Geology - Course Description
Monday, August 13, 2012
27 JAN. William Smith. Figured stones: pound stones, marbles, shark's tooth. How did they get there? Noah's flood? Smith the surveyor visits mines, travels the country. Consistent strata sequence. Indicator fossils. Strata is not always horizontal: dip and strike. Principle of Original Horizontality. Principle of Superposition. From Sedimentation to Lithification. Four clastic sediments and the rock types they form. Stratification mystery sketch I.
28 JAN. The Temple of Serapis. What did they find.? What must have happened? Stratification mystery sketch II.
29 JAN. Complete stratification mystery sketch II. Krakatoa—to be continued.
30 JAN. Krakatoa: description of key events, phenomena. Volcanism in that region.. The Wallace Line.
31 JAN. Is the earth as solid as it appears....? Alfred Wegener--coast lines, mountain ranges, fossil trails, ice sheet deposits (moraines) and striations. (+ 3 handouts).
4 FEB. DISCOVERIES LEADING TO PLATE TECTONICS. Paleomagnetism—magnetite “compasses” (2 handouts).
5 FEB. Magnetic stripes/ sea floor spreading (one handout). PLATE TECTONICS. Crust (continental, oceanic), mantle, core. Lithosphere, Asthenosphere. Isostasy--like hardened wax layer. Tectonics: divergent, convergent, lateral (drawings from handout).
6 FEB. Map of the Major Tectonic Plates and map of volcanism/earthquates: relate these two maps to each other. What is the driving force behind plate movement? Mantle convection: drawing (and elucidation thereof) of sea floor spreading with convection currents, subducting plates, earthquake and volcanic zones.
7 FEB. Krakatoa explained (with drawing and dictation).
8 FEB. Intraplate volcanism and Hawaii as a "hot spot." Drawing of the island chain & handout of the Big Island. Explanation of the island sequence. Shield volcanoes
11 FEB. The San Andreas Fault (+ handouts). Glaciers and the topography of Illinois. (+ handout)
This course begins with the consideration of several seminal insights that marked the birth of geology as a science. Thereafter, we consider a series of geological phenomena that led Wegener to his idea of continental drift. Next, we learn about discoveries that contributed to the modern view of plate tectonics (paleomagnetism, seafloor spreading, etc.). Using ideas such as mantle convection, converging and diverging plate boundaries, hot spots etc. we also discover how many of the geological riddles that characterize the earth as we know it are understood today. We conclude this block with a consideration of glaciers and the part they played in shaping the current topography of Illinois.
Faculty: Michael Holdrege, High School Science and Math Teacher
Class Dates: January 28th-February 15th, 2013
Curriculum Area: Morning Lesson Block
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