dr. Alessandro Grippo, Ph.D. - Fall 2008 classes

FALL session 2008

Professor: Dr. Alessandro Grippo, Ph.D.

Last Updated • December 6, 2008

This class is a 4-units, general education class that includes both lecture and lab; an introduction to geology is followed by the study of the principles of stratigraphy and sedimentology. Knowledge of these principles will help the students understand how different physical and chemical conditions, together with biological activity, interacted with each other and the environment to make Earth such a unique planet in the Solar System.
If you already have a base knowledge of geology you might find yourself at a slight advantage, but all materials will be explained thoroughly. You still need to be aware that this class requires continuous attention and that, in order to succeed, you will need to dedicate a considerable amount of time to study and work on its materials.

4311 - GEOL 5, HISTORICAL GEOLOGY lecture and lab
Class Hours:
Tuesday (lecture), 6.45-9.50, Drescher Hall, room 128
Thursday (lab), 6.45-9.50, Drescher Hall, room 128

Required Textbooks:
Lecture Textbook: S. M. Stanley, Earth System History, 2^nd edition (2005), W. H. Freeman and Company, New York
Lecture Textbook: J. W. Schopf, Cradle of Life, 1^st edition (1999), Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford
Lab Manual:H. L. Levin and M. S. Smith, Laboratory Studies in Earth History, 9^th edition

About these textbooks, please note:
Both Lecture Textbooks can be bought used, as long as they are the current edition. The bookstore will probably not have a copy of the second book (Cradle of Life) right away. It can be bought either on Amazon or at the UCLA bookstore.
But DO NOT buy used copies of the lab manual for any reason; the lab manual pages are turned in to the instructor for grading after a lab, and many students who bought used copies in the past, either from the bookstore or from other students, found out after a week or two that they had in their hands incomplete manuals, with several missing pages.
I will not accept lab work neither on older editions, even if brand new; nor on used copies of the new edition.
So, for the lab manual, just buy a brand new copy.

Exams:
All exams include both lecture and lab materials.
The final exam will be partially cumulative for both lecture and lab; it will include a small section on older materials covered in previous tests and a larger section on new materials covered after the second test.
Exam dates are as follows:
exam 1 - Tuesday, October 7, 2008: study guide (available since September 22, 2008)
exam 2 - Tuesday, November 4, 2008: study guide (available since October 26, 2008)
exam 3 - Thursday, December 11, 2008: (cumulative final exam): study guide (available since December 6, 2008)

Please, refer to the class syllabus for further information and/or details

GEOL 35 - FIELD STUDIES: CALIFORNIA

Last Updated • September 22, 2008

This class is a general education, hands-on class that will allow you to see and experience in person some prominent geologic features of southern California. There are no prerequisites, there are no exams, there is no homework. All you have to do is come to a few introductory class meetings, then come in the field and write a brief report on the geologic features and aspects you studied and saw.

If you want to have an idea of what we do in the field, check out the images from the Spring 2007 trip to Mono Lake and the Owens Valley and from the Spring 2008 trips to Wheeler Gorge and the Carrizo Plain and to the Mojave Desert and the Mitchell Caverns.

2328 - GEOL 35, FIELD STUDIES: CALIFORNIA
Class Hours: Friday, 3.00 - 6.00, Drescher Hall 128
Meetings Attendance and one 3-days Field-trip are mandatory

Please note that only registered students can participate in field trips.
Persons not enrolled in the class can not come along.
Pets are also not allowed on the field trip.

Textbook:
no textbook is required, but a good introduction to California geology can be found in:
D. R. Harden, California Geology, 2^nd edition (2004), Pearson Prentice Hall

Class Meetings:
1 - Friday, September 5, 2008 (mandatory)
2 - Friday, September 12, 2008 (mandatory)
3 - Friday, September 19, 2008 (mandatory)
4 - Friday, October 24, 2008 - final meeting (post-trip, mandatory)

Field Trip:
October 10-12, 2008:
The field trip will consist in an exploration of the western margin of the Basin and Range desert of eastern California. We will leave the Pacific Plate and will be crossing into the North American Plate, spending the Friday at stops along the way to Searles Lake.

Among other things, we will be able to look at the San Andreas Fault; study white, pink and brown conglomerates and sandstones and their unusual erosional forms at Red Rock Canyon; and finally observe the very characteristic Trona Pinnacles, where limestones built towering structures at the bottom of a lake now long gone.

We will be camping for free in the desert, by the Pinnacles. This is a primitive location, with no facilities or services of any sort available; bring everything you need for two nights and two days in the desert. Remember that absolutely no alcohol is permitted during the field trip.
More information will be provided during the first meeting).

On Saturday and Sunday we will get up at about 6.30 AM and, after breakfast (bring your own), will drive a few miles to downtown Trona (!) and collect our own salt crystals during the Gem-O-Rama event that will be held in Trona (San Bernardino county, California).

Bring sturdy clothes and sample bags. Again, more information will be given during the first meeting, and an introductory video on what we will do will be shown.

We will leave the Santa Monica College parking lot at 8.00 AM sharp on Friday, October 10, 2008
and return to Santa Monica College parking lot in the late afternoon / evening of Sunday, October 12, 2008

Field Trip Map

Costs:
The College would cover insurance for the field trips participants. That means that only registered students can come along.
We will camp in the desert for free, literally in the middle of nowhere. There will be other, non-academia people participating to the event but we will try to choose a quiet location. Again, absolutely no alcohol is permitted during the field trip.

ALL other costs (transportation, food, field trip fees for mineral collecting, etc.) will have to be paid for by the students.
The Gem-O-Rama event in itself is free, but we will take part to three different salt collection trips. These trips are offered by the Searles Lake Gem & Mineral Society, and we will need to pay by vehicle (not by person) a total of $ 35.00. Hence, car-pooling is encouraged.