GEOL 120 ŌEarthÕs EnvironmentsĶ SYLLABUS
- Fall, 2005
Instructors: BRUCE SIMONSON - Lectures & Tues lab office: Carnegie 401
e-mail: bruce.simonson@oberlin.edu voice: ext. 58347
office hours: Mondays and Thursdays 1:30-3:30, or by appointment
KARLA PARSONS-HUBBARD - Wed lab office: Carnegie 403
e-mail: Karla.Hubbard@oberlin.edu voice: ext. 58353
office hours: Tuesday 3:00-4:00 and Friday 1:30-2:30
Lectures: Tuesday
and Thursday – 9:30-10:50 AM, SEVERENCE 108
Labs: EITHER Tuesday OR Wednesday - 1:30-4:30 PM, CARNEGIE 212
Required text: Marshak, 2001/2005, Earth: Portrait of a Planet: W.W. Norton & Co., 1st OR 2nd edition.
In this is survey course, we introduce you to the risks and riches of your geological environment via a combination of lectures, labs, and field trips to sites nearby (N.B. - all field trips take place within the regular lab time of 1:30-4:30 PM). Previous coursework in natural science is clearly to your advantage but is not expected or required for this course. A tentative schedule of topics and required readings is given below. All of the readings are from the text listed above, which can be purchased at the Bookstore. Alternatively, you can purchase a full digital version of the text on-line for half-price at Nortonebooks.com. Please do all of the readings listed below PRIOR to the class for which they are assigned. There may put a few supplemental references on reserve in the Science Library if the need arises. Your grade will be based on a combination of open-book lab assignments handed in over the course of the semester plus closed-book written exams and a lab quiz. It is your obligation to know and follow the Honor Code in executing these assignments.
|
Day |
Date |
Topic |
Readings |
|
TU |
9/6 |
Preview and Plate tectonics: the grand synthesis |
Chapter 4 |
|
TU/W |
9/6,7 |
LAB: The stuff of the earth: minerals and rocks |
Interludes A and B |
|
TH |
9/8 |
Hydrologic cycle and intro to river processes |
Interlude E |
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TU |
9/13 |
Groundwater, caves and karst |
Chapter 19 |
|
TU/W |
9/13,14 |
FIELD TRIP: Groundwater, the hidden resource |
- - |
|
TH |
9/15 |
Slope processes and mass movement |
Chapter 16 |
|
|
|
|
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|
TU |
9/20 |
Humans and rivers: an uneasy alliance |
Chapter 17 |
|
TU/W |
9/20,21 |
FIELD TRIP: the Black River – Cascade Park |
- - |
|
TH |
9/22 |
Coastal processes |
Chapter 18 |
|
|
|
|
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|
TU |
9/27 |
Hurricanes + Glaciers: life in the deep-freeze |
Chapter 22 |
|
TU/W |
9/27,28 |
LAB: Capturing the Earth on topographic maps |
- - |
|
TH |
9/29 |
Climate and atmospheric change |
Chapters 20, 21 |
|
|
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|
TU |
10/4 |
Weathering and soil formation |
p. 167-80 (165-76) |
|
TU/W |
10/4,5 |
LAB: Reading recent Earth history from topo maps |
- - |
|
TH |
10/6 |
Sediments and sedimentary rocks |
Chapter 7 (the rest) |
|
|
|
|
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|
TU |
10/11 |
Life through geological time |
Interlude D |
|
TU/W |
10/11,12 |
FIELD TRIP: Bedrock in the Oberlin area |
- - |
|
TH |
10/13 |
FREE DAY, no lecture, just a REVIEW
SESSION |
- - |
[CONTINUED ON BACK]
|
TU |
10/18 |
EXAM #1 - (covers material through 9/29) |
|
|
TU/W |
10/18,19 |
NO LAB THIS WEEK |
- - |
|
TH |
10/20 |
Determining the age of the Earth |
Chapter 12, 13 |
|
*
* * * * * * * * * * F A L L B R E A K * * * * * * * * * * * |
|||
|
TU |
11/1 |
Crystals and minerals: the basic building blocks |
Chapter 5 |
|
TU/W |
11/1,2 |
LAB: Sedimentary rocks and fossils |
- - |
|
TH |
11/3 |
Volcanic eruptions and hazards |
Chapter 9 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TU |
11/8 |
Plutons: the stuff that didnÕt make it out the volcano |
Chapter 6 |
|
TU/W |
11/8,9 |
LAB: Igneous rocks and processes |
- - |
|
TH |
11/10 |
Deformation and mountain building: |
Chapter 11 |
|
|
|
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|
TU |
11/15 |
Metamorphism: the transformation of rocks |
Chapter 8 |
|
TU/W |
11/15,16 |
LAB: Metamorphic rocks and processes |
- - |
|
TH |
11/17 |
EXAM #2 - (covers material from 10/4 thru 11/9) |
- - |
|
|
|
|
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|
TU |
11/22 |
The origin of the Earth and continents |
Chapter 1 |
|
TU/W |
11/22,23 |
LAB: Closed-book quiz on rock interpretation |
- - |
|
TH |
11/24 |
THANKSGIVING - NO CLASS |
- - |
|
|
|
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|
TU |
11/29 |
Geophysics, pt. 1: Earth as a magnet and a nuclear reactor |
Chapter 2 |
|
TU/W |
11/29,30 |
LAB:
Geological maps and their interpretation |
- - |
|
TH |
12/1 |
Geophysics, pt. 2: EarthÕs gravity and seismicity |
Interlude C |
|
|
|
|
|
|
TU |
12/6 |
Earthquakes:
hazards and responses |
Chapter 10 |
|
TU/W |
12/6,7 |
LAB: How plate tectonics works |
Chapter 3 |
|
TH |
12/8 |
Material resources of the Earth (AKA ore deposits) |
Chapter 15 |
|
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|
TU |
12/13 |
Energy resources we now use: Fossil fuels |
Chapter 14 |
|
TU/W |
12/13,14 |
LAB: Environmental geology: case studies |
- - |
|
TH |
12/15 |
Energy resources we need to use: the Renewables |
Chapter 23 |
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THURS. |
12/22, 9 AM |
EXAM #3 - (covers material from 11/10 to end) |
- - |
Your GRADE in this course will be based on the following formula:
3 hour-long, closed-book EXAMS @ 20% 60%
ca. 10 equally weighted lab hand-in exercises 40%
TOTAL 100%
N.B. - Several upper-class geology majors have agreed to serve as TUTORS for this course. If you would like to meet with one to get a better handle on the course material, just contact either of the instructors any time during the semester. There is NO CHARGE for this service.
There is, however, a LAB FEE for this course. Sometime EARLY in the fall semester, you will need to give $10.00 either to your lab instructor or to Retha Ball in the Geology Department Office (Room 417 on the 4th floor of the Carnegie building) to help cover the cost of the hand-outs, lab materials, and transportation you'll receive during the course of this semester.