Second Year of the Bachelor's Degree Program

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This module introduces the fundamentals of seismology. It focuses on the initiation of earthquakes, wave propagation, and the analysis of seismic records to characterize an earthquake (location, magnitude, focal mechanism) and image the Earth’s interior. We will also discuss the estimation of seismic hazard. Finally, we will examine how this information allows us to better understand geodynamics and the seismic cycle. The second part of the course focuses specifically on seismogram processing, including an introduction to signal processing techniques during computer lab sessions (Fourier transform, filtering, convolution, correlation) and imaging/tomography. A tutorial using real-world data concludes the year with data analysis, magnitude calculations, and the location and mechanism of earthquake hypocenters to characterize and quantify active deformation in the East African Rift.  

Hourly volumes:

• CM: 25 hours
• TD: 12:00 p.m.
• Practical training: 8 hours

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This course unit brings together three complementary and fundamental disciplines of Earth sciences: sedimentology, tectonics, and mapping. The various types of sedimentary rocks will be taught in detail to enable students to interpret the context of their formation and the associated processes. Topics in ductile and brittle tectonics will also be addressed at various scales to establish their formation context, particularly in terms of stress regimes. Laboratory work on samples will be conducted in parallel to help students develop their observational and drawing skills and make use of the department’s extensive collections. Finally, an introduction to reading and working with geological maps (schematic maps, cross-sections) will be provided, applying the concepts of sedimentology and tectonics previously acquired. This course unit is designed to enable students to outline the general history of a given region’s geology.

Hourly volumes:

• CM: 12
• TD: 3
• TP: 21

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This course introduces the fundamentals of structural geology at the bachelor’s degree level. The course will focus on the analysis of various deformation features and processes present at all levels of the Earth’s crust. Rock deformation will be studied using field examples (photographs and geological maps), samples, thin sections, and experiments. The main topics covered will be the analysis of deformation processes (brittle and ductile), as well as the associated structural features. The interpretation of these structures will be addressed in terms of tectonic regimes. Techniques for structural measurements and stereographic projections of features encountered in the field will be taught. Structural analysis will range from the small scale under a microscope to the large scale through the study of 1:^50,000 geological maps and satellite images of deformed regions.

Hourly volumes:

• CM: 6 a.m.
• TD: 6:00 a.m.
• Practical training: 6 hours

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This course introduces groundwater within the hydrological cycle and then examines the properties of the water-rock system: porosity and permeability. It provides students with a foundation in the essential concepts of subsurface hydrodynamics—including natural and artificial flow—and basic groundwater hydrochemistry.

Knowledge acquisition is facilitated by hands-on practice during laboratory sessions using column experiments (measuring porosity and permeability, deriving Darcy’s law, salt tracing) and classroom-based exercises (solving common hydrogeological problems based on the interpretation of piezometric and hydrogeological maps - Construction and interpretation of piezometric maps - Interpretation of well and aquifer tests - Interpretation of physicochemical water analyses).

A field day provides an opportunity to illustrate the relationship between geological structure and hydrodynamic behavior and to offer an introduction to borehole measurement techniques.

Hourly volumes:

• CM: 1:00 p.m.
• TD: 2:00 p.m.
• Practical Training: 12:00 p.m.
• Land: 6 hours

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This unit is organized into four chapters to review key concepts and introduce new mathematical concepts necessary for learning Earth and Environmental Sciences.

-Chapter 1 : Taylor and DL :Examples and Operations

- Chapter 2: Differential Equations: Modeling, Equations with Separable Variables,^First-Order Recurrence Equations, Second-Order Equations with Constant Coefficients

- Chapter 3: Functions of Several Variables: Partial functions , contour lines, partial derivatives, composition, higher-order derivatives, example: seismic wave, gradient, divergence, rotational, Laplacian (transition to other coordinate systems), extrema

- Chapter 4: Statistical Concepts and Interpolation: Mean and Standard Deviation, Comparison of Means, Least Squares, Lagrange Interpolation

Number of hours:

- CM: 6:00 p.m.

- Tutorial: 6:00 p.m.

- Lab: 9 a.m.

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The objective of this course unit is to introduce the concepts and tools needed to observe and describe igneous and metamorphic rocks, to understand their origin, and to appreciate their importance within the geosciences.

The course will begin with an introduction to the concepts of mineralogy (crystallography, crystal chemistry) and the tools needed to identify the minerals that make up igneous and metamorphic rocks, both on a macroscopic and microscopic scale.

The various types of igneous and metamorphic rocks will then be discussed and placed within the geodynamic contexts in which they formed.

Two field trips in the Montpellier region will be offered to illustrate and supplement the course material: the first field trip will focus on volcanism in the Hérault Valley (from Agde to Salagou), and the second will explore magmatic and metamorphic features in the Cévennes.

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This course will cover the various geological periods in France from the Paleozoic to the present day and will place these events in their geodynamic context. We will cover sedimentary, tectonic, geomorphological, metamorphic, and magmatic processes. More specifically, we will examine the structure and geological evolution of the Hercynian orogens, the Mesozoic basins, the Pyrenean-Alpine orogeny, and finally the West European Rift. To define these major geological features, the course will incorporate various data such as geological maps, paleogeographic maps, cross-sections, rock facies, geochronological ages, ECORS profiles, magnetic anomaly maps, gravimetric maps, etc. The geological evolution of the Languedoc region from the Hercynian orogeny to the opening of the Mediterranean Sea will be thoroughly documented and explored during laboratory sessions and field trips.

Hourly volumes:

CM: 3:00 p.m.

Practical Training: 9:00 a.m.

Field: 12 hours

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• Atmospheric Physics and Dynamics (composition and structure, radiation balance, theoretical circulation, low-pressure systems/high-pressure systems, fronts, jet streams, tornadoes)
• Ocean Physics and Dynamics (composition and structure, major forces, simplified equations, geostrophic current, Ekman drift, eddies, astronomical tides)
• General Ocean Circulation (Munk Model, Major Currents, Mediterranean Sea, North Atlantic, Conveyor Belt)
• Waves and swell, vocabulary and general overview, first-order theory
• Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions (heat, moisture, and CO2 exchanges; monsoon; El Niño)

• Hourly volumes*:

  CM: 21

  TD: 24

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The lectures will cover concepts in cartography (projection systems, elevation reference systems, positioning), imagery (aerial, satellite, digital encoding, DTM), field measurements (positioning, stratum dip), the construction of a geological cross-section and a stratigraphic log, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS, georeferencing, QGIS software).

The tutorials will apply the concepts covered in class (reading and interpreting satellite imagery, geological cross-sections). The fieldwork sessions will focus on mapping the northern region of Pic St. Loup by reading and interpreting satellite imagery, then verifying that interpretation and taking measurements in the field, and finally returning to the GIS to finalize the work.

Hourly volumes:

CM: 6 a.m.

TD: 6:00 a.m.

Practical Training: 12:00 p.m.

Field: 12 hours

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• Thermodynamic review of chemical equilibria in solution, the law of mass action, and the principle of titration by equilibrium shift
• Application to equilibrium states:
  • Acid-Base Chemistry: Acids and Bases, Calculating the pH of Aqueous Solutions, Titrations
  • Complexation: reaction prediction, species distribution, influence of pH
  • Precipitation: Stability/Solubility of Solids, Effect of pH
  • Redox reactions: review and definitions, electrochemical cells, electrode potentials, predicting the direction of redox reactions
• Analytical techniques used in environmental chemistry, with applications to the determination of physicochemical parameters of water quality:

• Electrochemical techniques,
• Spectrophotometric Techniques
• Chromatographic Techniques

Hourly volumes:

CM: 1:00 p.m.

TD: 12:00 p.m.

Class: 8:00 p.m.

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- Hydrostatics ( Fundamental Principles of Hydrostatics, the concept of buoyant force, Archimedes’ Principle)

- Fluid dynamics (streamlines, trajectories, emission lines, flow rate, Reynolds number, laminar flow, turbulent flow)

- Hydrodynamics of ideal fluids (conservation of mass, conservation of energy with Bernoulli’s theorem, case studies: Mariotte’s vase, draining a reservoir, Pitot tube, Venturi tube)

- Hydrodynamics of real fluids ( causes of pressure drops and estimation of linear and singular pressure drops; generalized Bernoulli's theorem accounting for pressure drops)

- Hydraulic machines (pump operation, H(Q) characteristics, operating point)

- Free-surface hydraulics (hydraulic characteristics, Manning-Strickler formula, weir formula, calibration curves)

Hourly volumes:

CM: 10 a.m.

TD: 10:00 a.m.

Practical Training: 4:00 p.m.

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The objective of this course unit is to introduce the concept of the properties of chemical elements, geochemical classification, and the distribution of major and trace elements in minerals, rocks, and fluids. We will discuss the concepts of compatible and incompatible elements, partition coefficients, geochemical equilibria and fractionation, and element mobility. The geochemistry of major and trace elements will be studied to understand magmatic processes (partial melting, fractional crystallization) and surface processes (transfers and fluxes of water and matter; weathering and water-rock interactions). Radiocarbon dating and the geochemistry of radiogenic and stable isotopes will also be covered to identify the various reservoirs within the Earth, date rocks and fluids (both surface and deep), and study geochemical transfers between the different reservoirs (asthenosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere). Stable oxygen and carbon isotopes will be studied more specifically to characterize the origin of atmospheric fluxes and to trace the various processes involved in the water cycle at the scale of hydrosystems. The budgets of dissolved and particulate geochemical fluxes in hydrosystems will be addressed in order to understand the dynamics of global terrestrial cycles at the Earth’s surface.

Hourly volumes:

CM: 20

TD: 22

TP: 3

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