Geomorphology : surficial processes, landforms, and Earth's Quaternary history _______ Fall 2008 _________
David Harbor
at Washington and Lee University
Geology 247, 4 credits link
to: course schedule
My contacts: A223 Science, ph x 8871 or 463-3444 home, harbord@wlu.edu
Lecture: Tuesday-Thursday 10:10-12:10, Lab/Fieldtrip: Wed: 1:25-5:35
pm
Office Hours: see my door or this
link or any time you can find me......
Broadly-defined, Geomorphology is the study of landforms, surficial processes, and late Cenozoic geologic history. But a study of these fields necessarily involves critical reading, observation, collecting field and map data, making computations, and learning about geologic time and phenomena. Your learning objectives for this course are as follows:
At the very least, I hope you will always take interest in the landscape as you travel the country and world! The course consists of 1) lectures and discussions, where I will introduce you to landscapes and we will discuss geomorphic processes, landforms, maps, and the Quaternary, 2) labs and field trips where you will measure and identify geomorphic processes and formes, 3) in-class exercises covering scientific readings, problem sets and other activities, and 4) a research project that involves the collection of field or experimental data.
Weather permitting for the first 6 to
8 weeks, I plan to take you on field trips to see the landscape and measure
what
we can about the processes and forms. Most of the trips will result
in a short write up, in most cases after some lab or mathematical analyses. The hillslope and fluvial processes trips result in a longer write-up,but others are shorter. Field trips without
writeups will require some literature review and an image/map searches. We
will together make plans to take a weekend
field trip to
visit the glacial landscape of northwestern
Too often, science education simply becomes the assembly of a dry and unmemorable collection of names, facts and procedures. To combat this unfortunate circumstance, each student will practice the stuff of science on a small scale by completing a limited, original research project examining a geomorphic process or landscape element. Limited means that you can collect the data for your project in less than an afternoon and that you will compare your data to the literature rather than prepare an exhaustive review of the literature. A less-than-1/2-page proposal stating your question or hypothesis and the data collection methodology is due on Wednesday Oct 22. You must have an approved, written proposal before beginning your work; and having it approved by the deadline will constitute 10% of the project grade. Following a search of the literature, a briefly annotated list of the literature (5 or more sources, preferably peer-reviewed journal articles) pertinent to the study is due Friday Nov 7. The report is due Thursday, November 18 and will contain a maximum of 4 pages of double-spaced, typed text (tables, graphs, maps, etc are extra). Reports will be critiqued and returned, with the possibility of rewriting. Final reports are due on the last day of class. The final project grade is determined by a combination of proposal (10%), literature search (20%), effort applied to first draft (30%), and the final version (40%).
10% midterm exam, including any pop quizzes you appear to need.
45% lab reports, map/photo projects, in-class projects and discussions, participation, etc
20% research project
25% final exam (The final will be comprehensive and cover all material from lectures, labs and outside reading. It will be based in part on interpretation of maps and photos)
Midterm exam will proceed as scheduled, whatever our progress through the lecture topics.
Here's the schedule: It's pretty tentative more than two weeks ahead, knowing me and marginalia.
In-class problems/assignments may include:
• An introduction to critical reading in science
• Mathematical modeling of hillslopes
• hypothesis testing using stream-table experiments