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GEOL 470 STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY

Fall 1998

Instructor: Dr. Nesse

Ross 3330

351-2830

Objectives, Field Trips, General Policy, Grading, Course Requirements, Schedule

Student Projects Completed

General Information

Objectives:

• Understand the descriptive nomenclature and mechanics of formation of faults.
• Understand the descriptive nomenclature and mechanics of formation of folds.
• Become familiar with principles of stress and strain as they apply to structural geology.
• Understand the principles by which deformation can be dated.
• Become familiar with the structures commonly found in a variety of geologic environments.
• Get an introduction to the structural controls of mineral and petroleum deposits.
• Get an introduction to Tectonics.
• Become proficient in a variety of graphical techniques used to solve problems in structural geology.

Approach to achieving objectives. This course will use a combination of lecture and projects to achieve the objectives. The course is officially scheduled with three hours each of lecture and lab per week. In practice, lecture and lab time will be interchangeable.

1. Lecture: Much of the foundations of structural geology will be presented via the lecture format. In some cases students will be assigned specific topics that they will be responsible for researching and presenting to the class.

2. The objective of the laboratory activities is to learn structural geology by doing structural geology. We will work on the Masonville Quadrangle and adjacent areas along the east flank of the Front Range for study using data that we collect in the field, data available from published geologic maps, and data from other sources. From these data, structures will be identified and their geometries described (descriptive analysis), deformation history interpreted (kinematic analysis), and mechanics of deformation interpreted (dynamic analysis). Accomplishing this requires that a variety of graphical techniques be mastered including but not limited to orthographic projections, stereographic nets, cross sections, and structure contouring.

Course Requirements:

• Active participation in class and field activities.
• Completion of lab activities.
• Tests on a schedule to be worked out.
• Completion of final report tentatively titled: "Structural Analysis of the Masonville Quadrangle, Colorado." This report will be based on individual reports for lab and field activities and a synthesis of relevant lecture material.
• Informal oral reports dealing with lab/field activities.
• Class presentations on assigned topics
• Formal oral report at the Structural Analysis Symposium at the end of the semester.
• Active participation in the Geologic Society of America's annual meeting in Denver, October 26-31 is strongly encouraged.

Grading:

• An exam schedule to be agreed upon by the class will be developed. Each individual lab activity will receive a grade as will the final oral and written reports.
• The final grade will be based roughly 50% on lecture work and 50% on lab work.

Field Trips:

A number of full-day or part-day field trips will be taken. These trips are required. Don't even think about asking to be excused from them. Dates will be announced.

General Policy:

• Late work: There will be none. Due dates for lab work will be announced when work is assigned. In most cases lab activities are due at the beginning of the lab period one week after they are assigned.
• All work must be turned in neatly prepared. Work turned in on ruled notebook paper or written in illegible script will be dumped unceremoniously in the trash. Written material must be word processed (WordPerfect or Microsoft Word preferred).
• Presentations. Formal class presentations will normally be done with the aid of Corel Presentation and related software using the computer video projector.
• Computers. Computers for class use are available in Ross 0280 and 3540. Additional computers with software will be installed in Ross 3050 during the semester. For many projects you may also be able to use your own computer.
• Web Page Issues. You will be assigned an academic web page on which you will post the results of projects, reports and other materials. In many cases, you will draft items by hand and then scan these images into the computer to provide a digital image for use on the web page. In some cases you will use software (Rockware, CorelDraw, Excel, etc.) to create images to post on your web page.
• Software Issues. This class will involve learning to use a selection of software packages that may include Rockware, CorelDraw, QuattroPro, Excel, and CorelPresentation. I will assume that you are already conversant with normal word processing software. Handouts and workshops will be provided to speed the learning process. It will help greatly if students can help each other in learning the software.

Tentative Schedule

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Copyright: 11/28/2001
Page last updated: 11/28/01