Instructor: Joann Stock, jstock@gps.caltech.edu, x6938, 356 South Mudd.

Teaching Assistant: Alan Chapman, Rm. 310 North Mudd, x8994, alan@gps.caltech.edu

Ombudsperson: Nina Lin ninalin@gps.caltech.edu

Class meeting: The Organizational Meeting (OM) was on Monday, Oct. 1, at 10 a.m. Our class meeting time for 1 hour per week will be Tuesdays from 3-4 p.m. in room 215 North Mudd, starting on Tuesday Oct. 2nd. During these meetings we will discuss background material about the field area and issues related to preparation for the field trips. We will also have an orientation to the GIS project to be used by the class (starting later in October, dates to be announced).

Course grading: Letter Grades, based on field performance, final geological map, cross-sections, and a written report about the field area. Note that you have to attend all of the scheduled field trips in order to pass the course.

Course Topics: Field documentation of original depositional and intrusive features, as well as subsequent tectonic deformation structures, in a volcanic and continental basin setting (lavas, tuffs, sandstones). The field area is in the Bristol Mountains, California, in the easternmost part of the Eastern California Shear Zone.

Course Prerequisites: All students should have taken Ge11ab (introductory physical geology) and Ge106 (structural geology) or their equivalents. All students should have taken Ge120 or an equivalent geology field camp. We also strongly recommend that students should have already taken Ge112 (Geomorphology and Stratigraphy). Normally undergraduates would take Ge112 and Ge106 in fall and spring of the junior year so that they would be eligible to take Ge121 classes during senior year. Graduate students should have the equivalent preparation from some other school. If you are unsure about your preparation please talk to the instructor. If you have already taken another Ge121 class, it is Ok for you to take this one, as long as you did not take it previously from the same instructor (Stock).

This class may have field trips on the same weekends as other GPS Division classes if those classes are a prerequisite for Ge121a. For example Ge11a and Ge121a might have field trips on the same weekends, because no student should be enrolled in them simultaneously. Please consider this when planning your course schedule.

Logistical information: We will map for a total of 9 days (three long weekends). We will be camping out in a remote area of the desert with no facilities. We will have class meetings (1 hr/week) to discuss the scientific objectives of the class. When the field work is finished, the students are responsible for writing up individual field reports and submitting their map and cross-sections for grading. We encourage use of the Caltech GIS lab facilities and software (e.g., ArcGIS products) for preparation of the maps. All of the students enrolled in Ge121a will be signed up as GIS lab members for fall quarter 2007.

Field Trip Dates:
 1. Thurs., Oct. 18 evening through Sunday, Oct. 21 evening.

Class meeting schedule:
 Tues from 3-4 p.m. in 215 N. Mudd: Oct 2, 16, Nov. 6, Nov. 20, Nov. 27. NOTE: NO CLASS MEETING THE WEEK OF NOV. 12 because it is in between 2 field trips and also due to the Tectonics Observatory meeting on Nov. 13th.

GIS lab meeting schedule:
 GIS lab, 309 N Mudd (tentative dates): Tues & Thurs from 3-4 p.m.: Oct. 9,11, 23, 25, 30, Nov. 1. Students have been assigned to either the Tues or Thurs. session. Week of Oct. 9: orientation to GIS project. Week of Oct. 23: instruction on how to download GPS way points and add them to your project files using MapSource software. Week of Oct 30: Adding strike/dip symbols and polygons to your project.

For a list of suggested field equipment, click here.

For the current reading list, click here.

For the field philosophy of the class, click here.

For the GPS Division policy regarding alcohol on field trips, click here.

For instructions for the final report, click here.

For the style advice sheet for the map and report, click here.

For a map showing the choices of cross section lines for the final report, click here.

Last updated March 13, 2008 by J. Stock.