COURSE:
REVISION DATE:
FOR OFFICE USE ONLY:
Curriculum Committee:
Instruction Council:
Date Filed in Library:
GEOL& 208
COURSE OUTLINE
Please check the appropriate category for the level of revision:
ROUTINE
MAJOR
NEW COURSE
Department:
Geology
Number: &208
Title:
Geology of the Pacific Northwest
Credits:
5
Abbreviated Title (20 Characters): PNW Geology
Weekly Student Contact Hours x 10-Week Quarter:
Typically:
Lecture Hours Per Quarter:
Non-Lecture Hours Quarter:
Lab
Clinic
Other
Total Hours Per Quarter (lecture and non-lecture):
60
6 hours per week
40
20
60
Intended Use of the Course:
A. Not Intended for Transfer, Typically Numbered Below 100
B. Intended for Transfer as Distribution: (please mark one of the following):
Writing Skills
Social Sciences
Quantitative Skills
Non-lab Natural Science
Lab Natural Science
Humanities w/o Performance
Humanities with Performance
C. Elective
D. Restricted Elective – Courses numbered 100 or higher that do not normally transfer to
baccalaureate institutions.
Course catalog description:
Learn Pacific Northwest geology and geologic history by studying rocks, sediments, landforms, fossils, geologic
maps, and geologic structures. Examine how plate tectonics, volcanoes, faulting, folding, rock formations,
geologic time, mountain building, terrain accretion, earthquakes, glaciers, rivers, and floods have created our
land and resources. May require field trip(s). Includes laboratory.
Prerequisites: None
Name of Originator:
Ralph Dawes
Date:
Signature of Administrator:
01/29/15
Date:
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Revised 10/14
COURSE OBJECTIVES
I.
Student Learning Outcomes
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Problem Solving: A. Critical Thinking
3. Social Interaction: A. Collaboration
B. Creative Thinking
C. Quantitative Reasoning
D. Qualitative Reasoning
B. Ethical Conduct
C. Professional Conduct
D. Cultural Diversity
2. Communication: A. Oral Expression
4. Inquiry:
A. Information Literacy
B. Written Expression
B. Research
C. Artistic Expression
C. Documentation
List your principal course objectives and then match them with the Student Learning Outcomes
(SLO’s) above. It is important to note you DO NOT need to provide a
course objective to match each of the above categories.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Upon completion of this course, successful students will (be able to):
Apply relative geologic age determination principles to sequencing the geologic
history of stratified rock, intrusive rock, and geologic structures in real field sites,
pictures, or diagrams.
Recognize unconformities by named type in real field sites, pictures, or diagrams and
explain the importance of unconformities to geologic history.
In words recite the geologic history of the Pacific Northwest, and on a map point out
where and in what form the geologic evidence can be found, from Archean basement
and Proterozoic Belt Supergroup to Pleistocene ice ages and present-day geologic
activity.
Identify from hand samples at least 10 of the most common mineral and rock types.
Describe the origin of most common rock types, explain how a rock reveals its
origin, and from examination of a rock deduce the origin of the rock.
Determine from stratigraphy and structure and list sequentially a relative geologic
age sequence.
Correlate key aspects of Pacific Northwest geology with plate tectonic theory.
Correlate geologic features with how they are portrayed on a map, including
recognition of basic fault and fold types.
Recognize and describe field evidence of continental glaciation and glacial lake
outburst flooding.
Recognize and describe field evidence of geologic uplift and erosion, including
landslides.
Define the word theory in scientific terms and distinguish it from the colloquial use
of the word. Show awareness, in discussing a theory, of how a theory in science is an
idea that has been repeatedly tested and verified, successfully predicted and
explained many phenomena, and provided new insights into how nature works, as no
other explanation has been able to do so successfully.
Recognize, identify, name and describe the origin of types of rock encountered in the
real world, at actual geologic sites.
Recognize and name different types of volcanoes and describe how each type
originates.
Explain how accreted terranes form in terms of plate tectonic theory. Name several
key terranes or groups of terranes in the Pacific Northwest, state when they acrreted
in geologic time, and describe the names, geometry and sense of motion of the
tectonic plates involved.
Use facts or observations to distinguish a valid hypothesis from an invalid one,
demonstrated in lab work or written assignments.
Categories
1A, D, 4B
1A, D, 4B
1D, 2B
2B, 4B
1A, D, 4B
1A, D, 4B
1A, 1.D, 4B
1A, C, D, 4B
1A, D, 4B
1A, D, 4B
1A, D
1A, D, 4B
1A, D, 4B
1A, C, D, 4B
1A, 1.D, 4B
Footnotes:
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Revised 10/14
(1) A typical course addresses two or three of the four principal SLO areas, though one or all four may be acceptable for
a given course
(2) It is the AAS-DTA in total which covers all of the SLO’s.
II.
List core topics of this course.
1. the geologic time scale
2. relative and absolute geologic time
3. the rock cycle
4. identifying and understanding the origins of common rocks and minerals
5. plate tectonics
6. plate subduction
7. orogeny (mountain-building episodes)
8. terrane accretion
9. basic types of faults and folds
10. major faults in the Pacific Northwest, active and inactive
11. association of active faults with earthquakes
12. earthquake hazard zones in the Pacific Northwest relative to location and plate boundaries
13. tsunami, and history of tsunami on PNW coast
14. major folds, grabens, and metamorphic core complexes in the Pacific Northwest
15. continental and alpine glaciers
16. glacial erosional features
17. glacial depositional features
18. glaciation history of the Pacific Northwest
19. Channeled Scablands and glacial Lake Missoula outburst floods
20. geologic history of the Pacific Northwest over the course of geologic time
21. fossils of the Pacific Northwest
22. the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the Pacific Northwest
23. volcanoes (types of volcanoes, types of eruptions, volcanic arcs at subduction zones, flood basalts)
24. basic geologic structures (faults, folds, grabens, metamorphic core complexes)
25. reading geologic maps and geologic map keys
26. reading geologic cross-sections
27. drawing geologic cross-sections (optional)
28. drawing geologic maps (optional)
29. paleomagnetism (optional)
III.
Text and Reference Materials:
As of April 2012 there are no satisfactory books in print for this course.
The text and lab manual to use are in the open course library for Pacific Northwest Geology,
http://commons.wvc.edu/rdawes/PNWindex.html, created at Wenatchee Valley College in 2000 with a
grant from Washington Online.
IV.
Special Equipment, Supplies and/or Materials Required
Rock and mineral samples and hand-sample identification tools (hand lens, glass plate, and 5% HCl
solution). Full-sized geologic maps showing key features of the geology of the Pacific Northwest.
Colored pencils. Tracing paper. Access to outdoor locations (or photos, rock samples and maps of field
sites for those with mobility disabilities) for field study exercise.
For the distance learning version of the course, the WVC Earth Sciences Department packages and sells
(through the bookstore) a kit of rocks and maps, “PNW Geology Rocks,” for use in lab exercises.
To make the online textbook and lab manual available for the students, the college keeps the Web site
up and running on its server for Internet access at all times. Technology to create, edit, and add digital
images, videos, and audios for continual improvement of the open course library for PNW Geology.
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V.
Transferability:
Least transferable
RESTRICTED
CREDIT
(as defined by
DTA and ICRC)
Most transferable
GER (General
Education
Requirement) with our
degree; Generally does
not transfer unless
with DTA completed)
GTC (General Transfer
Credit) Transfers w/ or
w/o the degree; Generally
transfers as credit without
completing DTA but only
as XX or no specific
equivalent course
COURSE EQUIVALENT
(please list equivalent
course descriptor/ number)
Transfers w/or w/o degree
because it has specific
course equivalent
GEOL 100
GEOL 350
Eastern WU
Central WU
WSU
Western WU
UW
GEOL LXXX
GEOL 2TT
ESS 301
VI.
Lab Fees: Course already has an existing Lab Fee:
YES
This is a NEW course and needs to establish a Lab Fee:
YES
Existing Lab Fee: $
$20.00
Suggested NEW Lab Fee: $
VII.
Course Development Stipend Authorization. For course development stipends the appropriate
Dean must COMPLETE this section:
NEW Course development
Conversion of an existing course for
VIII.
Online or
Hybrid or
NO
NO
Other (check one)
Major online revision (check one)
Changes: For your Routine or Major Revision, please list or briefly describe all changes made to this
course outline compared to the previous outline.
Updating Student Learning Outcomes
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Revised 10/14