Geol 456-556: Geodynamics

M, W, Th 9:00-10:00 Lind 103

Lab: W, 2:00-4:50, Hebeler 108

Audrey Huerta

Contact info:
huerta@geology.cwu.edu
Rm 118-A, Lind; 963-2718 (office)
office Hours: Friday 10:00-12:00, or by appt.

Course Resources

Course Syllabus and Schedule-updated 5/20/2010
Learning outcomes for undergrads (Geol 456)
Learning outcomes for grad students (Geol 556)

Heat Chapter reading

 

 

Link to Problem sets, Laboratory Handouts, Field Trip Guide, Lecture PPTs

 

 

 

Miscellaneous Resources

Appendices to "Consider a Spherical Cow"- lots of useful numbers
Conversion Factors

Ocean_Plates and Mantle flow Science paper
How to read scientific papers
Scientifically Speaking- Tips for Preparing and Delivering Scientific Talks and Posters
GSA Geology Style Guide

Course description

Geodynamics is the study of the forces and processes that drive our dynamic Earth. Geodynamicists try to answer questions like: "Are plates driven by ridge-push or slab-pull?", "Why are the Appalachian mountains still so tall?"; "What could have carved the canyons on Mars?".

Expectations

 Attendance is required for all lectures. Reading the text is not a sufficient substitute. My lectures cover topics in more depth and from different points of view than the text. If you do miss a class, ask a classmate to give you notes and an explanation of those notes.

 You should be on time, prepared, and ready to listen and participate for the full 50 minutes of each class.

 Take good notes. Write down everything on the board, make sketches of slides and overheads, and get all the details. Take notes during all slides, you are responsible for the material covered. Go over your notes after class and underline important ideas and clarify points while the ideas are fresh in your head. If anything is unclear, please come see me during office hours.

 Assignments should be neat and completed on time.

 The appropriate chapters should be read before lecture, be careful not to get behind.

 You are responsible for the material presented in reading assignments, lectures, and slides. If you have questions, it is your responsibility to ask during class time or during office hours. I encourage you to ask questions in class, come to my office hours, or send me questions on e-mail.

Grading Policy

Problem sets, lab exercises, take-home examinations will be graded by Audrey Huerta or the teaching assistant. Late problem sets will be dducted 10% per day that they are late. I do not accept assignments after they have been graded and returned to the rest of the class

Problem Sets

Problem sets must be neat and orderly. This will probably mean that you will have to re-write your solutions after you have solved them. All problems must clearly state what is Given, what you need to Find, the Solution, and relevant Assumptions. Sketch the problem, being sure to label axes and any important aspects of the problem. Be sure to "box in" your final answer. DO NOT MAKE ME GUESS WHAT YOU MEAN!

See the example problem write-up style.

Laboratory

The lab assignments for this class will focus onidentifying and calculating the processes and conditions that are responsible for making our Earth so dynamic. To do these aanalyses, we will be using the computing platform Matlab. The first laboratory period will be dedicated to introducing students to the Matlab environment, solving simple problems, and making plots of the solutions. You should be able to finish almost all of the laboratory within the schduled laboratory time. I will be available in the scheduled laboratory time for help and consultation. Do not hesistate to ask for help!

Students will be provided with keys to access the lab. BUT- be sure to lock-up when you're done.

If your laboratory project is late, and I have already graded the lab, your lab will not be graded in detail, but will be given a satisfactory or an unsatisfactory grad, which translates into a C or an F

If you have a scheduling conflict, please do not hesitate to talk to me; a minimum of a few days notice is required.

Field Trip

There is an optional 2-1/2 day field trip for this class (leaving in the afternoon of Friday, May 21; returning late Sunday May 22). We will be observing the sedimentary units, deformation, and metamorphism associated with the accreted terranes of the Cascades. There has been a long-standing debate on where these terranes came from- are they far traveled, the "baja to BC" hypothesis, or are they terranes that formed closer to home? The field trip route will take us along Hwy 2 across the Cascades, and then up Hwy 97 to Winthrop. We will be camping both Friday and Saturday night. More details will be ironed out as we near the date.

Mid Terms

There will be 3 take-home midterms. Late midterms will not be graded, and will receive a 0%.

Final Exam

There will be an in-classs, comprehensive final exam.

Graduate Students Class Project:

All Graduate students will do a class project related to their thesis, or another project. The goal of the project is for the student to constrain a dynamic process related to their thesis. Students will use matlab to compute and plot thier analysis. On the last day of lab, grad students will hand in a write-up of their anlaysis, and give a 15 minute oral presentation on their project. See Geodynamics Class Project Description for details. This project will be graded as two labs.

Grading Breakdown

Midterm I; 10%
Midterm II 10%
Midterm III; 10%
Final Exam; 10%
Problem Sets; 20%
Laboratory; 40%