COURSE SYLLABUS

 

Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, 2011

Professor:  Ben Greenstein, Norton 102, ext. 4307

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Meeting Times:

We will meet mornings 9-11, and afternoons 1:15-3, although class meetings may not last the entire time, nor will we meet every afternoon.

 

Field Trips:

There are three required field trips, Thursday, October 6th, Friday, October 14th, and Friday October 21st..  The van departs from the Commons at 8:00 a.m. for the first trip, and 8:30 for the second two.  We will return from the first two trips by 5 p.m. and by 2 p.m. after the third trip.

 

Course text:  Prothero and Schwab, 2004, Sedimentary Geology, 2nd Edition, W. H. Freeman & Co., N. Y.

 

Evaluation:  I will use a variety of methods to assess your performance in this course.  Graded work will include exams, laboratory reports (both written and oral) two extended projects and a term paper/field project.  I will not grade any work turned in late!  Enthusiasm and thoughtful participation in discussions, lab and on the field trip counts, even if only subjectively.  Formula for grading will be as follows:

                        Lab projects (6)          40%

                        Exam I                         20%

                        Term paper/project     20%

                        Exam II                        20%                            

 

Course Objectives: This course will expose you to analysis of sedimentary rocks at spatial scales ranging from outcrop exposure to thin section. I take a process-response approach to sedimentology – you will learn the processes responsible for sediment production, transport and deposition and observe the responses in outcrop, hand sample and thin section. You will learn basic concepts of stratigraphy and apply them to Òreal worldÓ problems using the latest geologic software. All of the concepts introduced in this course are integrated into a term-long field/laboratory and term paper project that will allow you to explore the geological history of this region.

 

Academic Honesty: Cornell College expects all members of the Cornell community to act with academic integrity.  An important aspect of academic integrity is respecting the work of others.  A student is expected to explicitly acknowledge ideas, claims, observations, or data of others, unless generally known.  When a piece of work is submitted for credit, a student is asserting that the submission is her or his work unless there is a citation of a specific source.  If there is no appropriate acknowledgement of sources, whether intended or not, this may constitute a violation of the CollegeÕs requirement for honesty in academic work and may be treated as a case of academic dishonesty.  The procedures regarding how the College deals with cases of academic dishonesty appear in The Compass, our student handbook, under the heading ÒAcademic Policies – Honesty in Academic Work.Ó

 

Students with Disabilities: Students who need accommodations for learning disabilities must provide documentation from a professional qualified to diagnose learning disabilities.  For more information see: cornellcollege.edu/disabilities/documentation/index.shtml

 

Students requesting services may schedule a meeting with the disabilities services coordinator as early as possible to discuss their needs and develop an individualized accommodation plan.  Ideally, this meeting would take place well before the start of classes.

 

At the beginning of each course, the student must notify the instructor within the first three days of the term of any accommodations needed for the duration of the course.

 

COURSE SCHEDULE

 

WEEK ONE – Siliciclastic Deposition

DAY 1

Introduction, Depositional Basins (Chap 1); Lab 1: Qualitative and quantitative analysis of siliciclastic sediments

     

 

DAY 2

Weathering (Chap. 2, to p. 25); Hydrodynamics I: Entrainment, transport and deposition

 

DAY 3

Hydrodynamics I –cont-; Hydrodynamics II: Bedforms (Chap. 3); Afternoon library session, 2 p.m. in Cole 212

 

DAY 4

Field trip: Wyoming Hill; Wildcat Den State Park;

 

DAY 5

Lab 1 due, 9 a.m., Oral Reports, Lab 2: Sedimentary structures (Chap. 4)

 

 

WEEK TWO – Non-siliciclastic Deposition

DAY 6

Lab 2 due, 9 a.m.. Siliciclastic,rocks, Lab 3: Siliciclastic rock classification,

(Chaps. 5, 6, 7)

 

DAY 7

Nonsiliclastic Rocks, Lab 4: Carbonate Rocks

(Chap. 11, 13, 14)

 

DAY 8

Limestone and Dolomite

(Chap. 11)

 

DAY 9

Midterm Exam

 

DAY 10

Field Trip: Conklin Quarry ; Lab 3 due, 8:30 a.m.

 

 

 

WEEK THREE – Depositional Systems, Stratigraphy

DAY 11

Introduction to depositional systems, Stratigraphy I: Facies, Lithostratigraphy, Lab 5: Biostratigraphy (Chap. 15, 16)

Lab 4 due, 9 a.m.

     

DAY 12

Alluvial and deltaic systems          

(Chap. 8 through p. 144; Chap. 9 through p. 168)

 

DAY 13

Stratigraphy II, Lab 6: Basin Analysis

(Chap. 17, 18)

 

DAY 14

Coastal systems, Lab 5 due, 9 a.m.

      (Chap. 9, 12)

 

DAY 15

Field Trip: Klein Quarry

 

WEEK FOUR

DAY 16

Carbonate Systems, Lab 6 due, 9 a.m

 

DAY 17

Term Paper/Project due, 9 a.m., Catch-up as needed

 

DAY 18

Final Exam