Meeting: T-TH 10:30-11:20 1 H TBA
Instructors:
Professor Jonathan Lees (962-0695; jonathan_lees@unc.edu)
Study of the structure and evolution of continents and ocean basins. The course examines a broad range of tectonic phenomena and considers the specific geological and geophysical processes involved. Topics covered include the uplift, deformation and metamorphism of mountain belts, the subsidence of sedimentary basins, collision of continents and volcanic arcs, earthquake seismology of plate boundaries and magmatism and structure of volcanoes. The format of the course will be 2 lectures per week plus one hour discussion at a convenient meeting hour chosen in the first weeks of class.
Required text is E. M. Moores and R.J. Twiss, 1995, Tectonics, W. H. Freemon &Co., 415p.
Supplemental reading will include sections from:
P. Keary and F. J. Vine, 1990, Global Tectonics, Blackwell Scientific Publications, 302p.
Requirements: Students will be required to write a short (5 page) research paper due at midterm. After midterm, each student will make an oral presentation on the same research topic. Feedback from the short paper will be used in writing a larger 15-20 page) research report due at the end of the semester. Special attention will be given to improving writing skills and coherent presentation. In the discussion sections, students will review more advanced papers and write short (1-page) critiques of these works. Midterm and final examinations will provide students with means for assessing understanding and progress in the course.
Grading: Final 40%, Midterm 25%, Discussion 15%, Final paper 20%.
Tectonics Course Syllabus:
Lecturer Date Topic Reading
Sep 3 No class
MB Sep 5 TH Introduction to tectonics M&T Chpt 1
TBA M&T Chpt 1
JL Sep 10 TU Geophysical observations M&T Chpt 2
JL Sep 12 TH and Concepts M&T Chpt 2
TBA Relationship of heat flow to tectonics (Sclater)
MB Sep 17 TU Tectonic features of the earth M&T Chpt 3
MB Sep 19 TH M&T Chpt 3
TBA Structure of Oceanic and continental lithosphere
JL Sep 24 TU Fundamentals of Plate Tectonics M&T Chpt 4JL Sep 26 TH Plate Tectonics M&T Chpt 4
TBA Current plate motions (Minster&Jordan)
Reconstruction of Pacific Plate motions (Engebretson, Stock & Molnar)
MB Oct 1 TU Divergent plate boundaries M&T Chpt 5
MB Oct 3 TH M&T Chpt 5
TBA History of rift and drift for the Atlantic basin
JL Oct 8 TU Conservative plate boundaries: transform faults M&T Chpt 6
JL Oct 10 TH M&T Chpt 6
TBA Examples: San Andreas Fault, California
Alpine Fault, New Zealand
North Anatolian Fault, Turkey, etc.
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MB Oct 29 TU Convergent plate boundaries: M&T Chpt 7
JL Oct 31 TH Subduction of oceanic lithosphere M&T Chpt 7
TBA Karig
JL Nov 5 TU Geometry and evolution of Triple Junctions M&T Chpt 8
JL Nov 7 TH M&T Chpt 8
TBA Mendocino Triple Junction (McKenzie), Japan
MB Nov 12 TU Collision at continental convergent boundaries M&T Chpt 9
MB Nov 14 TH Collision M&T Chpt 9
TBA Crustal thickening and metamorphism. (Tibet)
MB Nov 19 TU Structure of orogenic belts. M&T Chpt 10
MB Nov 21 TH M&T Chpt 10
TBA Scientific Method in tectonic analysis (Baha-BC; Molnar&England; Pazzaglia&Brandon)
Nov 26 Thanksgiving
Nov 28
JL Dec 3 TU Kamchatka-South M&T Chpt 12
MB Dec 5 TH Kamchatka-North M&T Chpt 12
TBA Geis;, Silver; Hoefstader