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	300 Steele Building CB# 3504 UNC-Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3504 email: fys@unc.edu phone: (919)843-7773

Geological Sciences

GEOL 070 [006C]: One Billion Years of of Change: The Geologic Story of North Carolina
Physical and Life Science (PL) [GC Natural Science, physical]
Kevin Stewart
The rocks of North Carolina record over a billion years of earth history. During that time our state has been affected by continental collisions, volcanic eruptions, and raging rivers. In this course, we'll explore topics such as the origin of the Blue Ridge Mountains, how the barrier islands are shifting, and the ways that the geology of North Carolina has affected the lives of people who live in the state. Much of the class will be conducted outdoors, exploring real geologic problems, during class and on two-day trips to the mountains and the coast.

GEOL 071 [006C]: Bringing Bones Back to Life: Reconstructing Vertebrate Fossils
Physical and Life Science (PL) [GC Natural Science, optional lab (GEOL 159L), life]
Joseph Carter
This course focuses on vertebrate paleontology as exemplified by fossil finds in the Coastal Plain of North Carolina, spanning the past 215 million years. Through field and laboratory studies, students will learn first-hand about the nature and diversity of ancient vertebrate life in our state. Participants will make a personal fossil collection and will collaborate on the reconstruction of one of North Carolina's most spectacular vertebrate fossils. Students who choose to take the optional lab can take GEOL 16L in the spring semester.

GEOL 072 [006C]: Field Geology of Eastern California
Physical and Life Science (PL) [GC Natural Science - optional lab (GEOL 101L), physical]
Allen Glazner, Drew Coleman
This seminar will be designed around a one-week field trip to eastern California, where students will study geologic features including active volcanoes, earthquake-producing faults, evidence for recent glaciation and extreme climate change, and how locals deal with living on active geologic features. Before the field trip (which will take place the week of Fall Break and be based at White Mountain Research Station in Bishop, California), the class will meet twice a week to go over basic geologic principles and to work on specific field topics for which student groups will be responsible. During the field trip students will work on specific projects (e.g., making a geologic map of a small area; mapping, measuring, and describing an active fault; observing and recording glacial features on a hike). After the field trip students will write a research paper on a topic of their choice. Grading will be based on the research paper, group work presented on the trip, and on a variety of small projects during the trip (notebook descriptions, mapping projects, etc.). Students will be required to pay some of the costs of the trip (estimated about $500). This course will require missing three days of classes.

GEOL 073 [006D]: Global Warming and the Future of the Planet
Physical and Life Science (PL) [GC Natural Science - no lab, physical]
Jose Rial, Donna Surge
Global warming is the most important environmental problem of the 21st century. The international scientific community agrees that the world today is significantly warmer than it was a century ago—and it is getting warmer. This seminar explores the geologic history of global warming, its physical principles and the prospects for the future on the basis of the interpretation of its history as recorded in deep sea sediments, ice cores, tree rings and other important proxies. The students will learn to interpret these data and extrapolate them to the near future, for the world and for North Carolina. Students will discuss and debate the economic, social and political aspects of global warming, and how ours and other advanced societies are coping with the problem.

GEOL 074 [006D]: Geology of Climate Change
Physical and Life Science (PL) [GC Natural Science - no lab, physical]
Michael Oskin
Climate change, whether natural or induced by man, is an environmental process that must be dealt with in the 21st century. Earth history provides examples of the effects of past climate change from which we can learn what to expect in the future. This course will explore the evidence for past climate changes, responses of vegetation and landscapes to changing environments, and possible consequences of climate changes we see today. Students will document landscape response to pre-historic climate change through field research in a variety of natural settings, including overnight trips to the Blue Ridge Mountains and Outer Banks.

GEOL 075 [006D]: Waste in the Environment
Physical and Life Science (PL) [GC Natural Science - no lab, physical]
Larry Benninger
All life produces wastes and discharges them into the ambient environment (air, water, soil, rock). The wastes of natural populations can be recycled or detoxified through "ecosystem services." The wastes of human societies exceed the capacities of ecosystem services; their accumulation can alter the environment. How do we cope with the wastes we produce? This course addresses this question through examination of case studies. We begin by considering the function of ecosystem services, as illustrated in the natural carbon cycle. With that background we will consider case studies of waste generation and disposal by human societies.

GEOL 076 [006D]: Energy Resources for a Hungry Planet
Physical and Life Science (PL) [GC Natural Science - no lab, physical]
Jose Rial
The course first describes the fundamental sources of energy: oil, natural gas and coal, how and where to find them and the latest statistics on how long the present reserves will last. Then we shall explore earth's alternative energy resources. Discussions will center on some of the most pressing issues of our time: environmental deterioration and the construction of a sustainable (livable) world during and after the depletion of traditional energy resources. The course stimulates student participation through class debates in which a controversial topic is argued for and aginst by the students (e.g. Can nuclear energy become a viable and safe substitute for oil?).

GEOL 077 [006D]: Volcanoes and Civilization: An Uneasy Co-Existence
Physical and Life Science (PL) [GC Natural Science - optional lab (GEOL 101L), physical]
Allen Glazner, Jonathan Lees
Volcanoes have played a significant role in the development of civilization. On the positive side they provide dry land, a breathable atmosphere, a habitable climate, and precious ores. On the negative side they can rain destruction on cities and disrupt the climate. Civilization has been lucky for the past several thousand years; some prehistoric eruptions were hundreds or thousands of times larger than the larges recent eruptions. In this seminar we will explore the role that volcanoes have played in earth's evolution and in the rise of civilization.

GEOL 078 [006D]: Time: Meanings, Uses, and Experiences
Physical and Life Science (PL) [GC Natural Science - no lab, physical]
Paul Fullagar
Goals: 1) Learn how different cultures view time; 2) investigate methods of measuring, describing, and using time, including movement of Sun and moon, calendars (including Stonehenge, etc.), non-mechanical devices, clocks and other mechanical devices, time standardization, atomic clocks and accurate time, radioactive isotopes and timing of ancient events, determining longitude; 3) study depiction of time in art and music, 4) discover how we sense time biologically and psychologically.