An Introduction to Seismic Interpretation Using Open Source Software (OpendTect)
Jeannette Wolak Luna, Tennessee Technological University
This is a series of three lab exercises integrating seismic interpretation and sedimentary geology. Each lab uses freely available software from dGB Earth Sciences, OpendTect. The seismic volume is the F3 Block in ...

Introduction to well logs for use in the petroleum industry
Walter Borowski, Eastern Kentucky University
This exercise uses a suite of well logs (aka electric logs) to interpret lithology within a stratigraphic section and to determine fluid content within borehole rocks.

Experiments with particle settling
Lonnie Leithold, North Carolina State University at Raleigh
In this activity, students experiment with the effects of Reynolds numbers (viscosity), particle shape, and particle concentration (flocculation) on settling velocity.

Building a Facies Model
William W. Little, Brigham Young University-Idaho
Facies models are often abstract and difficult for undergraduate students to fully understand. As a result, they tend to memorize idealized diagrams from text books that can be reproduced for an exam, then ...

Lag to peak with a stream table
Amanda Schmidt, Oberlin College
Students use a small stream table in groups to investigate how channel form determines the shape of the hydrograph (including lag to peak). They use three channels: no channel (just sediment filling the table), a ...

Paleoecology of the Penn-Dixie Quarry
Lisa Whitenack, Allegheny College
Students work in groups to collect fossils and sediments from the Hamilton Group (Devonian), process their samples, and determine the paleocology and diversity metrics for each formation in the Hamilton Group. ...

Sedimentary Rock Descriptions and Scientific Communication
Thomas Evans, Western Washington University
This activity challenges students to write three rock descriptions and edit the work of their peers. The goal is for students to realize the importance of rock descriptions, learn how to write them, and gain ...

Fluvial Transport of Bones Lab Exercise
Thomas Evans, Western Washington University
The lab starts with a short lecture on the scientific method, after which students observe the results of a flume run that includes skeletal clasts. They form hypotheses about how bone clasts (or any clast for that ...

Exploring El Niño
Kevin Theissen, University of St Thomas
In this introductory-level lab activity, students first view a 20-minute portion of an informative video to learn about the operation of an array of moored buoys that is used to detect changes in the El Niño ...

Exploring Barrier Islands in Google Earth
Lonnie Leithold, North Carolina State University at Raleigh
This is an exploration in Google Earth of the links between barrier island morphology and wave and tidal energy.