GEOSCIENCES
001
Introduction
to Physical Geology
- Fall 2006
This
class is all about
understanding how the Earth works, how it changes, and how these
changes relate
to us.
To
arrive at this understanding,
we need to explore the connections, history, and dynamics of the whole
planet,
including the
atmosphere, the oceans,
and life, as well as the solid, rocky part of the Earth.
To
complement this global view, many
of our labs will be devoted to studying the local geology in the field.
Through these
field trips, we will
reconstruct the long history of climatic, environmental, and tectonic
change that
have formed and deformed
the rocks and the landscape we find in central Pennsylvania.
If
you invest a little effort,
this class will change the way you look at the world; a bold claim,
perhaps,
but just wait and see…
Study
the list of lecture topics
and you will see that we follow the textbook somewhat closely in the
first part
of the class, but then we begin to diverge from it more and more in the
second
half of the class, exploring topics that we think are more important
for you to
understand if this is your only geoscience class (we hope many of you
will
become interested enough to take more geoscience classes, but the odds
are that
most of you won’t). This
gets to
an important point about the relationship between the readings and the
lectures
and what you are responsible for. We view the readings as important and
essential background material that you need to understand in order to
get the
most out of the lectures. The
lectures will not simply review and amplify on the textbook and the
exams will
be weighted much more towards material covered in classes. In other
words, you
cannot skip class, do the readings and expect to pass the exams.
Instructor: Dave Bice Email: dbice@geosc.psu.edu
Office: 540 Deike (5-4477)
Office Hours: M 11-12, T 10-11, or by appointment
Class
Meetings: MWF 9:05 –
9:55 in 112
Walker
Text: Earth,
Portrait of a Planet
2nd ed. by Stephen Marshak
(used copies in bookstore, or e-book
(www.nortonebooks.com))
Lab
Materials: 10x hand lens
(available at bookstore),
colored pencils, pencils, field notebook
Grading:
Exams 2@ 15%, 1@20%
In-Class
Quizzes/Assignments 10%
Lab Reports &
Quizzes 45%
Monitoring
the Earth:
Check these sites to
see what our planet is doing
SCHEDULE OF
LECTURE TOPICS, READINGS,
AND LABS
The
readings
listed below are to be completed before coming to class or
lab
M Sep. 4
W Sep. 6 Intro
to the Earth Systems
Web
Reading
F Sep. 8 How
was the Earth made? Ch 1 and browse The Nine Planets LAB 1: Maps
W Sep. 13 The Core to Continental Drift Ch 3 LAB 1: Maps
F Sep. 15 Plate Tectonics: How the Whole Thing Works CH 4 LAB 2: Minerals
M Sep. 18 Igneous Rocks Ch 6 LAB 2: Minerals
W Sep. 20 Volcanoes
Ch
6
LAB 2: Minerals
F Sep.
22 Volcanic Hazards
Ch
6
LAB 3:Rocks
& Fossils (read
Ch 5 & Interlude A)
M Sep. 25 Interpreting
Sedimentary Rocks Ch
7 isostasy
LAB 3:Rocks
& Fossils (read
Ch 5 & Interlude A)
W Sep. 27 Metamorphic
Rocks & the Rock Cycle Ch 8 &
Interlude B
LAB 3:Rocks
& Fossils (read
Ch 5 & Interlude A)
F Sep. 29 Earthquakes CH 10 &
Interlude C
LAB 4: Field
Trip to West Hamilton site
M Oct. 2 More Earthquakes CH 10 & Interlude C LAB 4: Field Trip to West Hamilton site
W Oct.4 Seismic Hazards CH 10 & Interlude C LAB 4: Field Trip to West Hamilton site
F Oct.6
No Class
M Oct. 9 Exam
1 here
is an exam
from last
year
LAB 5: Earthquakes
W Oct. 11 Geologic
time Ch 12
familiarize
yourself with the geologic timescale
LAB 5: Earthquakes
F Oct. 13 How
to date a rock Ch 12
LAB 5: Earthquakes
M Oct. 16 Weathering & Soils Web Reading #1, #2, #3
LAB 6: Field
Trip to Hwy 322 By-Pass
W Oct. 18 The
global water cycle
Interlude E, Web Reading
(sections 1-4)
LAB 6: Field
Trip to Hwy 322 By-Pass
F Oct. 20 Intro
to the Oceans Ch 18 Explore the Oceans Here
LAB 6: Field
Trip to Hwy 322 By-Pass
M Oct. 23 Coastal
Processes Ch 18
LAB 7: Field
Trip to Potter’s Mills
W Oct. 25 Rivers
– Physical
Processes
Ch 17
LAB 7: Field
Trip to Potter’s Mills
F Oct. 27 Rivers,
Floods, &
Humans
Ch 17 USGS
Spring
Creek Gauge
LAB 7: Field
Trip to Potter’s Mills
M Oct. 30 Groundwater
– Physical Processes Ch 19
LAB 8: Field
Trip
– Spring Creek
Excel
file
of data
W
Nov. 1 Groundwater Resources Ch 19
LAB 8: Field
Trip
– Spring Creek
Excel
file
of data
F Nov. 3 Exam #2 study guide LAB 8:Field Trip – Spring Creek Excel file of data
W Nov. 8 Landslides II Ch 16
LAB 9:
Geologic
Map
Lab
movie #1 movie#2 (study these as you read the lab intro)
F Nov. 10 Intro to the Climate System
Web Reading
read intro through concepts and processes
LAB 9:
Geologic
Map
Lab
movie #1 movie#2 (study these as you read the lab intro)
M Nov. 13 Composition,
Structure,
Origin of the Atmosphere
CH 20 LAB 10: Oceanography Lab
W Nov. 15 General
Circulation of
the Atmosphere CH 20 LAB 10: Oceanography Lab
F Nov. 17 Life
on Earth
Interlude D
LAB 10: Oceanography Lab
M Nov. 20 Mass
Extinctions Web Reading physical
effects of impacts NO LAB
T Nov. 21 Glaciers CH 22
NO LAB
W,
F Nov. 22-24 Thanksgiving
Holiday
M Nov. 27 More
Glaciers and Ice
Ages CH 22Web Reading LAB 11: Climate
Modeling Lab
W Nov. 29 Ice
Ages, Isotopes, Astronomy CH 22Web Reading LAB 11: Climate
Modeling Lab
F Dec. 1 Snowball
Earth
Hoffman and Schrag
LAB 11: Climate
Modeling Lab
M Dec. 4 The
Global Carbon Cycle Web Reading
LAB 12: Carbon Cycle
Modeling
W Dec. 6 Abrupt
Climate Change
Read this Pentagon Report
LAB 12: Carbon Cycle
Modeling
F Dec 8 Modern & Future Climate Change
Web Reading1 Reading#2 LAB 12: Carbon Cycle
Modeling
M Dec. 11 Petroleum Geology CH 14 NO LAB
W Dec. 13 Summary NO LAB
F Dec.
15 Exam
3 NO LAB
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Readings
In
the syllabus, the topic for
each day is accompanied by a reading assignment that should be
completed before
class or lab. Most of the readings come from the textbook; other
readings will
come from various articles or chapters from other books, or materials
that one
of us has written, which are posted on the web. These readings are
intended to
provide a basis and context for the things we'll discuss in class. If
you
follow the readings, you'll have a much easier time seeing how it all
fits
together. In general, you should think of your textbook and the library
as
resources for answering questions - learn how to use these resources
well and
you'll have the means for unlimited learning. You cannot expect
everything
important to be served up to you - you have to go out and forage a bit
and find
your own answers sometimes. Speaking of foraging, a word of caution
about
information on the web – not all of the information that pops
up in a Google
search is trustworthy. There
are
good sources of geoscience information on the web and almost all of
these are
connected with someone at a university or college or a government lab
or a
museum. So, scrutinize the sources of the information you find on the
web.
Field
Labs
There
will be several field labs
during the semester in order to gets some hands-on experience looking
at and
interpreting rocks; many of these labs will lead to an overall
understanding of
the geologic history of the State College area.
Expenses related to these field trips will be charged to
you
after the class is over – it will be in the neighborhood of
$40.
Come
prepared with appropriate
clothing - boots are always recommended; raingear will sometimes be
needed and
should always be brought along.
Toward
the end of class, you will
draw together and summarize your field trip observations and
interpretations in
the form of a short report on the local geology, so take good, abundant
notes
in the field.
Deadlines
Lab
reports are always due at the
beginning of the next week's lab. Late labs will be penalized by 10%
and they
cannot be handed in after the graded labs for that exercise have been
returned.
Academic
Integrity
Academic
integrity—the pursuit of scholarly activity in an open,
honest, and responsible
manner—is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity
in the college,
and all members of the college are expected to act in accordance with
this
principle. Consistent with this expectation, all students should act
with
personal integrity, respect other students' dignity, rights and
property, and
help create and maintain an environment in which all can succeed
through the
fruits of their efforts.
General
goals
of the course
We
hope that by the end of this
course, you will have a good, basic understanding of how the whole
Earth system
works -- the processes that operate in the interior, on the surface,
and above
the surface. Through this, we hope you will gain a sense of the Earth
as a
complex, dynamic system in which there is a high degree of
connectedness. You
should also learn something about how the Earth has changed through its
long
history, and what the future might hold. In addition, we hope that you
will get
a feeling for how geologists think -- how we know what we do about the
Earth,
and how we go about solving problems in the earth sciences. We hope
that this
course will also provide you with some insight into how people are
affected by
geologic processes, how our activities can in turn affect the Earth,
and how an
understanding of geology can lead to a more intelligent way of
occupying the
Earth. These are the kinds of things that we hope you will retain from
this
course, along with a new way of looking at the Earth around you. These
are
lofty goals and they won't be realized without a lot of hard work, but
we think
we can have fun along the way too.