Geology of Ireland

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

The proposed course will consist of classroom lectures by me and student presentations, with several field trips interspersed throughout the 6 week program to study natural geologic formations in person. Each student will conduct a small independent quantitative research project that relies on field observations and measurements during the field trips. In the beginning of the course, I will present 1 week of lectures on introductory geology and the geology of Ireland including plate tectonics, an introduction to minerals and rock types, quantitative structural geology, geochemistry, and how with all of this information, the geologic history of a rock and region can be deciphered. After the introductory lectures, the students will break into groups of 4-5 students, with each group focusing on one of the 5-6 geologic sites that will be visited. I will work with each group to help them develop topics and to insure accurate and complete coverage of the necessary geologic concepts. Each student within each group will focus on a different aspect of the geologic site, and the group as a whole will prepare a presentation for the class, using Web of Science and internet sources as references. Each student will be required to conduct a quantitative independent field research project that incorporates measurements made during the field trips, and which involves a chemical and/or a physical aspect of the rocks that we see, and each student will prepare a final research report on their results. Each project must include a rigorous quantitative aspect. For example, quantitative stress fields and regional stress dynamics can be calculated from measured rock folding and/or fossil deformation patterns; tectonic or glacial forces can be quantified from field measurements of regional fold and fault relationships or glaciation patterns; and global climate effects can be calculated from quantitative considerations of carbonate chemistry and limestone weathering extents measured in the field. The students will present the results of their research projects both as individual research reports and in short class presentations at the end of the course.