GEO 416S EARTH AND PLANETARY PROCESSES THRU TIME

GEO 416S Earth and Planetary Processes Thru Time
Fall 2024
T/TH 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
JGB 2.218
Unique #26795

Matthew Malkowski and Kyle Spikes

Link to Syllabus:  Earth and Planetary Processes Thru Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Class Photos & Videos

 

This course provides the basis of modern physical, chemical, and biological processes through the prism of Texas’s changing rivers and coastlines. We will look at the dramatic changes that have occurred across the Texas continental shelf since the last Ice Age. Students will see these features up close and in person on their first field trip to the Trinity River and to Galveston, TX. We will then step into deep geological time through an exploration of the Permian of West Texas to explore how continental margins are constructed and how we use life to study changing environments over long timescales. The second field trip will take the students to Guadalupe Mountains National Park to see one of the best preserved reef systems of Permian age (250­–300 million years old). Ultimately, we will illustrate how an understanding of geological processes on Earth may be used to interpret planetary systems. Along the way we emphasize underlying tenets of the history of life, geologic time, and surface processes. We will introduce quantitative methods to study both the Earth’s surface and its subsurface. We will expose students to myriad directions they can learn more deeply about the evolving surface of the Earth and other planets.

Objectives of this course

  • Introduce JSG undergrads to the basic concepts (tenets) of the geosciences in the subsurface, surface, and life of the past and present.
  • To accomplish this through a module-based pedagogy that includes the classroom, laboratory, and field observations.
  • Provide a roadmap for students to further pursue topics/questions of interest.
  • Four modules will explore modern physical, chemical, and biological processes through:
    ~ Present & Human Interaction
    ~ Reconstructing the Pleistocene to Present
    ~ Reconstructing the Environments in ‘Deep Time’
    ~ Reconstruction environments on Mars