Geology 116: California Rocks!
Instructor: Mary Leech
Course information:
Tuesdays 7-8:50pm, Spring quarter 2001
Lecture/labs will be held in rm. 109 of Geology Corner (Braun Hall, building 320)
Field trip Saturday, May 19, 9am-5pm
Instructor contact information:
Mary Leech, Research Fellow
Green Earth Sciences building, rm. 029
Geological & Environmental Sciences
Stanford, CA 94305-2115
Tel (W): 650-736-1821
Tel: (H): 650-494-8778
Fax: 650-725-0979
E-mail: mary@geo.stanford.edu
Resources:
Required textbook: California Geology by Deborah Harden
Recommended additional reading:
Assembling California by John McPhee, Cadillac Desert by Mark Reisner
See attached list of useful web sites for further information
Textbooks and Materials:
Your textbook for this class is California Geology by Deborah Harden. There are assigned readings from this text that accompany our class lectures; please read the assigned chapters for a particular class PRIOR to coming to the class — I don’t expect you to read everything, but please take time to at least review the chapters. You will want to refer to these readings during class projects, so please bring your text with you to class (there is a copy of the text on reserve in Branner Library in the Mitchell building if you don’t plan to purchase the text).
In addition, I have ordered copies of Assembling California and Cadillac Desert for the Stanford Bookstore. These are not required texts, but I am recommending them as recreational reading that will enhance your experience during this course.
Schedule and Assignments:
3 April: Introduction to California Geology
Tour of California’s geologic provinces, plate tectonics, geologic time, and California’s rocks
Lab 1: Common rocks and minerals in California
Reading: Review chapters 1 to 4, California Geology
10 April: Earthquakes, Faults, and Plate Tectonics
Earthquakes and the San Andreas fault system
Lab 2a: Introduction to topographic maps; San Andreas fault exercise
Reading: Chapters 13 & 14, California Geology
17 April: Young Volcanoes
The Cascades, the Modoc Plateau, and the Long Valley Caldera
Lab 2b: Continue San Andreas fault exercise
Reading: Chapter 5, California Geology
24 April: The Sierra Nevada
Granite, gold, and glaciers
Lab 3a: Begin Mono Lake/Long Valley map and aerial photo exercise
Reading: Chapter 8, California Geology
1 May: The Basin and Range and Mojave Desert
Old rocks and young faults
Lab 3b: Finish Mono Lake/Long Valley map exercise
Reading: Chapter 7, California Geology
8 May: The Klamath Mountains and Franciscan Complex
Accreted terranes, subduction zones, and a view of the mantle.
Lab 4: Structural geology and the deformation of rocks
Reading: Chapter 9, California Geology
15 May: The California Coast
The Coast Ranges, shoreline dynamics, turbidites, and erosion issues
Lab 5: Santa Cruz marine terraces
Reading: Chapters 12 & 15, California Geology
** 19 May: Field trip Saturday, May 19, 9 - 5 pm **
22 May: California's Deserts
Desert landforms and Death Valley
Lab 6: Geology of the Stanford campus
Reading: Chapter 6, California Geology; all of Cadillac Desert
29 May: The Great Valley
Sediments, soils, and water
Lab 7: Crustal seismology and groundwater contamination
Reading: Chapter 10 & 11, California Geology
5 June: Geologic Hazards
Volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides
Lab 8: Debris flow film and rock identification
Reading: Chapter 19, California Geology