The course meets twelve sessions for three hours lecture, and two sessions of three hours of required one-day weekend field trip in NYC area.

Transcription

1 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences Syllabus Course Description This three-credit course is a NYC-focused, introduction to the fundamentals of plate tectonics. The course will consist of lecture and a fieldwork component. The lectures will overview the plate tectonics settings, ocean ridges and transform faults, continental rifting margins, continental transforms, subductions zones, forearc and backarc basins, orogenic belts, earthquakes and earth internal structure, plate tectonic and magmatism, and measurements of plate motions. The field work in the NYC area will provide onsite observation of the subject covers lectures as well as training for tectonic interpretation of complex regions. The lectures and field work will be aided by the use of Google Earth and GeoMapApp to augment 3D structure visualization and an introduction to 3D software. During this course students will 1. Provide an in-depth understanding of physical and chemical processes that control plate tectonics processes 2. Apply plate tectonics theory to practical research problem 3. Develop affective and professional writing and oral communication Course structure The course meets twelve sessions for three hours lecture, and two sessions of three hours of required one-day weekend field trip in NYC area. Class Time: Classroom: Prerequisites Tuesdays 6:30-9:15 PM plus two required weekend fieldtrips 3108 and 4215 Ingersoll Hall None, but prior courses knowledge of structural geology, petrology and stratigraphy are recommended. Textbooks This course will base on the following textbook:

2 Kearey, P., Klepeis, K. A., Vine, F. J.. (2008). Global Tectonics (3rd Edition). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 482 p. [ISBN-13: ] Other recommended textbooks Frisch, W., Meschede, M., Blakey, R., (2011). Plate Tectonics - Continental Drift and Mountain Building.Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 212 p. Mathez, E. A., Webster, J. D. (2007). The Earth machine: The science of a dynamic planet. New York, NY: Columbia University Press Anderson, D.L., (2007) New Theory of the Earth. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 384p. Grading Your semester grade will be based on the addition of all your grades following the percentage criteria: Midterm take home exam 10 % Article discussion 10 % Fieldwork reports 20 % Research paper 40 % Research paper presentation 10 % Final take home exam 10 % Letter Grades are based on the following: A B A B A C B C C D D F Class policies Communication and office hours Office hours: Tuesday and Wednesdays mornings (office 4150). I also will be available by appointment during the week. I could also be reached at keflores@brooklyn.cuny.edu. Do not call the Geology Department with messages for me. The department does not accept messages. Disability and accommodations In order to receive disability-related academic accommodations students must first be registered with the Center for Student Disability Services (CSDS). Students who have a documented

3 disability or suspect they may have a disability are invited to set up an appointment with the Director of the Center for Student Disability Services, Ms. Valerie Stewart-Lovell at If you have already registered with the CSDS please provide your course accommodation form and discuss your specific accommodation with me as soon as possible. Attendance Attendance and punctuality are basic requirements and mandatory according to academic policy. If you miss more than 3 course meetings without a valid justification you may be dropped from the class. If you are late to class, keep disruption at a minimum. I will monitor and track absences and lateness and this may lower your semester grade at my discretion. During exams punctuality is a must, doors will be locked and admittance will not be allowed. Cell phone, electronic device and exams policy Cell phones should be turned off or set to vibrate mode in class. Texting is not allowed in class. If you text during class I will ask you to leave the class at that time. If you text or used any electronic devices while taking an exam I will assume that you are cheating and you will score a zero (0) on that exam. If you don t understand a term in a question or don t understand the question you are allowed to speak with me and I will attempt to help you to understand the question. Do not ask another student for information during an exam. If you speak during an exam I will assign you a score of zero (0) on that exam. Lectures and field works Lectures L1 Introduction L2 The Interior of the Earth L3 Sea floor spreading and transform faults L4 The framework for plate tectonics L5 Ocean ridges L6 Continental rift L7 Continental transforms L8 Subduction Zones L9 Orogenic belts L10 The mechanism of plate tectonics L11 Implications of plate tectonics L12 Final Project presentation Field work FW 1 Isham and Inwood Park FW 2 Pelham Bay Park Science term project The term project will be a critical synthesis of the primary scientific literature on a subject relevant to the course. It will include a paper and 10-minute, scientific oral presentation, which will occur at the end of the course. The project will be supported by weekly benchmarks and class time in part devoted to working one-on-one with the instructors. To the extent that they are relevant, the synthesis should: identify the relevant geologic phenomena; report and evaluate the evidence;

4 describe its temporal and spatial characteristics; It should also make liberal use of supporting figures/tables; include a formal citation list; Be about 2250 words (5 pages, font: Arial, font size: 12, single spaced, excluding figure captions, citations, footnotes, etc.). During the first lecture class the instructor will provide a list of topics from which the students are asked to select their first and second choices. The instructor will resolve overlapping interests to ensure that all students are able to work on a topic that interests them. Students may propose their own topics but must obtain permission of the instructor. Term project benchmarks: B1 Choice of research topic (February 16 th) B2 Preliminary bibliography (February 23 st ) B3 Preliminary outline (March 8 th ) B4 A nearly final bibliography (March 29 th ) B5 Detailed outline (April 5 th ) B6 First draft of the paper (April 19 th ) B7 Oral presentation draft (May 3 th ) B8 Oral presentation (May 10 th ) B9 Final paper (May 17 th ) Potential research questions 1. How does climate influence the structure of mountains? 2. What do meteorites tell us about the Earth? 3. What do zircons tell us about the early Earth and how? 4. Are the crust and mantle coupled? 5. Where does hot-spot volcanism originate? 6. Can clastic rocks be used to reconstruct past provenance? 7. When did plate tectonics begin and how has the process evolved? 8. Does continental crust subduct? 9. What is the structure of the Rocky Mountains and how did they form? 10. What is the structure of the Appalachian Mountains and how did they form? 11. What is the geologic history of the pre-appalachian eastern US? 12. What is the structure of the Basin and Range Province and how did it form? 13. How do continental rifts, such as the Rio Grande rift, form? 14. Is plate tectonics unique to Earth? 15. Why are island arcs curved? 16. Is there a cyclic nature to the formation of supercontinents (e.g. Rodinia, Pangea)? 17. Why do geologists interpret ophiolites to represent slices of oceanic crust, and how have they formed and arrived at their current locations?

5 Spring 2016 Session Activities Date No Class February 2 nd Read the syllabus 1 L1 Introduction February 16 th B1 Choice of research topic due 2 L2 The Interior of the Earth February 23 th B2 Preliminary bibliography due 3 L3 Sea floor spreading and transform faults March 1 st 4 L4 The framework for plate tectonics March 8 th B3 Preliminary outline due 5 L5 Ocean ridges March 15 th 6 L6 Continental rift March 22 nd Midterm take home exam due 7 L7 Continental transforms March 29 th B4 A nearly final bibliography due 8 L8 Subduction Zones April 5 th B5 Detailed outline due 9 L9 Orogenic belts April 12 th 10 FW 1 Isham and Inwood Park (Saturday) April 16 th 11 L10 The mechanism of plate tectonics April 19 th B6 First draft of the paper due Spring Recess, CC April 26 th 12 L11 Implications of plate tectonics May 3 th B7 Oral presentation draft 13 FW 2 Pelham Bay Park (Saturday) May 7 th 14 L12 Final Project presentation May 10 th B8 Oral presentation No class B9 Final paper May 17 th 15 Field work report due Final take home exam due TBD