Pick any topic from PDF/Instructions

Topics to choose from:

1. Geology of any National Park (or equivalent) in the USA, Canada, Australia, Mexico, China, or England

2. Geology of any “economically” interesting commodity on the following list gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, diamond, iron, sand, gravel, pigment, or dirt. Focus may be on the general geology of the specific commodity or a focused research paper on a specific gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, diamond, or iron mine.

3. Geological hazards and their mitigation in general – landslides, karsts, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions.

4. Geological hazards and their impact at specific localities – landslides, karsts, floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions.

5. Climate change cause(s) and its potential impact/mitigation

6. Female geologists and their contribution – must be specific person

7. Geology of a specific location that is of interest to you (e.g. favorite vacation spot, family history, or tie to book/movie/art (e.g. a well-known painting)

8. Geological aspects of any environmental impact caused largely or exclusively by human beings and the potential to mitigate the impact

Research papers must be between 2250 and 3500 words which is about 5-8 pages of text based on 11pt or 12-pt font and be no longer than thirteen total pages including illustrations and title page. Figures and/or tables must have captions and may be placed within text or at end of paper. Proper credit must be given for any figures, maps, pictures that you include in your report and must be given in the associated caption unless you are the author of the figure (an example would be a personal photograph of a rock outcrop). Format for the report is MS Word .doc file or .pdf file.

Your paper must be organized as follows:

1. Title and author name on front page. Nothing else on the front page, please!
2. Abstract – 250 word limit summarizing your paper including a sentence on why you chose the particular topic.
3. Introduction – Opening paragraphs of your paper that describe the topic in general, its importance or application to you and the community, and why you choose the particular topic.
4. Main Body – Discussion of what your research revealed to you and what you want to share.
5. Conclusion(s) – The key messages or “take-away” points that you expect the reader to remember.
6. References – List of references you used to research and write your paper; minimum number of references is three.

Please make sure that for any map, picture, graph, or other illustrations that you used in your paper has the source or reference in the item’s caption.

Your paper must use at least three peer reviewed references. Paper published in journals such as Science, AAPG Bulletin, GSA Bulletin
(http://www.geosociety.org/pubs/ ), GSA’s Geology, Nature, SEG Leading Edge (http://www.seg.org/resources/publications), Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) (http://www.spe.org/publications/ ) are peer reviewed. Some web sites are also reasonably peer reviewed such as the USGS, NASA, and NOAA. Many web sites are not reasonably peer reviewed and use of information derived from such web sites (e.g. Wikipedia) does not count towards the needed peer reviewed references for your research paper.