Professor Contact
Class Time and Place
Student Accessibility
Makeup Examinations
Office Hours
Content Delivery
Text
Topics
Readings
Assessment
Due Dates
Marking Scale
The Last Billion Years 2010
Administrative Information
Professor Contact Information
Paul HillLSC 5632
494-2266
paul.hill@dal.ca
How to Find My Office
My office is LSC 5632. This office is on the fifth floor of the Oceanography wing of the Life Sciences Centre at Dalhousie. To find it, follow these directions:- start at the Hicks Building, which is the one with the dome
- proceed into the Life Sciences Centre (LSC), which is the contemporary concrete building behind the Hicks Building
- upon entering the LSC, veer to the left
- when you encounter a fork in the hallway, veer right, across the glass pedway and into the Oceanography wing
- turn right into the stairwell immediately upon entering the Oceanography wing
- walk up two levels to the fifth floor
- upon exiting the stairwell, turn left
- walk to the end of the hallway, where you will see a red fire door leading the the side stairwell
- my office is on the right, just before the fire door
- come on in!
Class Schedule and Room
We meet in LSC C220 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:30-10:20.Student Accessibility and Accommodation
Students may request accommodation as a result of barriers related to disability, religious obligation, or any characteristic under the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act. Students who require academic accommodation for either classroom participation or the writing of tests, quizzes and examsshould make their request to the Office of Student Accessibility & Accommodation (OSAA) prior to or at the outset of each academic term (with the exception of X/Y courses). Please see www.studentaccessibility.dal.ca for more information and to obtain Form A - Request for Accommodation.
Makeup Examinations
Makeup examinations are offered for a limited set of circumstances:- Illness: If you are ill on the day of the examination, then contact me via phone or email on that day and obtain a doctor's note on that day.
- Extracurricular Activities: If you have an athletic event or other school-related activity that conflicts with a scheduled examination, then contact me via phone or email at least 2 weeks in advance of the event.
- Emergencies: If you have an emergency or crisis that forces you to miss an exam, then contact me as soon as possible. Permission to write a makeup exam will be granted on a case-by-case basis.
Office Hours
I will hold office hours on Tuesday from 1-3 PM and on Friday from 1-3 PM. Please try to visit me at those times. If you cannot make either one of these times, then please arrange an alternate time by talking to me after class or by sending me an email.Content Delivery
This course relies heavily on Blackboard Learning System (BLS). With BLS I will make announcements, send emails, post lecture notes and assigned readings, and conduct online assessments. It is essential that you check BLS regularly. The best way to find content on the course site is to click on the Calendar tool. For more information, check out Dalhousie's Integrated Learning Online website at http://ucis.dal.ca/services/other_services/ILO/index.htmlAcademic Information
Aims and Objectives
This class examines major events and cycles in the Earth system. The geological evidence of major events and cycles will be described, and the hypothesized causes will be examined critically in the context of that evidence. The goal of this course is to develop on the part of students an understanding of the functioning of the earth/ocean/atmosphere system, with emphasis on the connections among various processes that regulate and record Earth's biogeochemical cycles. Students will receive basic instruction in plate tectonics, in dating methods, and in the use of stable isotopes as environmental proxies.Text
The primary text for the course is The Earth System, 3rd ed. by L. R. Kump, J. F. Kasting and R. G. Crane. We will not cover the whole text. We will read the introductory chapters, 1-3, that present the concept of the Earth as a system. Then we will skip chapters 4-7 and 9, which cover the general functioning of the atmosphere, oceans, hydrosphere, plate tectonics, and ecosystems. This material will arise throughout the course, so if you have not been exposed to it before, or the only thing that you remember from the Blue Planet is that class was really early, read these chapters on your own. Otherwise, just use them for reference. We will cover chapters 8 and 10-14 for the main part of the course. The final chapters in the text deal with modern climate change, and we will not cover them. The readings from the text will be supplemented by selected journal articles that give more insight into the major events in Earth history that we will discuss. These articles will be on reserve at the Killam Reserve desk.Topics and Readings
| Date | Topic | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| September 10 | Introduction to the Course | Chapter 1, The Earth System |
| September 13 | Demonstration, Deep Time | none |
| September 15 | Introduction to Systems | Chapter 2, The Earth System |
| September 17 | Global Energy Balance, Part I | Chapter 3, pp. 36-44, The Earth System |
| September 20 | Global Energy Balance, Part II | Chapter 3, pp. 44-56, The Earth System |
| September 22 | Origin of the Earth | Chapter 10, pp. 190-199, The Earth System |
| September 24 | Origin of Life | Chapter 10, pp. 199-209, The Earth System |
| September 27 | The Carbon Cycle, Part I | Chapter 8, pp. 149-162, The Earth System |
| September 29 | The Carbon Cycle, Part II | Chapter 8, pp. 162-175, The
Earth System Berner and Lasaga, 1989; |
| October 1 | Evolution of the Atmosphere, Part I | Chapter 11, pp. 210-223, The Earth System |
| October 4 | Evolution of the Atmosphere, Part II | Chapter 11, pp. 223-231, The Earth System |
| October 6 | Examination 1 | none |
| October 8 | In Class Demonstration | none |
| October 11 | Thanksgiving Holiday | none |
| October 13 | Snowball Earth, Part I | Chapter 12, pp. 233-247, The Earth System |
| October 15 | Snowball Earth, Part II | Hoffman and Schrag (2002) |
| October 18 | Death of Cretaceous Seamounts I | Chapter 12, pp. 247-252, The Earth System |
| October 20 | Death of Cretaceous Seamounts II | Wilson et al., 1988; Flood, 2001 |
| October 22 | Death of Cretaceous Seamounts III | |
| October 25 | Cenozoic Cooling, Part I | Raymo and Ruddiman, 1992; |
| October 27 | Cenozoic Cooling, Part II | |
| October 29 | Eocene Thermal Maximum, Part I | none |
| November 1 | Eocene Thermal Maximum, Part II | none |
| November 3 | Eocene Thermal Maximum, Part III | none |
| November 5 | Examination II | none |
| November 8 | Mass Extinctions, Part I | Chapter 13, pp. 255-261, The Earth System |
| November 10 | Mass Extinctions, Part II | Chapter 13, pp. 261-271 |
| November 12 | Mass Extinctions, Part III | Ward, 2006 and Becker, 2002 |
| November 15 | Mass Extinctions, Part IV | none |
| November 17 | Cratering Lab | none |
| November 19 | Cratering Lab In Class Tutorial | none |
| November 22 | The Ice Ages I | Chapter 14, pp. 272-280, The Earth System |
| November 24 | The Ice Ages II | Chapter 14, pp. 280-288, The Earth System |
| November 26 | The Ice Ages III | none |
| November 29 | Of Icebergs and Outbreak Floods I | Baker, 2002; Gupta et al., 2007 |
| December 1 | Of Icebergs and Outbreak Floods II | Chapter 14, pp. 288-293, The Earth System |
| December 3 | Of Icebergs and Outbreak Floods III | none |
| December 6 | Examination III | none |
Assessment
Components
Students will be assessed with 4 different components:| Component | Percentage of Mark |
|---|---|
| Online quizzes based on the readings (multiple) | 25% |
| Assignments (3) | 25% |
| Examinations (3) | 25% |
| Final Paper (1) | 25% |
The online quizzes based on the readings are intended to encourage you to do the reading for the course. The quizzes will be delivered through BLS with the online Assessment tool. The assessments will be available starting on the first day of a major subject, and they will remain available until the end of that topic. You will have the opportunity to take the quizzes as many times as you wish during the period of availability.
The 3 assignments are intended to give you some understanding of how scientists blend simple calculations with some basic assumptions to gain insight into global-scale problems. If you are confused by an assignment, I am happy to give advice and guidance. I recommend that you look at the assignments soon after getting them so that you can identify the spots where you are confused.
The 3 exams are intended to test your general understanding of the subject matter. The exams will comprise long and short answer qeustions. They are not cumulative. They will not include calculations.
The final paper will describe a major event in Earth's future that you dream up. You will present the geological record of the event, and then you will go on to present a hypothesis that explains that evidence. The paper should be about 10 pages, double-spaced. It will be assessed equally in 5 categories: content, structure, creativity, spelling and grammar, and evidence of learning. Details will be provided in class towards the end of the term.
Due Dates
| Component | Due Date |
|---|---|
| Online assessments based on reading | throughout the semester |
| Assignment 1 | September 29 |
| Assignment 2 | October 20 |
| Assignment 3 | November 24 |
| Examination 1 | October 6 |
| Examination 2 | November 5 |
| Examination 3 | December 6 |
| Final Paper | December 10 |
Marking Scale
| Numeric Grade | Letter Grade |
|---|---|
| 90-100 | A+ |
| 85-89.9 | A |
| 80-84.9 | A- |
| 75-79.5 | B+ |
| 70-74.5 | B |
| 65-69.9 | B- |
| 62-64.9 | C+ |
| 58-61.9 | C |
| 55-57.9 | C- |
| 50-54.9 | D |
| < 50 | F |