Instructor: Todd Rayne, 108A Science, 859-4698, trayne@hamilton.edu
Office hours: I don't have set office hours - I am available for consultation any time I am in my office. However, there are times when I'm preparing for class or in a meeting, so it's always best to call before you visit. You can also e-mail me if you can't find a time to come in.
Texts: Montgomery, C.W., Environmental Geology and The Control of Nature by John McPhee. The first book is the main text for the course - you will find it to be informative and enjoyable reading. The McPhee book is written for the educated layperson. We will be reading chapters from the McPhee book for some of the discussion sections.
Welcome to geology!!
In Environmental Geology we will learn about geology and its relation to human activities (and how human activities can affect geologic processes). The first part of the course will introduce geological concepts, such as plate tectonics, geologic time, rocks and minerals, and the rock cycle. After about one third of the semester, we will start to focus on specific geological processes and their effect on human activities. During the last third of the course, we will continue to learn about specific geologic processes, and use our newfound geological expertise to discuss and debate environmental issues. There will also be several projects in which you will work in small groups on specific problems in the area of environmental geology. I'll talk about these projects as we progress through the semester.
We will make extensive use of the Internet to explore current topics in the environment and geology. I will explain more about this part of the course during the first class. For now, check out the course web site. You can find it by going through the Hamilton home page and selecting Geology under Academics. Look for the Geology and the Environment link.
My overall goal for the course is to make you aware of the relationship between geology and human activities and to make you see and think beyond what you may see or hear in the mass media.
Rules of the game
Your final grade will be based on your performance on exams, lab exercises, projects, discussion presentations, internet assignments, and attendance/participation. There will be two exams during the semester and a comprehensive final exam during exam week.. I don't take attendance in a formal way, but I do note who is attending class and who is not. If it appears that there is a problem with attendance, you can expect to hear from me via telephone and e-mail. Participation and attendance are very important; you can expect to receive little or no points for the attendance/participation component of your grade if you miss more than three classes.
Each week, one or two people will select a discussion topic and will start off a discussion by presenting a 5-minute introduction to the topic. The discussion topics will complement the current topic of the course and are designed to get you to delve deeper into an environmental geology issue. Discussion topics are listed for the first third of the semester. Look for additional topics on the web site.
This is a lab course, and I make it a point to closely integrate the material from both parts of the course. Although we don't have formal, 3-hr lab sessions, we will use the one-hour time slot on Thursday s for discussions, demos, short projects, field trips, and other things that complement the topic of the week.
We will have a half-day field trip, tentatively scheduled for April 26th, to the Madison County Landfill to learn about solid waste disposal and landfill construction. We will leave the Science Building at 8:30 am and return at noon. EARLY IN THE SEMESTER is the time to tell the instructors of your other courses that you will miss their class on the morning of April 26th. This is also the time to make arrangements for missing those classes. The field trip will go, rain or shine. For those of you that cannot attend, you will write a 10-page paper to make up for it.
Here's how you will be graded for the course:
Exam 1 15%
Exam 2 20%
Final exam 25%
Laboratory and classroom exercises and projects 25%
Attendance, participation, engagement 15%
Oh, yes, one more thing. I expect and welcome active participation. I especially welcome discussing current environmental topics that directly or indirectly pertain to geology. You will find that all kinds of events will occur during this semester that have a direct connection to the general topic of environmental geology. People that "bring in" something to discuss will be rewarded under the Attendance and Participation part of the course.
Reading assignments are listed for the weeks of the semester. Since you are buying the textbook, I anticipate you will want to read it. I will use lectures to clarify and expand on material in the text. We will also use this time to let you explain geologic concepts (that are found in the reading) to the rest of the class and to discuss current topics (see the previous paragraph). There will be some reading assignments from materials I will put on reserve in the Science Library. They are noted in the schedule as Reserve reading! There will also be reserve reading related to lab projects placed on reserve in the Science Library (not Burke Library). Exam questions will come from the reading assignments and discussions.
A week-by-week outline of the course is:
Overview of environmental geology, geologic time, and introduction to minerals and rocks. Lab: an introduction to topographic maps. Reading: skim p. 3-20, later in the week read Chapter 2 (p. 25-40) and Appendix A, p. 506-512.
Discussion: How did scientists arrive at 4.6 billion years as the age of the earth?
Finish up rocks and minerals and start looking at the BIG picture of the earth: plate tectonics and its manifestations: earthquakes and volcanoes. Lab: introduction to minerals. Reading: Chapter 3, p. 45-64.
Discussion:
1. Where are the youngest and oldest rocks on Earth found? What are they?
2. What is the bedrock geology of our area? What types of rocks do we have around here? How old are they?
Manifestations of plate tectonics, continued, and we'll start looking at some surface processes. Lab: Rocks! Reading: Chapters 4 and 5, p. 67-119.
Discussion:
1. Why is plate tectonics important to life on Earth?
2. Discuss the issue of earthquake prediction from a practical standpoint. What consequences should be considered before authorities warn of an imminent earthquake in, say, San Francisco?
Stream processes. Lab: earthquake hazards. Reading: p. 125-147.
Discussion:
1. What are the differences between Mt. St. Helens in Washington and Kilauea in Hawaii. Both are considered active volcanoes…
2. What is dynamic equilibrium in a stream system?
Streams and flooding. Lab: discussion of McPhee reading about the Mississippi River. Reading: p. 125-147 (Montgomery) and p. 3-92 (McPhee)
Discussion:
1. How does a homeowner obtain flood insurance?
2. Are there any benefits associated with floods?
Shorelines and coastal processes. Reading: p. 151-168. Lab: flood recurrence exercise
Discussion:
1. What would a map of the United States look like after a sea-level rise of 1 m? 5 m?
Landslides and other mass movements. Reading: p. 171 - 190 (Montgomery) Lab: Discussion of McPhee reading about landslides (p. 183-272)
Soils. Reading: pp. 251-269. Lab: soils in the field (subject to weather; if our soil pits are covered, we'll do something else).
March 18-31 Spring Break!!
Water resources. Lab: Groundwater basics. Reading: p. 225-247.
Water pollution. Lab: Groundwater contamination. Reading: p. 385-410. Reserve reading!
Waste disposal. Reading: pp. 355-382. Lab: walking tour of the Hamilton College dump.
Waste disposal, continued. Reading: pp. 355-382 Lab: an introduction to the landfill project. Field trip to Madison County Landfill on Friday, April 26th, from 8:30 to about noon.
An introduction to environmental law and land use planning. Lab: effects of sewage effluent on a stream. Reading: p. 385-410, 441-462.
More on land-use planning and a summary of our course. We will also take some time to catch up on earlier topics and summarize the topics we've covered in this course. Lab: presentation of landfill projects and discussion. Reading: p. 465-486.