Earth Sciences - Spring 1998

An introduction to physical geology with an emphasis on California's minerals, rocks, volcanoes, glaciers, mountains, faults, and earthquakes. Includes three in-class field trips and one optional off-campus field trips to study the caves, rocks and landforms of the UCSC campus and the Monterey Bay area. (General Education code IN).

Quizzes in discussion sections, two mid-terms, and a final exam.

1	April 8 10	Wed Fri	Introduction and California's Geological Provinces California and Plate Tectonics
2	13 15 17	Mon Wed Fri	Minerals Caves **Campus Field Trip: Caves **
3	20 22 24	Mon Wed Fri	Guest Lecture Igneous Rocks Volcanology
4	27 29 May 1	Mon Wed Fri	California's Young Volcanoes California's Young Volcanoes, continued **Exam**
5	4 6 8	Mon Wed Fri	Sedimentary Rocks and Geological Time Metamorphic Rocks and Geological Structures **Campus Field Trip: Quarries**
6	11 13 15	Mon Wed Fri	California's Deserts California's Deserts/California Through Geologic Time The Sierra Nevada: Granites
7	18 20 22 26	Mon Wed Fri Tue	The Sierra Nevada: Gold The Sierra Nevada: Glaciers ***Exam*** The Sierra Nevada: Yosemite
8	27 29 30	Wed Fri Sat	California's Coastline Coast Ranges **Field Trip: West Cliff Drive**
9	June 1 3 5	Mon Wed Fri	Klamath Mountains **Campus Field Trip: View of the Coast Ranges** Water in California / Great Valley
10	8 10 12	Mon Wed Fri	Earthquakes, Faults and Seismic Safety The San Andreas Fault System The Transverse Ranges and L.A. Basin

This class explores the subsurface for issues of groundwater distribution and quality, buried environmental hazards, thickness of sediment fills, fault locations and displacements, and other environmentally significant problems, using geophysical tools. Field work will be carried out at Fort Ord in a region of remediation efforts of contaminated groundwater and faulting within the city of Santa Cruz. Geophysical methods will include seismic reflection and refraction, gravity, resistivity, well-logging, and ground-penetrating radar. Prerequisites: Course 10 or 5 and Math 11B or equivalent, or consent of the instructor. Several all day field experiments will be held on Saturdays.

Week 1. Environmental problems and how they can be investigated using geophysical techniques.

• Overview of the geophysical methods, including the physical basis of each method and its usefulness for different environmental problems. Focus on problem definition and report preparation.

Week 2. Seismic reflection method

• Behavior of seismic waves in rocks
• Factors controlling reflections at an interface
• Acquisition of seismic data - setup geometry, source signal, receiver response
• Determining seismic velocity and why it's important for interpetation
• Using vertical seismic profiling down a well to determine velocity
• Fundamentals of seismic processing

Week 3. Interpretation of seismic reflection data

• Questions of resolution, image enhancement, geologic significance of reflections
• Expected reflection patterns in sedimentary environments, faulted regions, and over buried objects
• Discussion of what seismic reflection can and cannot do for a given problem

Week 4. Seismic refraction method

• Setup, determining depths and velocities of buried layers
• Determining the dip of buried interfaces
• What will refraction do that reflection will not do, and vice versa?
• Field experiment at Fort Ord

Week 5. Gravity method

• Basics of measuring gravity
• Reducing the measurement to the zone of interest

Week 6. Interpreting Gravity

• Modeling the gravity effects of buried pipes, caves, faults and other features
• Estimating the maximum depth of a buried object
• Implications for Environmental hazard analyses
• Advantages and disadvantages of using gravity for studying environmental problems
• Field experiment in Santa Cruz

Week 7. Resistivity method

• Introduction to electrical methods, including resistivtiy
• basics of measurement
• Interpretation methodology
• Usefulness for environmental and archaological problems
• Benefits and Uncertainties in the use of resistivity

Week 8. Introduction to Ground Penetrating Radar

• Basics of the method and similarities to seismic reflection
• Fundamentals of GPR acquisition and processing
• Field experiment at Fort Ord

Week 9. Interpretation of Ground Penetrating Radar

• Interpretive methodologies
• Using different antenna frequencies to study different problems
• Shallow stratigraphy, buried pipes and other objects
• Benefits and drawbacks to GPR

Week 10. Synthesis

• Using a variety of tools to study a given problem
• Introduction to well logging as a companion to other methods
• Understanding differences in penetration depth, resolution, and physical properties accessed with the different geophysical tools

Environmental and Engineering Geophysics, by P.V. Sharma, Cambridge University Press, 1997.

Eli Silver, A112 EMS Bldg, x9-2266; email: esilver@es.ucsc.edu

Problem sets, field reports, quizzes

This 5-credit course covered basic sedimentology and stratigraphy, with extended lectures twice per week. Weathering and transport systems, bedforms, depositional systems, stratigraphic methods, and large-scale controls on sedimentation and stratigraphy are major topics. There are four all-day field trips (Saturdays, transportation provided), which gives students experience in applying lecture concepts to field-oriented problems. Class grade is based upon the midterm exam, the final exam, occasional homework problems, and four field reports. Concurrent laboratory registration is required. Textbook is Sedimentary Geology, by Prothero and Schwab, plus readings which will be placed on reserve in the Science Library.

Lect# Main Topic

1. Introduction to sedimentology & stratigraphy, General classification of sedimentary rocks
2. Weathering of sedimentary rocks; the global rock/weathering cycle
3. Transport and fluid flow; Overview of depositional systems
4. Sedimentary structures, textures and bedforms; detailed classification of sedimentary rocks
5. Terrestrial environments: fluvial and alluvial systems
6. Terrestrial environments: Lacustrine systems; glacial systems
7. Terrestrial environments: Desert environments, evaporitic systems
8. Shallow marine clastic depositional systems: Deltas, barrier and beach systems; tidal flats
9. Shallow marine carbonate systems: reefs; banks, platforms; Deep carbonate systems
10. Deep sea systems
11. Extra systems, summary, and midcourse review
12. MIDTERM EXAM
13. Biostratigraphy, Magnetostratigraphy, Chemostratigraphy
14. Lithostratigraphy, Chronostratigraphy and Geochronology
15. Seismic stratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy
16. Interpretation of large-scale sedimentary environments and processes in space and time
17. Catch-up day
18. Global controls on sedimentation and stratigraphy, Part I
19. Global controls on sedimentation and stratigraphy, Part II
20. Summary and review

Revised 7/13/04.