Stanley A. Mertzman
Franklin & Marshall College
Department of Earth and Environment
Geology 221, History of the Earth
Spring Semester, 2010
TEACHER: Dr. Stan Mertzman
Office: Hackman Physical Sciences Building – Room 121A
Office hours: M, Th., and F: 1:00-3:00 PM; Th: 10:00 – Noon, or by appointment.
Telephone: At School: 291-3818; At Home: 295-1290
E-mail: (the easiest and most reliable method to contact me!)
**************************************************************************************
My goal in this course is to help you arrive at an understanding of how the Earth has changed as a function of time. Never lose sight of the fact that the Earth is an ever-evolving planet. Historical geology deals with all aspects of Earth's history and the history of life.
**************************************************************************************
Course Text: Evolution of the Earth, 8th Edition by D. R. Prothero and R. H. Dott (2010)
Lab Text: Interpreting Earth History, 6th Edition by Petersen and Rigby (2007)
Class convenes in Hackman Room -111 @ 10 AM; Lab convenes in Hackman Room -115 at 1:30 PM beginning Tuesday January 19, 20010. If PowerPoint presentations are used they will be placed on e-disk the same day they are used in either class or lab. You will have access to them for the entire semester.
Attendance Policy: Class participation is an important aspect of this class. You need to be in class to participate so naturally I expect to see you in class virtually everyday.
Grading: 17.5% for each of two lecture exams
25% for the final exam
20% for the lab that includes several lab quizzes and the weekly material itself
20% is for a 12-page term paper on a topic of your choice that is intimately related to earth history. Details will be handed out separately. A digital copy of the paper will be submitted to Turnitin.com The paper is due on or before May 3, 2010 @ 4:30 PM, the last of this semester’s reading days. You will also hand in a paper copy of the term paper to me as well.
Examination Schedule: Monday, February 22, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
**************************************************************************************
3/4 day Field Trip: Sunday: March 28, 2010 beginning @ 9:00 AM.
Second Choice: Sunday April 11, 2010.
**************************************************************************************
The following syllabus lists the assigned lecture readings for each class meeting together with the appropriate pages in the textbook. This material should be read prior to coming to the class meeting.
LECTURE SYLLABUS
Date Topic Chapter and Pages
Jan. 20 Time and Terrestrial Change Preface, xxi-xxiii; Ch. 1, pp. 3-14
Jan. 22 Floods, fossils, and heresies Ch. 2, pp. 17-38
Jan. 25 Evolution Ch. 3, pp. 41-67
Jan. 27 Evolution Ch. 3, pp. 41-67
Jan. 29 Evolution reading .pdf document
Feb. 1 Relative geologic time Ch. 4, pp. 69-86
Feb. 3 and a modern view of Stratigraphy Ch. 4, pp. 69-86
Feb. 5 Numerical dating of the Earth Ch. 5, pp. 89-101
Feb. 8 Numerical dating of the Earth (Reading) .pdf document
Feb. 10 Origin and early evolution of the Earth Ch. 6, pp. 103-122
Feb. 12 Origin and early evolution of the Earth Ch. 6, pp. 103-122
Feb. 15 Mountain building and drifting continents Ch. 7, pp. 125-147
Feb. 17 Evolution and the fossil record Ch. 7, pp. 125-147
Feb. 19 Extinction rates; evolutionary trends Ch. 7, pp. 165-174
Feb. 22 Examination #1
Feb. 24 Precambrian history Ch. 8, pp. 149-176
Feb. 26 Precambrian history Ch. 8, pp. 149-176
Mar. 1 Precambrian history .pdf document
Mar. 3 Early Life and its patterns Ch.9, pp. 179-203
Mar. 5 Early Life and its patterns Ch.9, pp. 179-203
March 8 Early Life and its patterns .pdf document
March 10 Earliest Paleozoic history Ch. 10, pp. 205-227
March 12 Earliest Paleozoic history Ch. 10, pp. 205-227
************************************************************************************
SPRING BREAK (Friday March 12 @ 4:20 PM to 8:00 AM, Monday March 22, 2010.)
************************************************************************************
Mar. 22 The Late Ordovician Ch. 11, pp. 229-255
Mar. 24 The Late Ordovician Ch. 11, pp. 229-255
Mar, 26 The Middle Paleozoic Ch. 12, pp. 257-295
Date Topic Chapter and Pages
Mar. 29 Examination #2 Mar. 31 The Middle Paleozoic Ch. 12, pp. 257-295
April 2 Late Paleozoic history Ch. 13, pp. 297-346
Apr. 5 Late Paleozoic history Ch. 13, pp. 297-346
Apr. 7 Late Paleozoic history .pdf document
Apr. 9 The Mesozoic Era Ch. 14, pp. 349-409
Apr. 12 The Mesozoic Era Ch. 14, pp. 349-409
Apr. 14 The Mesozoic Era Ch. 14, pp. 349-409
Apr. 16 Cenozoic history Ch. 15, pp. 411-459
Apr. 19 Cenozoic history Ch. 15, pp. 411-459
Apr. 21 Cenozoic history Ch. 15, pp. 411-459
Apr. 23 Pleistocene glaciation and Ch. 16, pp. 461-495
Apr. 26 The advent of humanity Ch. 16, pp. 461-495
Apr. 28 The best of all possible worlds? Ch. 17, pp. 497-518
************************************************************************************
The final examination in this course is scheduled by the Registrar's Office, not by your instructor. Please check the time and place of the exam on the "final exam schedule" which usually becomes available just before Spring Break.
************************************************************************************
The following syllabus lists the schedule of laboratory exercises together with the appropriate pages in the
Lab Manual. Read over the material prior to coming to lab; do not workout the exercises unless they are specifically assigned. Do lab work in pencil, not pen. If a nice Thursday afternoon presents itself, we’ll take a field trip south to the Conowingo Dam area sometime before Spring Break.
LABORATORY SYLLABUS
Date Type Of Exercise We'll Be Doing Reading Assignment
January 19 Scaling geologic time (outdoors?) Handout
January 26 Review of minerals Handout
February 2 Igneous and metamorphic rocks Handout
See figures 1.4 (p.4) and 1.9 (p.10)
February 9 Sedimentary rocks Chapters 1, pp. 1-12
See figure 1.8 (p.8)
Date Type Of Exercise We'll Be Doing Reading Assignment
February 16 Sedimentary environments of deposition Chapters 2, pp. 13 - 19
February 23 QUIZ. DVD: “How the Earth was made” episode
March 2 Age relations and unconformities Chapters 6 & 7, pp. 58 - 72
March 9 Paleontology – An Introduction Chapters 10 - 12, pp. 89 - 129
Protists, sponges, corals, bryozoans, and brachiopods.
********************************************************************************
SPRING BREAK (Friday March 12 @ 4:20 PM to 8:00 AM, Monday March 22, 2010)
********************************************************************************
March 23 Additional Fossil Phyla Chapters 10 - 12, pp. 89 - 129
Mollusks, arthropods, echinoderms, graptolites, chordates and plants.
March 30 QUIZ. DVD: “How the Earth was made” episode
April 6 Geologic maps and Earth history 1 Chapter 15, pp. 148 - 153
Chapters 16 – 32, pp. 154 - 225
April 13 Geologic maps and Earth history 2 Chapter 16 - 32, pp. 154 - 225
April 20 Plate tectonics Chapter 8, pp. 73 – 83.
April 27 QUIZ.
