This is the web syllabus for Processes and Concepts of Geology (Geology 200). In addition to your weekly readings and assignments, I will also post web resources here each week and provide links to keys for quizzes and exams. Please let me know if you discover a site that may be appropriate to that week's topic. Refer to class notes at the bottom of this page for your responsibilities, schedule of fieldtrips and course evaluation.
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Introduction and Review |
| Reading: M&W, pages 2-22, 164-170 (preparation questions) | |
| Lab: Introduction to Rocks and Minerals (and Departmental tour) | |
| Assignments: Hand in the Introductory Lab on Thursday 31 August. | |
| Web Resources for Week #1: Our first order of business is to review the Earth's structure and to explore how we know what we do about its internal structure and composition. Watch the Earth spin at this link. For a review of plate tectonics and the mechanisms of plate motion visit the Berkeley site. | |
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Basic Mineralogy and Igneous Rocks |
| Reading: M&W, pages 24-91 (preparation questions) | |
| Lab: Basic Rock Forming Minerals | |
| Assignments: | |
| Web Resources for Week #2: Web Resources for Week #2: Minerals and Igneous rocks is the subject this week. The Museum of Mineralogy in Paris and the Smithsonian Institution have on-line displays of minerals and gemstones. Igneous rocks and Bowen's Reaction Series are well described on this University of British Columbia site, which also has igneous rock slideshows. Take a look also at these two sites that illustrate the recent concepts and research in Seismic Tomography. | |
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Sedimentary Rocks; Metamorphism |
| Reading: M&W, pages 92-143, (preparation questions) | |
| Lab: Igneous Rocks and their Tectonic Significance | |
| Assignments: Wiles will be out of the office on 14 September. You will view a video and answer preparation questions based on the video content. Wiles will participate in a workshop aimed at using tree-ring records from coastal sites on the Pcific Rim to reconstruct the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) over the past 1000 years. | |
| Web Resources for Week #3: See this site for a summary of sediments and sedimentary rocks. An interactive diagram of a typical siliciclastic depositional environments, is brought to you by the University of British Columbia. The Geology of the Grand Canyon is a nice follow-up on the GEOCLUB talk nest week and serves as an introduction to future lab exercises. For a nice collection of photographs of sedimentary structures see the Duke Sedimentary Structures page. | |
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Time and Stratigraphy |
| Reading: M&W, pages 408-437, (preparation questions) | |
| Lab: Introduction to Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks | |
| Assignments: | |
| Web Resources for Week #4: We will be finishing up the discussion of Metamorphic rocks and begin to put all the rocks together into the framework of the geologic timescale. Go the the Berkeley site for a great illusrated discussion of geologic time and stratigraphy. This part of the Berkely page will help with your learning of the timescale. See also this Columbia University web page that outlines time and stratigraphy. | |
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Fossils and the Geologic Time Scale |
| Reading: M&W, pages 454-459, (preparation questions) See here for a pdf copy of last year's exam. | |
| Lab: Classification and Interpretation of Sedimentary Rocks | |
| Assignments: 26 September (Weds.) Exam #1. Departmental picnic 27 September. No class on 28 September (Soils and the Undergraduate Curriculum Workshop) hosted at The College of Wosoter. | |
| Web Resources for Week #5: As an additonal review exercise take this relative dating quiz. This relative dating activity is an even greater challenge. | |
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Rock Deformation |
| Reading: M&W, pages 224-248, (preparation questions) | |
| Lab: Metamorphic Rocks | |
| Assignments: Attend GEOCLUB - this week is Jamairca Week with presentations by Sara Austin and Andrea Martin. | |
| Web Resources for Week #6: Structural geology is best introduced by viewing the result of deformation. See the Keck Geology Consortium slide set. View larger-scale features on the landforms map of the US. Finally for a good overview and introduction to structural geology check out the University of Saskatchewan site. | |
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Plate Tectonic Theory |
| Reading: M&W, pages 194-223, (preparation questions) | |
| Lab: | |
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| Web Resources for Week #7: Plate Tectonic Theory is the theme this week. See the University of Nevada at Reno site for a good overview. Also the Northern Arizona University site is a good one along with these animated plate images. | |
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Plate Tectonic Theory |
| Reading: M&W, pages 174-193, 224-248, (preparation questions) | |
| Lab: Topographic Maps and Imagery | |
| Assignments: Karla Parsons-Hubbard of Oberlin will be the GEOCLUB speaker this week. | |
| Web Resources for Week #8: In lab we will introduce air photos and maps. This map web site is a great one ot view maps and photos of the US. We will talk about the geometry of plate motions, see this site explaining the idea of the Euler Poles. Take a look at some of the ideas and onoging measurements being made at one of our favorite convergent margins in the Andes. In addition to Wooster's own seismic station see this site maintained by the US Geological Survey on recent earthquakes. | |
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Ultimate Origins of the Earth and Solar System |
| Reading: M&W, pages 144-164, Scientific American Handout, (preparation questions) | |
| Lab: Structural Geology and Geologic Maps | |
| Assignments: | |
| Web Resources for Week #9: This week will begin with the ultimate origins of the Earth and the Solar system. A good general source of information and definitions is the "Wormhole in the Cosmos" site. Look here for an extensive set of resources on the Big Bang". Want an artist's view of the Big Bang? For you humanities majors, how about Big Bang Philosophy? You can ponder many universes beyond the Big Bang with Stephen Hawking. For those of you looking for a redshift explanation look here. Here's a planet formation site with good "artist's conception" images and a movie you can download. | |
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Origin and Early History of the Earth-Precambrian Biosphere and Atmosphere |
| Reading: M&W, pages 464-489, (preparation questions) | |
| Lab: Structural Geology and Geologic Maps II | |
| Assignments: Weds. 9 November - Exam #2 | |
| Web Resources for Week #10: As our investigation of the Earth's history continues, you may find this timeline useful. NOAA has released new global maps showing seafloor topography with extraordinary detail. For our introduction to the Paleozoic see this page, | |
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Paleozoic History |
| Reading: M&W, pages 490-522, (preparation questions) | |
| Lab: Plate Motions | |
| Assignments: There will be no class on Monday 5 November as Wiles will be attending the Geological Society of America Meeting in Boston. Wiles will present an overview of Alaskan Glaciation over the past 1000 years and its relevance to understanding Climate Change. | |
| Web Resources for Week #11: | |
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Pangaea & Mesozoic History |
| Reading: M&W, pages 524-594, (preparation questions) | |
| Lab: Plate Motions | |
| Assignments: Computer lab due at the end of class on Thursday. | |
| Web Resources for Week #12: Web Resources for Week #14: Take this on-line test to see what you know about the Paleozoic. We will be continuing discussion about the Mesozoic this week, especially the Cretaceous. We will also discuss the end of the Mesozoic punctuated by mass extinction - take a look at this site, which summarizes why the dinosaurs went extinct. | |
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Mesozoic and Cenozoic history |
| Reading: M&W, pages 596-633, (preparation questions) | |
| Lab: Tectonic History of the Indonesia Region I - Cross-sections | |
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| Web Resources for Week #13: See the pages for the Cenozoic at the Berkeley site. For an animation of the Tertiary and Quaternary west coast of North America, complete with the development of the San Andreas fault system. This West Coast tectonics page from Tanya Atwater of the University of California, Davis, is more detailed. For information and reconstructions of the Ice Ages in the midwestern United States, visit the Illinois state museum system. For the East Coast, take a look at this page on the Chesapeake Bay impact crater of 35 million years ago. | |
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Cenozoic Tectonics and the Ice Ages |
| Reading: M&W, pages 634-664, , Handout, (preparation questions) | |
| Lab: Tectonic History of the Indonesia Region II - Cross-sections | |
| Assignments: | |
| Web Resources for Week #14: For more information on the Cenozoic see this Berkeley site. For an animation of the Tertiary and Quaternary west coast of North America, take a look at this site complete with the development of the San Andreas fault system. This West Coast tectonics page from Tanya Atwater of the University of California, Davis, is more detailed. For information and reconstructions of the Ice Ages in the midwestern United States, visit the Illinois state museum system. | |
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Welcome to Processes and Concepts of Geology. All of you have had at least one introductory course in Geology and this class will be needed to move on to the more advanced courses in Geology. This course is unique in that it combines "Physical Geology" and "Historical Geology" in one course. The aim of lecture, labwork and field exercises is to provide a solid geologic base upon which will formulate and test scientific hypotheses. This course is the gateway into studying the Earth and its physical and biogeochemical processes in more detail. Three in-class exams, two lab quizzes and ten in-class quizzes make up the testing portion of the class. The final exam will be comprehensive. There will be no make ups for the quizzes and I will drop the two lowest quiz scores. I will announce quizzes most times, however you are responsible for all the material and at all times and I will may give pop quizzes at any time in class or lab. All labs will be due on the date announced at the beginning of the lab period. No late lab assignments will be accepted. Fieldtrips are scheduled for the class, the first will take place during the lab periods. One all-day trip is scheduled for Sunday 28 October. This trip is required for the class and if any student is unable to attend please let me know well in advance of the trip. All students are required to a field trip waver form for each trip. I encourage you to all attend the 27 September BBQ out in front of Scovel Hall. Each Thursday GEOCLUB meets in Scovel 205 at 11:00 AM. Each week either students will present their progress in IS, or Geology faculty and outside invited speakers will present their research results. I will announce the events at the beginning of the week. After each Thursday GEOCLUB presentation, students, faculty and staff meet for lunch in Lowry from 12-1 pm. Each week I will post my weekly schedule on my office door (Sovel 119). Please sign-up for an appointment in any of the open slots for that week. You can also reach me by phone (X-2298) or by email (gwiles@acs.wooster.edu) to arrange an appointment. Monroe, J., and R. Wicander. 1997. The Changing Earth: Exploring Geology and Evolution. Second edition. West/Wadsworth Publishing Company, 721+ p. [Readings are listed in the lecture outline above as "M&W".] Please bring this book with you to class and lab. There will also be special readings assigned for some lectures.
Scovel 119 Telephone ext. 2298 gwiles@acs.wooster.edu |
