Introductory Geology I: Physical Section 01

Lectures: Mondays & Wednesdays, 5:00-6:20 pm, Hill-114
Instructor: Dr. Roy W. Schlische
Office: 234 Wright Geological Laboratory, Busch Campus
Office Hours: Mondays, 1:00-2:00 pm; Wednesdays, 3:00-4:00 pm
Telephone: (732) 445-3142
Email: schlisch@rci.rutgers.edu

Required text: Earth: Portrait of a Planet 2nd Edition ($90 + tax) or 1st Edition by S. Marshak; 2nd edition also available online ($34) and in downloadable PDF format ($~36) from http://www.nortonebooks.com

Class Schedule:

• 5:00-5:05—Q&A
• 5:05-6:15--Discussion of lecture material using illustrated "Very Important Points" along with slides, video clips, animations, and/or demonstrations
• 6:15-6:20—Q&A

Basis for Grade:

• Exercises: 25% of grade; Exam 1: 25% of grade; Exam 2: 50% of grade
• A, 90-100; B+, 84-90; B, 78-84; C+, 72-78; C, 65-72; D, 50-65; F, <50.
• Exercises that are handed in late will be assessed a penalty of 25% for one-day late and 50% for 2-days late. Assignments turned in more than 2 days late will not be graded.  Weekends are counted as one day. Penalties are waived if there is WRITTEN documentation from a Rutgers University official for the tardiness.

Exercise and Test Format:

Exercises consist of multiple choice and true-false questions posted on the course web site. Answers are to be entered on scantron (optically scanned) sheets and turned in to the instructor on the announced dates.

Exams are not cumulative. Exam questions consist of multiple choice and true-false questions. Many questions are based on diagrams and illustrations contained in the textbook and supplemental lecture notes. You may bring one page of notes to the exam.

"Department policy is that no make-up exams will be given without WRITTEN documentation from a Rutgers University official."

How to do well in this course:

• Read, understand, and follow the Contract (below).
• Focus on understanding the material rather than memorizing it. 
• Attend all classes (studies show that the mean grade of students who attend 50% of lectures is a low C while the mean grade of those students who attend 100% of lectures is high B).
• The lecture outlines posted on the website are NOT lecture notes. You need to attend class to take notes on the material covered in class. It will take you much less time to attend all the classes and take good notes than to try to reconstruct the lecture material by reading the textbook. Some material covered in class is not in the text. Some material in the text is not covered in the course.

Class Schedule
 

Date	Topic	Reading: 1st Edition	Reading: 2nd Edition
W 9/7	L1--Introduction and overview: Introduction to course; overview of geology; major subdivisions of geology; why geology is unique Lecture 01 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition) You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to download, view, and print the lecture outlines, exercise questions, and supplemental figures for each lecture.  Most computers already have this program. If yours does not, you can download a version of the program by clicking here.	Prelude; Ch. 2	Prelude; Ch. 2
	Part I: The Building Blocks of Geology: Minerals, Rocks, Structures
M 9/12	L2--Minerals: Fundamentals of chemistry; states of matter and structure of solids; definition of mineral; physical properties of minerals; classification of minerals; mineral resources; NJ minerals Lecture 02 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	Appendix a.2; Ch. 5	Appendix a.2; Ch. 5
W 9/14	L2, cont'd; L3--Igneous rocks, structures, and processes: Intrusion vs. extrusion; classification of igneous rocks; production of magma Lecture 03 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	Interlude A; Ch. 6	Interlude A; Ch. 6
M 9/19	L3-cont'd; L4--Volcanoes: Distribution of volcanoes; types of volcanoes and products of eruptions; volcanic hazards; predicting eruptions; mineral resources; igneous rocks in NJ Lecture 04 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	Ch. 9	Ch. 9
W 9/21	L4, cont'd	Ch. 9	Ch. 9
M 9/26	L5--Sedimentary rocks and structures: Mechanical and chemical weathering; controls on weathering; soil formation, profiles, and types; origin and types of sediment and sedimentary rocks; sedimentary structures; depositional environments; nonmetallic resources and fossil fuels; sedimentary rocks in NJ) Lecture 05 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	Ch. 7	Ch. 7
W 9/28	L5, cont'd L6--Metamorphic rocks and structures: Controlling factors of and responses to metamorphism; types of metamorphic rocks; progressive metamorphism; metamorphic rocks in NJ  Lecture 06 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition) Exercise Set A (Lectures 1-4) due	Ch. 8	Ch. 8
M 10/3	L7--Deformation of rock and geologic structures: Deformation, stress, and strain; folds; faults; joints; strike and dip; geologic maps and cross sections; petroleum traps; geologic structures in NJ  Lecture 07 Corrections Lecture 07 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	Ch. 11	Ch. 11
W 10/5	L7, cont'd L8--Marine geology: topography and structure of continental margins, ridges, trenches, and seamounts Lecture 08 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	p. 63-66, 545-550	p. 62-65, 560-565
	Part II: Internal Processes and Plate Tectonics
M 10/10	L9--Geophysics 1. Earthquakes and exploring Earth's interior: Cause of earthquakes; types of seismic waves; locating epicenters; earthquakes hazards, mitigation, and predictions; reflection and refraction seismology; Earth's interior structure; NJ earthquakes Lecture 09 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition) Exercise Set B (Lectures 5-8) due	Ch. 10; Interlude C	Ch. 10; Interlude C
W 10/12	L10--Geophysics 2. Heat flow, magnetism, gravity, and isostasy: Conduction and convection; magnetic field; paleomagnetism; gravity and magnetic anomalies; isostasy Lecture 10 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	Appendix a.3, a.4, a.5; p. 56-63, 66-74, 336-338	Appendix a.3, a.4, a.5; p. 55-62, 66-73, 348-350
M 10/17	EXAM 1 (Lectures 1-8) Multiple choice & true/false You may bring one sheet of notes to the Exam
W 10/19	L11--Plate tectonics: Continental drift; seafloor spreading; geometry and rate of plate motions; causes of plate motions Lecture 11 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	p. 77-84; 99-103	p. 76-81; 97-104
M 10/24	L12--Divergent plate boundaries and continental rifting: Spreading centers; structure and composition of the oceanic crust; continental rifts; Newark basin Lecture 12 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	p. 84-87, 97-98	p. 81-84, 95-96
W 10/26	L13--Convergent plate boundaries: Types of convergent plate boundaries; seismicity, heat flow, deformation, magmatism, and metamorphism; mountain-building; growth of the continental crust; Valley and Ridge in NJ Lecture 13 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	p. 87-89, 98-99; 339-341; 345-346	p. 85-88, 96-97; 351-355, 356-359
M 10/31	L14--Conservative plate boundaries: Types of transform faults; oceanic transforms and fracture zones; continental transform fault zones Lecture 14 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	p. 89-94	p. 88-92
W 11/2	L15--Mantle plumes, hotspots and plate interiors: Origin and evolution of mantle plumes; effect of plumes beneath oceanic and continental crust; absolute plate motions; features and characteristics of plate interiors; seismicity and magmatism; vertical movements of the crust; NJ coastal plain Lecture 15 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	p. 95-97, 341-344	p. 92-95, 355-356
	Part III: Surface Processes and Landforms
M 11/7	L16--Slope processes and mass wasting: Physics of slope processes; types and causes of mass wasting; prediction and prevention of landslides; mass wasting hazards in NJ Lecture 16 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	Ch. 16	Ch. 16
W 11/9	L17--Hydrologic cycle and groundwater: Groundwater flow; springs and wells; groundwater pollution; caves and karst topography; hotsprings and geysers; NJ groundwater and karst Lecture 17 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	Interlude E; Ch. 19	Interlude E; Ch. 19
M 11/14	L17; cont'd; L18--Fluvial processes and landforms: Geometry of stream channels; fluvial erosion, transport, and deposition; floods; drainage systems; placer mineral deposits; NJ streams Lecture 18 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition) Exercise Set C (Lectures 9-15) due	Ch. 19, 17	Ch. 19, 17
W 11/16	L18, cont'd;	Ch. 17	Ch. 17
M 11/21	L19--Glacial processes and landforms: Types of glaciers; flow of glaciers; glacial erosion, deposition, and landforms; features and causes of the glacial ages; glacial age in NJ Lecture 19 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	Ch. 22	Ch. 22
Tu 11/22	Change of designation of class day: Wed. classes L19, cont'd	Ch. 22	Ch. 22
M 11/28	L20--Eolian processes and deserts: Geologic work of the wind; location of deserts; weathering and erosion in deserts Lecture 20 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	Ch. 21	Ch. 21
W 11/30	L21--Landscapes: Topography and relief; formation and development of landforms Lecture 21 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	p. 472-479	p. 492-498
M 12/5	L22--Coastal processes and landforms: formation of waves; wave erosion, transport, and sedimentation; coastal landforms; coastal hazards; tides; NJ shore Lecture 22 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	p. 558-577	p. 570-594
	Part IV: The Abyss of Time
W 12/7	L23--Geologic Time: Relative and absolute dating; correlation; geologic time scale Exercise Set D (Lectures 16-22) due Lecture 23 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	Ch. 12	Ch. 12
M 12/12	L24—Global change: Origin of the universe and solar system; formation of the Earth and its hydrosphere and atmosphere; cycles of supercontinent formation and breakup; mass extinctions and bolide impacts; geologic controls on global climate change. Lecture 24 Outline & Exercise Questions (2nd Edition)	Ch. 13, 23	Ch. 13, 23
W 12/21	EXAM 2 (Lectures 9-24): 12 - 3 pm Guidelines

Instructor's Obligations:

• I will provide students with an overview of the geological sciences and their societal relevance. In the process, I will share my excitement about geology with the class. 
• I will be prepared for class and be readily accessible out of class. 
• I will treat all students equally and with respect. 
• I will post lecture outlines as well as supplementary graphics and review questions on the WWW. 
• I will provide students with details regarding course format, the basis for assigning grades, and the nature and content of exams (see syllabus).
• I will grade problem sets, quizzes, and exams in a timely manner

Student's Obligations:

• I will arrive in a timely manner (no later than 5:05 pm), and remain in class until at least 6:15 pm. If I am unable to arrive on time and stay until the end of class, I will not attend the class and disrupt the other students or the instructor. 
• I will turn off my cell phone, pager, etc. during class. 
• I will download and read the lecture outlines and exercises before class.
• I will attend class, take notes, and participate in the discussions.
• I will read the assigned parts of the textbook in a timely manner. 
• I will answer the exercise questions and turn them in by the announced deadlines.
• I will review all material in a timely manner before the two exams. 
• If I do not understand something, I will ask questions in class, ask questions via email*, and/or visit the instructor during office hours.
• I will periodically check this site for updated information.