Geology 314/514: Sedimentology Fall 2011 (3 Credits)

Instructor: Eric Hiatt
Office: Harrington Hall 315
E-mail: hiatt@uwosh.edu
Phone: (920) 424-7001

Office hours: 10:30-11:30 M & W; 3:15-4:30 F and by appointment or chance.

Important Dates: 9/13/10 = Last day to add without instructor signature; 10/21 = last day to drop without late drop request or withdraw; Thanksgiving Break = November 23-27; Semester end = December 16; Graduation: December 17.

Schedule:

  • Lecture: Monday and Wednesday 9:10-10:10 AM, Harrington Hall 217.
  • Lab: Tuesday 1:50-5:10 PM, Harrington Hall 313.

Required for Lab: 10x-hand lens.

Picture of students

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UW-Oshkosh Geology students examining large-scale cross beds in Bermuda.


Grades: Laboratory* 25%
  Exam 1 20%
  Exam 2 20%
  Homework and quizzes 10%
  Final Exam 25%

 

 

 


* Laboratory grade includes assignments, participation, and field notebook. All lab assignments are due at the end of lab period, unless otherwise stated.

Here are some good resources for writing, properly citing sources, reference styles, and avoiding plagiarism, and here is a list of good resources to review writing, grammar, chemistry, math, and other sciences.

Note: You must attend and pass both lecture and lab, and turn in acceptable research reports to pass the overall course. Labs are informal and involve working with others; you must work well with others and show respect to fellow students. Rude, disruptive, and disrespectful behavior, including text messaging, will not be tolerated and can result in a lowered course grade and possible removal from the course.


Grade scale: 93% and up = A; 90-92 = A-; 87-89 = B+; 83-86 = B; 80-82 = B-; 77-79 = C+; 73-76 = C; 69-72 =C-; 66-68 = D+; 63-65 = D; 60-62 = D-; <60% = F

Graduate credit: Students enrolled in 514 (graduate credit) must meet with me to plan, develop and complete an additional research project.

Special Accommodations: Reasonable accommodations will be made for students with disabilities. Please contact Disability Services (424-3100 (voice) or 424-1319 (TTY)) or visit their web site at http://www.uwosh.edu/dean/disabilities.htm for the University’s accommodation request form and documentation requirements. Information related to an individual’s accommodation request will be kept confidential.

Academic Integrity: The Wisconsin Administrative Code states: “Students are responsible for the honest completion and representation of their work, for the appropriate citation of sources, and for respect of others academic endeavors.” (§ UWS 14.01) Plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct are serious offenses with severe penalties. See the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Student Discipline Code for definitions of academic misconduct and details about procedures, sanctions, and other relevant information. Specific questions about the provisions in the Student Discipline Code should be directed to the Dean of Students Office. If you do not understand this statement, please see me as soon as possible.

Boogs_textbook

Required text: **Boggs, S., Jr., 2012, Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, 5th ed.: Prentice Hall.

Previous editions (third or fourth editions) are acceptable.


Course Objectives: The purpose of this course is to give you the knowledge and skills necessary to describe, understand, and interpret sediments, sedimentary rocks and sedimentary environments. The history of the earth is to a large degree written in sedimentary rocks. This history includes the story of life, the development of very important economic deposits (including petroleum, coal, and uranium), and the development of a global climate favorable for the development of life as we know it. The ultimate goal of this course is to give you the ability to make careful observations, and from these interpret and understand modern and ancient sedimentary environments and stratigraphic successions.


Geology 314/514 Lecture Schedule:

Week of: Topic and reading:
Reading in Text *
Sept. 5 Introduction to sedimentology; sedimentary cycles, weathering processes; sediment production. Read textbook Introduction p. xvii-xix.
chp. 1
Sept. 12 Classification of siliciclastic rocks; sediment maturity; introduction to fluid mechanics; grain transport and deposition.
chps. 2 & 3
Sept. 19 Clastic depositional systems; sedimentary structures.
chp. 4
Sept. 26 Tectonic regimes and terrigenous clastic sediments; facies concepts.
chps. 5 & 8
Oct. 3 Fluvial depositional systems.
chp. 8
Oct. 10 Exam 1; Eolian depositional systems.
chp. 8
Oct. 17 Marine and deltaic depositional systems; bioturbation.  
  Required field trip: All day Saturday, Oct. 22 (Bring hand lens, sack lunch, note book, jacket)
chp. 9
Oct. 24 Marine shelf environments.
chps. 6 &11
Oct. 31 Oceanographic controls on sedimentation. Shallow marine environments I.
chp. 11
Nov. 7 Exam 2. Shallow marine environments II: Shelf and tidal flat depositional environments.
chps. 9 & 11
Nov. 14 Petroleum: origin and occurrence.
chp. 10
Nov. 21 Deep water marine environments; Thanksgiving Break (Nov. 23-27).
chp 7, p. 229
Nov. 28 Pelagic Sediments.
chp. 5
Dec. 5 Introduction to biochemical and chemical sediments: carbonate rocks and evaporites. Reefs.
chp. 12
Dec. 12 Review, Final Exam (Tuesday Dec. 13 during our lab time).

* Refers to chapters and pages in: Boggs, S., Jr., 2012, Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, 5th ed.: Prentice Hall.

Important Dates:
Last day to drop without Late Drop Appeal: October 21
.
Thanksgiving Break: November 23-27.
Last Exam: Wednesday, December 14.
Last day of classes: December 16.
Graduation: December 17.

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