Geology 197 – Advanced Lab Techniques (a.k.a. Special topics in Marine Geology)
Monday, 10:30-11:45am, Placer Hall 1006
This course will meet once a week to provide a general overview of the marine geology of the
California coast, specifically the Monterey Bay region. Students will discuss techniques for studying
marine geology, the history of sea level rise and fall, how these processes have affected and shaped
our coast and what the type and composition of marine sediments tells us about the history of this
coastal region. The course will include a field trip to Monterey Bay to visit the Moss Landing Marine
Labs (with a half-day research boat trip) and Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Reserve to collect
marine sediment samples. After the field trip, we will meet to process the sediment samples (core
descriptions, sampling, and picking microfossils). The course will wrap-up at the end of April.
Units: 1 unit, credit/no credit
Fee: No official course fee. We will probably be camping in Monterey during the field trip weekend
so there will be a small campsite fee plus food.
Prerequisites: Either a Geology major that has taken GEOL 10/10L or GEOL 130 with me.
Expectations: come to the scheduled meeting times once a week, participate and go on the field trip
– there will be no homework or exams
Tentative schedule of topics:
Week 1 (1/25): Ocean Morphology, Marine Stratigraphy, Sampling Methods
Week 2 (2/1): Stratigraphy continued, Seismic stratigraphy
Week 3 (2/8): Sea level history
Week 4 (2/15): Nearshore Geological Processes and the Continental Shelf
Week 5 (2/22): Deep-sea sediments (terrigenous)
Week 6 (2/29): Deep-sea sediments (biogenic and authigenic)
Week 7 (3/7): Oceanic microfossils
Weeks 8 (3/14): Sampling techniques
Week 9 (4/1-4/2): Field trip (may do the field trip 3/18-3/19)
Week 10 (4/4): Core descriptions
Week 11 (4/11): Sampling and sieving
Week 12 (4/18): Microscope work
Week 13 (4/25): Wrap-up