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20260412890The PhD Marine Geology program has adequate policy of design, development and modification of the program curriculum. The program and courses specifications are adequate however their still room for improvement. The program has approved and publicly admission and registration guide. As well there is an adequate regulation and responsibilities guide for students. There are very good staff members with diverse specialties supported by well-equipped classrooms and laboratories. Students are involved in the department’s committees.
Provide scientific material and training experiences that rival those of international universities in the field of marine geology, qualifying graduates to enter global job markets, especially in the areas of mineral resource exploration and conventional and unconventional energy sources, while equipping them with diverse and distinguished skills at the research and practical levels.
Prepare distinguished, scientifically-oriented; Professional and highly qualified oceanographer or marine scientists to meet the job requirements in the field of Oceanography and Geological Oceanography and to play a leading role in industry, research, teaching and public services.
Last Modified Date: 10/07/2026 - 1:51 AM Saudi Arabia Time
| Course Code | Course | Credits | Prerequisites |
|---|---|---|---|
| MG 701 | Marine Sedimentary Processes and Environments | 2 | – |
| Description | Sediments are the memory card that preserves all Earth surface processes and environmental and climatic changes through time. This course, therefore, is designated to give the student a good knowledge about sediment generating mechanisms and processes of transportation and deposition, particularly, in the marine realm. Students will be able to examine erosion, transportation and deposition of sediments in a range of marine depositional environments. Students will gain skills that will help them to carry out field and laboratory investigations of sedimentary physical properties which will help to define facies and build depositional models. It includes sources and classification of marine sediments, hydrodynamic forces, sediment transport, behaviour of particles in fluids, physical sedimentary structures and the associated bed-forms. Effect of physical processes such as currents, waves and tides on the nature of deposits will be discussed. The course concentrates also on the sedimentary facies characterizing deltaic and non-deltaic clastic and non-clastic shorelines, shallow-deep clastic seas, facies model and classification of shallow marine carbonates and evaporites. Finally, the role of sea-level changes and their control on sedimentation will be discussed. | ||
| MG 702 | Marine geographical information systems | 2 | – |
| Description | The course aims to develop knowledge and understanding of the principles of GIS and how to use the methods for spatial analyses and map design in geotechnology and analytical operations. The course includes the principles and fundamentals of GIS, use of geotechnology and competency in analytical and spatial operational methods. Principles of map design and understanding spatial database systems and application. It includes also spatial information analysis and modeling, contemporary issues in GIS, digital mapping, spatial databases, research methods and data analysis, and applied GIS modules, such as biodiversity and conservation, GIS and hazards, mobile GIS, mineral and energy resources, remote sensing of the environment, sustainable environmental management and waste management and contaminated land remediation. | ||
| MG 721 | Geology of Coral Reefs | 2 | – |
| Description | This course includes both modern and fossil coral reefs, their role as part of a larger system and their present distribution with respect to varying time frame: importance of coral reefs; early formation, Quaternary events and present conditions; climate and oceanography effecting coral growth; coral and reef building processes; classification and distribution. Coral reef sedimentology: sediment production on coral reefs; sediment transportation and deposition on coral reefs; sediment distribution on coral reefs, cementation, diagenesis and beach rock. Climatic and anthropogenic impact on the coral reefs ecosystem. Paleoclimatic inferences from coral reef studies. Red Sea coral reefs. | ||
| MG 722 | Metalliferous sediments | 2 | – |
| Description | The course aims to provide the student a firm knowledge on the formation, composition, sources, distribution and economic potential of metalliferous sediments in world oceans. It will concentrate on the lithological, mineralogical and chemical compositions of the metalliferous sediments and sources of accumulation of their chemical elements in the world oceans (e.g., Southeast Pacific, East Pacific Rise, Red Sea and Mid-Atlantic Ridge). It will address also the processes of hydrothermal fluids formation and differentiation of their chemical elements and precipitation. Emphasis will be given to the metalliferous sediments of the Red Sea, with regard to their evolution, lithology, mineral composition and accumulation rates. The methods of exploration and exploitation of metalliferous sediments will be also included in the course. | ||
| MG 723 | Paleoceanography | 2 | – |
| Description | This course is fundamental to marine science students for understanding the geologic history of the ocean with regard to circulation, chemistry, biology, geology and patterns of sedimentation. It includes an introduction about temperature, salinity, thermocline, surface/deep water circulation and productivity in the ocean, and vertical zones and provinces of upwelling, the dissolved organic matter (DOM) and the trophic structure. It will address the pelagic system and sedimentation, orbital forcing, effect of sunspots on climate, Milankovich cycles, El-Nino, little ice ages cycles, Dansgaard-Oeschger Cycles, Bond cycles and Heinrich events. General micropaleontology and its use in the biostratigraphy of marine sea records and chemical productivity including proxies such as Sr/Mg, Sr/Ca, Ca/Cd, Ba, oxygen and carbon isotopes and their uses in the determination of paleotemperature and paleosalinity of the ocean. It will also include the major events in ocean history including K/T boundary, Paleocene-Eocene warming, Eocene-Oligocene event, Middle Miocene event, Late Miocene event, Pliocene-Present ice world and Quaternary sea level change. It includes also marginal basins and their sensitivity to climatic change, Mediterranean anoxic events (sapropels) and Arabian Sea monsoonal variability. | ||
| MG 724 | Sequence stratigraphy | 2 | – |
| Description | The course aims to make the student aware of principles of sequence stratigraphy and how to use them to get insights about the evolution of sedimentation regime through time for solving problems in the sedimentary sequences. The course concentrates on coastal and marine clastic and non-clastic sedimentary rocks, and the economic applications of sequence stratigraphy. This course includes the methods of sequence stratigraphic analyses such as facies analysis of outcrops and cores. The accommodation space and sedimentation rate will be discussed in terms of sea-level changes, tectonic controls and climatic changes. Sequence stratigraphic elements including surfaces, parasequence, parasequence stacking patterns, systems tracts will be included. | ||
| MG 725 | Mineralogical facies | 2 | – |
| Description | This course will be an integrated field, laboratory and lecture course designed to link the formations, occurrences and distributions of mineralogical facies in a given sedimentary environment (fluvial and marine sedimentary environments) to their controlling factors, including provenance, climate, sea level, tectonics, hydrodynamics, transportation pathways, erosion, weathering, postdepositonal diagenesis and embayment setting. One of the key focuses of will be a determination of mineralogical facies in modern and ancient sediments through sediment petrography (grain mounts and thin-section) and statistics, in order to understand the processes, depositional history and evolution of a given sedimentary environment. Course materials will cover fluvial, shallow and deep marine sedimentary environments. | ||
| MG 726 | Isotopes in Marine Geology | 2 | – |
| Description | This course includes the theoretical and experimental principles of stable isotopes, definitions, fractionations in un- and equilibrium conditions of hydrologic and biological systems, standards and analytical techniques by the Isotopic Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS). Isotope fractionation processes of selected elements such as: H, C, N, O, S, Li, B, Mg, Si, Ca, V, Fe, and their variations in nature of hydrosphere, biospheres, and sediments, and as well as in paleoclimatology and paleoceanography. It includes the nitrogen stable isotope fractionation in biological processes and their application in food-web, food adulteration, hydrology, agriculture, pollution and paleoclimate environment. It addresses also unstable (radiogenic 14C) isotopes and stable carbon and oxygen isotope fractionation in carbonate and during photosynthesis, and how their ratios change in substances such as carbonates, organic matters and water (fresh or saline) according to changes in the environment and climate. Isotopic fossils in the earliest life, radiogenic and short-lived (210Pb, 134Cs and 137Cs) isotopes and their use in geochronology and determination of sediment accumulation rates. It will address also the use the marine Quaternary δ18O record and Milankovitch cycles, the δ18O records in the glacial ice, the δ13C records and their use in the estimation of ocean circulation and (paleo-) productivity. | ||
| MG 794 | Research method and scientific writing | 2 | – |
| Description | The course aims to provide the student with information regarding the techniques in processing marine geological data and preparation of scientific reports for publications and presentations. The course includes the standard practices in the marine geological sample and data collection. Sample preservation, processing, and storage for different studies. •Database creation and formats, data processing techniques, statistical treatment, and graphical outputs. 2-D and 3-D maps generation. Methods of quality assurance in data analyses. International practices for research and scientific writing. •Planning for undertaking research and ethics in scientific research. Referencing and bibliographic databases, writing skills, and language services. •Project proposal writing (e.g., statement of the problem, collection, and synthesis of background information and present status, identifying the objectives, work plan for experimentation and data generation, activity-time schedule, applications of the research problem), and presentation of the proposal. | ||
| MG 796 | Special Topics in Marine Geology | 2 | – |
| Description | This course is allocated for teaching topics that may be offered on special occasions based on student’s need. The course syllabus will be specified by the supervisor/chairman based on student’s need and approval of the department. | ||
| MG 799 | Ph.D. Thesis | 30 | – |
| Description | The thesis will be carried out on original research problem in the fields of marine geology. | ||
