It’s your
planet!
Headlines you won’t see
in the Batt?
·
Earthquake
Rocks College Station!
·
Gold
discovered in Brazos River!
·
Mount
Aggie Erupts!
Headlines you might see
in the Batt?
·
Oil
Discovered in Brazos County!
·
Mammoth
Bones Discovered in
Brazos River Sediments!
·
Earthquake
Rocks Pakistan!
Course Objectives
·
Understand
how the Earth is
constructed and works as a system
·
Rock
cycle and crustal cycling
·
Impact
on oceans and atmosphere
·
Recognize
the features at the
Earth’s surface (in part a vocabulary lesson) and understand their
origin
·
Develop
problem solving skills
(become geodetectives)
Class Business
·
Roster
Lab sequence
Week
1 Plate
Tectonics I
Week
2 Minerals
Week
3 Igneous
Rocks
Week
4 Sedimentary
Rocks
Week
5 Metamorphic
Rocks
Week
6 Mid-term
Week
7 Topographic
Maps
Week
8 Structural
Geology
Week
9 No Labs
Week
10
Plate
Tectonics II
Week
11
Geophysics:
Earthquakes
Week
12
Hydrogeology
Week
13
Petroleum
Geology
Week
14
Lab
Finals
Clearing the Air
·
I am
not your enemy, you are not
my enemy.
·
We
are all on the same side.
·
I am
not your judge, I am your
accountant.
·
Feel
free to ask questions. If you don’t
understand, someone else doesn’t
either. Also, it helps break up the 75 minute lecture.
·
If I
get smug, let me know.
This is a science course.
It is not easy. Don’t take it for
granite.
Ground Rules
·
Class
attendance
»
You
are expected to come to class
»
You
should come to class
·
Early
departures policy
»
If
you will need to leave class early, inform me before class in person
or by email
»
If
you need to step out during class because of special circumstances,
email me later that day with explanation
»
Penalty
for unexplained early departure:
1 final grade point per occurrence
How to Get an A in this Class
(or
any other)
·
Avoid
the pitfalls and the
traps. Develop good habits NOW!
·
Good
Habits (Be active, not
passive)
»
Attend
class.
»
Read
material before class. Review
previous class’s material and notes on web.
»
Take
notes. Note slides shown.
»
Fill
in the gaps in notes.
»
Look
up what you don’t understand.
How to Get an A (cont.)
»
Write
out definitions in notes.
»
Briefly
review previous reading before starting next assignment.
»
As a
last resort, recopy notes
»
Expect
to put in time.
–
at
least 3 hours
“study/homework” per hour class.
·
Studying
for Tests
»
Stay
up with material.
»
Comprehensive
set of class notes.
»
Look
up what you don’t understand.
»
Use
book as a support, but accumulate facts in notes.
»
Do
ACTIVE not passive studying.
–
CONCENTRATE
while studying.
Staring at words isn’t enough.
Reading words isn’t enough.
l
THINK,
QUESTION, MEMORIZE
l
VERBALIZE,
WRITE
–
Compile
information on “summary sheets”. Use summary sheets to test
yourself on definitions, formulas, numbers, etc.
–
Redraw
key diagrams.
–
Practice
on old tests.
–
If
time permits, make practice tests.
Exchange tests.
·
The
Day of the Test
»
Get
a reasonable night’s sleep.
»
Review
summary sheets morning of test (if time permits), but don’t make
yourself crazy.
»
During
the test, stay calm. Don’t expect to know everything.
Pick a Prof
·
Depending
on your perspective,
it’s all true: the five-star reviews and the one-star review (at least as of 2004)
What is Geology?
·
“Geo”
= Earth,
·
“logos”
= discourse, study of
·
Physical
versus Historical
Geology
·
Not
just rocks anymore
Why study Geology?
·
Predict
natural disasters:
floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides
Mount St. Helens
Why study Geology?
·
Exploit
natural resources
·
Societal
issues
»
Understand
climate change
»
Economy
(raw materials)
»
Medical
Geology
–
Drinking
water quality (e.g., arsenic)
–
Air
quality (e.g., asbestos)
·
Important
questions for humankind
»
Origin
of Earth, life, us
“The farther backward you
look, the
farther forward you are likely to see.”
Winston Churchill
Why should you study
Geology?
·
Careers
(with mean annual
salaries)
»
Environmental
Geology - (B.S., $44K), M.S. ($52K)
»
Engineering
Geology - B.S., M.S.
»
Petroleum
Geology and Geophysics - M.S ($79K), Ph.D. ($81K)
·
Helpful
to
careers in business (oil industry), law (environmental), etc.
·
To
better understand your world
»
Be
an informed voter
»
Be a
better teacher (We are all teachers.)
How is Geology studied?
·
Scientific
methods
·
The
Scientific Method
How is Geology studied?
Not
just rock
hammers!
How is Geology studied?
·
Observation
platforms and sample
collection (field)
Airplanes
(Aerial Photographs)
Ships
·
JOIDES
Resolution
·
Integrated
Ocean Drilling Program
(formerly Ocean Drilling Program)
Submersibles
Feet
(Field Work)
Drill
Rigs, Geophysical Methods
Extraterrestrial
Vehicles (e.g., Spirit and Opportunity)
Sample Analysis
(laboratory)
»
Physical
(e.g., grain size), microscopy, chemical
Microscopy
Scanning
Electron Microscopy (SEM)
www.ex.ac.uk/CSM/research/ geologyrg.htm
Laboratory Analyses
·
Examples
»
Chemical
analysis
»
Isotopic
analysis
»
Particle
size
»
Mechanical
property analysis
Computer modeling
·
Physics,
chemistry, biology
·
Ex:
General circulation model
(climate)
Subdivisions in Geology
·
Physical
Geology
»
Earth
Materials
»
Earth
Processes
·
Historical
Geology
»
Paleontology
(Paleobiology)
»
Paleoclimatology
How is Geology studied?
·
Scientific
methods
·
The
Scientific Method
“The whole of science is
nothing more than a refinement of
everyday thinking.”
Albert
Einstein
(1879–1955)
The Scientific Method
·
Make
observation
·
Form
hypothesis
»
Explanation
that fits data
»
Must
be testible
·
Collect
data to test hypothesis
»
If
hypothesis fits new data, find different means of testing hypothesis
»
What
if hypothesis does not fit data?
»
If
hypothesis does not fit data
–
A.
Make sure measurements are accurate and assumptions are valid
–
B.
If A holds, revise hypothesis
·
If
hypothesis is consistently
proved correct, may graduate to theory (e.g., Plate Tectonics)
·
Theory
»
Based
on series of confirmed observations
»
Explains
all relevant observations
»
Does
not contradict any relevant observations or scientific principles
»
Must
be internally consistent
–
Takes
many years
–
The
more testing, the more confidence (predictive power)
·
Scientific
law—”always” true
(often based on math; e.g., gravity, thermodynamics)
![[Image of scientific method flow chart]](Sci.Method.jpg)
Example: Does life exist
on Mars?
·
Observations
»
Water
is necessary for life
»
Mars
has water
·
Hypothesis
»
Life
exists on Mars
·
How
would we test this
hypothesis?
What is evidence for life?
·
Chemical
evidence
»
Hypothesis:
If Mars has photosynthesizing
life, its atmosphere should have
oxygen
»
Atmospheres
–
Earth:
N2 77%, O2 21%, H2O 1%, Ar 1%
–
Mars:
CO2 95%, N2 3%, Ar 2%
»
Hypothesis
fails
What is evidence for life?(cont.)
·
Physical
and Chemical Evidence
»
Hypothesis:
Life existed on Mars
»
Test
of hypothesis
–
If
Mars had life, there should be traces of life
l
Fossils
(including trace fossils like burrows)
l
Biochemical
compounds (e.g., amino acids)
–
Does
evidence support hypothesis?
Search for Past Life on
Mars: Possible Relic Biogenic
Activity in Martian Meteorite ALH84001
D.
S. McKay, E.
K. Gibson Jr., K. L. Thomas-Keprta, H. Vali, C. S. Romanek,
S. J. Clemett, X. D. F. Chillier, C.
R. Maechling,
R. N. Zare, 1996, Science 273(5277)
924-930
Fresh
fracture
surfaces of the martian
meteorite ALH84001 contain abundant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These fresh fracture surfaces also
display carbonate
globules. Contamination studies suggest that the PAHs
are indigenous to the meteorite. High-resolution scanning and
transmission
electron microscopy study of surface textures and internal structures
of
selected carbonate globules show that the globules contain
fine-grained,
secondary phases of single-domain magnetite and iron sulfides. The
carbonate
globules are similar in texture and size to some terrestrial
bacterially
induced carbonate precipitates. Although inorganic formation is
possible,
formation of the globules by biogenic processes could explain many of
the
observed features, including the PAHs. The
PAHs, the carbonate globules, and their
associated
secondary mineral phases and textures could thus be fossil remains of a
past Martian
biota.