The Academic Departments

• Department of Science Education
• Department of Astro-Geophysics
• Department of Biology
• Department of Geology
• Supplementary Courses

Department of Geology

Steve A. Austin, Ph.D., Chair

Introduction

The mission of the Geology Department is to teach and model by utilizing laboratory experiments and field observations how data on earth processes and structures are understood and evaluated within interpretive frameworks for earth history. The Master of Science degree in Science Education with an emphasis in Geology offers post-baccalaureate students the opportunity for adding depth and meaning to previous educational, vocational, and/or non-vocational experiences from a unique perspective on geological processes. The purpose is to prepare teachers with broad and specific experience in the geological sciences.

Program objectives

The ICRGS graduate who minors in Geology will be able to acquire knowledge in the geological sciences and construct a personal perspective of earth history using accurate, technical terms.

The ICRGS graduate who minors in Geology will be able to evaluate current geological literature and analyze results utilizing two interpretive frameworks in the field of Geology.

The ICRGS graduate who minors in Geology will be able to utilize a variety of resources to continue building on his or her geology knowledge base.

The ICRGS graduate who minors in Geology will be able to apply skills in effective written and verbal communication skills that exhibit the qualities of a communicator who stimulates the thinking of the listener/reader.

Prerequisites for Admission

Students entering this course of study are expected to have completed during their undergraduate education the following course work: Geology – one semester of physical or historical geology; Biology – one semester of zoology or botany; Chemistry – two semesters of general chemistry; Physics – two semesters of general physics; Mathematics – one semester of introductory calculus and one semester of statistics.

Students with a minor emphasis in one of the other disciplines for the Master’s degree desiring to enroll in one of the Geology courses will be counseled as to their appropriate preparedness for success in the Geology course of their choice.

Requirements for Graduation

Students choosing an emphasis in Geology must take 24 quarter hours from the geology courses offered, including three hours of field or laboratory work. Course work is best understood taken in the sequence designated by course numbering and the time of year the courses are offered beginning with the fall quarter.

Courses

GE 501: Natural Disasters
4.5 quarter hours

Analysis of some of the most extraordinary geologic events that have affected the earth’s surface including displacement processes (earthquakes, landslides, storm surges and tsunamis), nozzle and penetration events (caldera and summit eruptions, pluton intrusion, piping failure of natural dams, meteor impacts), and energetic granular flows (debris avalanches, debris flows, hyper-concentrated river floods, and pyroclastic flows). Focus is on eyewitness reports allowing geological classification and quantitative description. Mechanical analysis employs force vectors, energy balance, and work budgets with only occasional use of calculus. Probability analysis addresses potential threat to humans. This course is also appropriate for science educators needing broad experience with surface geologic processes. (Prerequisites: SE 501, and/or consent of instructor)

GE 502 Geochronology with Laboratory
6 quarter hours

A review, critique, and evaluation of methods and assumptions used to calculate the age of rocks and estimate the age of the earth, especially from radioisotope dating methods. Topics covered are: biblical chronology, scientific evidence for a young earth, the basics of radioactive decay and radioisotope dating, rubidium-strontium dating, potassium-argon dating, samarium-neodymium dating, uranium-thorium-lead dating, radiohalos and fission tracks, radiocarbon dating, and an accelerated decay model within a Biblical young-earth history. The laboratory requires original data on rubidium-strontium, potassium-argon, samarium-neodymium, uranium-lead, and carbon-14 to be downloaded, plotted, and interpreted using IsoPlot 3.0 which is an add-on to MS Excel. (Prerequisites: admission to geology minor, SE 501, GE 501, and/or consent of instructor)

NOTE: see “Using Online Data and Excel for Astro-Geophysics Laboratories” at the end of the Astro-Geophysics course listing.

GE 503 Principles and Patterns in Paleontology
4.5 quarter hours

Comparisons of criteria used to classify fossils and extant forms are analyzed in Systematic Paleontology for patterns used to propose and defend models for the origin and history of major taxonomic groups. (Cross-listed with BI 503) GE 503L to be taken concurrently. (Prerequisites: admission to geology minor, SE 501, GE 501, GE 502, and/or consent of professor)

GE 503F Paleontology Field Investigations
1.5 quarter hours

Collect and identify fossils, especially from the Ice Age; participate in hands-on workshops; investigate fossil evidence relating to origins. (Cross-listed with BI 503L)Must be taken concurrently with GE 503 or after completion of GE 503. (Prerequisites: admission to geology minor, SE 501, GE 501, GE 502 with lab or consent of professor)

GE 504 Interpreting Earth History
4.5 quarter hours

Survey of the human quest to understand the earth’s past. Overview of terminology and methodology for describing and interpreting earth history from geological and geophysically-inferred structures and processes. Analysis of uniformitarian and catastrophist approaches to interpreting earth history. Application of computational techniques to simulate geological and geophysical processes. Exploration of the limitations of both uniformitarian and catastrophist paradigms. (Prerequisites: admission to geology minor, SE 501, GE 501, GE 502,and GE 503 with lab and/or consent of instructor)

GE 505F Field Geology
3 quarter hours

Field explorations for science educators at selected geological locations in Southern California. Visits and instruction occur at shore-face strata sequence (Torrey Pines State Reserve), ancient delta of the Colorado River (Anza-Borrego Desert State Park), leading edge of the North American Plate boundary (San Andreas fault, Mojave Desert, and Owens Valley), craton-deposited marine flood strata (Sierra Nevada Mountains, Inyo Mountains and Mojave Desert), supervolcano structure and deposits (Owens Valley, Long Valley Caldera, Mammoth volcanic center, and Mono Craters), intrusive igneous structures (Peninsular Ranges Batholith, Sierra Nevada Batholith, and Independence dikes), and glacial landforms (Yosemite National Park). (Prerequisites: GE 501, GE 502)

GE 510 Special Topics in Geology
Variable quarter hours

Hands-on courses offered as the need arises for various topics in Geology.