Earth SC-202 Physical Geology

Instructor

• Prof. Steven Dutch

• Office: LS 402

• Phone: 465-2246

• Email: dutchs@uwgb.edu

• Home Page: www.uwgb.edu/dutchs

• Office Hours MWF 10:30-11:30, TR 9:30-10:50

Rocks

Igneous

Sedimentary

Metamorphic

Volcanoes

Intrusions

Weathering

Soils Erosion

Water

Underground Surface

Oceans

Wind

Glaciers

Fossils

Earth History

Earth’s Interior

Earthquakes

Mountains

Plate Tectonics

Other Planets

Mineral Resources

What is Physical Geology?

Syllabus

• Introduction to the course

• Minerals

• Igneous Rocks and Volcanoes

• Weathering and Erosion

• Evolution of Landscapes

• Sedimentary Rocks

• Evolution, Fossils, Geologic Time

• Glaciers

• Wind and Wave Erosion

• Metamorphism and

Deformation

• Earthquakes and Earth's

Interior

• Continental Drift and Plate

Tectonics

• Resources from the Earth

• Geology of other Worlds

Exams and Grading

Midterm I 50 points

Midterm II 50 points

Lab 100 points

Final 80 points

Field Trip 20 points

Attendance 10 points

Total 300 points

A 270+

AB 255-269

B 240-254

BC 225-239

C 210-224

CD 205-210

D 200-204

Field Trip

• Dates

• Mandatory – Absence Excuse Required

• 8:00 LS Parking Lot, Return 4:15

• Casual Clothing – No strenuous hiking

• Bring a lunch and fluids

• Rest stops provided

• Put on your calendar! No excuses!

Lab

• Instructor:

Jennifer Wessel

• Enroll in one

section

• 100 points total

Expectations

• Commitment

– Focus in class

• Professional Conduct

– No talking, texting

– Stay whole period

– Stay vertical and awake

• Use Syllabus

• Know your ID number or bring ID to exams

Sample exam question

• Which is the most desirable property in a

gemstone?

a. High hardness

b. Low hardness

c. Excellent cleavage

d. Density

Signs of Trouble

• Not making connections

– Lecture, lab, text, on-line, exams

• Not knowing your grade

• Not knowing what to study for

• Not knowing what’s on syllabus

Geology and Other Sciences Physics

•Geophysics

•Seismology

Chemistry

•Mineralogy

•Petrology

•Geochemistry

Biology

•Paleontology

•Paleo????ology

Astronomy

•Planetary Geology

•Helioseismology

Geology

•Economic Geology

•Hydrology

•Engineering

Geology

•Historical Geology

•Geomorphology

•Oceanography

•Structural Geology

•Volcanology

Who Geoscientists Are:

• About 30,000 in the U.S.

• Globally, in rich and poor countries, about one

per $50 million GNP.

• Mostly male but changing rapidly (now about

25% female in U.S.)

• Still less than 10% minority in U.S. (moving up

slowly)

Where Geologists Work

• 40 % Private Sector

• 30 % Academic

• 30 % Government

What Geologists Do:

• Locate Geologic Resources

• Geologic Hazard Mitigation

– Geological and Mining Engineering

– Site Study

– Land-Use Planning

• Environmental Protection

– Environmental Impact

– Ground Water and Waste Management

• Basic Research (Furnishes fundamental knowledge for the applications)

Some Unique Aspects of Geology

Importance of Relationships

• Sequential

• Spatial

Importance of Time

Distinctive Problems of Evidence

• Slow Rates

• Rare Events

• Destruction of Evidence

• Inaccessibility

Some Geologic Rates

Cutting of Grand Canyon

• 2 km/3 m.y. = 1 cm/15 yr

Uplift of Alps

• 5 km/10 m.y. = 1 cm/20 yr.

Opening of Atlantic

• 5000 km/180 m.y. = 2.8 cm/yr.

Uplift of White Mtns. (N.H.) Granites

• 8 km/150 m.y. = 1 cm/190 yr.

Some Geologic Rates

Movement of San Andreas Fault

• 5 cm/yr = 7 m/140 yr.

Growth of Mt. St. Helens

• 3 km/30,000 yr = 10 cm/yr.

Deposition of Niagara Dolomite

• 100 m/ 1 m.y.? = 1 cm/100 yr.

1 Second = 1 Year

• 35 minutes to birth of Christ

• 1 hour+ to pyramids

• 3 hours to retreat of glaciers from Wisconsin

• 12 days = 1 million years

• 2 years to extinction of dinosaurs

• 14 years to age of Niagara Escarpment

• 31 years = 1 billion years

Some Unique Aspects of Geology

(Continued)

Reliance on Inference and Deduction

Intrinsically "Unsolvable" Problems

• Ancient Landscapes

• Mass Extinctions

• Ancient Ocean Basins

Scientific Principles in Geology

• Parsimony (K.I.S.S.)

• Superposition

• Uniformitarianism

Using these, plus observation, we establish facts

about Earth Processes

Parsimony

• The simplest explanation that fits all the data

is preferred

• Doesn’t guarantee that things must be simple!

• Theories with lots of ad hoc or unsupported

ideas are probably wrong.

Parsimony: What is the best interpretation

of this well data?

Parsimony

• This?

• Or This?

Parsimony

• Rock layers

throughout NE

Wisconsin are

nearly flat and

little disturbed

• Glacial deposits

are always on top

of bedrock

• Therefore this is

the most likely

interpretation

One Implication of Parsimony How do we know the laws of nature are the same

everywhere?

• Out to the farthest stars, everything seems to obey the same laws of nature

• We find nothing in the rocks to suggest the laws of nature were different in the past

Either:

• The laws of nature change but just happen to produce effects that look like the presently-known laws of nature – or –

• The laws of nature really are the same everywhere

Another Implication of Parsimony

• We live in a universe of patterns

• If someone claims there is an

exception to a known pattern, the

simplest explanation is that he/she is

wrong

• Therefore the burden of proof in

science is on the challenger

Superposition

Whodunit?

• Last night, one of Green Bay’s premier beer

can collections was stolen

• The only clue is footprints in the snow

• The thief was the last person to leave the

premises

The Suspects

• The Nephew Has a seeing-eye dog

• The Maid Drives a car

• The Cook Rides a motorcycle

• The Handyman Rides a bike

• The Butler Walks to work

The Crime Scene

• The Nephew has a seeing-eye dog

• The Maid Drives a car

• The Cook Rides a motorcycle

• The Handyman Rides a bike

• The Butler Walks to work

Contacts

A Contact:

Mindoro Cut,

Wisconsin

Uniformitarianism

Continuity of Cause and Effect

• Apply Cause and Effect to Future - Prediction

• Apply Cause and Effect to Present -

Technology

• Apply Cause and Effect to Past -

Uniformitarianism

Uniformitarianism does not mean:

• Catastrophes never occur

• Physical Conditions on Earth never Change

• Earth has always been the same

• Physical processes always occur at the

same rate or intensity

• Laws of Physics have always been the same

Uniformitarianism does mean:

Using our knowledge of physical laws, we can test:

• Whether catastrophes have occurred

• Whether physical conditions on earth have changed,

and if so, how (ice ages, warm periods, high or low

sea level, etc.)

• Whether physical laws themselves have changed in

time, or elsewhere in the universe.