Revised 07/2018

GOL 106 - Historical Geology (4 CR.)

Course Description

Traces the evolution of the earth and life through time. Presents scientific theories of the origin of the earth and life and interprets rock and fossil record. This is a Passport and UCGS transfer course. Lecture 3 hours. Laboratory 3 hours. Total 6 hours per week.

General Course Purpose

This introductory course in geology is intended to meet the needs of the student pursuing a career in Earth or natural sciences or the student seeking to fulfill a laboratory science requirement for other majors. The course covers the origins of the solar system and evolution of Earth’s structure, the relationship between life and surface conditions, and the types of life that have inhabited Earth in the past.

Course Prerequisites/Corequisites

Strongly recommended to have completed GOL 105.

Course Objectives

Upon completing the course, the student will be able to:

  • discuss theories of formation of Earth, the Moon, and other worlds in our Solar System;
  • describe the origins of Earth’s internal structure, crust and crustal processes, atmosphere, and oceans;
  • trace the events leading to the origins of life and distinguish between their forms;
  • understand the formation of continental crust and the tectonic processes that modify it;
  • understand the growth and movement of continents and the cycle of supercontinent formation and dispersal;
  • describe and date the formation and breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea;
  • distinguish between common types of fossilization, including the origins of fossil fuels;
  • describe the traits of major groups of Phanerozoic multi-cellular life;
  • explain the basic concepts in macroevolution and relate evidence from the fossil record to them;
  • describe the patterns and extremes of climate change in Earth’s past.

Major Topics to Be Included

Earth Origins

  • Processes in accretion—nebula to planet, bombardment, formation of Moon
  • Processes in interior—differentiation, origins of magnetic field and tectonic engine
  • Formation of hydrologic cycle—atmosphere, oceans
  • Modification of early crust—subduction, partial melting, production of granitic crust

Geologic Time and Processes

  • Relative Geologic Dating—Principles of stratigraphy, construction of geologic time scale
  • Radiometric Dating—radioisotopes, half-life, carbon dating
  • Fossilization—types of fossils, materials

Precambrian Events

  • Formation of continents and supercontinents—Wilson Cycle
  • Appearance of photosynthesis, Banded Iron Formations, and the oxygenation crisis
  • Snowball Earth concept—evidence for planetary deep freeze, agents of recovery
  • Ediacaran Period—early multi-cellular community
  • Start of the Evolutionary Arms Race—animal movement, sight, and hard parts

Phanerozoic Events

  • Early Paleozoic seafloor ecology and life forms
  • Mid Paleozoic swimmers and expansion into freshwater
  • Mid Paleozoic spread of plants and animals onto land
  • Late Paleozoic radiation of reptiles
  • Late Paleozoic expansion of forests, CO2 drawdown, and the Great Dying
  • Early Mesozoic reptiles and the appearance of dinosaurs
  • Mid Mesozoic heyday of archosaurs, appearance of birds, and breakup of Pangaea
  • Late Mesozoic third wave of dinosaurs and the K/T Impact
  • Early Cenozoic first wave of mammals and dispersal of Pangaea
  • Late Cenozoic second wave of mammals and global cooling toward Holocene glaciations Emergence of Man

Fossil Groups

  • Early microbes—prokaryotes and eukaryotes
  • Algae and Stromatolites
  • Foraminifera and other single-celled animals
  • Sponges
  • Cnidaria—jellies, corals
  • Bryozoans
  • Arthropods—trilobites, eurypterids, crustaceans, insects, arachnids
  • Brachiopods
  • Molluscs—gastropods, bivalves, ammonoids, nautiloids, belemnites
  • Echinoderms—crinoids, echinoids, starfish
  • Vertebrates—primitive chordates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs, birds, mammals
  • Plants—bryophytes, tracheophytes, grasses