ESCI-1510: Historical Geology 1 ESCI-1510: HISTORICAL GEOLOGY Cuyahoga Community College Viewing: ESCI-1510 : Historical Geology Board of Trustees: February 2019 Academic Term: Fall 2021 Subject Code ESCI - Earth Science Course Number: 1510 Title: Historical Geology Catalog Description: Historical geology focuses on the evolution of land forms and life-forms through geologic time. The course includes a study of evolutionary changes occurring in plant and animal life as documented by fossil remains and the interpretation of geologic forces by means of topographic and geologic maps. Topics include plate tectonics, relative and absolute dating, fossils and fossilization, rocks and their significance as indicators of the environmental past. Emphasis will be placed on North America, dealing with the growth of continents and mountain building. To fulfill the laboratory science requirement, students should also enroll in a Historical Geology laboratory course. Credit Hour(s): 3 Lecture Hour(s): 3 Lab Hour(s): 0 Other Hour(s): 0 Requisites Prerequisite and Corequisite ENG-0985 Introduction to College Literacies, or appropriate score on English Placement Test; and ESCI-1410 Physical Geology or ESCI-1310 Physical Geography. Note: ENG-0980 Language Fundamentals I taken prior to Fall 2021 will also meet prerequisite requirements. Outcomes Course Outcome(s): Apply the principles of geology to understand the Earth's history. Essential Learning Outcome Mapping: Critical/Creative Thinking: Analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information in order to consider problems/ideas and transform them in innovative or imaginative ways. Objective(s): 1. Recognize that the Earth system is characterized by change over a variety of time scales. 2. Explain the use of minerals and rocks to decipher the Earth's history. 3. Compare and contrast the theories of the origin of the Earth. 4. Associate groups of fossil organisms with specific environment and general time period. 5. Identify biological and physical realms by time period based on the geological record, expressing how geological and biological evolution are coupled. 2 ESCI-1510: Historical Geology 6. Relate economic products to the geological structures with which they are associated. 7. Examine the contributions of astronomy, anthropology, biology, physics, and chemistry to the field of geology, and employ these basic principles as foundational knowledge for thinking about Earth science topics. 8. Visualize the physical geography of each time period and the relationship between physical geography and sedimentary facies. Methods of Evaluation: 1. Quizzes 2. Lecture exams 3. Article summaries based on current literature 4. Textbook Chapter Review Questions 5. Discussions/Classroom based response activities Course Content Outline: 1. Historical perspectives a. Myths b. Catastrophism vs. uniformitarianism c. Neptunism vs. vulcanism d. Uniformitarianism vs. actualism e. Scientific method: uses of the scientific method; multiple working hypotheses 2. Geologic time a. Geologic time scale: development of the scale; significance of names b. Relative dating c. Absolute dating d. Radiometric dating: isotopes; half-lives e. Dendrochronology 3. Minerals and rocks a. Structure of matter: atomic structure; bonding; and molecules b. Rock-forming minerals: silicates and economic minerals c. Rock types (igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic): their formation; their classification d. Structures: sedimentary and igneous e. Types of geological structures: faults; folds; joints; unconformities f. Grouping and naming of rock units g. Interpretation of geological maps - principles of original horizontality, superposition, inclusions, and lateral continuity 4. Rocks as indicators of paleoenvironments a. Sedimentary environments: terrestrial - glacial, aeolian, alluvial; fresh water - streams, lakes; transitional - deltas; marine - coastal, shallow, reef, abyssal; fossils associated with the environments b. Physical correlation: facies; transgressions and regressions c. Fossilization: methods of fossilization; fossil morphology; fossil classification d. Biostratigraphic correlation 5. Evolution a. Historical ideas of the sources of fossils b. Theories of evolution: Lamarck; Darwin and Wallace; natural selection c. Mendel - genes and chromosomes d. The modern synthesis: sources of variation; speciation; patterns of evolution; extinctions e. Cladistics f. Evidence of evolution: experiments to produce organic molecules; embryology; chromosomal hybridization experiments; fossils 6. Plate tectonics a. Earth's interior: seismic evidence; plate tectonics classification b. Plate tectonics theory: continental drift; sea floor spreading; magnetic reversals; hot spots and mantle plumes; possible mechanisms c. Present plate boundaries and their distinguishing features: volcanoes and earthquakes; mountain building; terranes; minerals associated with plate boundaries; fossil distribution and plate tectonics 7. The beginning of the Earth a. Origin of galaxies b. Production of the elements c. Origin of our solar system ESCI-1510: Historical Geology 3 d. Planet formation e. Formation of the Earth f. Meteorites g. Earth layering theories h. Origin of the moon theories i. Evolution of the atmosphere j. Origin of oceanic water 8. Archean events (4.55 to 2.50 billion years ago) a. Archean Earth structure b. Early continental formation; shields; cratons c. Archean rocks: types; occurrences; significance of greenstone belts; structural provinces d. Kenoran/Algoman Orogeny e. Atmosphere: changes associated with photosynthesis; effects of the new atmosphere on rock type f. Mineral deposits 9. Biota of the Archean a. Chemical fossils and microorganisms b. Stromatolitic structures c. Beginning of aerobic respiration 10. Proterozoic events (2.5 to 0.6 billion years ago) a. Mobile belts/subduction zones: deposits; deformation b. Proterozoic rocks: Helikian rocks; Hadrynian rocks and glaciations; Beltian province c. Orogenies: Penokean and Hudsonian; Grenville; Grand Canyon Supergroup d. Shield areas found outside North America e. Atmospheric and climatic conditions f. Mineral deposits 11. Biota of the Proterozoic a. Fossil algae b. Eukaryotes c. Ediacaran fauna d. Beginning of sexual reproduction. Multicellular organisms 12. Geology of the early Paleozoic Era a. Paleogeography and climatology: Laurentia-Baltica; Gondwanaland b. Formation of the Iapetus Ocean c. Sauk Sequence: sediments of epeiric seas; transgression in the Grand Canyon area d. Cordilleran mobile belt e. Tippecanoe sequence: reefs; evaporites f. Franklinian mobile belt g. Taconic Orogeny: Appalachian mobile belt; Queenston Delta h. Caledonian Orogeny i. Ouachita mobile belt j. Climatology: Cambrian; Ordovician; Silurian k. Mineral deposits 13. Biota of the early Paleozoic Era a. Evolutionary radiation in the Cambrian b. Protista c. Invertebrates: Burgess Shale; hard parts; Porifera, Cnidaria; Brachiopoda; Bryozoa; Arthropoda; Mollusca; trilobite distribution and evolution; conodont alteration index d. Chordate evolution 14. Evolution of vascular plants a. Geology of the late Paleozoic Era b. Paleogeography and climatology: Devonian; Mississippian; Pennsylvanian; Permian c. North American events: Kaskaskia Sea; Antler Orogeny; Ellesmerian Orogeny; Acadian Orogeny and the Catskill Delta; Absaroka Sea; Colorado Mountains; Ouachita Orogeny; Alleghenian Orogeny d. European and Asian events: Hercynian and Uralian orogenies; formation of Asia to complete the assembly of Pangaea e. Glaciation in Gondwanaland and cyclothems f. Mineral deposits 15. Biota of the late Paleozoic Era 4 ESCI-1510: Historical Geology a. Invertebrates: Porifera, Cnidaria; Brachiopoda; Bryozoa; Arthropoda; Mollusca; Conodonts b. Vertebrates: major fish types; amphibian evolution; reptilian evolution; therapsid evolution c. Plant evolution: land plants of the coal swamps; flora of different continents d. Permian extinctions: species affected; possible causes 16. Geology of the Mesozoic Era a. Paleogeography and climatology: Triassic; Jurassic; Cenozoic b. Pangaea: evidence for Pangaea; break-up of Pangaea; East Coast sedimentary patterns c. Western mobile belts: Nevadan Orogeny; Sevier Orogeny; Laramide Orogeny; exotic terranes d. Prominent formations: Navajo Sandstone; Morrison Formation; calcareous ooze formations; Franciscan Formation; delta formation and deposits e. Mineral deposits 17. Biota of the Mesozoic Era a. Invertebrates: ammonite evolution; reef organisms b. Vertebrates: reptiles; evidence for endothermic dinosaurs; bird evolution; mammal evolution c. Plant evolution d. Cretaceous extinction events: species affected; causes; asteroid impact theory 18. Geology of the Tertiary Period of the Cenozoic Era a. Paleogeography and climatology b. North American events: continued activity in the Appalachians and Ouachitas; continuation of the Laramide Orogeny; deposits in the Green River Formation; Cascadian Oregeny; Columbia River and Snake River basalts; West Coast tectonics; Colorado Plateau; block faulting in the west c. Formation of Central America: Pacific Ring of Fire; effects on animal migration d. European-Asian events: closure of Tethys seaway; Alpian Orogeny; Himalayan orogeny; Mediterranean Sea history e. African rift valleys f. Mineral deposits 19. Biota of the Tertiary Period of the Cenozoic Era a. Invertebrates b. Vertebrates: birds; mammals c. Mammalian evolution: placentals; marsupials; horse and artiodactyl evolution; occurrences of fossil mammals d. Plants: angiosperm evolution; role of gymnosperms 20. Geology