GEO 221: Minerals, Rocks, and Geologic Time

Fall 2012, Class number 9913, 3 credits

Lecture: ES-232, Tuesday and Thursday, 10:15-11:35 AM

Instructor: Stephen S. Howe, Instructional Support Specialist and Research Geochemist,

ES-352B, 442-5053, showe@albany.edu

Office hours: Tuesday, 12:00-1:00 PM, Wednesday, 11:00 AM-12:00 PM, and by appointment.

Teaching Assistant: Lauren Slawsky, ES-337, lslawsky@albany.edu

Office hours: Thursday, 12:00-2:00 PM, and by appointment.

Prerequisite: CHM 120 or CHM 130

Course objective: This course serves as an introduction to the science of geology, the study of the Earth. Lecture material will be supplemented by videos and samples of minerals, rocks, and geologic structures where appropriate. The knowledge gained by students in this course will allow them to place their current and future studies in environmental sciences into a geological context.

Topics to be covered include:

1. Evolution of the solar system and the early Earth

2. Theory of plate tectonics and development of tectonic provinces

3. Chemical composition, structure, and physical properties of minerals

4. Processes controlling the origin, composition, and emplacement of common igneous rocks

5. Weathering and downslope transport, depositional facies, and the origin of common sedimentary rocks

6. Formation and exhumation of metamorphic rocks

7. Formation of hydrothermal mineral deposits

8. Litho-, bio-, and chronostratigraphy

9. Quantitative methods for geologic age determination

Required text: Grotzinger, John, and Jordan, T. H., 2010, Understanding Earth, 6th ed.: New York, W. H. Freeman and Company, 654 p.

Course requirements: Although this course will generally follow the outline of the text, supplementary readings may be necessary. Class attendance is expected in order to keep up with the large amount of potentially unfamiliar concepts and terminology introduced during each lecture and incorporated in subsequent lectures. Two in-class exams (scheduled on Thursday, October 4th and Thursday, November 8th), each 33% of grade. Final exam (Wednesday, December 19th, 8:00-10:00 AM, ES-232), 33% of grade. Exams will cover all material presented in class, whether by lecture or videos, and all assigned reading. Grading for the course is A-E.

Missed exams: Make-up exams will not be given except for illness documented by a physician, official University-sponsored activities with appropriate documentation, or a death in the immediate family with a note from the Dean's office. For more information, students should consult the University's Medical Excuse Policy at http://www.albany.edu/health_center/medicalexcuse.shtml

Academic integrity: Cheating and plagiarism are unacceptable and will result in an automatic failing grade for this course. It is every student's responsibility to become familiar with the University's Standards of Academic Integrity detailed at http://www.albany.edu/undergraduate_bulletin/regulations.html