Honors 219G              EARTH, TIME, and LIFE Spring 2006

 

Lecture: Tues & Thurs.  10:20 - 11:35am, Breland Hall, Rm. 188

Laboratory: Wednesday 1:30 – 4:00pm, Breland Hall, Rm. 188

 

Instructor:

Dr. Kate Giles   

            Office: Breland Hall, Rm. 122                                                                                         

Phone: 646-2033    E–mail: kgiles@nmsu.edu

            Office Hours:

                        Tuesday and Thursday:  9:00-10:00am

Wednesday  9:00-11:00am;

                        or by appointment.

 

Web site: http://www.nmsu.edu/~geology/giles/kgiles.html 

Click on Earth, Time, and Life (Honors 219G) listed under courses.  This site contains the syllabus for this course and special announcements.

TA: Dayna Druke

Office: Breland Hall, Rm. 181

Phone: 646-5384       E-mail: jordayna@hotmail.com

Office Hours: TBA

 

Optional Texts: No text is required for the lecture or the lab.

            1. How Does Earth Work?.  (2005), Smith, G. A and Pun, A

2. Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology (2006) American Geological Institute and National Association of Geoscience Teachers

 

Suggested Materials

1.       Loose-leaf binder - to place lab exercises and lecture notes in.

2.       Clip board for taking notes on field trips.

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Course Grading

Your grade for this course will be based primarily on the following criteria:

 

1.       Participation in Class and Lab (10%)

2.       Weekly Lab Exercises (50%)

3.       Performance on 3 exams (40%)

Midterm Lecture – 10%

Midterm Lab – 10%

Final Exam – 20%

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Lab Performance: Attendance is required at the lecture and lab meetings for a passing grade.  Labs are due at the beginning of the following lab period. Missed lab work will be difficult to make up because it sometimes requires traveling to field sites.  Lab work may be made up within one week of your return to class if a signed note by the appropriate authority (physician, funeral home, etc.) is provided.

 

ADA: If you have, or think you may have, a disability that interferes with your performance as a student in this class, you are encouraged for academic reasons to discuss this on a confidential basis with Dr. Giles, the Disabled Student Programs Coordinator at 646-6840, and/or the American With Disabilities Act Coordinator at 646-3635.  If you have a condition that may affect your ability to exit from the premises in case of emergency, you are urged, for safety reasons, to notify any of the above persons.


Tentative Course Schedule

Date                 Lecture Topic                                                              Text                            

Jan. 19              Lecture: Introduction; Plate Tectonics                              Chapt. 1                       

                       

Jan. 24              Lecture: Rock Forming Minerals                          Chapt. 2                       

Jan. 25              Lab: Maps used in Geology

Jan. 26              Lecture: Rock Forming Minerals                          Chapt. 2

                                               

Jan. 31              Lecture: Formation of Igneous Rocks                               Chapt. 4           

Feb. 1               Lab: Rock Forming Minerals

Feb. 2               Lecture: Plutonic Igneous Rocks                         Chapt. 4

 

Feb. 7               Lecture: Volcanic Igneous Rocks                                    Chapt. 4                       

Feb. 8               Lab: Igneous Rock Types          

Feb. 9               Lecture: Igneous Rocks and Plate Tectonics                    Chapt. 4

                                   

Feb. 14 Lecture: Weathering Processes                          Chapt. 5                       

Feb. 15 Lab: Field Trip to Organ Mountain Batholith and Caldera Complex

Feb. 16 Lecture: Soil Formation                                                  Chapt. 5, 14

                                               

Feb. 21 Lecture: Sediment Depositional Processes and Rocks      Chapt. 5                       

Feb. 22 Lab: Field Trip to A-Mountain Caliche Pits

Feb. 23 Lecture: Depositional Environments                                 Chapt. 5

                         

Feb. 28 Lecture: Fluvial Depositional Environments                       Chapt. 16         

Mar. 1               Lab: Field Trip to Rio Grande

Mar. 2               Lecture: No lecture- optional Puerto Penasco Fieldtrip      

March 2-4         Optional Field trip to Tidal Flats of Puerto Penasco, Mexico               

                       

Mar. 7               Lecture: Metamorphism                                      Chapt. 6           

Mar. 8               Lab: Field trip to Organ contact metamorphism area

Mar. 9               Lecture: Metamorphic Rocks                                          Chapt. 6

                       

Mar. 14             Lecture: In Class Review for Exams                                

Mar. 15 Lab: Exam on Mineral and Rock Type Identification

Mar. 16 Lecture: Exam on Concepts of Minerals and Rock Types        

 

Mar. 21             No Lecture – Spring Break                                                         

Mar. 22             No Lab - Spring Break

Mar. 23             No Lecture – Spring Break

 

Mar. 28             Lecture: Geologic Time - Relative                                    Chapt. 7                       

Mar. 29             Lab: Geologic Time Scale and Correlation

Mar. 30             Lecture: Geologic Time - Absolute                                   Chapt. 7

 

April 4              Lecture: Deformation                                                      Chapt.   11

April 5               Lab: Deformation and Structural Geology

April 6               Lecture: Earthquakes                                                     Chapt. 8

 

April 11             No Lecture- Giles at AAPG Houston

April 12             No Lab – Giles at AAPG Houston

April 13             Lecture: Earth’s Internal Structure                                   Chapt. 8

 

April 18             Lecture: Mineral Resources

April 19             Lab: Earthquakes

April 20             Lecture: Fossil Fuels                                                                             

 

 

April 25             Lecture: Fossil Fuels                                                     

April 26             Lab: Major Petroleum Systems of the World

April 27             Lecture: Groundwater Systems                                       Chapt. 17

 

May 2               Lecture: Groundwater                                                     Chapt. 17

May 3               Lab: Rio Grande Groundwater System

May 4               Lecture: In Class Review for Final Exam

 

May 9               Final Exam: 10:30 am – 12:30pm in Breland 188