Syllabus for Geology 104, spring 2000

Instructor:            Charles F. Kahle

Office:                 Room 280 Overman Hall (2nd floor, south end of south wing).
                           Phone: 372-2888, e-mail: ckahle@bgnet.bgsu.edu

Office hours:        8:30-9:30 am; 11:00-12:00 am Tues. & Thurs., 11:30-1:30 Tues

Class meets:        9:30-10:45 am Tues. & Thurs., Room 95 Overman Hall

Tests

All lab tests are given during lab hours.The dates for test 1, 2, and 3 are shown below in the course schedule.

Tests 1 and 2 are mutually exclusive. Test 3 (final exam) is comprehensive with major emphasis on material covered during the last five weeks of the 15 week semester (i.e. not counting exam week). Test 3 is given during final week at a date and time specified by the Registrars office. This date and time can not be changed for any reason. It is not possible to take the final exam prior to the time it is scheduled by the Registrar.

1. No test will be given prior to the time it is scheduled for any reason whatsoever.
2. It is not possible in this course to attempt to change your grade by so-called "extra credit."
3. During a test, all books, notes, articles of clothing and other materials not directly related to taking the test must be placed on the floor.
4. Make-up tests may be of any type, but generally will be entirely essay. As a general rule no make-up test will be given unless you notify me prior to a test that you will be absent for the test, and can provide me with an adequate rationale why you will be unable to take the test. Assume you missed a test, and you failed to notify me and explain to me why you would miss the test. If this happens, I expect you to contact me within 24 hours after the test has been given, and provide me with reasonable explanations of the following. 1) Why did you not inform me in advance that you were going to miss the test? 2) Why did you miss the test? Failure by you to contact me within the 24 hour time limit, and to provide me with an adequate rationale regarding 1) and 2) will normally result in your receiving a grade of zero (0) for the test that you missed. I would waive this 24 hour time limit for exceptional situations.
5. If you miss a test for some reasons, and if you fail to inform me that you missed the test, and justify why you were absent from the test (see #4) your grade for the test will be zero.
6. No test grades will be given out over the phone.
7. Lecture tests will typically consist of multiple choice question. Test questions come from the textbook, slides shows, lectures, class handouts, the need-to-know listings on cfkahle web site for Geology 104 spring 2000, and reading assignments. Note that you are responsible for reading assignments (see below) in the textbook and for any other reading assignments..

Attendance

The more classes you miss with unexcused absences, the more inclined I will be to give you a lower final grade assuming your final class average is borderline between a lower and higher grade. In my view, if you miss class you deprive me of a chance to learn from you.

Teaching strategies

Lectures, slides, overheads, handouts, need-to-know information on my web site, reading assignments, questions from students and from the instructor, class discussions, student participation, tests.

Course Goals

This course is intended to advance your knowledge and understanding of Earth features, processes, environments, environmental problems, and to better understand relationships between science and the humanities, and places and situations where geology and the humanities overlap..

Tentative lecture schedule and reading assignments.
Reading assignments are in Tarbuck and Lutgens, 1999, Earth an introduction to physical geology.

week/date	topic	reading assignments
1 T1/11	What is geology; critical dialogue,scientific method; absolute vs relative time; geologic time (= deep time); the geologic column;	Chapt. 1.
1 Th1/13	Major parts of Earth, continental vs oceanic crust; general structure of continents; major types of cycles affecting the Earth; the rock cycle; introduction to plate tectonics	Chapt. 1, p. 19-20; plate tectonics on p. 21-24.Study the rock cycle shown on p. 25 and note that it is laid out differently from the rock cycle handout given out in class but that the concepts are exactly the same in the book's version and in the handout version
2 T1/18	Minerals, silicate minerals, physical properties of minerals; how physical properties of minerals can be important;diamond vs graphite; some important and interesting minerals (quartz, feldspar,calcite, Fe-Mg, magnetite, apatite)	Chapt. 2
2 Th1/20	environmental aspects of minerals (silica and silicosis; pyrite, asbestos, acid mine drainage, gold and cyanide)
3 T1/25	Igneous rocks. Introduction. (Intrusive igneous rocks for which you should know the physical properties and the mineralogy = granite, gabbro, rhyolite, basalt, dunite)	Chapts. 3 and 4
3 Th1/27	Intrusive igneous rock structures and landforms (dikes, sills, batholiths, volcanic necks); see photo and diagram of a volcanic neck on p. 105 Fig. 4.21; and diagrams showing dikes and sills on p. 107 Fig. 4.22]; principles (rules) of intrusive and cross-cutting relations; igneous inclusions
4 T2/1	Extrusive igneous rocks and landforms. Locations of volcanoes, lava flows vs pyroclastics;explosively of volcanoes (rhyolite vs basalt; types of volcanoes). Principle (rule) of superposition for lava flows and ash falls;	Chapt. 4
4 Th2/3	Sedimentary rocks;  principle (rule)of superposition; principle (rule) of original Horizontality; types of sed rocks, what can a sand grain tell us?; ripple marks[(Fig. 6.23A p. 163], mud cracks {Fig. 6.23B p. 160;   cross-bedding p. 127). Landforms formed by sedimentary rocks (see Fig. 6.1 p. 144 and Fig. 6.3 p. 147).	Chapt. 6
5 T2/8	Limestones and dolomite, reefs, sedimentary environments	see Fig. 6.17 p. 159 and Fig. 6.18 p. 160
5 Th2/10	Metamorphic rocks. Landforms formed by metamorphic rocks.	Chapt. 7 (see Fig.. 7.17 p. 182; and Fig. 7.22 p. 185)
	Folds, rule of folding. Types of folds. How folds are formed. Forces involved in folding of rocks.Landscapes produced by weathering and erosion of folded rocks.	Chapt. 15
6 T2/15	Test 1
6 Th2/17	Faults, rule of faulting. Types of faults.Landscapes produced by faulting.	p. 386-391
7 T2/22	Earthquakes and Earth's interior	Chapts. 16 and 17
7T h2/24	Earthquake severity & magnitude;  dangers from earthquakes; landforms produced by earthquakes; earthquake prediction	p. 415-426
8 T2/29	Weathering, erosion and landscapes; rates of weathering;  weathering vs rock types; origin of soils and the role of climate, types of soils	Chapt. 5
8 Th3/2	Mass wasting, landslides, types of slope failure; soils, swelling soils (where, when, & how); liquefaction; landscapes resulting from mass wasting	Chapt. 9
March 4-11 Spring Recess (no classes)
9 T3/14	Streams,  river processes, landscapes formed by stream, so-called stream cycle of erosion	Chapt. 10
9 Th3/16	Types of rivers
10 T3/21	Floods, dams, levees, channelization, good and bad points about dams, levees, and channelization
10 Th3/23	Wetlands, eutrophism
11 T3/28	Test 2
11 Th3/30	Groundwater, water table, aquifers, water wells, karst (what is it?), karst landforms (sinks), subsurface karst (caves and speleothems)	Chapt.
12 T4/4	Glaciers	Chapt. 12
12 Th4/6	Wind - erosion, transportation, and deposition of sediment by wind; types of sand dunes (Fig. 13.24 p. 294). Landscapes formed by wind erosion and deposition.	Chapt. 13
13 T4/11	Deserts and sand dunes; desertification, Dust Bowl (1930’s and others). Medical problems associated with wind blown dust.
13 Th4/13	Oceans, shorelines, beaches.	Chapt. 14
14 T4/18	Waves and wave erosion, environmental problems in coastal areas.What should be done with the nations shorelines?
14 Th4/20	Plate tectonics	Chapt. 19
15 T4/25	Plate tectonics
15 Th4/27	Orogeny (mt. building); types of mts.; mts. in the U.S.A. Mountains and landscapes.	Chapt. 20 (see especially: Figs. 20.2 p. 513; 20.9 p. 518;20.13 p. 523; 20.15 p. 525;
May 1-5	Test 3. Final exam week.
THE END!