ESCI-421 - Earth Materials II - Spring 2008  University of South Dakota Lecture Meetings: MWF 2:00-2:50 in Akeley-208  Lab Meetings: Tu 2:00-3:50 in Akeley-208  Professor: Dr. Brennan Jordan  E-mail: brennan.jordan@usd.edu Office: Akeley-309; Ph. 677-6143

Course Overview: Petrology is the study of rocks.  This course covers igneous and metamorphic rocks.  These rocks are commonly covered together because they can both be considered as the result of the chemical process of crystallization, either directly from a magma in the case of igneous rocks, or recrystallization of another rock in metamorphic rocks.  The occurrence, texture, mineralogy, and chemistry of these rocks reflects the processes that formed them at many scales, from the microscopic to the tectonic.  By the end of the course students will:

• Be able describe and classify rocks in both hand sample and thin section
• Interpret common textures of igneous and metamorphic rocks
• Be able to interpret the phase relations of igneous and metamorphic rocks
• Understand the significance or major and trace element compositions of igneous rocks
• Be able to perform calculations modeling the chemical and isotopic evolution of magmas
• Be familiar with the tectonic processes of magma genesis in different tectonic environments
• Understand how metamorphic rocks reflect the tectonic processes that formed them
• Be able to think like a rock!

Course Structure: Class meetings will consist of lectures and in-class problem solving sessions.  Labs will generally involve examination of rocks in both hand sample and thin section, with questions designed to focus students on interpretation of the rocks.  There will be "out of class" lab quizzes like mineralogy.  There will be two midterm and a final covering lecture material.  There will be a required late-semester field trip.

Field Trip: We will take a weekend (Friday-Sunday) field trip late in the semester; the destination will be either the Black Hills or Minnesota, tentatively scheduled for April 25-27.

Other Materials: 10x hand lens (preferably a triplet)

Grading: A single grade is assigned integrating lecture and laboratory performance.  Grading will be on a curve, but set no more stringently then the standard 90/80/70/60 scale.  The weighting of course work will be as follows:

Office Hours: M 10-11, Tu 10-12, Th 1-3; also, feel free to swing by any time or make an appointment

Cheating: Don’t do it! The university policy on cheating is as follows: “No credit can be given for a dishonest assignment. At the discretion of the instructor, a student caught engaging in any form of academic dishonesty may be: (a) given a zero for that assignment; (b) allowed to rewrite and resubmit the assignment for credit; (c) assigned a reduced grade for the course; (d) dropped from the course; or (e) failed in the course.”

Freedom in Learning: Students are responsible for learning the content of any course of study in which they are enrolled. Under Board of Regents and University policy, student academic performance shall be evaluated solely on an academic basis and students should be free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study. Students who believe that an academic evaluation is unrelated to academic standards but is related instead to judgment of their personal opinion or conduct should first contact the instructor of the course. If the student remains unsatisfied, the student may contact the department head and/or dean of the college which offers the class to initiate a review of the evaluation.

Disabilities: Any student who feels s/he may need academic accommodations or access accommodations based on the impact of a documented disability should contact and register with Disability Services during the first week of class. Disability Services is the official office to assist students through the process of disability verification and coordination of appropriate and reasonable accommodations. Students currently registered with Disability Services must obtain a new accommodation memo each semester.

Course Evaluation: You will have an opportunity to evaluate the course and the instructor using the IDEA Diagnostic Form at the end of the semester.