Minnesota's Rocks and Waters

Assignments Spring 2008

Please report any broken links to jmeyers@winona.edu

Earth Processes and Materials- external web pages - these pages will serve as a reference on materials and processes that you can use throughout the course

Monday, January 21 - No Class Martin Luther King Holiday

Wednesday, January 23 - Introduction to the Geology of Minnesota

Read the web assisnments listed below

Minnesota's Geology - The Big Picture (an outline of the lecture topic, with links to associated material)
Minnesota's place in geologic history - outlines of two chapters in the text "Minnesota's Geology." The first emphasizes the rocks of Minnesota as well as soils, concepts of geologic time, geologic structures such as folds and faults, and plate tectonics. The second gives an outline of the geologic history of Minnesota. A third external link is also provided that deals with a very general outline of Minnesota's geologic history. We will continue to deal with this same material in the following weeks, but from a variety of perspectives.

Friday and Monday, January 25 and 28 - NO CLASS

Emphasis is on the ways in which we can tell time from a study of the record of the rocks. We begin with the principles of superposition, cross-cutting relationships, original horizontality, and the concept of unconformities. After you have studied this reading, go to the cross section of the geology of the North Shore of Lake Superior, print it out, and work out the sequence of events. You will be asked to submit that sequence of events in the essay question of our next warmup. Then, bring the cross section to class so we can review it together.

Other web resources on telling time from the rock record:

DeKalb College outline of principles of Earth history - a brief outline of the ways in which we can tell geologic time. Has a few useful diagrams to help understand superposition, cross-cutting relationships, and unconformities.
University of California Berkeley geologic time machine - a nice tour through the various eras and periods of geologic time. Browsing here will help you to remember the outline of the geologic column and the progression of the major events in Earth history. You can then place Minnesota into this calendar or framework

Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, February 4, 6 and 8 - Finish Earth History and do an overview of the geology of Minnesota in the context of Earth history.

Here are two NEW readings that you must complete at this time. Both are PDF files of documents published for laypersons by the Minnesota Geologic Survey. The first deals with the common rocks of Minnesota. The second is a very nice outline of the means by which we tell time in Earth history. You will be accountable for the material in these two documents.

Read the web material titled overview and lecture notes. This reading is a nice summary or overview ot the general topic of Minnesota's geologic history. You should also re-read chapters 1 and 2 of the text, as well as the outlines for these chapters.

Also, at this time the readings on Minnesota's geologic history, from the Minnesota Guide, become very important. Begin by a light read of the entire outline, then go back and begin to study the early Precambrian part of the outline in greater detail. As we move forward in time, from the earlier to later geologic events in Minnesota, continue to place emphasis on those sections of the guide that are germain to our topic at any one time. This is an ongoing assitnment.

Minnesota Geologic History summary (powerpoint for class)

Geologic History of Minnesota - Overview and Lecture Notes -

We will review the general geologic setting of Minnesota, the bedrock geologic map, and the surficial deposits map of the state. The landscape of the state will then be studied in light of the distribution of the bedrock and surface deposits. Finally, we will study the various geologic terranes of the state as defined by the type and age of the bedrock in different regions.

Outline of "Minnesota's Geology", p. 3-13 - an outline of chapter 1 in the Ojakangas and Matsch text, based on a tour of the Minnesota River Valley, its rocks, and its landscape. General review of the distribution of different rock types and surface deposits is also given. Finally, soils and fossils, principles of earth history, and geologic structures and plate tectonics, are reviewed in a general way, with occasional reference to Minnesota geology.

Outline of "Minnesota's Geology" - p. 15-20 - the geologic setting of the state, including a somewhat detailed outline of geologic history

Geologic history of MN - from Minnesota Guide, Chapter 2 - use as a continuing guide for review of Minnesota's geologic history. Return to this page periodically to refresh your memory of the sequence of events.

Exercise on Minnesota Geologic History and Geologic Time (maximum extra credit of 5 points applied to grade on exam 1 - you must do your own work!!!

Bring hard copy to class on Wednesday, February 6 in order to receive any credit.

Monday, February 11- Begin work on The Archean - Creating Kenoraland - the Nucleus of North America

Read the outline printed below on the Archean Geologic History of Minnesota. And be certain to check out the associated links that show various maps, cross sections, and photos.

Archean Geologic History of Minnesota - Powerpoint for class

Archean Geologic History of Minnesota - UPDATED!!! this updated version has more images that pertain to this important part of Minnesota's geologic history. Be certain to study it carefully!!!

Archean Geologic History of Minnesota - Outline - Archean geologic history of Minnesota is the topic for these two days. We will discuss how the oldest Precambrian rocks in Minnesota reveal the early history of the continental crust of North America

Reading on Reserve in Library: Minnesota's Geology (on reserve) pages 23-34, and 176-197, 203-207, 213-215, 227-229

Monday, Wednesday and Wednesday, February 13 EXAMINATION #1 - beginning of the course through Wednesday, February 6 (summary of Minnesota's Geologic History)

Read assignments as listed above for Monday, February 11.

Wednesday, Friday, Monday, Wednesday February 20, 22, 25 and 27.

Read the outline on Early Proterozoic of Minnesota (see below). It is extremely helpful and it contains links to pictures and cross sections, etc., that are not in the text.

Read Textbook, pages p. 34-45, 163-167, 213-214.

Also read the Minnesota Geologic Survey's pdf file on the Precambrian of Minnesota (see below). It's a very nice summary of the geologic events for the Archean and the Proterozoic.

Finally, one of the themes of the Early Proterozoic in Minnesota is the formation of BIF's (Banded Iron Formations) and their relationship to the evolution of photosynthesizing plants. There are some very useful links to web sites that summarize BIF's and Precambrian atmosphere and life. Be certain to read them.

Early Proterozoic Geologic History of Minnesota - outline. Be certain to study it carefully!!! - Early Proterozoic History
in Minnesota contains the record of the evolution of the atmosphere, which is also tied closely to the development of life on Earth.

Powerpoint on Precambrian Earth History - You should begin looking through this presentation. We will work with it in class following our work with the Precambrian. It will be an excellent ongoing summary, as well as a great retrospective on the Precambrian geologic setting of Minnesota

Read in Minnesota's Geology (on reserve in the library), pages p. 34-45, 163-167, 213-214.

Geologic Time - A Minnesota Geologic Survey reading on methods of telling time in the rock record.

Subsurface methods of discovering geology in Minnesota - A Minnesota Geologic Survey reading on subsurface methods as applied to mapping Minnesota's bedrock

Precambrian of Minnesota - A Minnesota Geologic Survey reading on the Precambrian Geologic History of Minnesota (also printed in your MRW notebook from the bookstore)

Below are some outside readings that you should consult on the topics of the development of Precambrian life, the atmosphere, and Banded Iron Formations (BIF's)

www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/bacteria/cyanointro.html nice concise summary of cyanobacteria

www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/bacteria/cyanofr.html a good summary of early life in the Precambrian, with nice photos of bacterial forms, etc.

www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/bacteria/bacteriafr.html fossil record of bacteria

www.dc.peachnet.edu/~pgore/geology/geo102/precamb.htm nice outline by Pamela Gore of Precambrian rocks and origins of life - concise

www.geo.lsa.umich.edu/~crlb/COURSES/117/Lec13/lec13.html a nice outline of life through the Cambrian explosion

www.geol.binghamton.edu/faculty/naslund/Geol.111.lect26c.html a nice summary of Archean crustal evolution and evolution of the atmosphere

rainbow.ldeo.columbia.edu/ees/SIPA/Lectures/Lecture_1.html first half of page deals with banded iron formations and evolution of the atmosphere

www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/precambrian/proterostrat.html concise summary of Proterozoic and rise of oxygen. Evidence in rocks.

Wednesday, February 27 - Early Proterozoic Baraboo Interval (1750-1630 Ma)

Continue reading in your module. By now you should be through the Baraboo Interval section

Be certain to read the outline on Late Proterozoic Geologic History of Minnesota. Two things we really plan to emphasize over the next couple of weeks are the mid-continent rifting (along with the Duluth Gabbro and the North Shore Volcanic Group) and the formation of the Sioux (and Baraboo) Quartzite.

Continue reading in the Minnesota Geologic Survey's "Precambrian of Minnesota." Remember, it's a PDF file and is linked below. Also continue reading in the Common Rocks of Minnesota (another MGS PDF file). It is linked in an earlier assignment.

Text on reserve in the library (Minnesota's Geology) p. 47-62, 167-176, (215-217), 228-231

Baraboo Interval and the Sioux Quartzite Powerpoint - we will use this as a basis for our lecture today, and perhaps the first part of next Monday's class

Middle Proterozoic Geologic History of Minnesota (including the Late Proterozoic Baraboo Interval/Sioux Quartzite - Outline - end of the Late Proterozoic and the Middle Proterozoic History in Minnesota contains the record of deposition of pure quartz sandstones, and subsequent rifting of the North American Continent

http://www.uwrf.edu/~wc01/Pipestone.htm nice geologic summary of the Sioux Quartzite, Catlinite, and a discussion of the pipes

Geologic Time - A Minnesota Geologic Survey reading on methods of telling time in the rock record (also printed in your MRW notebook from the bookstore)

Subsurface methods of discovering geology in Minnesota - A Minnesota Geologic Survey reading on subsurface methods as applied to mapping Minnesota's bedrock

Precambrian of Minnesota - A Minnesota Geologic Survey reading on the Precambrian Geologic History of Minnesota (also printed in your MRW notebook from the bookstore)

www.angelfire.com/mn/RachelFrisk/Catpipe.html a nice site on Catlinite pipes

www.tcinternet.net/users/cbailey/pipetom.html the Pipestone petroglyphs

Friday, February 29 - NO CLASS

Monday, Wednesday and Friday, March 10, 12 and 14 Finish Baraboo Interval and begin Middle Proterozoic Mid-Continent Rift (see outline reading above)

Mid-continent Rift Powerpoint - we will use this as a basis for our lecture material, together with the reading in the outline (see above)

Monday, March 17 - EXAMINATION #2 - all material pertaining to the Precambrian, up through Friday, March 14.

Read the outline on the Paleozoic Geologic History of Minnesota. It contains the material I will go over in class, including photos and maps and diagrams. It will give you an important roadmap for making connections that allow you to understand the geology of the southeastern part of the state.

Also, note the reading in the text. This reading will further amplify the points made in the outline, and it contains photos and other illustrative materials not on the web outline.

Finally, be certain to read the PDF file from the Minnesota Geologic Survey on Fossils in Minnesota. Fossils are very important in understanding sedimentary rocks, their environments of deposition, and their ages.

Text on reserve, "Minnesota's Geology" p. 62-86, p. 233-241

Sedimentary Rocks Powerpoint - we will use this powerpoint as an introduction to sedimentary rocks, which we will need to understand the Paleozoic geologic history of Minnesota

Paleozoic Geologic History of Minnesota - Outline - Paleozoic history in Minnesota is a record of shallow seas teeming with life, the sediment, and the fossil record. Focus on the ways in which we interpret the evidence of the rock and fossil record to figure out the history of events that shaped much of the interior of North America

Fossils in Minnesota - This is another reading in the Minnesota Geologic Survey's series "Minnesota at a Glance." It is a nice summary of the occurrence of fossils in Minnesota, and their meaning to interpreting the record of Minnesota's geologic history.

Paleozoic Bedrock of Minnesota - Minnesota at a Glance Series, Minnesota Geologic Survey, pdf file - Essential reading for our section on the Paleozoic Geologic History of Minnesota - outlines the history of the Cambro-Ordovician inland sea, flucutations in sea level, and the influence of environment of deposition on the resulting rocks.

Monday and Wednesday, March 31 and April 2 - Mesozoic Geologic History of Minnesota

Read the course outline on Mesozoic Geologic History of Minnesota in detail. The outline expands on reading in the text, p. 86-95

Mesozoic Geologic History of Minnesota - Outline

Text on reserve, "Minnesota's Geology" p. 86-95

April 4 - NO CLASS - Spring Break Day

xMonday, Wednesday and Friday, April 14, 16 and 18 - Quaternary Glacial History of Minnesota

Read the outline on Quaternary Geologic History of Minnesota. It contains the guts of our comments in class, many diagrams (some from the text and some from outside sources), and photographs not in the text.

Quaternary Geologic History of Minnesota - we now begin a three day series of discussions on the glacial landscape of Minnesota, and how that landscape can be related to the glacial history of Minnesota and the upper Midwest. The outline begins with some background material on the formation of glacial ice, and on different types of glacial deposits and the landforms that are developed on them. There is also some material on the glacial theory, developed by Louis Agassiz. The emphasis in class, however, will be on glacial features in Minnesota, and how those features can be used to work out the glacial history of the upper midwest. Watch periodically for new additions to these notes.

Quaternary Geologic History of Minnesota Powerpoint

Read the excellent section in the text on the Quaternary history of Minnesota:

Text, p. 96-121

Also, read these sections of the text that deal with glacial landscapes, deposits, and history of various parts of Minnesota. You will have to be selective, and focus on the glacial parts of these sections.

Text, p. 161-163, 168-170, 199-203, 208, 211-213, 217-221, 223-227, 229, 233-234, 235-239, 241242

Finally, read the summary paper on the Quaternary History of Minnesota from the Minnesota Geologic Survey

Minnesota at a Glance - Quaternary History of Minnesota,

Monday, Wednesday and Friday, April 21, 23 and 25 - Groundwater and Surface Water in Southeastern Minnesota

Groundwater in southeastern Minnesota - outline Water is perhaps the most important resource of the 21st century, and SE Minnesota is blessed with a wonderful source of groundwater. Unfortunately, because of the geology of this area, that resources is extremely vulnerable to pollution. We will study the groundwater of SE Minnesota with this problem in mind.

Groundwater in southeastern Minnesota powerpoint

Minnesota at a Glance - Karst in Minnesota

Final Examination - Wednesday, April 30, 10:30 AM, SLC 120 - half of the exam covers new material since the third exam, half of the exam is comprehensive (exams 1, 2 and 3)