Readings for Spring Quarter, 2009

Week 1 - Introduction

Required Reading :
Geology - Chapter 1
Geology Lab Manual - Lab 0 Background Reading

Optional Reading: This Dynamic Earth: The Story of Plate Tectonics - US Geological Survey
Others TBA

Comments: This week we will cover some of the basic concepts surrounding geology, so be sure to read Chapter 1 and give yourself a solid background in the basic concepts. Also, be sure to do any background reading for the labs before we do the lab exercises in class. The optional reading provides excellent resources on the topic of plate tectonics.

Week 2 - Minerals

Required Reading :
Geology - Chapter 2
Geology Lab Manual - Lab 2 Background Reading

Optional Reading: TBA

Comments: The main focus of week 2 will be minerals. Early in the week we will concentrate on atoms and mineral basics. Be sure to read about mineral properties and common rock-forming minerals before lab.

Week 3-4 - Igneous Rocks & Volcanoes (and Earth Week)

Required Reading :
Geology - Chapters 3-4
Geology Lab Manual - Lab 3 Background Reading
Earth Week Readings - TBA
(I'd suggest using Earth Week to get started on the discussion readings listed for Week 5)

Optional Reading: TBA

Comments: Our next focus will be on igneous rocks and volcanoes. We will cover both of these chapters in detail, so be sure to stay ahead of the readings.

There will be some short readings scheduled to compliment the guest talks we will be attending during Earth Week. Be sure to come back here for details.

Week 5 - Weathering and Sediments

Required Reading :
Geology - Chapters 5-6
Geology Lab Manual - Lab 4 Background Reading
Discussion 1 Readings - Geology Chapter 20 (p. 646-665) and A Tank of Gas, A World of Trouble by Paul Salopek (Chicago Tribune, July 2006) (pdf file)

Optional Reading: TBA

Comments: More details to be announced.

Week 6 - Metamorphic Rocks and Geologic Time

Required Reading :
Geology - Chapters 7-8
Geology Lab Manual - Lab 5 and 6 Background Reading

Optional Reading: The Scale of Time - Supplement found after Chapter 8 in your textbook.

Comments: The supplement"The Scale of Time", found after Chapter 8 in your textbook is optional. It is interesting and I would recommend it if you want to know more about the history of life on Earth. (This is the topic of Geology 103, offered every winter quarter - I'd recommend that class if you are interested in fossils and the history of the Earth.)

Week 7-8 - Earthquakes and Plate Tectonics

Required Reading :
Geology - Chapters 9-13 (selected sections see below)
Geology Lab Manual - Lab 8 and Cougar Mountain FT Background Reading
Discussion 2 Readings - TBA

Optional Reading: The remaining sections of Chapters 11-13 not listed below.

Comments: You should read through all of chapters 9 and 10, however, we will not be covering all of the material from Chapters 1-13, so I've outlined below the parts that you should know for class:
Chapter 11 - The first section of this chapter is most important (Investigating the Earth's Interior - p. 354-366. Be sure to skim the sections on Temperature, Magnetism and Gravity - I would read the first part of each of these sections to get the basics of each concept. We won;t be covering all the details in these sections.
Chapter 12 - The bulk of this chapter is important, but some of it is review from week 1. Be sure to read the first section in detail, and use the section section of the chapter (Plate Velocities) to help prepare for Lab 8.
Chapter 13 - Concentrate on the first section (Origin and Shaping of Continents - p. 410-418). The rest is interesting but optional reading.

Week 9-10 - Landslides and Rivers

Required Reading :
Geology - Chapters 14-15
Geology Lab Manual - Lab 7,9,10,11 Background Reading

Optional Reading: TBA

Comments: We will be covering these chaptersin a lot of detail, so be sure to read thhrough them all.

Week 11 - Groundwater and Glaciers

Required Reading :
Geology - Chapters 16-17
Geology Lab Manual -no readings from teh lab manual, but there may be some final lab handouts you shoul dlook over before lab.

Optional Reading: TBA

Comments: Since we will covering these two chapters in the last few days, we will mainly be highlighting the major issues. For Chapter 16, we will cover the basic concepts of groundwater in detail, so be sure to read through those sections. We will not be covering the section on karst and caves, so that part is not required. Read through the first major section on glaciers and be sure to come to lecture to hear about some of the local examples of these glacial features. The section on ice ages is optional, since we will not have time to go over it in great detail.