Earth History GEOL 2110

Exploring the 4th Dimension

IntroductionsInstructor: Assoc. Professor Jim MillerOffice: 211 Heller Hall and 222 Natural Resources Research

Institute (Thursday AM)Phone: 726-6582 (UMD), 720-4355 (NRRI)Email: mille066@umn.eduOffice Hours: 10 – 11 AM MWF (211 HH), and by appointment______________________________________________________

Lab Teaching Assistant: Sebastian Cantarero, MS CandidatePhone: 726-7599Email: canta003@umn.eduOffice: RLB 3, HH 210AOffice Hours: TBA

TextbooksLecture Lab

Evolution of the Earth (8th ed.), by Prothero and Dott, McGraw Hill, 2010

Deciphering Earth History – Exercises in Historical Geology (4th ed.) by Gastaldo, Savrda, and Lewis, Contemporary Publishing Co of Raleigh, 2006

CLASS WEBSITE

Rock Story Term PaperStudents will be required to electronically submit a short term paper that

describes the lithology, age, geographic extent, geologic/tectonic setting, and petrogenesis of a major geological unit found in Minnesota. The paper is to consist of about 3 pages of text (1,000-1,500 words), plus figures and bibliography (minimum of 3 references required). Detailed instructions and a grading rubric for formatting, topical structure, and required content will be handed out on Friday, March 15th. The paper is due on Friday, April 19th. The paper will be graded based on the rubric and handed back on Friday, May 3rd. If you choose, revisions to the paper may be turned in by Friday May 10th. If sufficiently improved, your first grade can be increased one full grade (e.g., if you received a C- on the first draft, you can improve it to a B- with significant revision). Late papers, both first draft and final revision, get docked one full grade per day, so meet all of the deadlines to insure a better grade.

Field Trips

Two field trips will be offered toward the end of the semester. A one-day trip on Sunday, April 21 will focus on Paleozoic geology of the Twin Cities metro area. A two-day trip with a camping overnight will be held Saturday, May 4th and Sunday, May 5th. This trip will focus on the Precambrian geology of northeastern Minnesota. Students will be required to attend at least one of the two trips. Students attending both field trips will be awarded 5% extra credit to their total class grade. Field trip grades will be assigned based on engagement during the trip and on the content and quality of notes recorded during the trip.

Weekly Quizzes

A weekly quiz, consisting of 10 multiple choice questions, will be given at the beginning of class each Monday. The questions will pertain to the reading assignment for the coming lecture(s) and previous reading assignments not included in the previous week’s quiz. Your total quiz grade will be based on your best 10 out of 14 scores – in other words, you get to throw out your lowest four scores of the semester. There will be no provision for making up missed quizzes.

Exams

Mid-term exams are scheduled for normal lecture periods for Friday, February 22nd and Friday, April 5th. The midterm exams will include only material covered in the lectures and reading assignments since the last exam. A two-hour final exam is scheduled for Monday, May 13th from 8:00-9:50 AM in the lecture classroom (Chem 150). Half of the final exam will include new material covered since the second mid-term and the other half will involve material from the first two-thirds of the class. The midterm and final exams will be a combination of multiple choice and short essay questions. Make-up exams (but not quizzes) will only be scheduled with a previous arrangement.

Grading

Midterm Exam 1 (10%)Midterm Exam 2 (10%)

Weekly Quizzes (Best 10 of 14 scores) (10%)Final Exam (25%)

Lab (25%)Field Trip (10%)

Rock Story Paper (10%)

Extra Credit

Up to 10% extra credit may be earned in two ways: 1) attending both field trips (up to 5%), and 2) attending and commenting on semi-weekly geology

department seminars held on Thursdays at 3:30 PM in Life Science 175. You can earn 1% extra credit for each seminar you attend. To receive credit, you must notify me or Sebastian of your presence at the seminar and then turn in a half-page summary of what you learned from the seminar topic at lecture on following Friday.

Back to the Webpage

TIME – The 4th Dimension

Zooming in on Geological TimeEon Era Period/Epoch/Stage Age

Zooming in on Geological Time

Distribution of Time on the Continents

Distribution of Geological Time In North America

Why are Old Rocks Rare?

Next Lecture

Scales of Time and Change