GEOL243-15S1 (C) Semester One 2015

Depositional Environments and Stratigraphy

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 23 February 2015
End Date: Sunday, 28 June 2015
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 8 March 2015
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 24 May 2015

Description

This course focuses on modern sedimentary environments, oceanography and marine organisms as a key to interpreting geological history, and the techniques and approaches that allow geologist to deal with geological time. The fundamental underpinning is stratigraphy, and using sedimentary features and fossils as palaeoenvironment indicators, with particular attention paid to New Zealand’s geological development.

The course opens with lectures and laboratory classes that introduce the principles of fluid flow, sediment transport, and sedimentary depositional environments and how these processes affect the texture and composition of sedimentary rocks. The course then moves on to carbonate sedimentology and oceanography, and the interpretation of carbonate environments. The interaction of biota with substrates is introduced with trace fossils and the preservation potential of different fossils groups. The focus is on how fossils, along with sedimentary features, and preservational characters are used to interpret past environments. The fundamental underpinning is stratigraphy, that is, the study of the layers of rocks in the earth’s crust, and using fossils as dating tools and sedimentary features and fossils as palaeoenvironment indicators.

Learning Outcomes

  • Students successfully completing this course will:
  • have developed an understanding of sedimentary processes occurring at the surface of the Earth.
  • be able to classify and identify common sedimentary rocks in both hand specimen and under the microscope.  
  • be able to use sedimentary and biofacies analysis to interpret ancient environments and to reconstruct palaeogeography.
  • be able to construct and correlate stratigraphic columns from a variety of data.
  • be able to recognise and utilise important fossil groups used in NZ stratigraphy and environmental interpretation.
  • understand the development of the New Zealand biota.

    Goal of the course is that students are fully able to describe sedimentary rocks, derive original depositional environments from sedimentary and palaeontological data, and interpret stratigraphic successions from a palaeontological and sedimentary perspective.

Prerequisites

GEOL111 and GEOL112. With a B+ average, or
a standard acceptable to the Head of Department, GEOL113 may be substituted for either GEOL111 or GEOL112.

Restrictions

GEOL234, GEOL235

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Kari Bassett

Lecturers

Catherine Reid and Stefan Winkler

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage  Description
Laboratory assessment (KNB) 20% Laboratory assessment (Kari N Bassett)
Laboratory assessment (CMR) 20% Laboratory assessment (Catherine Reid)
Laboratory assessment (SWW) 10% Laboratory assessment (Stefan Winkler)
Final examination 50% Final examination

Textbooks / Resources

Recommended Reading

Benton, M. J. , Harper, D. A. T; Introduction to paleobiology and the fossil record ; Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.

Boggs, Sam; Principles of sedimentology and stratigraphy ; 5th ed; Pearson Prentice Hall, 2012.

Dalrymple, Robert W. , James, Noel P., Geological Association of Canada; Facies models 4 ; Geological Association of Canada, 2010.

Books available from the Bookshop, web sites and on reserve from the library.

Course links

Library portal

Notes

The topics coved by this course are:
• sediment transport processes and sources of sediment
• terrestrial and marine depositional environments
• burial, diagenesis and lithification processes acting on sedimentary rocks
• basic principles of oceanography
• use of microfossils in stratigraphy, and modern and ancient environment analysis
• trace fossils in marine environments
• sequence-, litho- and biostratigraphy.

Relationship to other courses
GEOL243 (along with GEOL240 and GEOL241) is now required for entry into GEOL351 Advanced Field Techniques. It is also required for GEOL331 and GEOL357, recommended courses for students intending a career in geology or engineering geology.

Additional Course Outline Information

Academic integrity

This course focusses on modern sedimentary environments at the surface of the Earth as a key to interpreting the past in geological history, and the techniques and approaches that allow geologist to deal with geological time. The course opens with lectures and laboratory classes that introduce the principles of fluid flow, sediment transport, and sedimentary depositional environments and how these processes affect the texture and composition of sedimentary rocks. The course then moves on to oceanography and marine fossils relevant to New Zealand geology, and how, along with sedimentary features, they are used to interpret past environments. We will then look at time and the depositional and geological history of the last 80 million years of the New Zealand regional response to sea-level change and ice sheet growth in Antarctica. The fundamental underpinning is stratigraphy, that is the study of the layers of rocks in the earth’s crust, and using fossils as dating tools and sedimentary features and fossils as palaeoenvironment indicators.


Marks and Grades
The Department of Geological Sciences uses the following scale to convert marks into grades:
100 – 90 A+ 74 – 70 B 54 – 50 C-
89 – 85 A 69 – 65 B- 49 – 40 D
84 – 80 A- 64 – 60 C+ Below 40 E
79 – 75 B+ 59 – 55 C

The Department of Geological Sciences reserves the right to adjust this mark/grade conversion, when deemed necessary.

Late Work
It is the policy for this course that late work is not accepted. Or, late work should be accompanied with a detailed explanation of why the work is late. The work will be marked and marks will be subtracted for each day the work is late. Days late include week-end and holidays.

Academic Liaison
Christopher Oze (room 329, HUchristopher.oze@canterbury.ac.nzUH, is in charge of liaison with students in geology courses. Each year level will appoint a student representative(s) to the liaison committee at the start of the semester. Please feel free to talk to the Academic Liaison or the student rep about any problems or concerns that you might have.

Students with Disabilities
Students with disabilities should speak with someone at Disability Resource Service. Their office is room 317 in the Rutherford Building. Phone: 364 2350 (or ext. 6350), email: disabilities@canterbury.ac.nz

Policy on Dishonest Practice
Plagiarism, collusion, copying and ghost writing are unacceptable and dishonest practices.
• Plagiarism is the presentation of any material (text, data, figures or drawings, on any medium including computer files) from any other source without clear and adequate acknowledgement of the source.
• Collusion is the presentation of work performed in conjunction with another person or persons, but submitted as if it has been completed only by the names author(s).
• Copying is the use of material (in any medium, including computer files) produced by another person(s) with or without their knowledge and approval.
• Ghost writing is the use of another person(s) (with or without payment) to prepare all or part of an item submitted for assessment.

In cases where dishonest practice is involved in tests or other work submitted for credit, the student will be referred to the University Proctor. The instructor may choose to not mark the work.

Reconsideration of Grades
Students should, in the first instance, speak to the course co-ordinator about their marks. If they cannot reach an agreeable solution, students should then speak to the Head of the Geological Sciences Department. Students can appeal any decision made on their final grade. You can apply at the Registry to appeal the final grade within 4 weeks of the end of the semester. Be aware that there are time limits for each step of the appeals process.

Aegrotat Applications
If you feel that illness, injury, bereavement or other critical circumstances has prevented you from completing an item of assessment or affected your performance, you should complete an aegrotat application form, available from the Registry or the Student Health and Counselling Service. This should be within seven days of the due date for the required work or the date of the examination. In the case of illness or injury, medical consultation should normally have taken place shortly before or within 24 hours after the due date for the required work, or the date of the test or examination. For further details on aegrotat applications, please refer to the Enrolment Handbook. You have the right to appeal any decision made, including aegrotat decisions.

Missing of Tests
In rare cases a student will not be able to sit a test. In such cases, the student should consult with the course co-ordinator or the Head of the Department of Geological Sciences to arrange alternative procedures. This must be done well in advance of the set date for the test.

Lecture / Laboratory timetable (minor revisions may occur prior to start of lectures):

Week # Dates Lectures                              Lecturer Laboratory
3 x 1 hr 1 x 2.5 hr
9  23rd Feb Sediment sources and diagenesis                KNB Clastic Sedimentary Rock Textures
10 2nd March Sediment transport processes                KNB Sedimentary structures/flume
11 9th March Sediment transport processes                KNB Braided river trip
12 16th March Terrestrial depositional settings                KNB Clastic Sedimentary Rock Compositions
13 23rd March Submarine depositional settings                KNB LAB TEST
14 30th March Carbonates                                CMR Carbonate I
BREAK
18 27th April Carbonates                                 CMR Carbonates II
19 4th May                Oceanography and Phosphorites                 CMR Carbonate III
20 11th May Micropal and trace fossils                 CMR Forensic Micropalaeontology
21 18th May Taphonomy and Zealandia                 CMR Trace fossils & macrofossils
22 25th May Introduction stratigraphy and lithostratigrahy SW Stratigraphic correlation exercise
23 1st June Introduction stratigraphy and lithostratigrahy SW Stratigraphic correlation exercise (cont.)

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $808.00

International fee $3,638.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

Minimum enrolments

This course will not be offered if fewer than 30 people apply to enrol.

For further information see Geological Sciences .

All GEOL243 Occurrences

  • GEOL243-15S1 (C) Semester One 2015