GEOL 5690 s.1? Spring 2024

Tectonic History of the Western United States: Syllabus

Meetings: 11:30- 12:45 WF, BESC 440E

Instructor: Craig Jones, ESCI 440C, x2-6994, cjones@colorado.edu

Office Hours: TBA or just dropping by...

Website: http://cires1.colorado.edu/people/jones.craig/Teaching/GEOL5690/

The website will have readings assigned and additional readings relevant to class meetings.

Goals: Obtain a grounding in the geologic history of the western United States and an understanding of the techniques that are used in building a tectonic history, including the limitations of these techniques.

Prerequisites: nothing fixed, but a course in structural geology and some college-level physics is highly desirable. We will be assuming some basic physics and chemistry as we describe some of the techniques used in tectonics; a differential equation or two might make a special appearance.

Format: Lectures and discussion, with some student presentations. Readings from the technical literature will accompany lectures. Readings will be posted online.

Coursework: Students will complete about 6 homeworks over the duration of the course, and a final exam. No late homeworks will be accepted. The time of the final will be determined. Additionally, students will have to complete a project. Usually this has been a website on one aspect of the geology of the western U.S. and presentation of the site to the class. The website should have two levels for users: one an overview of the geology being considered, the second a detailed description of some aspect of how we have come to reach this understanding.

Text: Turcotte and Schubert’s Geodynamics (2nd or 3rd edition). It is not comprehensive but the best thing out there. Class readings will be posted to the website. Baldridge's Geology of the American Southwest is optional; it is a geologic history of the region without the geodynamics and is a handy reference.

Reserve texts:

• The Cordilleran Orogen: Conterminous U.S., DNAG volume G-3 (Burchfiel et al.). Although long in the tooth, this provides a comprehensive overview of the tectonic history of the western U.S. in both temporal and thematic chapters. This is now available online.
• Telford et al.'s Applied Geophysics. A thorough development and guide to using geophysical techniques, it is probably the most common reference used by working geophysicists. There is apparently now an electronic reference for this.
• Stüwe, Geodynamics of the Lithosphere. A book that has much more emphasis on the geochemistry and petrology produced by tectonic events, with somewhat more controversial material included. Springer ebook version available through CU library.

Grading: homework will be 40%, participation 15%, term project presentation 20%, and written term project 25%

Special dates (2024):

• 17 January first class
• 25-29 March spring break
• 1 May last day of class

Course outline. We have 15 weeks total time. There are about 12 main topics we will explore, plus student presentations (which I expect to take about a week of time), so expect each of the below to occupy about a week. This list is provisional as suggestions within the class will be considered as we move along. Bold faced techniques to be emphasized. Italicized topics depend on time available.

GEOL5690 home | C. H. Jones | CIRES | Dept. of Geological Sciences | Univ. of Colorado at Boulder

Last modified at January 17, 2024 1:30 PM