Current Topics in Geology

TUESDAYS, 2:00-4:50, Lind 103

GEOL 501 2008 Course Instructors

Audrey Huerta and Tim Melbourne

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

Melbourn contact info:
tim@geology.cwu.edu
Rm 110-A, Hebeler; 963-2799(office)
office Hours: Monday 9:00-11:00, or by appt.

Course Resources

Course Syllabus and Schedule
Learning outcomes
Rubric for Summaries
Summary Example
Rubric for Talks
How to read scientific papers
Scientifically Speaking- Tips for Preparing and Delivering Scientific Talks and Posters
Ideas for final Breadth Paper topic
GSA Geology Style Guide
Endnote notes

Course description

Geology 501 is a combination lecture and seminar-style course.

The focus of this class is scientific literacy: basically, how to read, write, present, and discuss science.

To develop these skills, students will be reading, writing, presenting, and discussing material every week. The topics that students will cover are based on the rich range of geologic research currently being undertaken in the CWU Geological Sciences Dept.

Every week the class structure will consist of:

Lecture and Q&A by a CWU Geology Dept professor on an aspect of their research. This lecture will provide students with the necessary background to read and summarize the assigned articles.
1 or 2 student presentations 10-15 min on research articles related to lecture of previous week
10-15 min directed discussions on each of the research articles
3-Slide presentations by students on related research articles
Presentation Peer Review discussion of student presentations

Every week all students will be responsible for:

Reading all group papers
Written Summary on the first group paper
3 written questions to discuss on each of the group papers

Every week some students will be responsible for:

10-15 min presentation and 10-15 min discussion of group papers
3-slide presentation on additional papers

Schedule

-WEEK 1 (Sept 23)
Meet at Brooks Library Rm 154. Research Resources
No in-class assignments.

To be discussed next week, Sept. 30:
Group Discussion Paper - Did the Atlantic close and then Re-open? (Wilson, 1966) (Benjamin)
Group Discussion Paper #2 - History of Ocean Basins. (Hess, 1962) (Tabitha)
Paper #3 Extraterrestrial Cause forthe Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction. (Alvarez, 1980) (Zoe W.)

-WEEK 2 (Sept 30)
Tim Melbourne, Slow Slip events
Discussed This Week:
Benjamin: Group Discussion Paper - Did the Atlantic close and then Re-open? (Wilson, 1966)
Tabitha: Group Discussion Paper #2 - History of Ocean Basins (Hess, 1962)
Zoe W.: Paper #3 - Extraterrestrial Cause forthe Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction (Alvarez, 1980)

To be discussed next week, Oct. 7th:
Group Discussion Paper - Periodic Slow Earethquakes from the Cascadia Subduction Zone (Zoe F.)
Kathryn: Group Discussion Paper #2 - A Silent Slip Event on the Deeper Cascadia Subduction Interface (Kathryn)
Paper #3 GPS constraints on 34 slow slip events within the Cascadia subduction zone, 1997-2005 (Tabitha)

-WEEK 3 (Oct 7)
Chris Mattinson Ultrahigh-pressure Metamorphism
Discussed This Week:
Zoe F.: Group Discussion Paper -
Kathryn: Group Discussion Paper #2

3-slide presentation-
Tabitha: Paper #3

To be discussed next week, Oct 14:
Group Discussion Paper - Ultrahigh-pressure metamorphism: tracing continental crust into the mantle Rachel

3-slide presentations for next week, Oct 14
Paper #2 - Pliocene eclogite exhumation at plate tectonic rates in eastern Papua New Guinea Kathryn
Paper #3 Exhumation as fast as subduction? Richard
Paper #4 Pre-collisional high pressure metamorphism and nappe tectonics at active continental margins: a numerical simulation Jim

-WEEK 4 (Oct 14)
Charlie Rubin- Snow and Avalanches
Discussed This Week:
Rachel.: Group Discussion Paper -

3-slide presentations
Kathryn: Paper #2
Richard: Paper #3
Jim: Paper #4

To be discussed next week, Oct 21:
Group Discussion Paper - Snow stability during rain Matthew
Group Discussion Paper #2- Characteristics of snow gliding on rock Zoe W.

3-slide presentations for next week, Oct 21
Paper #3- Full-depth avalanch occurrences caused by snow gliding, Coquihalla, British Columbia, Canada Rachel

-WEEK 5 (Oct 21)
Susan Kaspari- Ice Core Records: Tools for Reconstructing Past Climate Variability and Assessing Recent Environmental Change
Discussed This Week:
Mathew.: Group Discussion Paper -
Zoe W. : Group Discussion Paper #2
3-slide presentations
Rachel: Paper #3

To be discussed next week, Oct 28:
Group Discussion Paper -Reduction in Northward incursions of the South Asian monsoon since ~1400 AD inferred from a Mt. Everest ice core Christopher.

3-slide presentations for next week, Oct 28
Paper #2 Soot climate forcing via snow and ice albedos Matthew
Paper #3 A High-Resolution Record of Atmospheric Dust Composition and Variability since A.D. 1650 from a Mount Everest Ice Core Benjamin

-WEEK 6 (Oct 28)
Paul Winberry- Dynamics of ice sheets
Discussed This Week:
Christopher: Group Discussion Paper
3-slide presentations
Matthew: Paper #2
Benjamin: Paper #3

To be discussed next week, Nov 4:
Group Discussion Paper - Rapid response of modern day ice sheets to external forcing Aaron
Paper #2 - Century-scale discharge stagnation and reactivation of the Ross ice streams, West Antarctica Richard

3-slide presentations for next week, Nov 4
Paper #3- An Active Subglacial Water System in West Antarctica Mapped from Space Christopher

-WEEK 7 (Nov 4)
Wendy Bohrson- Dynamics of magma Plumbing Systems: Insights from Textural and In Situ Chemical Studies
Discussed This Week:
Aaron.: Group Discussion Paper -
Richard: Group Discussion Paper #2
3-slide presentations:
Christopher: Paper #3

To be discussed in two weeks, Nov 18:
Group Discussion Paper -Multiple Plagioclase Crystal Ppopulations Identified byCrystal Size Distribution and in situ Chemical Data: IMplications for Timescales of Magma Chamber Porcesses Associated withteh 1915 Eruption of Lassen Peak, CA Jim

3-slide presentations for next week, Nov 4
Paper #2 Crystal Zoning as an Archive for Magma Evolution Zoe F.
Paper #3 late Pleistocene granodiorite source for recycled zircon and phenocrysts in rhyodcite lava at Crater Lake, Oregon Aaron

-WEEK 8 (Nov 11) --Veterans Day, No Class

-WEEK 9 (Nov 18)
Beth Pratt-Sitaula- Climate and surface process interactions
Discussed This Week:
Jim.: Group Discussion Paper
3-slide presentations:
Zoe F. Paper #2
Aaron: Paper #3

-WEEK 10 (Nov 25)--Thanksgiving, No Class

-WEEK 11 (Dec 2)
Student paper presentations

-EXAM WEEK (See Exam Schedule)
Student paper presentations