Syllabus for Current Semester (PDF format*)

GY 402 Assignment Due Dates and Field Trip Schedule (Tentative)

Grain size Spreadsheet (.xls [Excel] format)

GY 402 Stuff -Download available (.pdf format) - Download available (.ppt or .doc format)
Week#	Subject Material	PPT Lecture	Lecture Notes	Lecture Assignment	Lab Assignments
1	1: Origin of Sediment
	2: Grain Size Parameters
2	3: Sediment Classification
	4: Fluid Dynamics
3	5: Bedform Development
	6: Sedimentary Structures
4	7: Sedimentary Sections
	8: Sedimentary Facies
5	9: Walter's Law
	10: Optical Mineralogy
6	11: Mature Sed. Petrography
	12: Near Shore Environments
7	Mardi Gras Holiday
	Moscow Landing
8	Immature Sed. Petrography
	Alluvial Fans
9	Siliciclastic Diagenesis
	Moscow Landing Research
10	Spring Break
11	Sandy Fluvial Systems
	Volcaniclastic Petrography (Tuesday Lab Lecture)
	Deltaic Dep. Environments
12	Evaporites/Tidal Flats
	Non-Skeletal Allochems
13	Skeletal Allochems
	Shelves
14	Allochems and reefs
	Sea level and sediments
15	Carbonate Diagenesis 1
	Carbonate Diagenesis 2
16	Carbonate Diagenesis 3
	Final Words
Lecture Test 1			Lecture Test 2

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General
Sedimentology

1) hard covered notebook
2) hand lens
3) good quality pencils (colored and graphite for drawing), pens and a compass
 

*Attendance/Participation: You learn by asking questions and participating in discussion sessions and field trips. I will assess you on how well you do.

GY 402 is a W (Writing-Across-the-Curriculum) class, which means that it is writing intensive. The purpose of W classes is to not only provide you with the opportunity to “write”, but to help you to improve your writing skills. In GY 402, you will be able to write in a number of “styles” that are both useful and relevant to all of the geology professions. These “styles” include: professional letters, cover reports, memos, geological lab reports and the ever popular (but much maligned), sedimentology projects (see the GSSA bleb below). In order to help you develop appropriate writing skills, each of the “W” assignments that you get will be assigned will be “re-doable” following submission and review of a first draft. Three of the assignments will also be subjected to peer review whereby your fellow students will provide comments in addition to those provided by the instructor. Remember; the purpose of all this is to improve and develop your writing skills in geology . Refer to the class website for due dates and redo dates for each of the assignments.

The GSSA: You will get weekly writing assignments based in part upon the following premise: you are employed as sedimentologist with the GSSA, the Geological Survey of South Alabama. Every report that you produce (even boring lab reports) will be considered a company document. As such, it should have an appropriate “cover” (either on letterhead or memo paper), be well written without spelling mistakes/grammatical errors, contain, where necessary, a bibliography of refereed references, and contain adequate reference citations. Your signature and company position should also appear in the appropriate location on the cover letter. Ultimately, in your role with the GSSA, you will be responsible for completing 3 major projects: 1) a report dealing with sediment grain size on a site somewhere that you define on the USA main campus; 2) A project involving the mapping and correlation of Holocene terrace deposits on the banks of the Tombigbee River sedimentary and 3) a project involving the mapping and interpretation of K/T boundary chalk beds near Moscow Landing Alabama. The first and last projects will be broken up into a number of components each due at a specific date, and each revisable for remarking after I or your peer review it for you.

The following assignments will comprise the bulk of the writing assignments in GY 402:

• Breakdown of a term paper (Week 1)
• Grain size research proposal (Week 2; Peer reviewed)
• Grain size introduction and methodology write up(Week 3)
• Responding to a professional inquiry concerning a sedimentary section (Week 4; peer reviewed)
• Responding to a community inquiry (Week 5; for students who completed GY 302 in Fall 2008)
• Moscow Landing Writing/Library Research Assignment (Week 7; Peer reviewed)
• Moscow Landing Background/Stratigraphy write up (week 9)

From week 8 until the end of the course, the weekly writing component will consist of a thin section discussion. All writing assignments (1 st drafts and revised versions) are due by 5:00 pm on the assigned due dates as listed on the course website. I will not accept late assignments (you will get an F). When I mark them and return them to you with comments, you will be permitted to resubmit them once for revised assessment. I will accept revisions up to the re-submission deadlines (usually 1 week later than the original due date) posted on the web page.

Due Dates webpage.

It is up to you to examine the rocks and thin-sections that are assigned in this course and to do all additional laboratory assignments. You may do this during the lab periods and\or outside of normal university hours. A good chunk of your mark in GY 402 will be based upon lab material (lab test, quizzes etc). Spend suitable time in the lab going over the crystallographic models and minerals. Refer to the web page for lab assignment due dates. I do not give extensions; labs assignments not turned in on time will not be accepted (you get an F for that assignment).

The reason for producing a syllabus is to give students advanced notice of exams and assignment due dates. Translation: there is no excuse for missing an exam. However, sometimes it happens. If you have a legitimate excuse for missing an exam (i.e. medical problem), you will be permitted to write a make-up during the last week of classes provided that you show me a signed certificate from a medical doctor stating that it was impossible for you to make the exam. The make up exam will consist of 2 essay questions with no choice on your part. The Final lab exam will consist of a thin section and hand specimen description exercise of a sample drawn randomly from a hat. The sample pairs will be from a similar suite to those that you examined during the petrography labs in the class. You will be able to use your lab note books during the final.

In accordance with the American's with Disabilities Act (ADA) students with bona fide disabilities will be afforded any reasonable accommodation. The Office of Special Student Services will certify a disability and advise faculty members of reasonable accommodations. If you have a specific disability that qualifies you for academic accommodations, please proved us with certification from the Office of Special Student Services, directed by Ms. Andrea Agnew, and located in the Student Center, room 270. The phone number is 460-7212.

Since all classes do not progress at the same rate, instructors may wish to change the number and frequency of exams, or the number and sequence of assignments. Inclement weather (e.g., hurricanes) may also force rescheduling of lectures, assignments or exams. When ever possible, this material will be made up. Students will be given adequate written notice of any changes in lecture sequence, assignment due dates and/or exam date changes.

I reside in LSCB room 049. I believe in open office hours, so feel free to pay me a visit anytime between 9:00 am & 5:00 pm. However, I do research and serve on a lot of committees so I may not always be in my office. I  keep regular office hours. To see my current schedule, click the button below

 
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