HISTORICAL GEOLOGY

Catalog description

Emphasis on geologic time; no other discipline offers such a long time perspective relevant to modern decision-making. Includes: review of basic Earth materials; plate-tectonic framework for interpreting Earth history; absolute dating techniques and the age of the Earth's formation; depositional environments and interpretation of sedimentary rocks as a tool of paleogeography; lithostratigraphic principles and relative dating by Steno's laws and cross-cutting relationships; basic principles of paleontology, including overview of taxonomy, processes of fossilization, evolutionary principles, biostratigraphic principles; systematic examination of tectonic setting, paleogeography, paleobiology, and paleoclimate for each period of Earth's history. Lecture and laboratory. Pre-requisite: A grade of 'C' or better in GEOL-101 .