CLASS SCHEDULE & LECTURE NOTES
Week of Jan. 24
1/24 Lecture: Introduction: It's About Time
1/24 Lab: Introduction to the Lab
1/25: Pre-Course Knowledge Survey due on ELMS
1/26 Lecture: Every Rock is a Record of History: Historical Approaches to Lithology
Reading: Chaps. 1, 2
Week of Jan. 29
1/29 Lecture: Terrestrial Sedimentary Environments
1/31 Lecture: Fluvial & Deltaic Environments & Walther's Law
1/31 Lab: Sedimentary Rock Classification
2/1 Quiz 1 due
2/2 Lecture: Coastal and Marine Environments; Transgressions and Regressions
Readings: Chap. 5
Week of Feb. 5
2/5 Lecture: Physical Stratigraphy
2/7 Lecture: Index Fossils, Correlation & Radiometric Dating
2/7 Lab: Sedimentary Structures & Depositional Environments
2/8 Quiz 2 due
2/9 Lecture: Lithostratigraphy, Biostratigraphy & the Geologic Timescale
Reading: Chap. 6
Week of Feb. 12
2/12 Lecture: Another Geography: Plate Tectonics
2/14 Lecture: Every Valley Shall Be Exalted...: Orogenesis I
2/14 Lab: The Ordering of Geological Events
2/15 Quiz 3 due
2/16 Lecture: ...And Every Mountain and Hill Made Low: Orogenesis II and Geochemical Cycles
Readings: Chaps. 8, 9, 10
Week of Feb. 19
2/19 Lecture: Fossils & Fossilization
2/21 Lecture: Evolution I: On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection
2/21 Lab: Biostratigraphy, Geochronology, Magnetostratigraphy
2/22 Quiz 4 due
2/23 Lecture: Evolution II: Patterns, Process & Phylogeny
Readings: Chaps. 3, 4, 7
Week of Feb. 26
2/26 Lecture: Introduction to the Strange Aeons of the Precambrian: The Hadean Eon
MIDTERM EXAM I: Available online 2/27-28
2/28 Lecture: The Archean Eon I: Black Earth, Blue Earth, Grey Earth
2/28 Lab: Physical Stratigraphy
3/1 Lecture: The Archean Eon II: Biogenesis(Lecture will be recorded on Panopto in advance; we will not meet in person this day.)
Readings: Chap. 11
Week of Mar. 4
3/4 Lecture: The Proterozoic Eon I: Birth of Modern Geology (Lecture will be recorded on Panopto in advance; we will not meet in person this day.)
3/6 Lecture: The Proterozoic Eon II: Rodinia and Pannotia
3/6 Lab: Introduction to Paleontology: Fossils and Fossilization
3/7 Quiz 5 due
3/8 Lecture: The Proterozoic Eon III: Snowball Earth & the Garden of Ediacara
Readings: Chap. 12
Week of Mar. 11
3/11 Lecture: The Early Paleozoic Era I
3/13 Lecture: The Early Paleozoic Era II
3/13 Lab: Common Fossilizing Organisms I
3/14 Quiz 6 due
3/15 Lecture: The Middle Paleozoic Era I
Readings: Chaps. 13, 14
Week of Mar. 18
SPRING BREAK (Use your break to relax, but stay safe and healthy!)
Week of Mar. 25
3/25 Lecture: The Middle Paleozoic Era II
3/27 Lecture: The Late Paleozoic Era I
3/27 Lab: Common Fossilizing Organisms II
3/28 Quiz 7 due
3/29 Lecture: The Late Paleozoic Era II
Readings: Chaps. 14, 15
Week of Apr. 1
4/1 Lecture: The Late Paleozoic Era III
4/3 Lecture: The Late Paleozoic Era IV & The Early Mesozoic Era I
4/3 Lab: Geologic Map Interpretation
4/4 Quiz 8 due
4/5 Lecture: The Early Mesozoic Era II
Readings: Chaps. 15, 16
4/6 Optional Field Trip to Western Maryland
Week of Apr. 8
4/8 Lecture: The Early Mesozoic Era III
4/10 Lecture: The Cretaceous Period I
4/10 Lab: Precambrian, Paleozoic, & Appalachian Geology
MIDTERM EXAM II: Available online 4/11-12
4/12 Lecture: The Cretaceous Period II (Lecture will be recorded on Panopto in advance; we will not meet in person this day.)
Readings: Chaps. 16, 17
Week of Apr. 15
4/15 Lecture: The Cretaceous Period III (Lecture will be recorded on Panopto in advance; we will not meet in person this day.)
4/17 Lecture: The Paleogene Period I
4/17 Lab: Post-Paleozoic & Cordilleran Geology
4/18 Quiz 9 due
4/19 Lecture: The Paleogene Period II
Readings: Chaps. 17, 18
Week of Apr. 22
4/22 Lecture: The Neogene Period I
4/24 Lecture: The Neogene Period II
4/24 Lab: Quaternary Geology and Climate Change
4/25 Quiz 10 due
4/26 Lecture: The Quaternary Period I
Readings: Chaps. 19, 20
Week of Apr. 29
4/29 Lecture: The Quaternary Period II
5/1 Lecture: To the Anthropocene and Beyond!
5/1 Lab: Field Trip: Upper Cretaceous & Paleogene Deposits of Prince Georges County
5/2 Quiz 11 due
5/3 Lecture: Historical Geology of Maryland
Readings: Chaps. 20
Week of May 6
5/6 Lecture: Historical Geology Tour of North America
5/8 Lecture: Course Review and New Discoveries
5/8 Lab: Field Trip: Lower Cretaceous Deposits of Dinosaur Park, Laurel, MD
5/9 Quiz 12 due
Readings: Chaps. 20
Week of May 13
FINAL EXAM: Available online 5/14-15
For a formatted printable copy of the complete syllabus, click here.
