GEOL 553 LECTURE 2
TODAYS MATERIAL:
• Introduction to the Course
• The Quaternary Period
• Climatic and Geologic Processes
GEOL 553 Syllabus
Instructor: Jason Robert Patton
Email: Jason.Patton@humboldt.edu
Office: Founders Hall 22
Phone: 707.826.XXXX
Course Website: http://www.science.earthjay.com/?page_id=1723
Office Hours: Monday & Thursday 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
Prerequisites: GEOL 306, General Geomorphology Field Trips: Two Weekend Field Trips
Recommended Reading:
Lowe, J. and Walker, M., 2015. Reconstructing Quaternary Environments, 3rd ed., Routledge,
New York, NY, 538 p. ISBN: 978-0-415-74075-3 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-131-27468-6 (pbk) ISBN:
978-1-315-79749-6 (ebk)
Flint, R. F., 1971, Glacial and Quaternary Geology, John Wiley, 892 p. ISBN-10: 0471264350
ISBN-13: 978-0471264354
* Please note that this document is informational and subject to change.
GEOL 553 Syllabus
Required Supplies: three ring binder for class handouts including blank paper for drawing
illustrations and notes during class; colored pencils for making illustrations, field notebooks for
taking notes during our field trips
Contact: Please don’t hesitate to email me with any questions, comments, or concerns. I
welcome any feedback or suggestions. The best way to contact me for any reason is by sending
an email directly to my HSU email jason.patton@humboldt.edu
Fulfills the following requirements: (1) the upper division geology area of specialization for the
Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Geology and (2) the required course, option
requirement, for the Master of Science degree in Environmental Systems, Geology option.
Course Description:
Concepts, theory, methods of Quaternary geology; soil stratigraphy, climate changes; glacial and
periglacial processes and patterns.
GEOL 553 Syllabus
Grading
Late Assignments are NOT ACCEPTED.
There are NO EXTRA CREDIT opportunities.
Your final grade will be comprised of:
Summary
Points
Participation
100
Course Notes and Illustrations
100
Labs
200
Research Proposal/Presentation
100
Field trips
200
Research Paper
100
Paper Reviews/Discussion
100
1 Lab Final Exam
100
Total
1000
There are 1000 points available and grades are assigned by the percentage of total points as follows:
1000-940=A
939-900=A899-870=B+ 869-830=B
829-800=B799-770=C+
769-700=C
699-670=D+
669-600=D <599=F
GEOL 553 Syllabus
Communication
The instructor will send announcements via email to the student’s humboldt.edu email
addresses. Please contact the instructor only via the email listed above. The instructor will
respond at their earliest convenience. Students will exchange contact information with their
peers on the first day of classes. This is important so that if anyone misses a class, they can
contact more than one of their peers to go over the notes and lab materials. Also, students will
need to interact during the online portion of this course and having other student’s email
addresses will facilitate this.
Classroom Conduct
Side conversations among classmates are disrespectful and disruptive to the instructor and your
fellow students. Questions or comments about the course material are welcome at all times but
should be approached in a respectful manner.
The use of cell phones, iPods, or other items that may distract you, your instructor, or your
classmates are not permitted during class. All such devices must be turned off.
You may not leave the room during an exam or quiz unless you are ready to turn in your finished
exam.
GEOL 553 Syllabus
Academic Honesty
You are encouraged to work together to review notes from lectures, to work on problems from the text, and to
formulate ideas for any take-home assignments. However, all work you turn in must be your own independent,
original work.
In the event that any work is copied from another student, zero credit will be given to all students involved
(regardless of who copied from whom).
Any sources of information used in your written work must be referenced (regardless of whether the material was
copied word-for-word). This includes your text book and all internet sources (reference these by including the name
and URL). Any work including un-referenced material from another source (regardless of whether it was copied
word-for-word) will be given zero credit.
More information is available at: http://www.humboldt.edu/studentrights/academic_honesty.php
Academic Misconduct: Cheating, plagiarism, collusion, abuse of resource materials, computer misuse, fabrication or
falsification, multiple submissions, complicity in academic misconduct, and/ or bearing false witness will not be
tolerated. Violations will be dealt with according to the procedures and sanctions proscribed by Humboldt State
University. Students caught plagiarizing or cheating on exams will receive an “F” in the course.
GEOL 553 Course Information
Lectures: Lectures will consist of presentations by the professor and peer reviewed paper
discussions led by the students. The first two paper discussions will be led by the professor.
Papers will be provided one week prior to the day that they are discussed in class. Students will
each lead at least one class discussion.
Reading: The readings will be supplied via electronic communication. This reading is essential to
your comprehension of the material in this course and will be a key to your success. There will be
material from one of the suggested texts that is associated with the lecture material. In addition,
there will be at least one peer review journal article associated with the lab material. The
student is expected to read the assignment before class/lab. In addition, Friday classes are
reserved for discussion of at least one peer review journal article.
Labs: Each week there will be a lab that will incorporate both analog and digital manipulation of
data. Specialized software will either be available on campus or freely downloadable from the
internet. The labs are due by the beginning of lab the following week, except for the seismic
interpretation lab (the due date will be provided).
GEOL 553 Course Information
Lab Final Exam: The lab final is worth 100 points. The exam is a mix of multiple choice, true/false,
short answer, and essay questions based on the lectures, labs, homework, and course reading.
Participation: Students will be given up to 100 points for participating in class. Full credit will be
given if students attend regularly, ask and answer questions in class, and participate in class
discussion. When students conduct in behavior that is not respectful (as outlined in the syllabus),
they jeopardize their participation grade.
Missing an exam: All make-up exams should be arranged for in advance. In the event of an
emergency or sudden illness that prevents you from attending the exam, you must contact me as
soon as possible and arrange a time for the exam to be completed before our next regular class
time. If you miss an exam (and do not contact me to make it up) or if you arrange a makeup that
you do not take, you will receive a zero for that exam.
GEOL 553 Course Information
Course Notes and Illustrations: Each lecture may include handouts and several on-board illustrations that
relate to the specific topic being discussed for that day. You will use your notebook to copy and label any
illustrations. You are required to have a three-ring binder containing these handouts and your notes
taken during every class. The notebooks will also contain all of your course materials (labs, syllabus,
exams, etc.). You will turn in your notebooks along with your activities and homework that has been
completed through the semester. Your material must be well organized within the notebook. These will be
evaluated during the lab final. Credit of 100 points is given for careful reproduction of the illustrations
including any notes, labels, and graphs.
Library Research: There is one library research assignment that is worth 100 points. The report will be
typed in font size 12, double spaced, and turned in electronically by 5 PM, Dec. 15, 2015. The report will
be five to ten pages long. The paper will include between 1 and 3 figures and 1 and 3 data plots or tables.
Each table, plot, or figure needs to have a caption describing the table, plot, or figure The filename needs
to include the course number, the subject, and your last name, in the following format:
GEOL553_glaciers_lastname.docx (or *.pdf). The research topic needs to be related to subjects covered in
class. Students must use at least three peer review journal articles as references for their research paper.
An outline for the paper is due at the end of week 5.
GEOL 553 Course Information
Field Trips: We will have two weekend field trips, one to the Medicine Lake Highlands region and
one to northeastern California for the Pacific Cell Friends of the Pleistocene Field Conference.
These are mandatory. Each student will turn in a field trip report. The reports will be typed in
font size 12, double spaced, and turned in electronically within a week of the field trip. The
reports will be three to five pages. The filename needs to include the course number, the
subject, and your last name (e.g. GEOL553_field_trip_coast_lastname.docx). These field trip
reports are worth 100 points each, for a total of 200 points.
Research Proposal: We will spend some time reviewing the process of writing a research
proposal. We will be using the National Science Foundation Grant Proposal Guide as our
framework. Students will present their proposals to the class during the last week of class. The
research proposal is due at this time. I will invite students and faculty from the HSU Dept. of
Geology to sit in on the proposal presentations.
Electronic Presentations: All electronic presentations will be posted to the website for this
course. Please use these presentations to review course material and to prepare for your exams
and reports.
GEOL 553 Course Expectations
Class will start on time at 11:00 AM and the Lab will start on time at 2:00 PM. You are responsible to be present for
and be attentive to all the material covered in class. If you need to leave the class early, please let me know before
the class starts.
This is a college-level science class, and will require a commitment of your time outside of class. This at-home time
will enable you to digest the material we cover in class and help when you are asked on the exams to apply these
concepts to different problems and applications.
You will spend 12 to 18 hours per week on course material outside of class, on average. You are encouraged to set
aside a specific time each week outside of class devoted solely to each course:
o Reviewing lecture notes and in-class exercises each week
o Reading the textbook
o Studying for the exam
Note that 12 hours per week at home is the average minimum to pass. Some students may require more time at
home just to pass; for some in this course that may be enough to get an A. A student who is very attentive in class,
asks questions, and takes careful notes will need less at-home time.
GEOL 553 Course Expectations
Absences: It is extremely difficult to do well in this class without attending all the lectures. I
understand there will be an occasional absence due to illness or emergency, however I consider
more than two absences per semester excessive. If you do miss a class:
1. Obtain the course material online (PowerPoint slides, extra reading, and handouts). The
slides will include information about any homework or in-class exercises that were assigned.
Most assignments and handouts referenced by the slides will be in your handouts.
2. Next, try to obtain a copy of lecture notes from a classmate since there are many things we
cover that are not spelled out directly on the slides or handouts. This is the most important
step.
3. Read the required reading covering the material you missed.
4. After this, feel free to contact me by email with any questions.
Final grade active attendance boost: If your final course grade after rounding to the nearest
whole number is within 1 point of a grade transition (C to C+, D to C, A- to A, etc.) I will give you
the boost needed to obtain the higher grade if you have actively attended most classes and
succeeded in many of the in-class pop quiz questions. More than 2 unexcused absences is
considered excessive and will disqualify you from this opportunity. Conduct not in accordance
with that outlined below will also prevent you from receiving this bonus.
GEOL 553 Course Expectations
Computer skills: This class will require computer use outside of class. Activities involving the 4
skills listed below will be included throughout the semester. In addition, you will be expected to
check Moodle and your email regularly for announcements.
1. Send and receive email from your Humboldt State University email account.
2. Open a web browser and access a web page if you are given the web address.
3. Access the course material online (handouts, slides, announcements, etc.).
4. Create, edit, and export Microsoft word (.doc or .docx), Microsoft Excel (.xls or .xlsx) and
Adobe .pdf documents. We will also be using specialized software to create, edit, and export
files of other formats.
GEOL 553 Course Schedule
What is the Scientific Method?
What are the steps?
1. Observe a phenomenon.
2. Formulate an hypothesis.
3. Design an experiment to test the
hypothesis.
4. Perform the experiment.
5. Accept, reject, or modify the
hypothesis.
http://www.thwink.org/sustain/deadlock/WhyUnableToSolveProblem.htm
The Quaternary Period
What is the time span for the Quaternary Period?
2.588 Ma through today
The International
Commission on
Stratigraphy is the
largest and oldest
constituent scientific
body in the International
Union of Geological
Sciences (IUGS). Its
primary objective is to
precisely define global
units (systems, series,
and stages) of the
International
Chronostratigraphic
Chart that, in turn, are
the basis for the units
(periods, epochs, and
age) of the International
Geologic Time Scale;
thus setting global
standards for the
fundamental scale for
expressing the history of
the Earth.
The Quaternary relative to the geological timescale. (The oxygen isotope trace (section 3.10)
from deep-ocean sediments a) is after Shackleton et al., 1990).
The maximum glaciation of the
Northern Hemisphere during
the Quaternary (after Ehlers &
Gibbard, 2007).
(Mountain High Maps® copyright © 1993 Digital Wisdom.)
Climatic trends during the past 3 Ma reflected in a
stacked (composite) oxygen isotope record. The
isotopic trace can be read as a proxy climate record
with ‘peaks’ marking warmer (interglacial) intervals
and ‘troughs’ colder (glacial) episodes.
The astronomically driven millennial-scale climatic oscillations
are present throughout, but their frequency and amplitude
changes over time, and especially after the Mid-Pleistocene
Revolution at c. 800 ka when climatic extremes increased and
Northern Hemisphere ice sheets reached their greatest extents.
The MIS record based on a composite
of deep-ocean cores (V19-30, ODP-677
and ODP-846) (left) and the
Quaternary stratigraphy of the
Northern Hemisphere set against this
record (right). The marine isotope
signal shows the oxygen isotope stages
back to 2.6 Ma. In the correlation
table, temperate (interglacial) stages
are shown in upper case, while cold
(glacial) stages are in lower case.
Complexes which include both
temperate and cold stages are in
italics.
The δ18O record from the GRIP
Greenland ice core showing the
Lateglacial event stratigraphy (left)
and the stratigraphic subdivision
of the Lateglacial in northwest
Europe and the British Isles. The
isotopic record is based on the
GRIP ss08c ice-core chronology,
and the colder stadial episodes are
indicated by dark shading. The
radiocarbon timescales (right) are
shown as ‘indicative’ (or ‘average’)
radiocarbon (14C) ages and their
‘calibrated’ (cal.) equivalents.
SMOW = isotopic composition of
fresh water
The components of the
Astronomical Theory of climate
change:
a) eccentricity of the orbit
b) obliquity of the ecliptic
c) precession of the equinoxes.
a) Variations in eccentricity, obliquity and the
precessional index over the past 800 ka. The
three time series have been normalized and
added to form the composite eccentricity-tiltprecession curve (ETP). The scale for obliquity
is in degrees and for the ETP is in standard
deviation units.
b) Normalized and smoothed variations in the
oxygen isotope signal (δ18O) in five deep-sea
cores. Note the similarity between this record
and the ETP curve above.
Variations in
temperature,
dust flux, CO2,
and CH4 from
the EPICA
Dome C icecore record,
Antarctica,
over the last
800 ka (based
on MassonDelmotte et
al., 2010).
Absorption of radiation by gases in the
atmosphere. The shaded area represents the
percent of radiation absorbed by each gas. The
strongest absorbers of infrared radiation are
water vapor and carbon dioxide. The bottom
figure represents the percent of radiation
absorbed by all of the atmospheric gases.
(show videos)
(a) Near the surface in an atmosphere with little or no greenhouse gases, the earth’s surface would constantly emit
infrared (IR) radiation upward, both during the day and at night. Incoming energy from the sun would equal
outgoing energy from the surface, but the surface would receive virtually no IR radiation from its lower atmosphere.
(No atmospheric greenhouse effect.) The earth’s surface air temperature would be quite low, and small amounts of
water found on the planet would be in the form of ice. (b) In an atmosphere with greenhouse gases, the earth’s
surface not only receives energy from the sun but also infrared energy from the atmosphere. Incoming energy still
equals outgoing energy, but the added IR energy from the greenhouse gases raises the earth’s average surface
temperature to a more habitable level.
On the average, of all the
solar energy that reaches
the earth’s atmosphere
annually, about 30 percent
(30/100) is reflected and
scattered back to space,
giving the earth and its
atmosphere an albedo of 30
percent. Of the remaining
solar energy, about 19
percent is absorbed by the
atmosphere and clouds, and
51 percent is absorbed at
the surface.
31
The earthatmosphere energy
balance. Numbers
represent
approximations based
on surface
observations and
satellite data. While
the actual value of
each process may
vary by several
percent, it is the
relative size of the
numbers that is
important.
Latitudinal variations:
 Between 38°N and S = net energy surpluses
 Poleward of 38o = net energy deficits
 Winter hemispheres - Net energy deficits poleward of 15o
33
The idealized wind
and surfacepressure
distribution over a
uniformly watercovered rotating
earth.
(Show Video)
Average position
and extent of the
major surface
ocean currents.
Cold currents are
shown in blue;
warm currents
are shown in red.
Sunlight that strikes a surface at an angle is spread over a larger
area than sunlight that strikes the surface directly. Oblique sun
rays deliver less energy (are less intense) to a surface than direct
sun rays.
The apparent path of the sun across the sky as observed at different
latitudes on the June solstice (June 21), the December solstice
(December 21), and the equinox (March 20 and September 22).
Annual
variation in
daily duration
of available
insolation
Relations between mean monthly
temperature and latitude
1. Eccentricity
• 3% range of variation of
E-S distance due to
elliptical orbit around Sun,
Pull of large planets
• Now, perihelion occurs
during northern Winter (3
January)
• 100ky and 413ky
periods
• Now, e =.0167 (relatively
circular)
2. Tilt – Reason for Seasons
• Now tilt is 23.5°, and is decreasing.
• Higher the tilt, higher the seasonal
differences
• Has gone from 24.5° -22.2°, varied by pull
of large planets
• 41 ky period
3. Precession - Wobble
Varies E-S distance with season
• Variation of the direction in which
the E axis leans.
• Caused by the pull of Sun and moon
on Earth
• Now Earth’s axis points to Polaris
• 23 ky stronger period combined wobble and slow turning of
elliptical orbit.
Now
11Kya
Milankovitch Theory of ice ages
What triggers an ice age? Low insolation:
• when tilt is small (~22°)(seasonality differences are
smallest)
• Eccentricity is large (very elliptical orbit)
• Perihelion occurs during the northern hemisphere’s
winter
Deglaciation can be triggered when:
• perihelion occurs in July (e.g. 11K ya)
• the Earth’s tilt is near its maximum
What are the mechanisms that amplify
orbital variations in insolation?
(1) Ice-albedo feedback
(2) ocean circulation/CO2 feedback (Shackleton 2000) – ice
lags CO2 and orbital changes
P = Climate Point, where equilibrium line intersects surface
Cycle of ice sheet growth:
What makes ice sheets grow
and shrink?
Equilibrium line = Boundary
between areas of net ice ablation
and accumulation.
Cooling at higher altitudes, 6.5°C
cooling per km of altitude. = Ice
Elevation Feedback
D.* Ice growth continues because
Insolation levels are still relatively
Low and most of ice is at high
elevation
accumulation
ablation
Cycle of ice sheet growth 3 Factors control ice sheets:
1. Insolation control of IS size
2. Initial lag of vol behind
Insolation
3. Subsequent lag of bedrock
depression and rebound behind
ice loading and unloading.
accumulation
ablation
Isotopic and
spectral evidence
of transition to
100ky ice age
periodicity…
Raymo, 1994, Ann Rev Ea Planet Sci 22, 353
How orbital theory,
climate records (δ18O) and
northern hemisphere
insolation (i.e. melting in
N. Atlantic) compare over
the past 600ky.
now
LGM
18ky
Cold
warm
The Greenland Ice Sheet
Project (GISP) was a
decade-long project to drill
ice cores in Greenland that
involved scientists and
funding agencies from
Denmark, Switzerland and
the United States
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/321/5889/680/F1.large.jpg
In January 1998, the collaborative ice-drilling project between Russia, the United States,
and France at the Russian Vostok station in East Antarctica yielded the deepest ice core
ever recovered, reaching a depth of 3,623 m (Petit et al. 1997, 1999).
http://www.euanmearns.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/antarctic_ice_core_stations.jpg