Welcome to Geological Sciences at San Diego State University. For more than 75 years, the Department has provided outstanding educational opportunities for students leading to successful careers in government, business, industry and teaching. Water, energy and natural resources are at the forefront of societal concerns, and the Department's General Education courses serve thousands of students each year helping to provide the country with an environmentally responsible and scientifically literate electorate. The Bachelors of Science degree options are based on an advanced academic core curriculum distinguished by a senior thesis requirement that promotes a collaborative student-faculty atmosphere and prepares students for top graduate school programs. The Masters of Science program is likewise one of the most successful in the country preparing students for high trajectory career paths as well as more advanced academic studies. Beginning in 2010, the Geophysics Program of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD and the Department of Geological Sciences at SDSU will offer a Joint Doctoral Program in Geophysics focused on earthquake science and applied geophysics. Graduates of the JDP will be prepared to assume leadership roles in universities, government, and industry. If you are considering a science course, interested in pursuing a major, or contemplating graduate school, please explore this web site for more information and feel free to contact us or to come by and visit. We look forward to hearing from you!
Dr. Steven Day & Dr. Kim Olsen Receives a grant for "Fault and Earthquake System Dynamics" 10.11.2011
Dr. John Crockett Receives a grant for "Regional Energy Innovation and Commercialization" 10.06.2011
Dr. Eric Frost Receives a grant for "Potential Impact and Mitigation Strategies for Overlap of L-Band, 4th -generation Wireless and INMARSAT BGANs in the San Diego Backcountry" 09.08.2011
Dr. Kim Olsen & Dr. Steven Day Receives a grant for "Geoinformatics: A Petascale Cyberfacility for Physics-based Seismic Hazard Analysis (PetaSHA-3)" 08.15.2011
Dr. Thomas Rockwell & Dr. Gary Girty Receives a grant for "Collaborative Research: Structural Architecture and Evolutionary Plate-Boundary Processes Along the San Jacinto Fault Zone" 08.09.2011
Dr. Shuo Ma Receives a grant for "Exploring the Likelihood of Earthquake Ruptures on the San Andreas Fault Breaking through the San Gorgonio Pass Area by Using Dynamic Rupture Simulations and the Community Fault Model" 07.19.2011
Dr. Aaron Pietruszka Receives a grant for "Collaborative Research: Magnetic Evolution of Kilauea Volcano: Past, Present and Future" 06.29.2011
Dr. Shuo Ma Receives a grant for "Exploring the Probability of Fault-to-Fault Jumps During Earthquake Ruptures by Using Three- Dimensional Dynamic Simulations" 06.27.2011
Dr. Shuo Ma Receives a grant for "Rupture Dynamics, Validation of the Numerical Simulation Method" 06.27.2011
Dr. Kim Olsen Receives a grant for "Correlation of Peak Dynamic and Static Coulomb Failure Stress with Seismicity Rate Change after the M7.2 El Mayor-Cucapah Earthquake SCEC#11140" 06.27.2011
Dr. Kim Olsen Receives a grant for "Rupture and Ground Motions Near an Extensional Stepover on the San Jacinto Fault with Validation from Precariously Balanced Rocks: Collaborative Research with UC Riverside and San Diego State University" 06.27.2011
Dr. Shuo Ma Receives a grant for "Extraction of Station-to-Station Green's Functions Using Seismic Coda in Southern California" 06.27.2011
Dr. Thomas Rockwell Receives a grant for "Characterization of Earthquake Slip Distribution on the Northern Coyote Creek Strand of the San Jacinto Fault Using LiDAR and Field Mapping" 05.31.2011
Dr. Kim Olsen Receives a grant for "Validation of Finite Fault Simulations Using Broadband Synthetics Based on Low-Frequency Dynamic Rupture Propagation and High-Frequency Scattering Green's" 05.24.2011
Dr. Thomas Rockwell Receives a grant for "Characterization of Pulverized Granitoids in the Little Rock Core Along the San Andreas Fault" 05.16.2011
Dr. Thomas Rockwell Receives a grant for "Collaborative Research: Paleoseismology of the Borrego and Pescadores faults in Northern Baja California: Characterizing the Past Rupture History of a Complex Transtentional Fault Zone" 05.16.2011
Dr. Thomas Rockwell Receives a grant for "Development of a Holocene Earthquake Record for the Northern San Jacinto Fault Zone From a New Paleoseismic site at Mystic Lake: Collaborative Research with CSU Long Beach, SDSU, and CSU San Bernardino" 05.16.2011
Dr. George Jiracek Receives a grant for "Geothermal Assessment of the Middle Rio Grande Rift in New Mexico - National Geothermal Student Competition" 03.14.2011
Dr. John Crockett Receives a grant for "Regional Energy Innovation and Commercialization" 03.07.2011
Dr. Shuo Ma Receives a grant for "The Role of Sediments in Rupture Dynamics of Tsunami Earthquakes and Tsunami Generation" 02.22.2011
Dr. Kim Olsen Receives a grant for "Fully Nonlinear Modeling of Strong Ground Motion From M7.0 Earthquakes on the Salt Lake City Segment of the Wasatch Fault, Utah: Request for Supplemental Funding" 02.08.2011
Dr. Steven Day Receives a grant for "Earthquake Rupture Simulations: Thermo-mechanical Models, and Validation with Strong Motion Data" 01.20.2011
Dr. Thomas Rockwell Receives a grant for "A Long Record of Earthquakes with Timing and Displacements for the Imperial Fault: A Test of Earthquake Recurrence Models" 01.11.2011
Gary Peterson
Professor Emeritus
Department of Geological Sciences
San Diego State University Wednesday, February 8th, 2012
CSL 422 - 1:00pm
Saturn, everyone's favorite planet, is the second-largest of the outer giant gas planets and has the lowest density (0.7) of any planet. The others gas planets are about 1.5. In addition, Saturn has the largest satellite (Titan) in the Solar System. Titan is about the same size as Mercury of the inner Solar System. more...
Mike Hart
Engineering Geologist Wednesday, February 15th, 2012
CSL 422 - 1:00pm
Several examples from the western United States are presented in which faults are mapped on the basis of geomorphic and structural evidence that is equally likely to indicate landsliding. In some of the examples the presence of faulting has led workers to ignore evidence of landsliding that may have utilized fault planes as rupture surfaces. more...
