G130: SHORT COURSE IN EARTH SCIENCE:
GEOLOGY OF NATIONAL PARKS AND MONUMENTS

• Assigned reading in Ann G. Harris, Esther Tuttle, and  Sherwood D. Tuttle, Geology of National Parks, Fifth Edition, 1997.

Website Assignments:

        Mount St. Helens    http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/fact-sheet/fs165-97/

                                       http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/fact-sheet/fs036-00

        Sunset Crater         http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/docs/parks/sunset/sunvolc.html

http://terraweb.wr.usgs.gov/TRS/projects/Flagstaff/photos/

         Indiana Dunes        http://www.aqd.nps.gov/grd/parks/indu/

G130: GEOLOGY OF NATIONAL PARKS AND MONUMENTS

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Dropping the Course

Once you are registered and pay your fees, you are formally enrolled in G130. If you want to drop the course, you must fill out a "drop" form, which you can obtain from the Registrar or your advisor. That will officially clear the records and there is no penalty for you. However, if you suddenly stop coming to class and do not complete the course work and do not fill out the "drop" form, you will receive an automatic F for the course.

2. Absences

About one­third of the lecture material supplements the text. It is recommended, therefore, that you plan to attend all class meetings. If you must be absent one day, it is still your responsibility to know what was discussed in class, so it would be helpful, right at the start, to arrange with a classmate to cover for any absence by taking notes that you can later peruse. However, absences, even with a "cover," result in an unnecessary burden for most students, who are strongly urged to make every effort to attend class.

3. Course Content

For each National Park or Monument, you are responsible for the same four general categories of information:

a. vital statistics

1. general location of the Park or Monument

2. general size in square miles

3. when the Park or Monument was formally established

b. human history involving the Park or Monument area

1. prehistoric events

2. historic events leading to establishment

c. geologic features: These will vary, depending on the specific locale of the Park or Monument. Although a number of geologic features resulting from one or more geologic activities can be observed at each Park or Monument, a given Park or Monument is normally associated with the geologic activity which formed the most prominent geologic features displayed within its boundaries.

d. geologic history: The sequence of geologic events which led to the present­day Park or Monument.

4. Grading

The grade scale is based on a 75% average, with 90­100=A; 80­89=B; 70­79=C, 60­69=D, and less than 60=F. A grade of O is given for a regularly­ scheduled exam which is missed, as make­up exams are not normally given. Exceptions are sometimes made, but only for those who notify the instructor before the exam that an absence is imminent.