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Apr 19, 2024
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GEOL& 208 Geology of Pacific Northwest (5 credits)
Distribution Area Fulfilled Natural Sciences with Lab; General Transfer Elective
Prerequisite GEOL& 101 or GEOL& 103 with at least a 1.5 grade or instructor permission.
Course Description
A study of the development of the Pacific Northwest, including pertinent rock formations, structures, mineral resources, environmental issues, and fossils. Appropriate for non-science and science majors. Field trips required. Labs included.
Student Outcomes
1. Label on a map the important geographic localities pertinent to the geology of the Pacific Northwest (PNW).
2. Apply principles of sequence stratigraphy to the geologic development of PNW and its major rock sequences.
3. Decipher the origin of Archean crystalline basement rocks of the North American craton and related mineral resources.
4. Relate the origin of the Belt/Purcell/Deer Trail Supergroups and associated mineral resources to the tectonic regime of North America in the Proterozoic.
5. Interpret the depositional setting and assess the economic importance of the Phanerozoic cratonic sequences of North America within the PNW.
6. Compare and contrast the timing and style of deformation associated with Antler, Sevier, and Laramide Orogenies.
7. Describe and assess the economic importance of massive sulfide deposits and ophiolites as distinctive accreted rocks.
8. Relate the accretion of exotic terranes in the Mesozoic to the break-up of Pangaea and the developing collisional tectonic regime of the PNW.
9. Assess the current theories on the origin of Challis synthem arkoses and volcanics.
10. Interpret the origin of the metamorphic core complexes of the early Tertiary.
11. Discuss the deformation that affected the PNW in the early Tertiary.
12. Relate the origin of arc volcanics and granitic plutons of the Kittitas synthem to the Oligocene/early Miocene tectonic regime.
13. Describe the Miocene basalts and related strata of the Walpapi synthem and debate their origin; assess the environmental hazards of nuclear waste disposal in the Columbia River Basalt Group at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
14. Interpret the age progression of calderas from southeastern Oregon to northwestern Wyoming with respect to the Yellowstone hot spot.
15. Describe the properties of the Basin and Range Province (physical, geophysical, structural, volcanic, sedimentary) and assess its development with respect to other salient tectonic features of the North American Cordillera (San Andreas Fault, Yellowstone hot spot).
16. Describe deformational features of the late Tertiary and Quaternary Periods, and discuss current tectonic models of the PNW, and assess seismic hazards affecting the region.
17. Relate arc volcanics of the High Cascades synthem to the tectonic regime of the Quaternary, and assess volcanic hazards of the region.
18. Describe and interpret glacial features and processes of the High Cascades synthem.
19. Critical, Creative, and Reflective Thinking: Integrate and analyze quantitative data and qualitative information in several contexts. Examine assumptions; integrates experience, reason, and to draw scientific conclusions. Examples: map and photo interpretation, determining rock types, relative age, and origin of rock units in the field.
20. Information Competency: Evaluates Sources and Uses Tools. Evaluate and selectively use most appropriate tools and sources in order to access and manipulate geologic information, including library research, the Internet, and field research.
21. Effective Communication: Can appropriately communicate geologic data to an audience through reports or presentations.
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