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Course content will include but not be limited to the following areas
stated on the course outline.
The nature and scope of geology: Development of concept of science,
the scientific method and geology. Geology as it relates to our
society through exploration for minerals, coal and petroleum products;
Geologic Engineering and Atomic Energy and Geothermal Energy Resources.
Development of geologic philosophy using a historical approach
(Archbishop Ussher to the present) to determine age of the earth and
develop the concept of geologic time. The origin and development of
North America and its inhabitants through geologic time.
Structure and composition of the earth: Division of earth's interior
with emphasis on the elemental composition to the crust. Introduc-
tion to silicates and the silicon/oxygen tetrahedron using the atomic
theory of matter.
Introduction to igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks and
process through the rock cycle.
Igneous rocks: Classification based on texture and composition.
Origin of magmas and final intrusive placement and subsequent
volcanism.
Volcanism: Crystallization of magmas and resulting textures, clas-
sification and distribution of volcanoes. Types of eruptions:
Peleean, Strombolian, etc.
Physical and chemical weathering: Weathering as a process destroying
rocks and generating soil, surface debris and sediments. Special
emphasis on chemical equations explaining oxidation, hydration, and
carbonation of silicate minerals.
Sediments and sedimentary rocks: Source and nature of sediments;
sedimentary textures and stratification; environments of deposition;
lithification processes; classificaiton and description of sedimentary
rocks.
Metamorphism and metamorphic rocks: Factors controlling metamorphism;
examples of metamorphic environments and their relationship to igneous
processes. Exposure to P-T phase diagrams; geothermal gradient.
Mass wasting: Relationships between slope, strength and stress in
determining the probability of mass wasting. Processes of mass
wasting as free fall, sliding, flowage, creep, and liquification.
Glaciers and glaciation: What is a glacier? Conditions necessary
for the formation of a glacier. Formation of Alpine and Continental
glaciers and their effect on the landscape. Pleistocene geology.
Underground water: Efluent vs. Influent streams and the movement of
groundwater, recharge of ground water, artesiam systems, karst topo-
graphy, hotsprings and geysers.
Running Water: Precipitation and stream flow. Analysis of stream
parameters as capacity, load, discharge, etc. Energy requirements
necessary for erosion, transportation, or deposition. Features of
stream valleys, cycles of erosion, stream patterns and stream types.
Wind action: Erosion by wind, transportation of sand/dust sized
particles, deposition of sand and the classification of dunes, desert
landscapes.
Oceans and shorelines: Origin and distribution of oceanic sediments.
The sea wave as a transporter of energy. Features formed by erosion,
transportation of sediment, and subsequence deposition. Introduction
to sedimentary facies and transgressive-regressive sequences.
Evolution of coastlines.
Structural deformation of rocks: Classification of folds and faults.
Elastic Rebound Theory, the nature of seismic energy, and its use to
analyze the Earth's interior.
Earthquakes: Open-ended Richters and Modified Mercalli Intensity
Scale. Distribution of hypercenter/epicenters, fault types causing
quakes, association with volcanism. California as a seismic hazard.
Tectonic Theory: Continental Drift as proposed by Wegener, Convection
Cell Theory, Paleomagnetism and the development of seafloor spreading.
Discussion draws heavily the distribution and nature of volcanism and
seismic activity.
Plate Tectonic Theory: The development of modern plate tectonic theory.
Detailed analysis of constructive, destructive, and passive plate
boundaries.
