Earth History 870:035
Fall 2007
4 Semester Hours
Instructor: / Office: / Phone / e-mail: / Office hours:John Groves / 124 Latham / 273-3072 (office)
273-2759 (Dept. office)
/ M, W, F
1:00–5:00pm
Text:
Stanley, S. M. 2004. Earth System History, 2nd Edition. W. H. Freeman & Company, New York.
Laboratory manual:
Groves, J. R. 2002. Laboratory exercises in Earth History. Individual chapters available for download as pdf’s at http://faculty.cns.uni.edu/~groves/
Objectives: The objectives of this course are: (1) to establish basic principles for interpreting ancient physical and biologic events; (2) to review evidence for the main physical and biologic events in Earth’s history; and (3) gain an appreciation for the interdependence among Earth’s physical and biologic systems over the past 4.6 billion years.
Tests and Grading:
Four 100-point lecture exams…………..………………………... / 400 pointsLaboratory exercises and exams..………………………………. / 200 points
Term paper…………………………………………………………. / 100 points
Total / 700 points
Grades will be determined roughly as follows: 100–90% = A; 89-80% = B; 79–70% = C; 69–60% = D; 59% and lower = F. Favorable consideration will be made for students who attend class regularly, who demonstrate a positive attitude, and who clearly possess a better understanding of the subject matter than might be reflected by their point total.
Important info:
¨ Lecture and lab attendance is required. A full letter grade will be deducted for 4 or more unexcused absences.
¨ No make-up exams, unless student receives instructor’s prior consent.
¨ Students with disabilities may arrange for special accommodations by contacting Jane Slykhuis, Coordinator of Disability Services, UNI Counseling Center, in Rm 213 of the Student Services Center (273-2676).
¨ Course includes an optional Saturday field trip to Devonian Fossil Gorge or Rockford Fossil and Prairie Preserve. Participants will receive 10 bonus points.
¨ Students can earn up to 20 bonus points by attending and summarizing Earth Science seminars (offered Monday afternoons throughout the semester)!
¨ Please, no food or drinks in classrooms or labs.
Course outline:
Week 1
Aug 20–24 / Chapter 1:
Earth as a system / Exercise 1: Rock review (10 pts)
Week 2
Aug 27–31 / Chapter 3:
The diversity of life / Exercise 2: Relative and absolute dating (10 pts)
Week 3
Sep 3–7 / Chapter 5:
Sedimentary environments / Exercise 3: Siliciclastic sediments (10 pts)
Week 4
Sep 10–14 / Chapter 6: Correlation and dating
Exam I (100 pts) / Exercise 4: Facies relationships
(10 pts)
Week 5
Sep 17–21 / Chapter 7: Evolution and fossils / Exercise 5: Biostratigraphy (10 pts)
Week 6
Sep 24–28 / Chapter 10: Major chemical cycles / Exercise 6: Fossil preservation; trace fossils; stromatolites
Week 7
Oct 1–5 / Chapter 11: The Archean Eon / Exercise 7: Trilobites, graptolites archaeocyathids, nautiloids
Week 8
Oct 8–12 / Chapter 12: The Proterozoic Eon
Exam II (100 pts)
/ Exercise 8: Sponges, bryozoans, brachiopodsWeek 9
Oct 15–19 / Chapter 13: The early Paleozoic world / Fossil Identification Exam I
(70 pts)
Week 10
Oct 22–26 / Chapter 14: The middle Paleozoic world (GSA week) /
Exercise 9: Rugose and tabulate corals; ammonoids; belemnites
Week 11Oct 29–Nov 2 / Chapter 15: The late Paleozoic world Exam III (100 pts) / Exercise 10: Crinoids, blastoids, fusulinids, plants
Week 12
Nov 5–9 / Chapter 16: The early Mesozoic Era /
Exercise 11: Gastropods, bivalves, scleractinian corals
Week 13Nov 12–16 / Chapter 17: The Cretaceous world / Fossil Identification Exam II
(70 pts)
Week 14Nov 19–23 / No class
(Thanksgiving)
/No lab
Week 15Nov 26–30 / Chapter 18: The Paleogene world / Exercise 12: Diatoms, radiolaria, planktonic foraminifera
Week 16
Dec 3–7 / Chapter 19: The Neogene world / Exercise 13: Hominid evolution
(10 pts)
Week 17
Dec 10–14 /
Finals Week: Exam IV (100 pts)
Wednesday, Dec 12, 10:00-11:50am / No lab
Term papers: The deadline for turning in term papers is Monday, November 12 at 5:00pm. Students may turn in a draft on or before October 22. Drafts will be edited, graded and returned to authors, who may then revise their papers and resubmit them for a higher grade.
Papers should be 6–8 pages in length (1” margins on all sides; double-spaced; 12 point font). Illustrations are highly encouraged, but they will not count toward the minimum page limit. A well organized and concise 6-page paper will receive a better grade than a poorly written 8-page paper. No fluff please.
Students must cite literature references. Acceptable references include journal articles, scientific magazine articles and scientific books. Unacceptable references are television shows, websites and any other non-refereed material.
Papers must be organized as follows. Deviation from these guidelines will result in an automatic 30 point deduction.
______
Title
Author
ABSTRACT
The abstract is a very short summary of the main conclusions of the paper. It is not an outline of paper.
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of the introduction is to introduce the topic, establish the significance of the topic, and briefly review previous literature on the topic. Cite references as necessary: for example (Smith 1997). Internet sources are unacceptable.
MAIN HEADING(S)
This is where you actually discuss your topic, including any illustrations that may be appropriate. Cite references as necessary: for example (Wilson 1975). Internet sources are unacceptable.
REFERENCES CITED
You must list the references cited within the introduction and main body of text. List references alphabetically according to authors’ last names. Use the following format:
Smith, J. S., 1997. What I did on my summer vacation. Journal of Meaningless Stuff, 16:39-47. [an example of a journal article]
Wilson, A. B., 1975. Volcanoes I have known and loved. Freeman Publishing Company, Chicago, 285 p. [an example of a book]
Other stuff:
· Do not use the MLA format (this will result in point deductions).
· Contact the instructor if you have questions about how to organize your paper, how to cite references, how to list references cited, or anything else.
· You are strongly encouraged to visit Rod Library and consult a recent issue of the journal Geology to see how your paper should be organized and formatted.
Term papers must be written on some aspect of Earth History. Papers whose main focus is meteorology, astronomy, anthropology, or any non-geologic field are not acceptable. You may not turn in a paper written for another class. Plagarism will result in 0 points for the paper and disciplinary action from the University Administration.
The following are some ideas, but students may choose another topic with the instructor’s approval.
¨ Ice ages / continental glaciations / ¨ Biostratigraphy¨ Mineral resources / ¨ Development of geologic time scale
¨ Radiometric dating / ¨ Continental drift and biogeography
¨ Origin of life / ¨ Precambrian fossils
¨ end-Cretaceous mass extinction / ¨ end-Permian mass extinction
¨ Burgess Shale fauna / ¨ Midcontinent rift
¨ Origin and/or extinction of dinosaurs / ¨ Catastrophism vs. Uniformitarianism
¨ Cladistics and phylogeny reconstruction / ¨ Origin of coal
¨ Assembly and break-up of Pangaea / ¨ Forensic geology
¨ Geophysics / seismic geology / ¨ Evolution of atmospheric composition
¨ Asteroid impacts / ¨ Recent geologic catastrophies
¨ Origin and extinction of mammals / ¨ History of plate tectonics
¨ Geologic hoaxes, fakes, and pseudo-science / ¨ Biography of a famous geologist
¨ Environmental geology of a selected area / ¨ Geology and public policy
¨ Isotopes in geology / ¨ Plant evolution
¨ Convergent evolution and iterative evolution / ¨ Fossil preservation
¨ Paleomagnetism / ¨ Depositional environments
¨ Stromatolites / ¨ Paleoclimatology
¨ Snowball Earth / ¨ Banded iron formations
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