Stratigraphy and Sedimentation 870:136

Earth History 870:035 Fall 2006 4 Semester Hours

Instructor: Office: Phone / e-mail: Office hours: John Groves 124 Latham 273-3072 (office) M, W, F 273-2759 (Dept. office) 1:00–5:00pm [email protected]

Text: Stanley, S. M. 2004. Earth System History, 2nd Edition. W. H. Freeman & Company, New York.

Laboratory manual: Groves, J. R. 2002. Laboratory exercises in Earth History. Individual chapters available for download as pdf’s at http://www.earth.uni.edu/~groves/

Objectives: The objectives of this course are: (1) to establish basic principles for interpreting ancient physical and biologic events; (2) to review evidence for the main physical and biologic events in Earth’s history; and (3) gain an appreciation for the interdependence among Earth’s physical and biologic systems over the past 4.6 billion years.

Tests and Grading: Four 100-point lecture exams…………..………………………... 400 points Laboratory exercises and exams..………………………………. 200 points Term paper…………………………………………………………. 100 points Total 700 points

Grades will be determined roughly as follows: 100–90% = A; 89-80% = B; 79–70% = C; 69–60% = D; 59% and lower = F. Favorable consideration will be made for students who attend class regularly, who demonstrate a positive attitude and who clearly possess a better understanding of the subject matter than might be reflected by their point total.

Important info:

 Lecture and lab attendance is required. A full letter grade will be deducted for 4 or more unexcused absences.  No make-up exams, unless student receives instructor’s prior consent.  Students with disabilities may arrange for special accommodations by contacting Jane Slykhuis, Coordinator of Disability Services, UNI Counseling Center, in Rm 213 of the Student Services Center (273-2676).  Course includes an optional Saturday field trip to Devonian Fossil Gorge or Rockford Fossil and Prairie Preserve. Participants will receive 10 bonus points.  Students can earn up to 20 bonus points by attending and summarizing Earth Science seminars (offered Monday afternoons throughout the semester)!  Please, no food or drinks in classrooms or labs.

1 Course outline:

Date: Lecture topic: Lab Topic:

Week 1 Chapter 1: Exercise 1: Rock review (10 pts) Aug 21–25 Earth as a system

Week 2 Chapter 3: Exercise 2: Relative and absolute Aug 28–Sep 1 The diversity of life dating (10 pts)

Week 3 Chapter 5: Exercise 3: Siliciclastic sediments Sep 5–8 Sedimentary environments (10 pts)

Week 4 No class No lab Sep 11–15

Week 5 Chapter 6: Correlation and dating Exercise 4: Facies relationships Sep 18–22 Exam I (100 pts) (10 pts)

Week 6 Chapter 7: Evolution and fossils Exercise 5: Biostratigraphy (10 pts) Sep 25–29

Week 7 Chapter 10: Major chemical cycles Exercise 6: Fossil preservation; trace Oct 2–6 fossils; stromatolites

Week 8 Chapter 11: The Archean Eon Exercise 7: Trilobites, graptolites Oct 9–13 archaeocyathids, nautiloids

Week 9 Chapter 12: The Proterozoic Eon Exercise 8: Sponges, bryozoans, Oct 16–20 Exam II (100 pts) brachiopods

Week 10 Chapter 13: The early Paleozoic world Fossil Identification Exam I Oct 23–27 (70 pts)

Week 11 Chapter 14: The middle Paleozoic Exercise 9: Rugose and tabulate Oct 30–Nov 3 world corals; ammonoids; belemnites

Week 12 Chapter 15: The late Paleozoic world Exercise 10: Crinoids, blastoids, Nov 6–10 Exam III (100 pts) fusulinids, plants

Week 13 Chapter 16: The early Mesozoic Era Exercise 11: Gastropods, bivalves, Nov 13–17 scleractinian corals

Week 14 Chapter 17: The Cretaceous world Exercise 12: Diatoms, radiolaria, Nov 20–21 (Thanksgiving) planktonic foraminifera

Week 15 Ch. 17 (cont.) and Fossil Identification Exam II Nov 27–Dec 1 Chapter 18: The Paleogene world (70 pts)

Week 16 Chapter 19: The Neogene world Exercise 13: Hominid evolution Dec 4–8 (10 pts)

Week 17 Finals Week: Exam IV (100 pts) No lab Dec 11–15 Wednesday, Dec 13, 10:00-11:50am

2 Term papers: The deadline for turning in term papers is Monday, November 27 at 5:00pm. Students may turn in a draft on or before November 13. Drafts will be edited, graded and returned to authors, who may then revise their papers and resubmit them for a higher grade.

Papers should be 6–8 pages in length (1” margins on all sides; double-spaced; 12 point font). Illustrations are highly encouraged, but they will not count toward the minimum page limit. A well organized and concise 6-page paper will receive a better grade than a poorly written 8-page paper. No fluff please.

Papers must be organized as follows. Deviation from these guidelines will result in an automatic 30 point deduction. ______

Title (16 point bold font; left-justified; upper and lower case)

Author (12 point bold font; left-justified; upper and lower case)

ABSTRACT (12 point bold font; left-justified; upper case) The abstract is a very short summary of the main conclusions of the paper. It is not an outline of paper.

INTRODUCTION (12 point bold font; left-justified; upper case) The purpose of the introduction is to introduce the topic, establish the significance of the topic, and briefly review previous literature on the topic. Cite references as necessary: for example (Smith 1997). Internet sources are unacceptable.

MAIN HEADING(S) (12 point bold font; left-justified; upper case) This is where you actually discuss your topic, including any illustrations that may be appropriate. Cite references as necessary: for example (Wilson 1975). Internet sources are unacceptable. Sub-heading(s) (12 point bold font; left-justified; upper and lower case) Although not required, you may use sub-headings to help organize information within a given major heading.

REFERENCES CITED (12 point bold font; left-justified; upper case) You must list the references you cited within the introduction and main body of text. List references alphabetically according to authors’ last names. Use the following format:

Smith, J. S., 1997. What I did on my summer vacation. Journal of Meaningless Stuff, 16:39-47. [an example of a journal article]

Wilson, A. B., 1975. Volcanoes I have known and loved. Freeman Publishing Company, Chicago, 285 p. [an example of a book]

Other stuff:  Do not use the MLA format (this will result in point deductions).  Contact the instructor if you have questions about how to organize your paper, how to cite references, how to list references cited, or anything else.  You are strongly encouraged to visit Rod Library and consult a recent issue of the journal Geology to see how your paper should be organized and formatted.

3 Term papers must be written on some aspect of Earth History. Papers whose main focus is meteorology, astronomy, anthropology, or any non-geologic field are not acceptable. You may not turn in a paper written for another class. Plagarism will result in 0 points for the paper and disciplinary action from the University Administration.

The following are some ideas, but students may choose another topic with the instructor’s approval.

 Ice ages / continental glaciations  Gaia hypothesis  Mineral resources  Development of geologic time scale  Radiometric dating  Continental drift and biogeography  Origin of life  Precambrian fossils  end-Cretaceous mass extinction  end-Permian mass extinction  Burgess Shale fauna  Global warming / environmental change  Origin and/or extinction of dinosaurs  Catastrophism vs. Uniformitarianism  Cladistics and phylogeny reconstruction  Origin of coal  Assembly and break-up of Pangaea  Forensic geology  Geophysics / seismic geology  Evolution of atmospheric composition  Asteroid impacts  Recent geologic catastrophies  Origin and extinction of mammals  History of plate tectonics  Geologic hoaxes, fakes, and pseudo-science  Biography of a famous geologist  Environmental geology of a selected area  Geology and public policy  Isotopes in geology  Plant evolution  Convergent evolution and iterative evolution  Fossil preservation  Paleomagnetism  Depositional environments  Stromatolites  Paleoclimatology  Snowball Earth  Banded iron formations