SPRING 2001

This information effective for Spring 2001.
Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.

Earth Sciences

[EART-010] [EART-109]

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10. Geologic Principles

Instructor: Justin Revenaugh
A101 Earth & Marine Sciences, 459-3055
E-mail: jsr@es.ucsc.edu

Catalog Description

Introduction to the scientific study of Earth, the materials composing it, and the processes shaping it. Topics include minerals and rocks, Earth's internal structure, plate tectonics, earthquakes and volcanoes, oceans and the atmosphere, the formation of landscapes and global change. A one-day, optional field trip is included. Concurrent enrollment in 10L required for Earth Sciences majors and minors. General Education Codes: IN, Q.

Prerequisite: A desire to learn about the physical world you live in.

Detailed Description

Geology is a very natural science, blending elements of chemistry, physics, and biology, and, through interaction of the solid Earth with the atmosphere, drawing in meteorology, oceanography, and marine sciences as well. EART10 introduces the basic principles of geology, working from minerals to rocks to processes to earth structure. We will see that our planet works as an interacting system of matter and energy, producing volcanoes, earthquakes, glaciers, mountains, continents, and oceans. The energy that drives the system comes from Earth's internal heat and solar radiation. The matter of Earth - its rocks and minerals - and its structure are the relics of Earth system processes evolving over the 4.6 billion years of geologic time. Rocks, and the minerals that comprise them, tell us the story of this evolution. They record ancient volcanism, ancient mountain building events, ancient climates, and ancient shifts in landmass position. Reading that story requires knowledge of minerals and rocks, of how familiar processes act to shape the rock record, and of geologic time. The Earth operates over a bewildering range of time scales: from the seconds and minutes of earthquake rupture, to the tens and thousands and millions of years of climate variability, to the billions of years of continental evolution . We will see how processes operating on different time scales, including anthropogenic effects, interact to shape the planet's landforms and biota.

EART10 is a gateway to the major, combined majors and the minor in Earth Sciences. For those of you looking to satisfy an IN or Q requirement, it is the gateway to a greater appreciation of the physical world around you.

Web pages: Course web pages contain complete copies of lectures, all course handouts, lab materials, supplementary materials, and notices of help and review sessions. Tests from previous years are also available. http://www.es.ucsc.edu/~jsr/EART10

Textbook: The Dynamic Earth, Fourth Edition, by B.J. Skinner and S.C. Porter (available at the bookstore). All assigned readings come from this book. Included with the book is a collection of black and white reproductions of nearly all of the overheads used in class.

Tests: There will be two midterms, breaking the quarter into thirds. They will be closed book, consisting of multiple choice and short essay questions. The final will stress material from the final three weeks of class, but will have some comprehensive elements. One week prior to each exam, a bank of potential short essay questions will be made available. All short answer questions on the exams will be drawn from the bank, but the bank will contain more questions than will appear on the test. The banks are excellent study aids.

Homework: There will be four homework assignments during the quarter.

Final Project: All students participate in a small-group, multimedia projects presented in section during the last two weeks of class. Project themes are chosen by the groups.

Section: Attendance in section is mandatory. In section, we will discuss material from the previous week, work on homework assignments and work on and present the final team projects.

Evaluation: For those of you requesting a grade, your grade will be determined from a mix of test scores, homework marks, and section performance. Weights for the former two are chosen to best benefit you, 30% for the lower score, 50% for the higher. Section is always worth 20%.

For everyone (letter grade or not): you must achieve passing marks on the three tests (as a whole, not necessarily individually) AND on the homework assignments (again, as a whole) to pass the class. You will not pass if your average on either is not passing.

Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction to the Earth; Minerals

Week 2: Igneous Rocks and Volcanism; Sedimentary Rocks

Week 3: Metamorphic Rocks; The Rock Record and Geologic Time

Week 4: First Midterm; Folds and Faults

Week 5: Mass Wasting; Groundwater and the Hydrologic Cycle

Week 6: Rivers; Wind and Deserts

Week 7: Oceans and Coasts; Second Midterm

Week 8; More Oceans and Coasts; Climate Change and the Fossil Record

Week 9: Earthquakes; Earth's Interior

Week 10: Plate Tectonics; Other Planets

Field Trip

There is an optional field trip to the Pinnacles National Monument tentatively scheduled for the sixth Saturday of the quarter. There is no assignment associated with it. It will be fun, but only if you want to go - that's why it's optional.

Lab: The lab (EART10L) is required of all Earth Science majors, but is optional for non-majors and carries no general education codes. It stresses mineral and rock identification skills, map reading, and structural interpretation. Taking it will definitely bolster your understanding and appreciation of lecture material. Non-majors should strongly consider it if it fits your schedule. The lab meets once a week for three hours. There are two short in-lab quizzes and a short lab final. In-lab field trips will be held as weather permits.

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109/109L. Elements of Field Geology

Instructor: Ken Cameron

Schedule