalizing the external costs ofenvironmental damage. A good deal of attention ispaid to cost-benefit analysis and methodologies forthe valuation of the environment. There will also be aconsideration of alternative policy instruments from aneconomic perspective. This course further examinesmeans of managing resources in a way that is botheconomically and environmentally efficient.

ENVM7013 Sustainability, society andenvironmental management(3 credits)This course begins with the intellectual debates onthe definitions, conceptions and different schools ofthought of the notion of sustainable development.The course then moves on to exploring ways ofanalyzing sustainable development at the macro- andthe micro- levels, ranging from governance issues,frameworks, policies to projects. A number of tools forsustainable development are also explained includingcommunity engagement, sustainability assessment, lifecycle assessment, etc. Each year there will be a specialfocus on a thematic area such as sustainable energy,low carbon living, or planning for sustainable cities, toillustrate the challenges of implementing both local andglobal sustainability.ENVM7016 Environmental policy (3 credits)This course focuses on processes of environmentalpolicy-making: how policy agendas emerge and evolve,the drivers and barriers influencing policy development,institutional structures for environmental policy-making,stakeholder engagement, and the implementation ofenvironmental policy. Theories of policy-making areexplored in relation to the environment and sustainabledevelopment. Environmental policy-making systems andoutcomes are reviewed through local and internationalcase studies.ENVM7017 Environmental law in Hong Kong(3 credits)This course focuses on the statutory interpretation of thefour principal Ordinances and subsidiary legislation dealingwith pollution in Hong Kong; namely the Water PollutionControl Ordinance, the Air Pollution Control Ordinance,the Noise Control Ordinance and the Waste DisposalOrdinance. Some consideration will also be given to theDumping at Sea Ordinance, the Radiation Ordinance, theMerchant Shipping (Prevention and Control of Pollution)Ordinance, the Environmental Impact AssessmentOrdinance, the Ozone Layer Protection Ordinance andinternational conventions effecting the law. Students willstudy the nature of environmental offences, includingthe requirement for proving “mens rea” (intent) inorder for certain offences to be successfully prosecuted.Students will also be introduced to the principles ofjudge made law (the Common Law) and will learn toread and interpret relevant case laws in order to betterunderstand the current sentencing policies towardsenvironmental offenders, both locally and in otherCommon Law jurisdictions.ENVM8006 Environmental impactassessment (3 credits)Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is one ofthe most important contemporary instruments ofenvironmental management. Used widely aroundthe world to identify the impacts of developmentprojects as well as strategic plans and policies, EIAplays a key role in many regulatory systems for theenvironment. This course reviews the development ofdifferent approaches to EIA, basic analytical principles,administrative and legal systems for EIA, assessmentsat the project and strategic levels (SIA), and case studyapplications in Hong Kong.ENVM8011 Environmental auditing andreporting (3 credits)This course is dedicated to the construction of anintegrated environmental management system(EMS). The course considers the design of theEMS, its implementation and issues of continuousimprovement. Environmental auditing is dealt with inthe context of the systems-based approach. This courseexamines audit methodology, measurement and qualityassurance. The approach is extended to the auditing ofsupply chains (particularly in China). Emphasis is placedon practical approaches to improving environmentalperformance over time. Methods and techniquesof reporting on systems and auditing include bothenvironmental reports as well as social and sustainabledevelopment reports.ENVM8012 Environmental health and riskassessment (3 credits)Environmental risk assessments (ERAs) are a tool todetermine the likelihood that contaminant releases,either past, current, or future, pose an unacceptablerisk to human health or the environment. Currently,ERAs are required under various regulations in manydeveloped countries so as to support decision-makersin risk characterization or the selection of cost-effectiveremedial cleanup. This course introduces the theoryand practice of human and ecological risk assessments.Students completing the course will gain a soundknowledge of the concepts and principles of ERAs,management and communication as applied inpractice; understand the basic risk assessment tools(e.g. prospective, retrospective and tiered approaches)to environmental risk management; be able to selectand apply the simpler tools to tackle risk issues; andappreciate the interpretations of risk and its role inenvironmental policy formulation and decision making.

Programme Duration and Class SchedulesThe part-time programme extends over two academic years of parttimestudy and the full-time programme extends over one academicyear. Teaching will take place mainly on weekday evenings but studentsare expected to undertake field and laboratory work during weekends.All lectures are given in English at the HKU main campus.AssessmentWritten work forms an important part of the programme. All writtenand oral communication is in English. Most courses in the programmeare assessed by examination and by coursework. Seminar coursesare assessed by student presentations, and essays.Tuition FeesThe annual composition fee for the academic year 2012-2013 isHK$90,000 # . Part-time students will pay HK$45,000 # per year for twoyears. Payment can be paid in two instalments each year.# Subject to approvalRequirementsApplicants for the Engineering Geology Theme and the EngineeringGeology with HKIE Approved Courses Theme should possess aBachelor’s degree with Honours in Science, Engineering, PhysicalGeography or a related subject. Applicants for the other themesshould possess a Bachelor’s degree with Honours in any subject.ApplicationApplications will be considered from March 1, 2012until May 31 2012, or until all places are filled.Course details can be downloaded fromhttp://www.asa.hku.hk/admissions/tpg/prospectusor http://www.scifac.hku.hk/pg/prospective/tpgOnline application can be accessed viahttp://www.asa.hku.hk/admissions/tpgEnquiriesProfessor Andrew Malone / Professor L S ChanProgramme DirectorsDepartment of Earth SciencesRoom 309 James Hsioung Lee Science BuildingTel: 2559 2555 Fax: 2517 6912E-mail: awmalone@hku.hk or chanls@hku.hkProgramme DirectorsProfessor Andrew W Malone BBSBSc Leeds; PhD Lond; FICE FHKIEHonorary Professor, Department of Earth SciencesProfessor Malone is a geotechnical engineer witha contracting and consulting background. He wasformerly the Head of the Geotechnical EngineeringOffice of the HKSAR Government. His research interests coverlandslides and natural hazard safety systems.Professor L S ChanBSSc CUHK; MA, PhD CalifProfessor, Department of Earth SciencesProfessor Chan is an expert in geophysics, with astrong interest in the application of geophysicalmethods to engineering and environmentalproblems. His recent research projects include environmentalmagnetism, seismic risk analysis of Hong Kong area, surface wavemethods and gamma ray spectroscopy of weathered material. Heis also a leader on the development of urban geophysics in China.Visiting LecturersChan H C M, BS PhD MIT; GEOChen Margie Q F, PhD HKU; EGSChung P W K, BSc HKU; MSc Lond; DIC; CEng; MHKIE; FGS GEOHencher S R, BSc, PhD Lond; DIC; CEng; CGeol; RPE(G); MIMM;MHKIE; FGS HalcrowHo H Y, BSc, MSc HKU; CEng; CGeol; MIMM ArupHo K K S, BSc(Eng); MSc Lond; MICE; MHKIE; FGS GEOKwong W KA, BSc MSc HKU; MBA CUHK; MHKIE Univic EngLai K W, MSc AITl, MHKIE formerly HK Geological SurveyLeung H F, BSc BB HKU; LLB Lond; FHKIS; FCIArb BarristerLi X D, BSc, MSc Nanjing; PhD Lond HK Polytechnic UniversityMak B W L, BEng Monash; CEng; FCIArb; MICE AECOMMartin R P, BSc PhD Lond; MIMM; CEng; CGeolNg H K, MSc Southampton; FHKIE; FIStructE, JMKSewell R J, PhD Cantab HK Geological Survey GEOTang Denise, BSc MPhil HKU; HK Geological Survey GEOValidityThis booklet was prepared in January 2012 and information in it mayhave been superseded by subsequent changes.Faculty of ScienceThe University of Hong Kong12 Chong Yuet Ming Physics Building, Pokfulam Road, Hong KongTel: 2241 5287 Fax: 2858 4620 Email: science@hku.hk http://www.scifac.hku.hk/pg/prospective/tpg