G 456U / G556 Astrogeology, Spring 2012

e-mail: ruzickaa@pdx.edu

Water, water, everywhere!  "Pendant crater" on Mars (left) recording evidence for massive flooding (current from upper right to lower left); two interior models for Europa (right), which contains a crust of water ice that may overlie a subsurface ocean. Images courtesy of NASA.
 

Course information

• Syllabus  (PDF, posted Mar 31 2012)

• Links to current and recent space missions  (leads to a page on the instructor's website)

• Sample test questions  (posted April 19 2012)

• Revised schedule  (PDF, posted May 1 2012)  Note changes in lab and lecture components

• Important information about Lab 4 and Exam 1.  As we did not finish Mars lecture material on 5/2/12, I would like to take the start of our class on 5/4/12 to finish it so that we can stay on schedule.  Following this, we will do the Mars II lab activity as scheduled.  To compensate for the loss of lab period time, I will shorten the required portion of this lab to Q1-16 in parts I and II (instead of parts I, II and III). The remaining portion (Q17-24) of the lab will all be extra credit, worth 0.9% (up from 0.6%).  Also, for Exam 1, you will be responsible for all Mars material as originally intended, instead of only the protion we were able to cover through 5/2.  (posted May 3 2012)

• As mentioned in class, I am changing the due date for Lab 4 (Mars II) to 5/18/12.  This change will not affect anything else in the schedule.   (posted May 9 2012)

Laboratory Exercises
 

• Lab 1: Impacts!   (Lab period 4/13/12, due 4/20/12)

• Lab 2: Lunar Stratigraphy  (Lab period 4/20/12, due 4/27/12)

• Lab 3: Mars I   (Lab period 4/27/12, due 5/4/12)

• Lab 4: Mars II  (Lab period 5/4/12, due 5/11/12, revised due date 5/18/12; see "important information about Lab 4" message above for a revision to this lab) 

• Lab 5: Io  (Lab period 5/18/12, due 5/25/12)

• Lab 6: Ice geology  (Lab period 5/25/12, due 6/1/12)

Problem sets (G556 students only)
 

• Homework 1   (Posted 3/31/12, due 5/14/12) 

• Homework 2   (Posted 3/31/12, due 6/6/12)

Score distributions and answer keys
 

• Exam 1   (posted 5/9/12)

Images from field trips to SE Oregon
 

• Class of 2001 (summer).

• Class of 2002 (summer).

• Class of 2003 (summer).

• Multiple flows of basaltic andesite on Steens Mountain; a hammer marks the contact between two flows. Vesicle content changes with respect to flow margins, being higher at the tops of flows and in narrow, chilled flow bottoms.  Andesitic flows may be present on Mars.

• Lava stalactites in basalt at edge of skylight in roof of lava tube, Diamond Craters Outstanding Natural Area.  Note the obvious vesicles.  Basalt flows are common on Earth, the Moon, Mars, Venus, probably Mercury, and on some asteroids.  Probable skylights have been identified on Mars. 

• Kiger gorge on Steens Mountain, showing U-shaped topographic profile indicative of glaciation.  The headwalls of this canyon extend up to the alpine climate zone, but glaciers last resided on Steens Mountain over 10,000 years ago.  U-shaped valleys are found on Mars.

• Crawling in a lava tube at Diamond Craters Outstanding Natural Area, Kelly shows her stuff.  The lava tube is a small analogue of sinuous rilles on the Moon, Mercury, Mars, and Venus, which probably once contained lava flowing either in tubes whose roofs collapsed or in open channels.

• Astrogeology students explore Big Obsidian Flow in Newberry National Monument.  Big Obsidian Flow is composed of rhyolitic glass that was extruded as a pasty flow.   Similar material may have been erupted on Venus. 

• Sitting on the brink (see arrow of Adolpho for scale) of the steep eastern scarp of Steens Mountain is a good place for contemplating the huge fault scarps that are present on various solar system bodies.  Most of these scarps were produced by normal faulting.

• DeWitt takes in stride the rain at the top of Newberry volcano, perhaps appreciating the uniqueness of planet Earth in this regard.  A hydrocarbon rain appears to occur on Saturn's moon Titan.

• Reddish-colored soil near the summit of Steens Mountain formed as the heat from lava flows baked underlying soil to create iron oxide minerals. Similar minerals and coloration are present on Mars.

• Astrogeology students clamber over recently-formed pahoehoe lava flows at Diamond Craters. This landscape in southeast Oregon resembles the scene at some of the Venera landing sites on Venus.

• Rock columns below the feet of Stacie and Jeremy in the walls of Little Blitzen gorge on Steens Mountain formed as a lava flow cracked during cooling.  Such columnar jointing is common on Earth, has been discovered on Mars, and is probably present on other planetary bodies.

Last Updated: May 9, 2012

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