Science, Technology and Engineering

Department of Earth Sciences

The Department of Earth Sciences at La Trobe has been superseded by Environmental Geoscience, whose staff continue the proud tradition of high quality undergraduate teaching and research in geology at La Trobe.

Study options

Undergraduate earth science is taught at all year levels. First year geology is taught over two semesters and gives a broad general background to the entire subject. In second and third year there are three environmental geoscience units:

• Surface and groundwater flow and chemistry
• hydrology and catchment management
• hydrogeology and groundwater studies
• water-rock interaction and geochemistry
• contamination and waste treatment problems, including at mine sites
• Landscape and climate change
• Remote sensing and GIS

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Analysis services

Environmental Geoscience has excellent analytical facilities providing analyses for external and internal clients.

The following materials can be analysed:

• Water
• major and trace elements and species
• alkalinity - autotitrator
• cations - atomic absorption and ICP-AES
• anions - ion chromatography
• Rocks, soils and sludges
• quantitative mineralogy (X-ray diffraction with SIROQUANT)
• major and trace elements (X-ray fluorescence)
• water and carbon content (LECO)
• some isotopes (Sr, Sm, Nd - analysed using TIMS)
• Biological materials
• major and trace elements (of dried material)

Contacts for cost and availability

• Water analyses (email: John Webb)
• Major and trace element analyses using the X-ray laboratory (email: Ian McCabe)
• Isotope analyses using the TIMS laboratory (email: Graeme Luther)

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Current research

• Dryland salinity remediation (rising saline groundwater which causes a loss of agricultural productivity)
• Acid mine drainage (the release of acid waters at mine sites)

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Research opportunities

• Honours projects (potential, current and past research)
• Postgraduate projects
• Geology thesis list (completed postgraduate and honours theses)

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Contact

For further information contact John Webb.