SPRING 2004

Lecture Instructor: Jennifer Wilson

MSEC 184 (x5952), jenw@nmt.edu

Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 9-10am and 1-2pm

Lab Instructor: Lisa Majkowski-Taylor

MSEC 188 (x5418) or Cramer 220 (x6419), lisamt@nmt.edu

Office Hours: Monday 1230-2pm, Tuesday 5-6pm

Required Text:

Structural Geology of Rocks and Regions by Davis and Reynolds, 1996.

Lectures and labs will cover much of the material in this text. Reading assignments will be made regularly from this text, and are to be completed by the lecture meeting on the date indicated in the lecture schedule. A "need-to-know" list will be provided to guide you through these readings.

Lecture Notes:

A copy of overheads used during lectures will be available for you to photocopy at least one day before that lecture date. These notes will be kept in the E&ES Department office in a file cabinet on the left side of the faculty mailboxes (ask Mary or Connie if you need help).

Optional but very useful texts:

Structural Geology by R.J. Twiss and E.M. Moores, 1992

Basic Methods of Structural Geology by S. Marshak and G. Mitra, 1988

Grading:

Your grade will be based on the best two out of three exams given during the semester, a final exam, lab work, and fieldwork. The following formula will be used:

2 Exams 25%

Final Exam 25%

Lab Work 40%

Fieldwork 10%

Field Work:

In addition to field assignments in the lab, there will be two Saturday field trips scheduled during the semester. The first will be on Saturday, February 28 to the Quebradas (Arroyo del Tajo), and the second will be on Saturday, April 24 to the Manzano Mountains (Estadio Canyon). Exact locations and dates for these trips may be changed according to weather conditions. Attendance is mandatory, and the notes you enter into your field notebook will be 10% of your final grade in the class.

Materials required for field work:

Field notebook, sharp pencils, ruler (cm-scale), protractor

Class Webpage:

Go to http://www.ees.nmt.edu/Geol/Structure/Geo353/Structure_class.html to view a syllabus, various notes, previous exams, and structural geology links from around the world.

Tentative Lecture Schedule

Date/Lecture Topic/Reading Assignment

January 21 - Structural Geology Intro, Primary & Secondary Structures (p. 1-17, 656-662)

January 26 - Structural Analysis, Orientation of Lines & Planes (p. 17-32, p. 662-669)

January 28 - Planes & Topography, Structure Contours (p. 679-683)

February 2 - Intro to Deformation Mechanisms, Fractures & Joints (p. 150-189, 204-226)

February 4 - Intro to Faulting (p. 269-296)

February 9 - Normal & Reverse Faults (p. 340-357)

February 11 - Thrust & Strike-Slip Faults (p. 319-339, 357-371)

February 16 - Exam 1

February 18 - Deformation Mechanisms, Brittle-Ductile Transition (p. 150-189, 199-201)

February 23 - Geometric Analysis of Folds (p. 372-397)

February 25 - Kinematic & Mechanical Analysis of Folds (p. 397-423)

March 1 - Foliations, Lineations, and Cleavage (p. 424-472)

March 3 - Tectonites (p. 476-492)

March 8 - Shear Zones & Sense-of-Shear Indicators (p. 493-551)

March 10 - Exam 2

March 5-19 - Spring Break

March 22 - Stereographic Projection (p. 691-717)

March 24 - Dynamic Analysis & Intro to Stress Theory (p. 98-105, 105-118)

March 29 - Stress - Mohr Circles (p. 118-122, 304-319)

March 31 - Stress - Mechanics of Fracturing & Exp Rock Defm (p. 226-251, 122-149)

April 5 - Stress - Relating Geologic Structures to Stress Fields (p. 190-199)

April 7 - Kinematic Analysis & Intro to Strain Theory (p. 38-50)

April 12 - Strain - Mohr Circles (p. 51-70)

April 14 - Strain Analysis (p. 70-93)

April 19 - Exam 3

April 21 - The Big Picture - Structure & Tectonics (Plate Boundaries) (p. 564-599)

April 26 - The Big Picture - Structure & Tectonics (Plate Kinematics) (p. 599-617)

April 28 - The Big Picture - Structure & Tectonics (Tectonics of NM)

May 3 - The Big Picture - Structure & Tectonics (Tectonics of NM)

May 5 - Review for Final Exam

Last Updated: January 4, 2010 by Webmaster