Download Syllabus Danish International Geology 2014

NORTH SEATTLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
GEOLOGY for Danish International Students
Fall Quarter, 2014
Syllabus
INSTRUCTOR:
EMAIL:
REFERENCED TEXT:
Linda M. Khandro, MAT
[email protected]
GEOL, by Wickander and Monroe, Cengage Publishers
The theme for this course is: Earthquakes and Volcanos, but it includes introductions to
Minerals, the Rock Cycle, Plate Tectonics, and Mountain Building. We will also talk
about the geology of Denmark.
Before we get started, this website below is the one that your instrutors in Denmark expect
you to study. The content here is the same as what you will study with me, but you may be
more familiar with it, so please ask any questions if you have difficulty matching up content
from different sources: http://ansatte.uit.no/kare.kullerud/webgeology/
This theme covers these items, which you will study and explain by exercises and exams.
1. The Rock Cycle:
Types of Rocks (igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, and metamorphic rocks) and the minerals
from which they form.
2. Plate Tectonics:
The parts of the Earth - crust, mantle, inner and outer core, lithosphere, asthenosphere,
Alfred Wegener (the theory of continental drift)
The theory of plate tectonics (Pangaea)
Mantle convection (the driving force behind plate tectonics)
Lithosphere plates (oceanic crust and continental crust)
Mid-ocean ridges and subduction-zone trenches
Three types of plate boundaries:
3. Earthquakes:
What is an earthquake?
Where and why do earthquakes occur at the Earth?
Seismic waves (P wave, S wave, L Wave)
Hypocentre (focus) and Epicentre
Faults (horizontal and vertical)
The Richter scale
Tsunamis
4. Volcanoes
What is a volcano?
Why and where do we have volcanoes on the Earth?
Magma and magmatism
The different types of volcanoes (shield, strata or composite, and explosive)
Volcanic products
Hot spot
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5. Mountain building:
How do mountain building regions and episodes (orogenesis) relate to plate tectonics?
Fold mountains (young mountains)
Fault-block mountains (mature mountains)
Isostasy and isostatic equilibrium/non-equilibrium
Weekly Outline of Topics and Assignments
Week 1:
Topic: The Rock Cycle
Assignment in class: Igneous Rocks Classification
Assignment as homework: The Rock Cycle (web-based)
Week 2:
Topic: Plate Tectonics
Assignment in class: Tsunami study (Sumatra 2004 and Japan 2011)
Assignment as homework: Dynamic Earth (web-based)
Homework Quiz #1: The Rock Cycle and Plate Tectonics
Week 3:
Topic: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Assignment in class: Mt St Helens and Mt Rainier map study
Assignment as homework: Earthquake Epicenters and Magnitudes (web-based)
Week 4:
Topic: Volcanoes (cont’d) and Mountain Building
Assignment in class: Iceland map study
Assignment as homework: TBD
Homework Quiz #2: Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Mountain Building
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