EARTH SC/ENVIR SC 4G03

Glacial Sediments & Environments

Calendar Description

The development and movement of glaciers, glacial depositional processes and sedimentary successions in terrestrial, lacustrine and marine environments.  A mandatory one day, local field trip will be included. 

Students enrolling in this course must pay both the incidential fees as prescribed by the School and the regular tuition fees.

Two lectures, one lab (two hours); one term
Prerequisite(s): One of EARTH SC 2E03, 2G03, ENVIR SC 2E03, 2G03, GEO 2E03, 2G03, ISCI 2A18
 
Cross-List(s): ENVIR SC 4G03, EARTH SC 4G03
Antirequisite(s): GEO 4G03

 

Time/Term Offered: Term Two Winter 2011-112

Instructor: John Maclachlan
Room: Mills Library,
Tel:(905) 525.9149 ext. 21283
Email: maclacjc@mcmaster.ca
Office hours: TBA

Teaching Assistant:

Riley Mulligan, BSB 312, Ext. 24077
e-mail: mulligrp@mcmaster.ca                                   

 

Course Outline (Formerly GEO 4G03) Avenue to Learn

Introduction:

To review, at an advanced level, current ideas about: (1) the formation, growth and decay of glaciers and ice sheets; (2) glacial environments and processes including those active in subglacial, proglacial, glaciolacustrine, and glaciomarine settings; (3) modes of glacial erosion and resultant landforms; (4) differentiation of sediments and landforms created by various subglacial processes; (5) analysis of glacial landscapes and reconstruction of past glacial depositional processes. Glacial deposits ranging in age from Precambrian to recent will be examined.
The course aims to provide students with the intellectual skills and background required to understand modern glacial processes and to reconstruct glacial environments and depositional histories from the rock and sediment record. Students will develop skills in the areas of map and data analysis, problem solving, teamwork, critical reading and evaluation, inquiry-based learning, report writing and oral presentation. The course introduces students to research and information retrieval, data analysis and synthesis, field logging and recording techniques, and field report preparation.

Lecture/Labs:

There will be three lab assignments, one of which is a field lab. The field lab will be held on Saturday March 10th (weather permitting) and students will be required to contribute towards transportation costs that must be prepaid before the trip. A major assignment in the course will be a research project on a modern or ancient glaciated basin.
All labs must be handed in at the beginning of lab unless otherwise stated. Late submissions will be penalised by 25% per day.

Required Text Books/Course materials:

Custom Courseware: EARTH SC/ENVIR SC 4G03 - Glacial Sediments and Environments.

SUPPLEMENTARY TEXTS (available on reserve in the Thode library)

Benn, D.I. and Evans, D.J.A. 2010. Glaciers and Glaciation. 2nd edition. London: Arnold, 816 pp. An in-depth coverage of glacial processes, environments and sediments.

Dalrymple, R.W. and James, N.P. 2010. Facies Models 4. Geological Association of Canada, 586 pp. Good coverage of all sedimentary facies.

You will also be directed to locate and read relevant articles in online scholarly journals.

Excellent images of glaciers and a great ‘Photoglossary’ can be found at: http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/index-en.html
The ‘downloadable’ version of Hambrey, M. J. & Harland, W. B., 1981. Earth's pre-Pleistocene glacial record. Cambridge University Press, 1004 + xv pp. is available at:
http://www.aber.ac.uk/glaciology/epgr.htm
Data sets, glacier images and information can be obtained at: http://nsidc.org/

Evaluation:

Lab #1 Core analysis 15%
Lab #2 Class discussion 10%
Lab #3 Field lab 10%
Class participation/preparation 5%
Research project 30%
Final examination (essay type) 30%

Academic Dishonesty

Academic dishonesty consists of misrepresentation by deception or by other fraudulent means and can result in serious consequences, e.g. the grade of zero on an assignment, loss of credit with a notation on the transcript (notation reads: “Grade of F assigned for academic dishonesty”), and/or suspension or expulsion from the university.

The following illustrates only three forms of academic dishonesty:

  • Plagiarism, e.g. the submission of work that is not one’s own or for which other credit has been obtained.

  • Improper collaboration in group work.

  • Copying or using unauthorized aids in tests and examinations.

It is your responsibility to understand what constitutes academic dishonesty. For information on the various kinds of academic dishonesty please refer to the Academic Integrity Policy, located at http://www.mcmaster.ca/policy/Students-AcademicStudies/AcademicIntegrity.pdf

The instructor and university reserve the right to modify elements of the course during the term. The university may change the dates and deadlines for any or all courses in extreme circumstances. If either type of modification becomes necessary, reasonable notice and communication with the students will be given with explanation and the opportunity to comment on changes. It is the responsibility of the student to check their McMaster email and course websites weekly during the term and to note any changes.