GSCI 100 - Intro Geology

Topics: Surficial Processes Wrap-up and Review
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C

Topics: Shorelines & Coastal Processes
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C

The Challenge: Identify seven (7) desert landforms in Google Earth from the following list:

• a star dune
• a transverse dune
• a parabolic (blowout) dune
• a barchan dune
• a longitudinal (linear) dune
• an alluvial fan
• a playa
• a mesa
• a yardang
• an arroyo

For each of the landforms that you identify, create a placemark (make sure the thumbtack points directly to the feature in question) and include a brief description (in the Description box) of how the feature is formed, including whether it is a result of erosion or deposition. If the feature is formed by blowing winds, indicate the direction that the prevailing winds are blowing. To receive credit you must e-mail me these seven placemarks in a single folder entitled “[insert Your Name]’s GeoChallenge #21 Placemarks”. Try to include features from no less than 5 different continents.

The Challenge: Identify ten (10) glacial landforms in Google Earth from the following list:

• an alpine glacier
• a piedmont glacier
• a medial moraine
• a lateral moraine
• an end moraine
• a horn
• an arete
• a cirque
• a tarn
• a roche moutonee
• a drumlin
• an esker
• a kettle lake
• a hanging valley
• a U-shaped valley
• a fjord
• a pitted outwash plain
• a braided river that drains meltwater from an active glacier

For each of the landforms that you identify, create a placemark (make sure the thumbtack points directly to the feature in question) and include a brief description (in the Description box) of how the feature is formed, including whether it is a result of erosion or deposition in an Alpine or Continental glacial setting. To receive credit you must e-mail me these ten placemarks in a single folder entitled “[insert Your Name]’s GeoChallenge #20 Placemarks”. Try to include features from no less than 5 different continents.

Topics: Deserts
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C

As noted in class the number of GeoChallenges required to be completed has been revised from 15 down to 5. Note however, that GeoChallenges still account for 15% of the final course grade; thus each GeoChallenge not completed will count 3 points off you final average - a substantial portion of a grade. Don’t let this happen to you. A number of GeoChallenges can be completed online in a reasonable amount of time (e.g., GeoChallenges #5, #9, and #15). All GeoChallenges must be completed by midnight on Friday, December 7th. No Exceptions.

Topics: Glaciation & Climate Change
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C

Topics: Glaciers & Glacial Landforms
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C

Topics: Groundwater
Caves & Karst
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C

Topics: Exam #4 - Study Guide
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C

Topics: Drainage Basins and the Evolution of Valleys; Quantifying River Behavior
Homework #9 (Graded) Due
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C

Topics: The Hydrologic Cycle; River Features
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C

The Challenge: This Tuesday night (11/13/07) at 8:00pm on PBS (Eagle cable channel 9), NOVA will broadcast a two hour special “Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial“. In order to earn credit for this GeoChallenge you should watch this program and comment in response to this blog post your reaction to it. If you are unable to watch the program you may comment on materials on the accompanying website.

Attend this afternoon’s geology lecture:

Dr. Matt Brueseke, Assistant Professor of Geology at Kansas State University

“Mid-Miocene Magmatic System Development in the Northwestern United States.”

Friday, Nov. 9
Tomanek Hall 106
3:30 p.m.

Topics: Mass Wasting
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C

Topics: Sedimentary Rock Classification; Energy Resources from Sedimentary Rocks
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C

Topics: Erosion, Transport, and Deposition; Depositional Environments
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C

Topics: Weathering & Soils
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C

Topics: Metamorphic Rock Classification; Plate Tectonics and Metamorphism
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C

Topics: Types of Metamorphic Change; Agents of Metamorphism
Lecture Notes - Podcasts: Section B, Section C