GEOLOGY 102 - HISTORICAL GEOLOGY
SPRING 2011
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;
The Tangled Bank, Zimmer; other readings as assigned. Blackboard used extensively for assignments.
January
11
13
Introduction
Rock Cycle and Plate Tectonics
Ch. 1
9-19
Z 2-58
18
Modern Plate Settings
Ch. 8,
20
Radiometric Age Dating (paper due)
128ff, 136ff F&W 4-49
1. Personal understanding or perspective on Science, its aims, and how Science is done.
25
27
Quaternary Ice Ages & Climate Change
La Grand Coupure – Floral & Faunal Changes
Ch. 20
Ch. 19, 18 Z 59-83
February
1
Mammals
432-440, 456-470
3
K-T Boundary Extinction (paper due)
Ch. 17 F&W 321-344, 52-75
2. Principles of age dating, Modern plate settings, Unconformities, Uniformitarianism, Causes of Ice Ages,
Mammalian Evolution, K-T boundary event, Cladistics introduction
8
10
Dinosaurs
Rift basins and Opening Atlantic
Ch. 16
Ch. 15, 195-201 Z 84-135
15
17
Cordillera
Paleozoic Life
204-211
318-335,344-358 Z 135-185
22
(trip) Permian Extinction
359-361
24
Paleomagnetism (paper due)
F&W 75-154
3. Mass extinctions; Dinosaur metabolism; Dinosaurs: examples of convergent evolution, Cordilleran
geology, Contrasting Cord/Eastern NA geology, Sedimentary facies, Adaptation
March
1
3
Sauk-Tippecanoe
Absaroka Sequence
8/10
Spring Break
15
17
Appalachians
Hox Genes and Cambrian Explosion
305-314, 332-340
366ff
F&W 154-244
362ff
290 ff
Z 186-261
22
(trip)
24
Eukaryotes and Ediacara (paper due)
p. 60 ff F&W 270-289
4. Mass extinctions, Sequence stratigraphy, Paleomagnetic evid. for plate tectonics, Origins of eukaryotes
and metazoans, Evolution PAL, Petroleum Geology, Coevolution, Saurischia & Ornithischia, Bird origins
April
29
31
Snowball Earth
Proterozoic
Ch. 10
5
7
Proterozoic
Archean Life
Ch. 12
12
14
Archean Stratigraphy
Archean Geology
Ch. 11
Z 262-352
F&W 247-269, 290-320
19
(trip)
21
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, Dinosaur endothermy, Radiation & extinction
Last day to withdraw from this class with a W is Friday March 4.
The Final for this class is scheduled for Tuesday 3 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 developing understanding of lecture and lab
material (i.e., lines of evidence) and assigned readings through short papers on assigned topics,
prepared and submitted monthly. By keeping a journal you will develop fluency in writing and
develop your own thoughts on this material. 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 Zimmer 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.
200
Five assigned essays (5*40 points)
45
Maintenance of a dated, reflective journal
50
Final
65
Discussion partic. (15 pts for leading, 5 each other disc., 25 BB)
140
Lab grade (10 pts/week)
500
Your grade will be assigned accdg. to your total points: A≥450, B≥400, C≥350, D≥300, F≤300.
LABORATORY OUTLINE
Laboratory meets Tuesday 8-10:40 in Sci 212. Attendance is mandatory. Bring a pencil and eraser.
January
February
March
April
11
Rock Identification and Contours
Ch. 2 p. 35 ff.
18
Rock Types, Overprinting and Unconformities
25
*Unconformity Trip/ Disc. 1 (Z 2-58, F&W 4-49) Ch. 7, p. 55 ff
1
Facies and Geologic Maps
Ch. 4, 5
8
Fossils/Disc. 2 (Z 59-83, F&W 321-344, 52-75)
Ch. 3
15
Fossils and Time - dating
22
*Fossil trip/ Disc. 3 (Z 84-185)
1
Correlation
15
Unconformities/Disc. 4 (F&W 75-244)
22
*Clarks Hill Appalachian Trip
29
Folds and Faults/ Disc. 5 (Z 186-261 F&W 270-289)
5
Igneous and Meta Rocks
12
Stars and Spectra/ Disc. 6 (Z 262-352, F&W 247-269, 290-320)
Ch. 6
19
*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 & play clothes (raingear, coat, hat as necessary).
There are a lot of new concepts in historical geology. Many of these concepts challenge long-held
assumptions or beliefs of enrolled students. Writing is emphasized in this class to hone students’
thinking, critically evaluate beliefs and insights, improve students’ ability to identify and solve problems,
begin to understand others’ perspectives, reduce stress, and improve health. Focused practice in writing
increases fluency, and increases motivation to write. Your instructor believes that the techniques we
practice in the historical geology class hold the potential of transforming your studies for the remainder
of your formal studies and can carryover to your future professional career and personal life.
Specifically we will keep a journal and prepare five papers.
Each student will be responsible for completing five papers on topics in Historical Geology.
Each student will be responsible for meeting with the instructor (15’) at least three times before each
paper is due. Students will be responsible for scheduling these appointments using a schedule on the
instructor’s office door. These appointments will provide an opportunity for reviewing outline or
concept map for the paper, appropriate documentation, and difficulties in paper preparation and review
of an initial draft. Students are well advised to come prepared for these meetings. 3 points will be
awarded for each visit for as many as 3 meetings/ paper. If the student makes all 3 meetings / paper, the
student will earn 10 points.
Spelling, grammar issues, awkward sentences / construction will not be addressed by the instructor. The
instructor will mark in the margins, errors or problems he identifies. These marks will be counted (and
up to 10 points) will be subtracted from the paper total based on that count. Students can identify for
themselves (or visit the Writing Room) the errors, and correct them and return the corrected paper with
the marked original to regain as many as 10 points; this “rewrite” (including any improvements in
content) is due within a week of the time the papers are returned to the class. Paper return date will be
written on the top of the first page.
The remaining 20 points will be based on the content of the paper. The paper must have a thesis that is
supported by later paragraphs, and must have a conclusion. Each paragraph must have a topic sentence.
Each topic sentence must be supported by or documented by observations. When geologic observations
are cited, the age, location, formation(s) must be listed. Observations must be separated from
interpretations within the papers. Those interpretations must be supported by the observations in the
paragraph. When outside sources are used they must be appropriately and consistently cited. It is
probably better to exhaust the class /lab notes and texts before turning to the internet. Figures are
valuable to illustrate difficult concepts. These must be drawn by the student either by hand (and scanned
in, inserted in the document) or drafted using a computer drawing program. No figures are to be cut/
pasted in from websites. No new information is to be introduced in the conclusion. The student’s goal is
to document mastery of a chosen topic. Another handout offers additional suggestions.
Each student in historical geology will maintain a dated, reflective journal. Maintenance of this journal
and its entries will be worth 10% of a student’s final grade in Historical Geology. It is recommended that
journal entries begin in the back of the student’s notebook if a bound or spiral notebook is used; if a
student uses looseleaf pages, it will probably be best to integrate journal entries with class and lab notes,
perhaps setting these entries apart by boxing them with a highlighter. While customarily journal entries
are private, and the maintenance of the journal is for the student’s use and benefit, for the purpose of
assessment the instructor will collect and mark the journal and its entries. The instructor understands
that journal writing is personal, informal and should not necessarily conform to the expectations of other
academic writing. Additionally for some assignments, students may be asked to read and discuss (each
other’s) specific journal entries in pairs or groups of three. Some journal entries will be completed in
class; some journal entries will be done outside of class. A student should plan to make at least two
entries in the journal/week.
Journals will record the student’s response to material introduced in lecture, lab, and assigned reading. It
is expected over the course of the semester students will use techniques including freewriting, focused
freewriting, listing, logs, dialog, concept mapping, metaphor and metareflections. These techniques will
introduced and reviewed during assignments during the semester.
The “quality” of journal entries is expected to improve over the course of the semester. By quality, I
mean clarity of thought, grasp of formal content, quicker identification of problems, and what data are
needed to solve those problems.
A student successfully completing Historical Geology will be able to
• Recognize the difference between observations (or
facts) & interpretations (of those observations), & use
observations to make or support geologic
interpretations.
• Write the Geological Timescale. List Eons, Eras &
Periods of the Phanerozoic, and Epochs of the Cenozoic.
Write the “ages” that correspond to the breaks between
the Eons, & Phanerozoic Eras.
• Know the six common intrusive & extrusive igneous
rocks & the plate tectonic settings of basalts & andesites.
• Have a basic understanding of sedimentary facies.
• State Walther’s Law & use Walther’s Law to interpret
sea level rise (transgression) or fall (regression) using a
single outcrop.
• Have a basic understanding of metamorphic facies.
Use metamorphic facies to interpret geothermal
gradient.
• Know the different types of unconformities.
• Sketch basic geologic field relations; interpret a sketch
of geologic field relations & summarize the sequence of
events responsible for what is shown in the drawing.
• Know three different ways three colors can come
together on a geologic map.
• Begin to be able to interpret history from relations
observed on a geologic map.
• Use fossils to determine the age of a sedimentary rock.
• Recognize & identify the different invertebrate phyla;
in some cases to class.
• List three types of plate boundaries, name corresponding ocean floor features, & give an example of each.
• List three types of convergent plate boundaries, types
of crust involved with each, & give an example of each.
• Draw a concept map of the rock cycle.
• Sketch & label and/or interpret a Rb/Sr isochron.
• Explain the difference between a U/Pb concordia
diagram & an isochron.
• Use uniformitarianism to interpret geologic relations.
• Begin to be able to suggest tests of geologic
hypotheses.
• Define Natural Selection in his/her own words.
• List three orbital parameters thought by Milankovitch
to control ice ages.
• Explain how oxygen isotope ratios of limestones are
used to interpret past ice ages & interglacials.
• Identify the two major plate tectonic events thought to
trigger the Neogene Ice Ages.
• List the characteristics of mammals, & list three
mammal groups.
• Identify the major climatic trends of the Cenozoic &
their influence on flora.
• Contrast mammal-like reptiles & dinosaurs.
• Identify major dinosaur groups & place them in either
the Ornithischia & Saurischia.
• State the differences between Ornithischia &
Saurischia.
• Describe the possible causes of K-T extinction, & list
the evidence supporting either cause.
• Sketch & label the stages of the formation of a passive
margin. List the formations or groups that correspond
to eastern North American passive margins forming at
the beginning & end of the Paleozoic.
• Identify aulacogens & describe their role as oilproducing provinces.
• Sketch in map view the major features of the Mesozoic
Cordillera using a map that removes the effect of
Neogene continental extension. Draw a plate tectonic
cross-section corresponding to the map you have drawn.
• Argue for or against high metabolism in dinosaurs
using preserved features in fossils, trace fossils, or
interpretations of behavior. What dinosaurs represent
the best candidates for high metabolism.
• Summarize the fossil evidence for the transition from
fish to amphibian to amniotes.
• Show a basic understanding of cladistics in the
construction of family trees.
• Know the causes of the end Permian extinction &
compare these to those of the K-T event.
• Make a sketch showing how lines of magnetic force in
ancient rocks can be used to interpret paleolatitude at
the time of formation.
• Know what conditions must be satisfied for
paleomagnetic analysis to be successful.
• Know the definition of a stratigraphic sequence.
• Know the ages & characteristics of the four major
North American Stratigraphic Sequences.
• Know the definition of & recognize a cyclothem.
• Know the four steps in order for the formation of
economic accumulations of petroleum.
• Be able to sketch a cross-section of a clastic wedge &
understand its significance.
• Identify on a map the major features of the Southern
Appalachians.
• Define & give an example of a Wilson cycle.
• Describe how the base of the Cambrian is recognized.
• Describe what the Hox gene cluster does, its age, & its
significance.
• Know the difference between prokaryotic &
eukaryotic cells. What are the oldest prokaryotic cells &
the oldest eukaryotic cells? What are the oldest
metazoans?
• Describe or sketch the basic problem that Snowball
Earth seeks to explain.
• Describe the evidence & make the interpretations for
fundamental changes in the biosphere, atmosphere,
climate, & geology-tectonics across the ProterozoicArchean boundary.
• Know the three major types of meteorites & the
subdivisions of stony meteorites, & the interpretations of
meteorite origins.
• Know the age of the earth & what that number is
interpreted to mean.
• Know the planets in order & use the Tietz-Bode
relation to show their distance from the Sun.
Classroom
Behavior:
It
is
the
instructor’s
right
to
remove
from
the
classroom
any
student
who
disrupts
or
disturbs
the
proceeding
of
the
class.
Disruption
of
the
class
includes
but
is
not
limited
to
the
use
of
any
portable
electronic
devices,
including
cell
phones,
MP3
players;
iPods,
etc.
unless
prior
approval
has
been
given
to
a
student
or
unless
required
for
the
course.
In
extreme
cases
the
faculty
member
can
request
assistance
from
University
Police.
If
the
student
who
has
been
ejected
causes
similar
disturbances
in
subsequent
meetings
of
the
class,
he/she
may
be
denied
admittance
to
the
class
for
the
remainder
of
the
semester
and
assigned
a
grade
of
F.