Syllabus for Earth and Environments Through Time
Spring semester, 2008
Course Description: This course will examine how the earth and its atmosphere and biosphere have changed over geologic time and whether the modern earth may or may not be a good example of conditions in times past. We will focus on the data which tells us how the conditions on earth have changed over time, and how this has impacted the evolution of life. Labs involve learning to synthesize and interpret a variety of types of geologic data used to construct ancient environments.
Goals for this course
At the end of this course you will be able to:
(1) synthesize a
variety
of different types of geologic information and reconstruct the earth
history
for a region on earth;
(2) predict, based on the earth history record,
the response of the biosphere to changes of conditions on earth;
(3)
contribute,
as an informed person, to the continuing debate and discussion
regarding
evolution.
Textbook: Steve Stanley's Earth, Environments
and
Life Through Time: 2nd edition
PLEASE BRING THE TEXT TO CLASS WITH YOU! WE REFER TO IT FREQUENTLY!
Additional readings from Natural History, National
Geographic, Smithsonian and Discover magazines.
Field trip: There will be an overnight field
trip
(Saturday night/Sunday) in early April - the 5th and 6th- to the
American
Museum of Natural History in New York. The field trip is
optional; you need to tell me by Feb 27th if you are going.
I will require a non-refundable $10 deposit at this time (which I will
return to you for your lunch money on the field trip).
Assessment: There will be several ways I will
assess your progress towards achieving the course goals. I will
periodically assign homework (5% of the final grade).
There will be two hourly exams (a mid term and final). The exams
are worth 50% (25% each) of your
final grade. Labs are worth 25% of your final grade. The
evolution debate is worth 8% and your term paper, 12%.
Term Paper: I would like you to write a 5-10
page (excluding figures) paper on a topic of your choice related to the
history of the Earth. The term paper will be due on April 30th;
Prior to April 24th there will be several checkpoints
to keep you on task; your
topic will be due on with an annotated
bibliography emailed to me on april 7th. Your
first draft will be due on
April 17th. Click here
for details on all of these checkpoints and your class presentation.
Evolution debate: We will have a class debate on evolution versus creationism. click here for details.
Check the Home Page for
Homework Assignments,
Exam
and Quiz Dates, Reading Assignments and other important
information!
Updated almost daily THE CLASS WEBSITE IS:
http://uvm.edu/~cmehrten/courses/earthhist/index.html
Topics To Be Covered:
warning: the dates will move forward (rarely) or back (likely)
depending on our pace.
Class Schedule:
Be sure to check the class homepage on fridays and
wednesday to be sure you've done the readings and assignments for each
class.
Jan 15: course introduction; the Earth as a closed system (link to pdf here); review of the reservoirs and sinks (chapter 2) in the "lithospheric cycle"
Jan 17: How the Earth
"works": overview of plate tectonics (link to pdf here)
Jan 22 & 24: controls on atmospheric and
ocean circulation (chapter 4)
link to pdf on climate controls here
see the link to ocean circulation here
Jan 29: Milankovitch cycles link to pdf is here;
and greenhouse climate changes link here
Jan 31: climate proxies Link to
pdf here.
Feb 5: Discussion of Lemley, Alley and Stanley
articles
Feb 7: Synthesizing plate motions with
climate and oceanographic change: the world through time
pdf on global reconstructions here
Feb 12: apparent polar wandering and plate
reconstructions
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/geology/tectonics.html
http://www4.nau.edu/geology/
follow links to
paleogeographic maps
Feb 14 relative geologic time link to
pdf here
Feb 19 more on telling time; link to pdf on
magnetic reversals and stratigraphy here
Feb 21 intro to radiometric dating; link to
pdf here
Feb 26: telling time: the historical attempts; pdf
on early attempts to date the Earth here
Feb 28: mid-term exam
March 4: Town Meeting Day: no class or lab
March 6: Darwin's world pdf here
March 11 & 13: Spring Break
March 18 & 20 Principles of Evolution link to pdf #1 here
March 25: Princ. evo, pdf #2 here
April 1: evolution of complex
structures
April
3rd: The origin of life; the Archean
world pdf
here
April 5 and 6: AMNH field trip. We leave
at
4pm on saturday, april 5th and return late on the 6th.
April 8th: "almost normal" the
Proterozoic Eon
April 10: Evolution debate prep: meet with your partner and Char to discuss your arguments and your defense
April 15: the greatest of all radiations: the Precambrian/Cambrian (the Precambrian/Cambrian radiation link is here
April 17: cycles in the Phanerozoic(link to pdf here): atmospheric CO2, ocean chemistry, etc link to carbon cycle hereTHURS MAY 8TH FINAL
EXAM - 8AM
Lab Schedule
(this order might change...check frequently)
Jan 15 & 17: characteristics of
modern plate boundaries Part I
Jan 22 & 24: plate boundaries Part II
Jan 29 & Jan 31 Rocks as records of environments
Feb 5 and 7: introduction to the major fossil taxa (chapter 3)
Feb 12 &15 the major fossil taxa, continued
Feb 19 & 21 introduction
to lithostratigraphy and stratigraphic columns
power
point on stratigraphy is here
pdf on unconformities is
here
Feb 26 & Feb 28 the geologic record of ancient
plate boundaries
http://www.uvm.edu/~cmehrten/courses/earthhist/PlateBoundaries
I.ppt
and
http://www.uvm.edu/~cmehrten/courses/earthhist/PlateBoundaries
II.ppt
March 4 & 6 no lab
March 11 & 13 spring
break
March 18 & 20: geologic maps: for
help in visualizing 3D geologic structures, visit:
http://reynolds.asu.edu/blocks/mainmenu.htm
March 25 & 27: recognizing terranes
April 1 & 3: recognizing fossil
populations; example evolutionary lineages
April 8 & 10 make-up lab on
cladistics for those not going to AMNH field trip
April 15 & 17 Evolution of the Caminalcules
April 22 & 24 5 minute presentations about term paper topics