GEOLOGY 102 - HISTORICAL GEOLOGY
SPRING 2010
This class and Lab are Cell-Free, Pager-Free Zones.
Dr. Allen Dennis
Office Hours: W 8-10
224 Science/641-3396/allend@usca.edu (subject line AGLY 102) Other times by appt.
Class meets 10:50-12:05 TTh; Lab meets 8-10:40 T.
Texts: Earth System History, Stanley, 3rd ed.; Dinosaurs: A concise natural history, Fastovsky & Weishampel;
Life on a Young Planet, Knoll; other readings as assigned. Blackboard used extensively for assignments.
January
12
14
Introduction
Rock Cycle and Plate Tectonics
Ch. 1
9-19
19
Modern Plate Settings
Ch. 8,
21
Radiometric Age Dating (paper due)
128ff, 136ff
1. Personal understanding or perspective on Science, its aims, and how Science is done.
26
28
Quaternary Ice Ages & Climate Change
La Grand Coupure – Floral & Faunal Changes
Ch. 20 F&W, Ch.1-4
Ch. 19, 18
February
2
Mammals
432-440, 456-470
4
K-T Boundary Extinction (paper due)
Ch. 17
2. Principles of age dating, Modern plate settings, Unconformities, Uniformitarianism, Causes of Ice Ages,
Mammalian Evolution, F&W TBA
9
11
Dinosaurs
Rift basins and Opening Atlantic
Ch. 16 F&W, Ch. 5-7
Ch. 15, 195-201
16
18
Cordillera
Paleozoic Life
204-211 F&W, Ch.8-11
318-335, 344-358
23
(trip) Permian Extinction
359-361
25
Paleomagnetism (paper due)
3. Mass Extinctions; Dinosaurs: hot or cold-blooded; Dinosaurs: examples of convergent evolution,
Cordilleran geology, Contrasting Cord/Eastern NA geology, Sedimentary facies, F&W TBA
March
2
4
Sauk-Tippecanoe
Absaroka Sequence
305-314, 332-340
366ff
9/11
Spring Break
F&W, Ch.12-15
16
18
Appalachians
Hox Genes and Cambrian Explosion
362ff
290 ff
23
(trip)
25
Eukaryotes and Ediacara (paper due)
p. 60 ff K1-121
4. Mass extinctions, Sequence stratigraphy, Paleomagnetic evid. for plate tectonics, Origins of eukaryotes
and metazoans, Evolution PAL, Petroleum Geology, Knoll TBA
April
30
1
Snowball Earth
Proterozoic
Ch. 10
6
8
Proterozoic
Archean Life
Ch. 12
13
15
Archean Stratigraphy
Archean Geology
Ch. 11
K122-246
20
(trip)
22
Meteorites and the Moon (paper due)
5. Expl. of Solar System, Meteorites, Age of the Earth, Archean tectonics, Snowball Earth, Contrasting
Proterozoic and Archean geology, How to recognize life, Knoll TBA
Last day to withdraw from this class with a W is Friday March 5.
The Final for this class is scheduled for Tuesday 4 May at 11 am.
If you have a learning or physical disability that might affect your performance in this class, please
inform me and the Coordinator of Disabled Student Services at x3609, to verify your status and
provide you with appropriate assistance.
My objective for this class is that you begin to understand the reasoning behind how we know what we
think we know about earth history and history of life through time. We will be interested how
different lines of evidence are assembled to construct models of the earth in the past, and what are
the assumptions of these models. You will express your understanding of lecture and lab material
(i.e., lines of evidence) and assigned readings through short papers on assigned topics, prepared and
submitted monthly. At least once in the semester you will be given responsibility for leading the
class in discussion on some aspect of the assigned reading.
Grading: There will be no tests. Approximately once a month you will be responsible for turning in a
typed 5-7p. paper on one of several assigned topics, based on lecture lab or assigned reading. Papers
are due at the beginning of the Thursday class. Each paper is also to be turned in as a MS Word
document attached to email message. Subject heading of the email MUST be AGLY 102(yourlastname)-Paper 1 (or 2,3,4,5): AGLY 102 Smith Paper 1. The document MUST be titled
AGLY102(firstfourlettersoflastname)P1: AGLY102SmitP1.
Every two or three weeks discussions will be held on F&W and Knoll assigned readings. Students will be
given responsibility for leading discussion and are expected to participate. Students not leading
discussion must submit a detailed outline of the assigned reading to earn any credit. Absence from
more than one discussion will result in an F for the class.
A threaded discussion will be hosted on the Blackboard website for this class. Each student will be
responsible for initiating at least two threads on a content area and at least three meaningful
responses to posts. At least one posting must be made per month.
Laboratory: 10 points/week may be scored in the Laboratory. Scores will be based on written lab
exercises. Absence from more than two labs will result in an F for the class.
150
Five assigned essays
50
Final
65
Discussion partic. (15 pts for leading, 5 each other disc., 25 BB)
140
Lab grade (10 pts/week)
405
Your grade will be assigned accdg. to your total points: A≥365, B≥324, C≥284, D≥243, F≤243.
LABORATORY OUTLINE
Laboratory meets Tuesday 8-10:40 in Sci 212. Attendance is mandatory. Bring a pencil and eraser.
January
February
March
April
12
Rock Identification and Contours
Ch. 2 p. 35 ff.
19
Rock Types, Overprinting and Unconformities
26
*Unconformity Trip/ Disc. 1 (Pt I F&W)
Ch. 7, p. 55 ff
2
Facies and Geologic Maps
Ch. 4, 5
9
Fossils/Disc. 2 (Pt II F&W)
Ch. 3
16
Fossils and Time - dating
23
*Fossil trip/ Disc. 3 (Pt III F&W)
2
Correlation
16
Unconformities/Disc. 4 (Pt IV F&W)
23
*Clarks Hill Appalachian Trip
30
Folds and Faults/ Disc. 5 (First half K)
6
Igneous and Meta Rocks
13
Stars and Spectra/ Disc. 6 (Second half K)
Ch. 6
20
*Lake Murray Spillway Appalachian Trip
There will be no makeup labs. Absence from more than 2 labs will be considered grounds for dropping
any student from the roll.
* Field trip in USCA vehicles. Come in comfortable walking shoes and play clothes (raingear, coat, hat as
necessary).