GEL 451 Structural Geology

Fall 1999

Dr. Mary Roden-Tice

Hudson Hall 121 or 001D (lab)

Office Hours: 10-11 MW or by appointment
Text: Structural Geology of Rocks and Regions (2nd Edition) by George H. Davis and Stephen J. Reynolds (D&R) Required

Structural Geology by Robert J. Twiss and Eldridge M. Moores (T&M) On Reserve
This course is scheduled for lecture from 9:30-12:15 and lab from 13:30-16:30 on Tuesdays. Through early November, we will be doing field labs and leaving campus between 11:00 and 11:30 AM. I will try to return by 4:30 or 5:00 PM by the latest. The Vermont trips require the ferry so scheduling is a bit difficult. Because of these field restrictions, please do not schedule any classes between lecture and lab or immediately after lab. Plan to bring a lunch, water and snack on Tuesdays. I will provide bagels, cream cheese, and a cooler. Dress for field work.
Course Grading: 2 Hour Exams 50%
Lab participation, write-ups,
and assignments 30%
Final Exam 20%

Lab Materials:
Sharp pencils (mechanical best)
Fine-tipped pen
Eraser (preferably a click-one)
Protractor and ruler (metric and English)
Colored pencils
Clipboard
Field notebook - a small, compact one such as a steno notebook
Tracing paper (pad)
Calculator (with trig functions)
Late assignments drop one letter grade per week late!
Dates Lecture/Lab(bold) Topics Reading Assignment
8/31 No official class, Dr. Roden-Tice out of town D&R Chpt. 1
Get syllabus and lab assignment from Dr. Franzi Assignment due: 9/7
9/7 Primary structures; stereonets D&R p. 657-662, 691-704
9/7 Field: Intro to field methods; Rand Hill Dikes D&R p. 626-644, 662-669
Assignment: stereonet problems Assignment due: 9/14
9/14 Folds: description D&R p. 372-397
Cleavage D&R p. 424-428
9/14 Field: The Oven, mapping project, VT Review: D&R p. 730-736
9/21 Fold kinematics D&R p. 397-423; 449-456
9/21 Field: The Oven, mapping project, VT Review: D&R p. 626-644
Assignment due: 9/28
9/28 Intro to strain D&R p. 51-61, 66-67, 78-85.
9/28 Field Lab: Charlotte, VT road cut Review: D&R p. 669-674
Assignment due: 10/5
10/5 Hour Exam 1; Intro to faults; D&R p. 269-300
10/5 Field: The Beam, Lessor’s Quarry and D&R p. 653-656; Reading
Champlain Thrust, VT assignment in lab
Assignment due: 10/19
10/12 No Class! Columbus Day Holiday
10/19 Thrust faults Normal Faults D&R p.; 357-371; 340-357
10/19 Field: Craig Harbor, Port Henry, NY Reading assignment in lab
Assignment due: 10/26
10/26 Strike-slip faults; strain significance of faults; D&R p. 357-371; 319-339,
Intro to stress 301-303; 98-109; 113; 116-118
10/26 Field: Shelburne Bay, VT Reading assignment in lab
Assignment due: 11/2
11/2 Joints, cleavage, foliation, lineation, D&R p. 204-226; 429-449;
456-479;
11/2 Field: Split Rock crackle zone, NY Reading assignment in lab
Assignment due: 11/9
11/9 Shear zones and sense of shear D&R p. 493-536
11/9 Indoor lab: Grand Canyon and
Faults and principle stress directions Assignment due: 11/16
11/16 Strain in shear zones; rheology D&R p. 537-539; 547-553
Experiments in stress and strain 122-149
11/16 Indoor lab: Structural contours and D&R p. 679-683
isopach maps (GTI exercise) Assignment due: 11/23
11/23 Hour Exam 2
11/23 No in class lab; take home assignment Assignment due: 11/30
11/30 Plate tectonics D&R, Chpt. 10
11/30 Indoor lab: 3 point problems and
apparent dip problems Assignment due: 12/7
12/7 Microstructures D&R, Chpt. 4
12/7 Indoor lab: Microstructures Assignment due: 12/10

Write-Ups for Structural Field Labs

Lab write-ups will be due at the beginning of the following week’s lab unless otherwise indicated. Late labs will be demoted one letter grade for each week late. Work will be done in teams of two students each for the purpose of data acquisition. Each student must submit his/her own lab write-up and it must not be identical (with the exception of the data section) to that of his/her partner or zero (0) credit will be given to both students.

If the structure examined has been written up in a field guide, I will provide you with a copy to help in your interpretation. Do not simply copy the author’s ideas or data. This is plagiarism!

This is a senior level course and therefore, I expect your field lab write-ups to be professional like a technical report for a company that employs you. The field lab write-ups should include at least three parts: "Structural data", "Interpretation", and "Further Work".

The "Structural data" section should consist of descriptions of the structures you saw in lab. Your descriptions should enable the reader to visualize the shapes and orientations of the structures clearly in as few words as possible. Descriptive terminology can be found in the following sections of the text: folds - Chpt. 11, foliations and lineations- Chpt. 13, joints - Chpt. 3, and faults in Chpts. 4-7. Please include figures such as stereonets, sketches made at the outcrop, and maps and cross-sections.

The "Interpretation section" should consist of your interpretation of how the structures formed using your text and other references for help. Questions in the lab handout will give you direction. Please list any references used.

The "Further Work" section means "things that I wish I had looked at in the field but didn’t". The process of describing and interpreting structures often raises question that require other observations you didn’t happen to make. Recognizing what you didn’t do in the field last time is the key to improvement as a field geologist. It will also help your lab grade if you acknowledge what observations you neglected to make.

Grading criteria:

clear, accurate detailed descriptions of the structures examined
correct plotting of data on stereonets (if required)
correct map/cross-section (if required)
well-presented interpretations that are consistent with your observations
recognition of observations that could have made your work better

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