ESCI 536 – Spring 2010

Seminar: Department Field Trip

Subtitle: The Geology of the Rocky Mountains and Basin and Range

(Credit: 2-4 hours; Grade Mode: Standard)

Instructors:

Cin-Ty Lee < ctlee@rice.edu>; Rm 324; (713) 348-5084

Juli Morgan <morganj@rice.edu>; Rm 315; (713) 348-6330

Meeting Times and Locations: Wednesdays, 3:30-5:30 pm, KWGL Rm 100

Credits:

2 hours – Graduating Students

4 hours – Continuing Students

Office Hours: By appointment.

Course Materials

There is no assigned text for this course. Class readings will be drawn from key journal articles and book chapters. Student presentations of assigned papers will be interspersed with faculty and special guest lectures.

Attendance and Participation

Class attendance and field trip participation are mandatory for credit, unless excused by prior arrangement with instructors. All students will be responsible for reviewing and presenting topical papers in class. Students taking 4 credit hours must prepare a final report, preferably a chapter in the Field Guide; report topics must be approved by instructors. Classroom discussions will be a primary educational tool in this course, and participation will constitute a portion of the course grade.

General Topics:

- Geology and Tectonics of Western North America

- Nature and origin of the Archean Wyoming shield

- Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary environments

- Sevier orogeny

- Laramide orogeny

- Basin and Range extension

- Yellowstone hotspot

- Glaciation and Quaternary geomorphology

- Ore deposits

- Climate and natural history

- And more....

Field Trip: Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho (Tentative Plan)

Dates and Duration: 10 days, May ~16-26 (just after graduation)

Costs for students: ~$400 not including meals

General plan: fly into Salt Lake City, pick up rental vehicles, cover ~1200 miles in 9 days, hotel accommodations (4 students/room), visit National Parks and road outcrops. More Details will follow.

Tentative Outline & Assigned Readings

Class Topic Reading & Files

Jan. 20: Overview of Western US Geology

Dickinson (2004)

Auxiliary reading:

Dickinson & Snyder (1978), Hoffman (1988) , Dickinson (1994), DeCelles (2004)

Lecture Notes and Animations:

CordilleranGeologyLecture.pdf

Atwater-SAF-Animation.mov, Navdat-animation.mov

Jan. 27: Structural Evolution of the North American Cordillera

Suppe (1985)

Auxiliary reading: TBA

Lecture Notes and Animations:

ESCI536-Lecture2.ppt

Feb. 03: Archean & Proterozoic Basement and Sediments

Frost et al. (2006)

Crittendon et al. (1983)

Chan et al. (1984)

Auxiliary reading: Basement Rocks

Frost et al. (2000), Reed & Zartman (1973)

Auxiliary reading: Proterozoic Sediments

Christie-Blick (1982), Christie-Blick (1988), Crittendon et al. (1971),

Elston et al. (2002), Chan et al. (1996), Ehlers & Chan (1996)

Peterson (1986a), Peterson (1986b) , Stewart (1977)

Lecture Notes and Animations:

ESCI536-Lecture3-juli.ppt

Feb. 10: (Paleozoic and) Mesozoic Sedimentary Environments

Parcell & Williams (2005) (See also DeCelles papers below)

Lockley et al. (1986) (See also Turner & Peterson below)

Heller et al. (2003) (See also DeCelles papers below, and a few others)

Auxiliary reading:

DeCelles & Currie (1996), DeCelles (2004), Turner & Peterson (2004)

Lecture Notes and Animations:

ESCI536-Lecture4-Juli.ppt

Feb. 17: Cretaceous and early Cenozoic Sedimentary Environments

Wright (1987)

Hicks et al. (1999)

Davis et al. (2009)

Auxiliary reading:

Surdham (1975), Desborough (1978), Fischer & Roberts (1991)

Lecture Notes and Animations:

Feb. 24: The Sevier Orogeny & Idaho-Wyoming Fold-Thrust Belt

DeCelles & Mitra (1995)

Yonkee & Weil (2010)

Coogan (1992)

Auxiliary reading:

Armstrong (1968), DeCelles et al. (1995), DeCelles & Coogan (2006), DeCelles (1994), Schmitt & Steidtman (1992), Zaleha (2006)

Mar. 3: Spring Break – Yippee!!

Mar. 10: Laramide Basement-Cored Uplifts

Steidtmann & Middleton (1991)

Schmidt et al. (1993)

Erslev (1993)

English et al. (2003)

Auxiliary reading:

Baker (1946), Steidtmann (1971), Allmendinger et al. (1982), Brewer et al. (1982), Hansen (1986), Lawton (1986), Steidtmann et al. (1986)

Mar. 17: Volcanism of all Types (but less Yellowstone)

Lange et al. (2000)

Christiansen & McCurry (2008)

Waite et al. (????)

Auxiliary reading:

John (????), Stringham (1953), Utah Geol. Surv. (2007), Mirnejab & Bell (2006), Kuehner et al. (1981)

Mar. 24: Yellowstone!!

Fournier (1989)

Smith et al. (2009)

Leeman et al. (2008)

Auxiliary reading:

Shervais & Hanan (2008)

Mar. 31: Mesozoic and Cenozoic Extension

Allmendinger et al. (1983)

Evans & Oaks (1996)

Hodges & Walker (1992)

Sine et al. (2008)

Auxiliary reading:

Armstrong (1972), Axen et al. (1993), Colgan et al. (2006), Wells & Hoisch (2008), Wernicke et al. (2008)

Apr. 7: Glacial Lake Bonneville

Oviatt (1997) & Hostetler et al. (1994)

Oviatt et al. (2003)

Jarrett & Malde (1987)

Lemons & Chan (1999)

Auxiliary reading:

THE REFERENCE - Gilbert (1890),

Overview of desert paleo-lakes - Curry (1990), Benson et al. (1992)

Floods - Trimble & Carr (1961), Stearns (1962),

Sequence Stratigraphy - Oviatt et al. (1994), Lemons & Chan (1999)

Isostasy & tectonic reactivation - Bills et al. (1994), Caskey & Ramelli (2004)

Paleo-shoreline processes - Schofield et al. (2004), Jewell (2007)

Paleo-indian response - Adams et al. (2008)