Geology 101

Instructor:
Prof. Jack D. Farmer jfarmer@asu.edu PSF-550 965-6748 Office hours: MWF 3 pm-4 pm

TA:
Aurora Hinckley (480) 965-5175 email: Aurora.Hinckley@asu.edu Office & hours: Please announce in class

Website: http://geology.asu.edu/jfarmer/g_stu_1.html
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Today: Course Overview

Why are we here? A few ground rules Stuff about me.

Tools for succeeding in Geology 101.

Course exams & grading.

Overarching goals for this course.

Prelude: What is Geology?

OUR COURSES WEBSITE

http://geology.asu.edu/jfarmer/g_stu_1.html Note: NO www!!!

 Read the textbook

GROUND RULES

- Cover-to-cover, see Syllabus on Web page for weekly assignments

Attend lectures
- Hear topical overviews & ask questions - Do in-class assignments & turn in & pick up HW

- Exams, quizzes & extra credit opportunities

In-class quizzes
- ~ Seven quizzes, each given after we complete a major - Will be announced the class before

In-class exercises and homework assignments

- Exercises weekly & homework every other week

Required by all students: GROUND RULES

While in lecture, please DO NOT:
Forget to turn off cell phones Read and rustle newspapers Talk and have conversations Sleep uncontrollably, endangering yourself and others Break ASU rules/laws (e.g. Dont cheat, smoke, chew tobacco, spit., etc.)

Required by all students: GROUND RULES

While in the lecture, please DO:
Ask questions when anything is not clear

Engage in the discussions

Fully participate in in-class exercises

Geology is great! Have fun with it!

WHY YOU ARE HERE

Top Five Reasons:

You absolutely LOVE geology

You need a science credit to graduate & think geology is easier than physics &/or need it NOW to graduate (We feel your pain) Just curious, it seemed like it might be cool
There was an ASU registrar computer glitch (Again, we feel your pain) You have absolutely no idea

 Im an ASU Professor in the Dept. of Geological Sciences and a geobiologist by training and inclination. I teach 2-3 classes/year & conduct research in geobiology, with applications to planetary exploration. I am Director of ASUs Astrobiology Program I love interacting with students and thrive on field work. I am actively involved with exploring the planet Mars and am a member of quite a few NASA advisory committees as well as the Mars Exploration Rover team, a mission that will launch to Mars this June. I teach GLG101 every 3-4 years, and in between, other courses having to do with geobiology, sedimentary processes and Astrobiology.

ABOUT ME

Ah! Mars.

GEOLOGY 101 TOOLS

Geology 101 Learning Tools:

2. How to study
- An excellent, up to date review of field - Nicely-illustrated with good study aids

1. Book - Earth: Portrait of a Planet-Stephen Marshak

- Read the chapters before lectures - Review class presentations afterwards: - Course website: http:// - Ask questions in class - Check for terms in glossary given at end of text - Science Toolbox sections develop specific concepts - Interlude sections introduce larger topics - Study guide Use the books Website to: - Reinforce concepts - Check knowledge by taking sample quizzes - See Geology in the news Use the Portrait of a Planet CDROM - Useful visualization tools

GEOLOGY 101 TOOLS

Geology 101 Learning Tools:

3. Meet with your Instructor and TA!
- During office hours - Or, make an appointment (see class handout for times and places) - Use email!

4. Connect to Geology on a personal level and try to apply what you are learning.
- Think about how the concepts you are learning apply in your everyday life as you walk around on planet Earth!

GEOLOGY 101 TOOLS

PRELUDE: What is Geology? CONTEXT SECTION 1. Cosmology & Birth of the Earth 2. Journey to the Center of the Earth 3. Drifting continents and spreading seas 4. The way the Earth works: Plate tectonics 5. Patterns in nature: Minerals EARTH MATERIALS SECTION INTERLUDE A: Rock groups 6. Up from the inferno: Magma and igneous rocks 7. A surface veneer: Sedimentary rocks 8. Change in the solid state: Metamorphic rocks INTERLUDE B: The rock cycle Midterm I (February 28)

GEOLOGY 101 TOOLS

INTERNAL PROCESSES SECTION 9. The wrath of Vulcan: Volcanic eruptions 10. The violent pulse: Earthquakes INTERLUDE C: Seeing inside the Earth 11. Cracks, crags and crumples: Crustal deformation and mountain building INTERLUDE D: Memories of past life: Fossils and Evolution 12. Deep time: How old is old? 13. A biography of the Earth 14. Squeezing power from a stone: Energy Resources 15. Riches in rocks: Mineral resources Midterm 2 (April 7)

GEOLOGY 101 TOOLS

EXTERNAL PROCESSES SECTION INTERLUDE E: Ever changing landscapes and the hydrologic cycle 16. Unsafe ground: Landslides and other mass movements 17. Streams and floods: The geology od running water 18. Restless realm: Oceans and coasts 19. Hidden reserve: Groundwater 20. An envelope of gas: Earths atmosphere and climate 21. Dry regions: The deserts of the world 22. Amazing ice: Glaciers and ice ages 23. Global change in the Earth system Final Exam (May 14, 2:40PM -4:30 PM)

EXAMS & GRADING

Geology 101 Exams:

1. There will be three Exams.
-In class, 1-hour, 100 points each -One for each major section of course -See web page for more information

2. Review outline

-Will be handed out before exams -Will provide a list of topics that will be covered

3. Final Exam

-Covers last section of course, but all exams may call on basic concepts presented earlier.

4. In class quizzes

- Multiple choice, matching - 10-15 minutes, 10-15 points

EXAMS & GRADING

MAKE-UP EXAMS
There are none! Exceptions include a health problem or ASU sanctioned event, which will require written confirmation from your doctor or a presiding ASU official. Make-ups under these exceptions will be 1-hour oral exams.

TERM PAPER OPTION

You can substitute a 12-page term paper for one of the exams, provided it is on a topic drawn from the content for that part of the course. This must be arranged ahead of time and the topic must be approved by the instructor. The term paper will be due the day of the exam for which it is being substituted. You will still be responsible for any major topical areas that are covered from that part of the course on subsequent exams.

EXAMS & GRADING

Extra credit opportunities

4 ways to pick up extra credit points
(see web page for details)

1. Optional field trip to Papago Park

Two dates: (1) Tuesday, April 15 & (2) Thursday, April 24

2. Geology in the news

Email me a short blurb drawn from geology in the news during the week presented. Be prepared to stand up and give a 2-3 minute summary to the class.

3. Geology songs/poems
Write a rap/poem/song that conveys geologic concepts for that part of course

4. In-class demos
Devise a practical in-class demo for a specific topic

GOALS FOR GLG101

ASU Course catalog says:

GLG 101 Introduction to Geology I (Physical).

Basic principles of geology, geochemistry, and geophysics. Rocks, minerals, weathering, earthquakes, mountain building, volcanoes, water, and glaciers.

GOALS FOR GLG101

But also, we have these goals:

To develop critical thinking skills & a basic understanding of how the science works

Become familiar with some of the observational methods, reasoning processes and analytical tools used by geologists to understand the Earth and its history

Learn the basic scientific concepts and principlesessentially the current paradigm for how the Earth and its systems interact to produce what we see.

GOALS FOR GLG101

You will be learning a new language!

Geology is a broad, interdisciplinary science with a rich vocabulary. The terminology we will use throughout this course will require that you learn a new language. We will all work together to find ways to become familiar with this vocabulary and the ideas it is designed to convey. But more is needed than simply memorizing terms. You also need to develop an understanding of the conceptual framework that the terminology is a part of, and how the words and concepts relate to each other.

GOALS FOR GLG101

Application of this new knowledge:

Enrich your understanding of the planet we depend upon for our survival. Broaden your perspective of the relationship between humans & their environment. Become as more responsible citizen and make smart investments in your future, and the future of your children. Maybe you will decide to become one of the true, the proud and the brave and go on to major in geology!

GOALS FOR GLG101

Lecture style designed to address the fact that different people learn differently:
Seeing/visual learning

Reading the written word Hearing about it Engaging through personal inquiry and discovery Connecting what we learn in the classroom to what is out there!

GEOLOGY 101 TOOLS

What methods will we need to succeed in geology?

An innate curiosity and willingness to ask questions Good observational skills to recognize basic patterns and spatial relationships A systematic approach to documenting, analyzing, and predicting observations An ability to visualize in 3-dimensional space, while integrating the 4th dimension, time. Willingness to learn and apply basic scientific principles from other sciences (physics, chemistry, math)

Time

Geology deals with complex historical systems that have evolved and changed over time.
Time is thus a fundamental variable in geology. Coupled processes, operating over time produce all that we see.

And just what is Geology?

Geology: The study of the Earth and its systems

You are here!

Prelude: Box P-1 Science Toolbox Text pages 9-10

Nature of scientific inquiry

Basic Concepts:

Scientific method Observation Hypothesis Test Scientific certainty Paradigms and the nature of
scientific revolutions

Theory

Nature of scientific inquiry

Science is based on:

assumption that the natural world behaves in a consistent & predictable manner

Goals of science:
understand underlying patterns in nature (from careful observations/measurements) form hypotheses that lead to predictions

Nature of scientific inquiry

Scientific method
gathering information through careful observation to formulate hypotheses and theories

note: involves insight and creativity to break free from conditioned accepted views

Nature of scientific inquiry

Four basic steps:

1) collect the facts (observation/measurement) 2) develop hypothesis (one or more) 3) test hypothesis 4) accept/modify/reject

Nature of scientific inquiry

Process begins with Observation! Formulation of Hypotheses:

Construction of a tentative (untested) explanation for something observed Value of multiple working hypotheses

Testing hypotheses
Evaluate explanatory power. Certainty in science and the nature of scientific proof Science has been described as the orderly accumulation of rejected hypotheses.

Nature of scientific inquiry

Theory
- well-tested/widely accepted hypothesis that acceptably predicts observed facts. - also: explains additional observations not used originally to form theory - predictive power - still testable and subject to disproof!

Geology: The study of the Earth and its systems

You are here!

Prelude: Earth Systems

Atmosphere Hydrosphere

Cryosphere
Solid Earth Biosphere

Atmosphere
Blanket of gases surrounding the Earth

Protection from Suns heat & UV rays

Weather: due to exchange of energy between Earths surface & atmosph. between atmosph. & outer space Strongly interacts w/ surface

Hydrosphere
Water portion of Earth Oceans (most prominent) 71% of surface of Earth Streams, lakes, glaciers, underground water Atmosphere

Cryosphere
Icy portion of Earths crust

Glaciers Permafrost and ground ice Polar ice caps Frozen polar seas

Biosphere
Earths Ecosystems

Earths surface and subsurface to depths of a few kilometers Life occupies an extreme range of environments Life strongly interacts with the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the solid earth (these interactions are called ecology!)

Prelude: Earths internal structure

3 distinct divisions: crust

Oceanic 0-6 km (young, < 180 m.y.) Continental 0-34 km (older, up to 3.8 b.y.)

mantle core

Upper 34-670 km Lower 670-2900 km

Outer (liquid) 2900-5160 km Inner (solid) 5160-6370 km

Solid Earth

Interior of the Earth is losing heat. Primary source of heat: Radioactive decay Heat loss drives convection, based on density differences
Hotter stuff is lighter and rises Cooler stuff is denser and sinks.

Prelude: Plate Tectonics

Earths dynamic interior and crust

Heat loss drives plate tectonics Three types of plate boundaries