CLASS SCHEDULE & LECTURE NOTES
Week of Jan. 27
1/27 Lecture: Introduction: It's About Time
1/29 Lecture: Every Rock is a Record of History: Historical Approaches to Lithology
1/29 Lab: Sedimentary Rock Classification
1/30: Pre-Course Knowledge Survey due on ELMS
1/31 Lecture: Terrestrial Sedimentary Environments
Reading: Chaps. 1, 2, 5
Week of Feb. 3
2/3 Lecture: Fluvial & Deltaic Environments & Walther's Law
2/5 Lecture: Coastal and Marine Environments; Transgressions and Regressions
2/5 Lab: Sedimentary Structures & Depositional Environments
2/7 Lecture: Physical Stratigraphy
2/7 Quiz 1 due
Readings: Chap. 5, 6
Week of Feb. 10
2/10 Lecture: Index Fossils, Correlation & Radiometric Dating
2/12 Lecture: Lithostratigraphy, Biostratigraphy & the Geologic Timescale
2/12 Lab: cancelled due to snow day
2/14 Lecture: Another Geography: Plate Tectonics
2/14 Quiz 2 due
Reading: Chap. 6, 8
Week of Feb. 17
2/17 Lecture: Every Valley Shall Be Exalted...: Orogenesis I
2/19 Lecture: ...And Every Mountain and Hill Made Low: Orogenesis II and Geochemical Cycles
2/19 Lab: The Ordering of Geological Events
2/21 Lecture: Fossils & Fossilization
2/21 Quiz 3 due
Readings: Chaps. 3, 4, 8, 9, 10
Week of Feb. 24
2/24 Lecture: Evolution I: On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection
2/26 Lecture: Evolution II: Patterns, Process & Phylogeny
2/26 Lab: Biostratigraphy, Geochronology, Magnetostratigraphy
2/28 Lecture: Introduction to the Strange Aeons of the Precambrian: The Hadean Eon (Lecture will be recorded on Panopto in advance; we will not meet in person this day.)
2/28 Quiz 4 due
Readings: Chaps. 3, 4, 7, 11
Week of Mar. 3
3/3 Lecture: The Archean Eon I: Black Earth, Blue Earth, Grey Earth (Lecture will be recorded on Panopto in advance; we will not meet in person this day.)
MIDTERM EXAM I: Available online 3/4-5
3/5 Lecture: The Archean Eon II: Biogenesis
3/5 Lab: Physical Stratigraphy
3/7 Lecture: The Proterozoic Eon I: Birth of Modern Geology
Readings: Chaps. 11, 12
Week of Mar. 10
3/10 Lecture: The Proterozoic Eon II: Rodinia and Pannotia
3/12 Lecture: The Proterozoic Eon III: Snowball Earth & the Garden of Ediacara
3/12 Lab: Introduction to Paleontology: Fossils and Fossilization
3/14 Lecture: The Early Paleozoic Era I
3/14 Quiz 5 due
Readings: Chap. 12, 13
Week of Mar. 17
SPRING BREAK (Use your break to relax, but stay safe and healthy!)
Week of Mar. 24
3/24 Lecture: The Early Paleozoic Era II
3/26 Lecture: The Middle Paleozoic Era I
3/26 Lab: Common Fossilizing Organisms I
3/28 Lecture: The Middle Paleozoic Era II
3/28 Quiz 6 due
Readings: Chaps. 13, 14
Week of Mar. 31
3/31 Lecture: The Late Paleozoic Era I
4/2 Lecture: The Late Paleozoic Era II
4/2 Lab: Common Fossilizing Organisms II
4/4 Lecture: The Late Paleozoic Era III
4/4 Quiz 7 due
Readings: Chaps. 15
Week of Apr. 7
4/7 Lecture: The Late Paleozoic Era IV & The Early Mesozoic Era I
4/9 Lecture: The Early Mesozoic Era II
4/9 Lab: Geologic Map Interpretation
MIDTERM EXAM II: Available online 4/10-11
4/11 Lecture: The Early Mesozoic Era III
Readings: Chaps. 15, 16
Week of Apr. 14
4/14 Lecture: The Cretaceous Period I
4/16 Lecture: The Cretaceous Period II
4/16 Lab: Precambrian, Paleozoic, & Appalachian Geology
4/18 Lecture: The Cretaceous Period III
4/18 Quiz 8 due
Readings: Chaps. 17
Week of Apr. 21
4/21 Lecture: The Paleogene Period I
4/23 Lecture: The Paleogene Period II
4/23 Lab: Post-Paleozoic & Cordilleran Geology
4/25 Lecture: The Neogene Period I
4/25 Quiz 9 due
Readings: Chaps. 17, 18
4/27 Optional Field Trip to Western Maryland
Week of Apr. 28
4/28 Lecture: The Neogene Period II
4/30 Lecture: The Quaternary Period I
4/30 Lab: Quaternary Geology and Climate Change
5/2 Lecture: The Quaternary Period II
5/2 Quiz 10 due
Readings: Chaps. 19, 20
Week of May 5
5/5 Lecture: To the Anthropocene and Beyond!
5/7 Lecture: Historical Geology of Maryland
5/7 Lab: Field Trip: Lower Cretaceous Deposits of Dinosaur Park, Laurel, MD
5/9 Lecture: Historical Geology Tour of North America
5/9 Quiz 11 due
Readings: Chaps. 20
Week of May 12
5/11 Lecture: Course Review and New Discoveries
FINAL EXAM: Available online 5/14-15
For a formatted printable copy of the complete syllabus, click here.
