uwloo

EARTH 461Near-Surface Geophysics

Units
0.50
Faculty
Science
Subject
Earth Sciences

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 3 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: not on the schedule. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

Near-surface geophysics is used to characterize the shallow subsurface for a wide-spectrum of applications. This application-oriented course covers current methodology in near-surface geophysics, including electrical, electromagnetic, ground penetrating radar, seismic refraction, and well-logging methods. Techniques for geophysical data acquisition and interpretation are studied and applied to field data. Examples of the application of geophysical techniques to archeological, forensics, geotechnical, glaciology, and hydrogeological problems are examined.

Prerequisites

  • Must have completed the following:
    • EARTH260 - Introductory Applied Geophysics (0.50)

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

No course lists it as a requisite.

Fall 2026 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 001717615 / 25TTh 08:30–09:50
TUT 101742615 / 25F 11:30–12:20

Reviewed on UW Flow

100% liked it31% easy69% useful

From 4 ratings and 2 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • The lectures are long and the content sometimes isn't too interesting (personal opinion) but Colby is awesome and the demos are fun. The fact that there is no exam made it even better

    Jan 2026 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

  • I only took the course because I needed the credit to graduate, so it isn't entirely useful for me, hence the lower score. However, Colby did a very good job with this class. The slides he uploads for each module help tremendously with the assignments, and the field tests are interesting despite being very early in the morning sometimes. I've never gotten assignment marks as high as I did in this class (even higher than EARTH 260) in my 4 years at UW, and I'm not even an earth major. The field test reports were a different story; the software we're told to use isn't the greatest and it can affect the quality of the report itself, but put the work in and the results will pay off (plus no…

    Nov 2024 · liked itOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

One post or comment in 1 thread mentions EARTH 461, October 2017 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2017

Any way to disable UWCourseLinker from posting? 16 points, 26 comments

“posting a reply to my comment I find the bot annoying.”

u/Jackhofmann: “PSYCH 483 PSYCH 484 PSYCH 485 PSYCH 486 PSYCH 490R PSYCH 499A PSYCH 499B PSYCH 499C PSYCH 621 PSYCH 630 PSYCH 677A PSYCH 704A PSYCH 704B PSYCH 707 PSYCH 710 PSYCH 714 PSYCH 717 PSYCH 720A PSYCH 721A …”

u/Jackhofmann: “… 331 EARTH 342 EARTH 421 EARTH 436A EARTH 436B EARTH 440 EARTH 444 EARTH 458 EARTH 458L EARTH 461 EARTH 499 EARTH 625 EARTH 626 EARTH 627 EARTH 650 EARTH 653 EARTH 668 EARTH 691 EARTH 692 EARTH 695 EASIA 201R EASIA 202R EASIA 203R EASIA 204R EASIA 231R EASIA 301R EASIA 302R EASIA …”

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Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026

Calendar versions

Undergraduate Calendar