Announcements
Dynamic Earth
Fall, 2007 (most recent listed first)

A web reading assignment on glaciation is available here

Powerpoints used in class on groundwater and glaciation are posted and can be found in the powerpoint section of our course web page

A web reading assignment on groundwater is available here and in the course assignment page. Be sure to complete this work, as it will be the basis for a number of final exam questions.

A warmup on groundwater will be available Wednesday, November 28, after claa. It's due at 8 am on Friday, November 30.

Here are the answers for the mass wasting activity for you to review.

Our next warmup will be due at 8 am, Friday, November 16. It will be available Wednesday morning before class, and it deals with mass wasting. You should also review the mass wasting notes that are posted on our web page. The warmup is based in part on these notes. You can get to the notes from here.

Finally, there is an activity on our web page that you should complete. It is not assigned for turn-in, but it will help you understand the various processes of mass wasting. Access the activity here. I will post the answers after we finish mass wasting on Friday.

Answers to warmups are posted on our course web page. Go to the bottom of the index page and click on the link.

I have added a few diagrams to the "images for class" section of the web page

VERY IMPORTANT LABORATORY ANNOUNCEMENT AND PRE-LAB ASSIGNMENT

Before next lab meeting on October 30, you must do the following pre-lab work. We will check all maps at the beginning of lab and will count as one absence any unfinished pre-lab work.

Use the sea floor map that shows topography in relief (the Physiographic Chart of the Sea Floor is at the rear of your lab packet) for the following plots (numbers 1 and 2 of the first Plate Tectonics Laboratory Exercise).

1. Use the recent Earthquake data from the following url to plot the locations of recent earthquake epicenters. Plot the epicenters with small circles (·) using the following key: plot shallow-focus earthquakes (depths < 75 km) in blue and plot deep-focus earthquakes (depths > 75 km) in green. Go down the list from most recent to least recent, and stop when you have plotted at least 10 deep focus quakes (and, of course, all the shallow-focus 'quakes along the way).

USGS National Earthquake Information Center

2. Use the recent volcanic activity data from the following url to plot the locations of world volcanoes. Plot the locations of volcanoes on your base map with red triangles (s). Go down the list from most recent to least recent, and stop when you have plotted 50 eruptions.

Volcano World

The plotting is done by latititude and longitude. If you don't understand how to plot in this coordinate system, please find out ASAP. By the way, if latitude is given in + and - instead of north and south, note that + is north and - is south. Latitude is plotted from the equator, which is zero, toward the poles, which are 90. If longitude is given in + and - instead of east and west, note that + is east and - is west. Longitude is plotted from the Prime Meridian (it goes through Greenwich, England), which is zero, east to 180 or west to 180 (180 is approximately the international date line).

Be certain to bring this map with the data plotted to your next lab session. We will check everyone's work - if you have not completed the assignment, you will be marked absent for one lab session, which is minus 2% off your overall grade.

Remember that Monday, Wednesday and Friday, October 22, 24 and 26, there will be optional SI sessions in SLC 120 during our regular class time. This is a great opportunity to ask questions, to get help in a structured environment, especially for students who can't normall get to the evening SI sessions! Note that there will be no SI evening sessions the week of October 22-26.

Warmup on sea floor topography is due at 8 am, Monday, October 29

Warmup on internal structure of Earth is due at 8 am, Wednesday, October 24

Warmup on earthquakes is due at 8 am Wednesday, October 17

SI will resume it's normal schedule this Wednesday evening, October 17

No SI session Wednesday, October 10 and Monday, October 15

Monday SI sessions will now start at 6 pm and go to 7:30 Take note of this change

A cross section of the geology of the North Shore of Lake Superior is the basis for our warmup on relative time, due at 8 am on Monday, October 8. The cross section is inserted in the warmup on D2L, and can also be accessed here. You should download and print out this cross section in order to decipher the sequence of events. It's the basis for Monday's warmup, and I will use it in class Monday as well.

A warmup on metamorphic rocks is due at 8 am Friday, October 5

Warmups on D2L have been evaluated up to but not including the sedimentary rocks. Each warmup counts 1 point, and you have to had finished each question, including all parts of the essay question, to have your work counted as an honest attempt. If you scored zero for a warmup, it will be for these foregoing reasons.

Our first lecture exam will be this next Friday, September 21. It will consist of multiple choice and T/F questions. See the assignment page for the extent of material covered by the test. You must bring a narrow Scantron (not the full 8 1/2 x 11" sheets) and a couple of sharpened pencils that have *good* erasers. No electronic devices or notes or reference materials of any kind will be permitted during the exam. There will be four different versions given to alternating students and alternating rows to protect the integrit of the exam.

D2L will be ready this weekend for you to begin to review your warmups and see the feedback for different questions. This may help you to continue preparation for the upcoming lecture exam.

The powerpoint on volcanism is available on your course web page under "powerpoint presentations"

A warmup on volcanism is due on Monday, September 17. It will be available on D2L at noon this Wednesday

Our next warmup wiill be due on Monday, September 17, and deals with volcanism

A few changes have been made to the laboratory schedule for the next few weeks. Check it out on the assignment page.

A warmup on silicate minerals is due at 8 am on Friday, September 7. Don't forget that we are now using D2L to deliver the warmups. Please bear with me as we make this transition.

Here are the email addresses for our lab assistants:

T, 11:00 Justin Graf jagraf5492@winona.edu; Nick Asuncion ndasunci2529@winona.edu

T, 1:00 Jenny Dankers jdanker4514@winona.edu; Shelby Frost sjfrost7129@winona.edu

T, 3:00 Shelby Frost sjfrost7129@winona.edu; Zack Cassill zacassil6106@winona.edu

SI sessions are scheduled as follows

Monday, 5-6:30 PM

Wednesday, 7-8:30 PM

All sessions meet in SL 178.

The first meeting will be Wednesday, August 29. No session will be held on Labor Day, September 3.

If you have difficulties with the warmup application that we use for this course, please do NOT contact me. Instead, email elearning@winona.edu, or see either Jose De Leon, John Stafford, or Ken Gretz in elearning (second floor of library room 220).

SL 178 is available for lab study, anytime the building is open except for our lab times Tuesday 11-5

It is your responsibility to read the syllabus thoroughly. There are a number of policies to which you must adhere in order to pass the course. And there are also many suggestions for achieving success in the course.