Geology 335 - Earth Surface Processes (Geomorphology)

Spring 2012 Syllabus

 

 

Lectures:            Monday & Wednesday                    12:00 - 1:15                         MLH 115

Laboratory         Tuesday                                             3:00 - 6:00                         MLH 115

 

Instructor:          Tom C. Walker tcwalker@lcsc.edu                                             792 – 2798                           MLH 120C

Office Hours:     Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday   8:00 – 9:00                           Or By Appointment

Required Text: Ritter, D.F., Kochel, R.C., and Miller, J.R., 2002, Process Geomorphology (Fifth Edition):

Dubuque, IA, William C. Brown, 560 p. ISBN: 1-57766-669-0

 

Weekly Schedule
Lab Field Sites
Grading Scale
Syllabus Addendum

 

 

GEOL-335 EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES (4 CR.)

This course examines the evolution of natural landscapes by water, wind, ice and tectonic processes. Topics include: weathering and mass wasting, neotectonics, fluvial geomorphology, glacial geomorphology, and Quaternary geology field techniques. To help understand these dynamic processes we will integrate concepts and investigate processes from sedimentology and stratigraphy.

Approximately one third of instructional time is spent in the field. Lecture and laboratory.
Pre-requisite: a grade of “C” or better in GEOL 100. Lab fee.

Laboratory: Many of the Tuesday’s Labs will be conducted outside! Please make sure that you wear or bring clothes appropriate for Laboratory work and outside activities!! This course does require an amount of walking over uneven ground and occasionally steep terrain and will be conducted during inclement weather.

 Attendence and Participation: It is very simple - to pass this class you must be here, be willing to participate and share ideas.

If you feel there is any physical or mental challenge (including physical disabilities or perceptual impairments) that may impede your ability to participate in the class, please let me know so that we can make arrangements. You may speak to me before or after class, during office hours, by e-mail, or any other way that meets your needs. Please inform me of any pertinent emergency medical information or any special accommodations you might need in case the building must be evacuated.

Classroom Etiquette: Cell phones going off and text messaging in class will NOT be tolerated!  Cell phones must be stored away.  If a cell phone goes off, or if I see someone text messaging I will confiscate the cell phone and will hold on to it until the class is over.  This is your first and only warning.

In the event of academic dishonesty, those involved will receive an "F" grade for the assignment and will be referred to the Director of Student Life. As defined in the LCSC Student Handbook, Academic Dishonesty includes:

Cheating—intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or study aids in any academic exercise. The term "academic exercise" includes all forms of work submitted for credit hours.

Fabrication—intentional and/or unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or the source of any information in an academic exercise.

Collusion facilitating academic dishonesty—intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to commit an act of Academic Dishonesty.

Plagiarism—the deliberate adoption or reproduction of ideas or words or statement of another person as one’s own without acknowledgment.

 

Point Values:

     Exams will vary in point values: Point values will be provided for each question presented. 

      14 LABS @ 25 points each = 350 Points

 

 

Grading Scale:

 

A    > 94%

A-    90 – 93%

 

B+     87 – 89%

B     83 – 86%

B-    80 – 83%

C+     77 – 79%

C     73 – 76%

C-    70 – 72%

D+     67 – 69%

D     60 – 66%

F  < 60%

 

 

 

Weekly Schedule

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Date

Reading Requirement

Exams

PowerPoint Presentation Links

Week 1

January 18


Course Introduction:
requirements & expectations

Chapter 1
Wed Pgs 1 - 19

 

Basic Concepts of Geomorphology


Udden-Wentworth Grain-size Scale

 Week 2

Jan 23 & 25

Chapter 2

Mon  Pgs 21 - 31

Wed  Pgs 31 - 41

 

Internal Forces as External Controls for Landforms
Orogenies of Western North America

Sequence Stratigraphy

Week 3

Jan 30 & Feb 1

Chapter 3
Mon Pgs 43 - 58

Wed Pgs 58 - 71

 


Chemical Weathering
Orogenies of Western North America

Sequence Stratigraphy

 

Week 4

Feb 6 & 8


Chapter 3
Mon Pgs 71 - 78

 

Soils

Week 5

Feb 13 & 15

Chapter 4
Mon Pgs 92 - 99

Wed Pgs 99 - 123
  Gradational Processes

Exam #1 Chapter 1 & 2

Answer KEY for Exam #1

Week 6

Feb 22


Mon President's Day
Chapter 4
Wed Pgs 79 - 92

 

 

Unconsolidated Debris

Slope Stability
National Geophysical Data Center

Landslide Slide Sets

 

 

Week 7

Feb 27 & 29

 

Chapter 5
Mon Pgs 135 - 140

Wed  Pgs 141 - 156

 

Week 8

Mar 5 & 7

Chapter 4
Wed Pgs 123 - 133

 

Physical Weathering

Week 9

Mar 19 & 21


Chapter 5

Mon Pgs 150 - 166

Wed Pgs 166 - 176

 

The Drainage Basin

Week 10

Mar 26 & 28

 

Chapter 5
Mon Pgs 176 - 190

Wed Pgs 190 - 209

 

 

 

Surface & Groundwater

 
Cross-bedding, bedforms & Paleocurrents

Jeremy Venditti: Research Awesome Graphics

Week 11

Apr 2 & 4

Chapter 6
Mon Pgs 219 - 230
Transportation
Entrainment
Erosion of bedrock channele
Bank erosion
Deposition

Wed Pgs 231 - 258
Frequency & Magnitude
Channel Morphology
Channel slope
Channel shape
Channel patterns
Rivers, Equilibrium, & Time

 

Fluvial Processes

Erosion, Transport, & Deposition


Scottish Road Network Landslides Study  The Full Report

 

All Bedforms & Bedform Sedimentology USGS

Week 12

Apr 9 & 11

Chapter 7
Mon Pgs 262 - 274
Floodplains
Wed Pgs 274 - 282
Fluvial terraces

 

 

Fluvial Landforms

Week 13

Apr 16 & 18

Chapter 7
Mon Pgs 282 - 303

The Piedmont Environment

 

 

 

Week 14

Apr 23 & 25

 



 

 

Week 15

Apr 30 & May 2

 

 

 

Week 16

May 14 - 18

 

Finals Week

 

 

 

 

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            References:

Lemke, Karen A., Geography/Geology Department, University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, Stevens Point, WI 54481

            Compton, Robert R., 1985. Geology in the Field. Wiley Press, New York, pp. 229-234

            Invertebrate Paleontology, Trenton, Intro to Sedimentology, Sedimentary Processes & Structures

            University of South Carolina - Geology Department

            Hanson, Lindley, Department of Geological Sciences, Salem State College, Geomorphology

 

 

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Lab Field Sites

 

 

Laboratory

Destination

Geologic Interest

Week 1
    January 17

NO LAB - No Van Needed

 

Week 2
    January 24

Asotin Cemetery
  Asotin County, Highway 129

Valley overlook of Tammany Bar, the unofficial name for the large Bonneville Flood expansion bar on the Idaho side of the Snake River.

 Week 3
    January 31

Scablands of Eastern Washington & Palouse Falls

Road log for flood & backwater flow path of Glacial Lake Missoula Floods to identify landforms

Week 4
    February 7

Starbuck

Road-cuts along Hwy 261 reveal exposures of Glacial Lake Missoula floods & gravels

Week 5
   February 14

Tammany Bar
  Nez Perce County

Glacial Lake Missoula backwater deposits at access point to Corps of Engineers Wildlife Habitat Area

 Week 6
   February 21

Old Lapwai Road
  Nez Perce County

Road-cut exposure of Lickskillet soil profile

Week 7
   February 28

Hwy 129 between Clarkston & Asotin
  Asotin County

For walking distance access to numerous earth slides and slumps in area

Week 8
    March 6

Crichfield Road
  Asotin County

Comparative analysis of basalt confined stream & gravel confined stream channels

Week 9
    March 20

Nez Perce, Whitman, & Asotin Counties
  Numerous stops throughout area

Lithologic analysis of gravel exposures throughout the Clearwater & Snake Rivers confluence

Week 10
    March 27

Nez Perce, Whitman, & Asotin Counties
  Numerous stops throughout area

Asotin County
  Numerous stops throughout area

Week 11
    April 3

Paffile Trucking Company
  Nez Perce County, Hatwai Road

Gravel Pit on private road revealing excellent exposure of  Clearwater River sands & gravels

 Week 12
    April 10

Kendrick Grade

Stratigraphic analysis to identify and describe depositional stratigraphy & paleocurrents

Week 13
    April 17

Asotin County
  Numerous stops throughout area

Surficial geology mapping project covering the Clarkston and Asotin 7.5 min topo quad maps

Week 14
    April 24

Wawawai River Road (Hwy 193)
  J&G Hunting Club

Best access for large truncated alluvial fan analysis and comparative analysis with debris flows in area

Week 15
     May 1

Asotin County
  Numerous stops thoughout area

Surficial geology mapping project covering the Clarkston and Asotin 7.5 min topo quad maps

 

 

 

 

 

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Syllabus Addendum

 

Consumer Information

In 2008, the federal government required all post-secondary institutions offering federal financial aid programs to provide key data to both prospective and current students.  To comply with this requirement, Lewis-Clark State College has developed a consumer information page, which may be accessed at http://www.lcsc.edu/studentconsumerinformation/

 

Disability Accommodations

Students requiring special accommodations or course adaptations due to a disability and/or a health-related issue should consult their course instructors and the LCSC Student Counseling Center immediately (RCH 111, 792-2211).  Official documentation may be required in order to provide an accommodation and/or adaptation.

 

Student Rights and Responsibilities

Students have the responsibility for knowing their program requirements, course requirements, and other information associated with their enrollment at LCSC.  Students should review the LCSC General Catalog (http://www.lcsc.edu/catalog/) and the LCSC Student Handbook (available at http://www.lcsc.edu/studentservices/contactus.htm) for more information.

 

Accidents/Student Insurance

Students participating in LCSC classes normally must look to their personal health insurance policy (Student Health Insurance Plan or comparable private coverage) should an accident occur.  In the event of an accident, please seek medical help, if necessary, and report the incident to LCSC Security (792-2226).  Fieldtrips or other special student activities may also require students to submit a signed participation waiver (forms can be obtained from the supporting Division Office).

 

Enrollment Verification/Attendance

Students who are not actively pursuing their classes may have to repay part or all of their financial aid awards depending upon the circumstances.

 

Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty, which includes cheating and plagiarism, is not tolerated at LCSC.  Individual faculty members will impose their own policies and sanctions regarding academic dishonesty.  Students who are accused of being academically dishonest may be referred to the Dean of Student Services for official disciplinary action.

 

Illegal File Sharing

Students using LCSC’s computers and/or computer network must comply with the college’s appropriate use policies and are prohibited from illegally downloading or sharing data files of any kind.  Specific information about the college’s technology policies and its protocols for combating illegal file sharing may be found on the Dean of Student Services’ web page (http://www.lcsc.edu/studentservices/).

 

Diversity Vision Statement

Regardless of race, color, age, sex, religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation, you will be treated and respected as a human being. http://www.lcsc.edu/culturaldiversity/

 

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