G 341U: Geology of the Oregon Country (4 credits)

Spring Term, 2016  

Jim Jackson

E-mail: jjackson at pdx.edu

Class times: 2:00-3:50 pm Tuesday and Thursday

Class Rooms: Cramer Hall 287 (Tuesday) and CH1 (Thursday)                                                    

Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 1:15-1:45 Cramer Hall 17

G 341U is a course within the Global Environmental Change Cluster. Geology of the Oregon Country studies the origin and geologic history of landscape features in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Lectures and laboratory. Prerequisites: upper-division standing. 

General Lecture and Discussion Schedule (Subject to Change)

March 29        Introduction to time, space, and process dimensions of the geosciences

                        Volcanism

March 31        Lab: introduction to GoogleEarth software

April 5                        Columbia River Basalts

                        Coast Range Basalts and Sediments

April 7            Lab: Introduction to GeoMapApp software

                        Identification of volcanic features on oblique and aerial images

April 12          Faulting and Folding in Oregon

April 14          Lab: Identification of sheet and intra-canyon flows within the CRB.

April 19          Earthquakes in Oregon

April 21          Lab: recognizing faults and folds on oblique and aerial images

April 26          Mid Term Exam; Cenozoic Plate Tectonics in the Pacific Northwest        

April 28          Lab: Earthquake epicenters on volcanoes and faults

May 3             The Klamath Mountains

                        The Blue Mountains

May 5                         Lab: Plate tectonic simulations on the Pacific Margin

May 10           Mesozoic Plate Tectonics in the Pacific Northwest

May 12           Lab: Identification of metamorphic hand specimens

May 17           Climate Change in Oregon: The Pleistocene and Holocene

May 19           Lab: Aerial images of the Missoula Flood region

May 24           Climate Change in Oregon: The Eocene-Oligocene

May 26           Lab: Paleogene Climate of Oregon

May 31           Natural Hazards in Oregon

June 2                        FINAL EXAM

FINAL EXERCISE: VOLCANIC HAZARDS: Monday June 6 10:15 am-12:05 pm

Text: Orr and Orr (2012) Oregon Geology (OSU Press)

Reading Assignments: reading assignments from Orr and Orr and selected professional literature will be posted on the class website each week. Some material will be found on the PSU Library Reserve website. The assignments should be read before class on Tuesday, and then reviewed before class on Thursday.

Lab Exercises: Each week we will conduct a lab exercise during the Thursday class. These exercises will be preceded by a short topical lecture related to the exercise. At the end of the lab, students will turn in an exercise sheet, which will be graded.

Two exams will be given during the term. They will be based on readings, and lectures.

Grade Distribution                                                                          

93-100 A         90-92 A- 

87-89 B+         83-86 B           80-82 B- 

77-79 C+         73-76 C           0-72 C-                

67-69 D+        63-66 D 

0-62 F            

Grade Allocation

Weekly Labs   60%  

Exams              40%