Course Syllabus

Welcome to Sedimentary Geology!

Instructors: 

Dr. Ken Miller, kgm@eps.rutgers.edu cell (609) 577-3297

Dr. Jim Browning, jvb@eps.rutgers.edu

Teaching Assistant in charge of lab:

Sophie Benaroya sb1541@rutgers.edu

Welcome to 01-460-330 Sedimentary Geology that will be taught by Profs. Ken Miller and Jim Browning.  The first class is 11:00 AM on Friday Sept 3^rd in Wright Labs Room 231.

Attendance in class is required. Class starts promptly according to the “atomic clock” (National Institutes of Standards and Technology; https://www.time.gov).  Do not be late.

We are using Canvas Learning Management System.  The course syllabus is available on the Rutgers Canvas site (log in with your net ID) and is pasted below.

 https://rutgers.instructure.com/courses/66781

The philosophy of this course is to prepare you to think like a geologist.  While this course is also designed for minors, it is intended to make you think about sediments, sedimentary rocks, and what they can tell us about environments of deposition and the history of the Earth.  This course is the sine qua non (indispensable and essential ingredient) for work either in environmental geosciences or oil/gas careers or future work in Earth sciences.

Please note that we have three required field trips: all day to Sandy Hook (Saturday, September 11), Newark Basin (Sunday, October 17), and to Campo Quarry in the New Jersey coastal plain (as part on lab on Friday, October 1).  We will also run an optional (extra credit) trip to the Valley and Ridge.  We understand that work and sometimes physical limitations prevent students from attending field trips, but the field trips are a critical component of the course and are not physically arduous.  There will be a handout for you to fill out and hand in.  If you cannot attend for any reason, please let us know.  There will be an alternate assignment which will be a virtual field trip and written report.  For field trips, we will require a field notebook and strongly advise getting a pair of sturdy hiking boots (no sandals) and a brimmed hat.  A hand lens and grain size chart are required and we will supply them.

Preparation Before Classes:  Before each classes we will post questions about the material in the lecture.  This is called Socratic Learning Method and requires that you prepare for class by answering questions posed ahead of time.  The following video gives you a flavor for Socratic learning:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx22TyCge7w (don’t worry we are not Professor Kingsfield from this movie/book, The Paper Chase).

Please prepare and think.  The Socratic discussion for the second class will be on the geology of your hometown.  Think about how the geology influences the people.  Where does your water come from?  How does the geology affect the environment?

Textbook: The textbook is supplemental but strongly encouraged.  Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, Boggs, 5th edition 2012

ISBN-10:0321643186ISBN-13 available from the bookstore.  You may find e-copies (including free ones of older editions) online.

Labs: Labs will be held on Friday afternoon.  There is no lab the first week.  Your TA is Sophie Benaroya and she will be in touch via Canvas.  We will give out hand lenses and grain size charts for use in the class.

Exams and Grades: There are two hourly exams and a non-cumulative final exam taken in class.

Grading rubric: Hour Exam 1 (20%) + Hour Exam 2 (20%) + Final Exam (25%) + Homework/Class participation (10%) + Lab (25%); Note: the Final Exam is NOT cumulative.

Lab grading is done entirely by Sophie.

Attendance:  Students are expected to attend class; attendance is one of the best prognosticators of a student's performance.

Academic Integrity: Our department fully endorses a no-tolerance cheating and plagiarism policy and follows the Rutgers Code of Conduct https://www.sashonors.rutgers.edu/academics/integrity-pledge . All work, not only tests, but also assignments, should be your own.  If you are caught cheating, we will refer you  disciplinary action. 

Your Rights: We are all human and instructors and students both make mistakes.  If you feel that you have been treated unfairly, contact the department chair.

LECT	DATE	LECTURE TOPIC		READINGS	LABORATORY TOPIC
1	3-Sep	Introduction and Earth Materials & NJ provinces	jvb		no lab
2	7	Introduction to Stratigraphy	kgm	Ch. 12
3	10	Weathering and Soils	jvb	Ch. 1	Sediment Geo Fundamentals
					Sandy Hook Beach Sat. 11 Sept
4	14	Grain characteristics: size, shape, composition	jvb	Ch. 3
5	17	Rock classification (Siliciclastic)	jvb	Ch. 5	Coarse-Grained Sediments
6	21	Transport and Deposition of Siliciclastic Sediment	jvb	Ch. 2
7	24	Sedimentary Structures and Bedding	jvb	Ch. 4	Clastic Sedimentary Rocks
8	28	Diagenesis and Provenance	jvb	Ch. 5
	1-Oct	Hour Exam I			Coastal Plain Field Trip Fri. 1 Oct. 1-6 PM
9	5	Physical Stratigraphy & Facies	kgm	Ch. 12
10	8	Groundwater and Rivers	jvb	Ch 8.1, 8.2	Sedimentary Structures
11	12	Deserts and Glaciers	jvb	Ch. 8.3, 8.5
12	15	Lakes & Introduction to the Newark Basin	jvb/kgm	Ch. 8.4	Lab quiz/Core Description
					Redbeds Field Trip Sunday 17 Oct
13	19	Marginal Marine – Deltas and Estuaries	kgm	Ch. 9
14	22	Chemical Sedimentary rocks	kgm	Ch. 6	Lake Cycles at core repository
15	26	Marginal Marine – Beaches	kgm	Ch. 9
16	29	Shelf, Slope, Marine Environments	jvb	Ch. 10	Chemical Sedimentary Rocks
					DWG Field Trip Sat. 30 Oct
17	2-Nov	Deep Marine Environments	kgm	Ch. 10
	5	Hour Exam II			Facies Correlation
18	9	Biostratigraphy	jvb	Ch. 14
19	12	Magnetics and Timescales	kgm	Ch. 13.4	Magnetics and Biostratigraphy
20	16	Geophysical Logs and Magnetics	kgm	Ch. 13.4
21	19	Geochronology	jvb	Ch. 15	Log Correlation
22	23	Carbon, Oxygen, Strontium Isotopes	kgm
23	26	Thanksgiving – NO CLASS
23	30	Climate and Milankovitch	kgm
24	3-Dec	Seismics and Sequence Stratigraphy	kgm	Ch. 13	Maps
25	7	Sequence Stratigraphy and Eustasy	kgm	Ch. 13
26	10	Basin Evolution	jvb	Ch. 16	Lab quiz

Learning Goals

 

By the end of this course students should be able to:

 

Apply scientific thinking to problems in sedimentology and stratigraphy.

Use the necessary vocabulary to read about sedimentology and stratigraphy. Use correct terminology to describe sediments and sedimentary rocks.

Use a suite of observations to interpret the environment of deposition of a facies.

Integrate observations and descriptions to create a measured stratigraphic section and interpret environmental changes.

Draw and illustrate multiple stratigraphic sections to create a two- or three-dimensional view of the geology of an area.

Understand that sediments and rocks exist in the time domain and be able to date and correlate sections from different sedimentary basins.

Know how geologists link observations to make paleoenvironmental and paleogeographic reconstructions to provide a history of a region and the Earth.

 

Specific learning goals. By the end of this course, students should:

 

Understand physical and chemical weathering processes; the controls on and rates of weathering; know how soils form and some of the basic controls on their formation.

 

Understand the different types and relative abundances of minerals found in sedimentary rocks; the difference between framework grains, accessory minerals, lithic fragments, and cement; understand how to describe sediment texture including grain size, grain shape, sediment fabric, and textural and physical maturity; know how geologists measure, graph, and interpret grain size data and sorting; understand Stokes law.

 

Know the difference between laminar and turbulent flow; be able to explain how Reynolds and Froude numbers describe fluid flow; understand how sedimentary grains get entrained and deposited; know what bedforms are and which are formed in different conditions; understand the importance of gravity in transporting sediment; be able to distinguish the different types of gravity flows.

 

Be able to classify siliciclastic sedimentary rocks; conglomerates (shape, grain composition, mode of origin, and sorting); sandstone (mineral components, wackes); mudstones.

 

Understand the types of bedding and sedimentary structures found in sediment; distinguish primary vs. secondary structures; recognize trace fossils and be able to use them in environmental reconstruction.

 

Know the processes that take place following deposition (bioturbation, physical compaction, cementation, recrystallization, solution, mineral replacement, authigenesis); understand how sediments are used to determine provenance.

 

Recognize sedimentary facies and understand how to construct a facies model for an environment; know how transgressions and regressions affect facies; know how facies changes and Walther's Law are used in paleoenvironmental reconstruction.

 

What is physical stratigraphy; understand and be able to explain formation, group, member, bed, stratotype, correlation, contacts, unconformities, hiatus, transgression, regression, and Walther's Law; memorize the Geologic Time Scale.

 

Understand the importance of the hydrologic cycle on the movement of sediments; know the basics of the movement of ground water including D'Arcy's law, porosity, and permeability; understand how river channels form and the types of deposits formed by rivers; understand the different kinds of river channels; understand deposition on alluvial fans.

 

Understand lake processes, including stratification and the formation of authigenic and biogenic minerals; know lake sedimentary facies; understand how the Newark Basin formed and the sedimentary processes dominating its deposits.

 

Understand why we have deserts and dry lands; understand how sediment transport by wind differs from water transport; know the types of wind deposited sediment; understand glacial, sub-glacial, ice-marginal, and pro-glacial (lakes and eolian) environments and processes.

 

What are chemical sedimentary rocks and under what physical conditions do they form; what are the different carbonate minerals; what makes up allochems and orthochems; understand the different types of carbonate reef platforms and the different environments of deposition; Dunham's classification vs Folk's classification; understand non-carbonate chemical sedimentary rocks including evaporites, cherts, iron-bearing rocks, and carbonaceous rocks.

 

Understand coastal processes and environments of transgressive coasts; understand how tides, waves and storms interact to form beaches and barrier islands.

 

Understand deposition on regressive coasts including deltas, estuaries, and tidal flats.

 

Understand shallow marine shelf facies; understand the significance of hummocky cross stratification and geostrophic flow; understand the difference between relict and palimpsest sediments.

 

Understand processes transporting sediment on the continental slope and rise that form canyons including turbidity currents, turbidites, contour currents, contourites, and submarine canyon/fan systems; what are the types of sediments found in the deep sea and the controls on where different types of sediment are found.

 

Understand how fossils are used for dating and correlating rocks; understand the importance of first and last appearance datum levels, index fossils; know the different kinds of zones used.

 

Be able to use and apply facies models on geological data.

 

Understand how geophysical logs are used for identifying and correlating rocks; Understand how the Earth's magnetic field forms and how it can be used for correlation.

 

Understand the basics of radioactive decay and half-life; know how radiometric ages can be integrated with other types of data to create a time scale.

 

Understand how carbon, oxygen, strontium isotopes are used for correlating rocks; understand what oxygen isotopes in foraminifera reveal about temperature changes; understand the application of strontium isotopic stratigraphy in correlation.

 

Understand Milankovitch cycles and how they influence the stratigraphic record.

 

Know the basics of seismic profile interpretation.

 

Know the basics of sequence stratigraphy including systems tracts.

 

Understand how eustasy and tectonics make room for sediments to accumulate.