Course Introduction

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Lecture 1 Course Introduction and Geology of the
Chesapeake Bay
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Lecture Outline
I Course Introduction A) Instructor
Introduction B) Course Overview i. Times and
Location ii. Required Texts iii. Class URL
and Web Resources C) Course Schedule i. Impor
tant Dates ii. Structure D) Policies i. At
tendance and Participation ii. Grading iii.
Honor Code iv. Laboratory E) Tests II Why
Study Geology?
Lecture 1 i
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Lecture Outline
III Geology of the Chesapeake Bay A) Formation
of the Chesapeake Bay B) Characteristics and
Importance of the Bay C) Geography of the
Bay D) Physiographic Provinces of the Bay
Drainage Area i. The Appalachian
Plateau ii. Ridge and Valley - Appalachian
Mountain Section - Great Valley
Section iii.Blue Ridge iv.Piedmont -
Mesozoic Lowlands Section - Piedmont Lowland
Section - Piedmont Upland Section v.
Coastal Plain E) Chesapeake Bay Bolide i.
Event
Lecture 1 ii
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Lecture Outline
III Geology of the Chesapeake Bay E) Chesapeake
Bay Bolide ii. Influence -
Stratigraphy - Geomorphology -
Groundwater - Modern Sea Level
Changes IV Conclusions
Lecture 1 iii
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Instructor Information
Stephen B Parsons Oceanography 327 683-6058
(offc) 581-5223 (cell) sparsons_at_ocean.odu.edu Of
fice Hours Daily 1030-1230 other times by
appointment
Lecture 1 I.A
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Course Overview
Goal This course gives an introduction to
physical geology, which includes the basic
materials and processes that form the earth, the
application of scientific methodology to
understanding the earth, and the processes that
shape and change the earth. Special attention
will be paid to the concept of the rock cycle and
the theory of plate tectonics. Meeting
Times Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,
1200-1250 Texts Plummer, C.C., McGeary, D., and
Carlson, D.H., 2002. Physical Geology, 9th
edition, McGraw-Hill,
574pp. Busch, R.M. And Tasa, D., 2002.
Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology, 6th
edition, Prentice-Hall, 288
pp. Class URL http//www.ocean.odu.edu/spars001
/geology_111/index.html
Lecture 1 I.B
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Course Schedule
09/26/03 Exam 1 Composition of the
Earth 10/31/03 Exam 2 Historical Geology
and Geomorphology 12/05/03 Exam 3 Earth
Architecture and Geophysics 12/12/03
Comprehensive Final Exam
Lecture 1 I.C
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Course Policies

• Attendance
• Grading

Scale
Weights Exams 1-3 1/3
of final grade Final Exam 1/3 of final
grade Laboratory 1/3 of final grade
A A-
B B B-
C C C-
93 -100 90 - 92 87 -
89 83 - 86 80 - 82 77
- 79 73 - 76 70 - 72

• Honor Code
• Laboratory

Lecture 1 I.D
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Tests

• True/False

T F 1. The Earth's lithosphere is composed
entirely of crustal material.

• Multiple Choice

____ 2. Approximately how old is the Chesapeake
Bay? (a) 1,000 years (d) 1,000,000
years (b) 10,000 years (e) 10,000,000
years (c) 100,000 years

• Short Answer

3. Name four of the eight rock-forming
minerals common to igneous rocks.
Lecture 1 I.E
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Why Study Geology?

1. provides information on the structure of the
   Earth, its evolution and the processes that shape
   it
2. preserves the history of our planet providing
   insights into lost worlds of Earth's past
3. provides clues to Earth's past and future climate
4. links the very large with the very small
5. provides the food we eat and the water we drink
6. provides the raw materials of everyday life and
   teaches us about their conservation
7. provides information to help prepare for geologic
   hazards

Lecture 1 II
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Formation of Chesapeake Bay
Lecture 1 III.A
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Characteristics and Importance of the Chesapeake
Bay

• Largest Estuary in the United States
• What is an estuary?
• Supports more than 3600 species
• 2700 plant species
• 348 species of finfish
• 173 species of shellfish
• 29 species of waterfowl
• Commercial resource
• 500 million lbs seafood/year
• 2 major ports
• Recreational resource

Lecture 1 III.B
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Geography of the Chesapeake Bay
Lecture 1 III.C
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Geography of the Chesapeake Bay
Length 332 km Width(max)
56.3 km Width (min) 5.5 km Area
11,400 km2 Depth (ave)
6.4 m Shoreline 19000 km Ave. Tidal
Range 0.3 m - 1.0 m Volume 6.813 x 1013
l
Lecture 1 III.C
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Geography of the Chesapeake Bay
Drainage Area 165,800 km2

• 50 of H2O from Atlantic Ocean
• 50 of H2O from freshwater sources

• 50 from Susquehanna
• 90 from western rivers
• 10 from Eastern Shore streams

Lecture 1 III.C
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Physiographic Provinces
Lecture 1 III.D
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Physiographic ProvincesThe Applachian Plateau

• elevated plateau with dendritic drainage
• pattern
• 280 million years ago it was a marshy sea
• the horsetail ferns that populated that sea
• have been compressed and now
• form the large coal seams that run
• through the region
• heavily forested
• greatest rainfall of all Chesapeake Bay
• provinces

Lecture 1 III.D.i
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Physiographic ProvincesRidge and Valley

• parallel ridges and valleys of the Applachian
  Mountains
• form an alternating pattern.
• slightly lower in elevation from Appalachian
  Plateau
• mountainous soils composed of clay and clay
  loams as
• well as sandy and stony loams.
• deep limestone soils make this region extremely
  fertile
• dry climate

Lecture 1 III.D.ii
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Physiographic ProvincesThe Blue Ridge

• narrow line of old mountains extending from
  Carlisle, PA
• south to Gainesville, GA
• some rocks are 1.2 billion year old granites
• sedimentary rocks here were formed when Africa
  was
• ripping away from Virginia forming the Iapetus
• Ocean early in the Cambrian

Lecture 1 III.D.iii
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Physiographic ProvincesThe Piedmont

• gently rolling topography
• deeply weathered bedrock composed of
• igneous and metamorphic rocks, some
• from ancient volcanic island arcs
• some rocks may have been formed outside
• North America
• Triassic basins include
• alluvial fan conglomerates
• tropical lake and mudflat deposits

Triassic basins
Lecture 1 III.D.iv
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Physiographic ProvincesThe Coastal Plain

• youngest rocks
• terraced landscape
• bounded on west by Fall Line
• underlain by wedge of sediments increasing
• in thickness with distance
• from the fall zone (A) to more
• than 4000m under shelf
• 1200m of young sediments cover the
• Chesapeake Bay impact structure

Lecture 1 III.D.v
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Chesapeake Bay Bolide
Lecture 1 III.E
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Chesapeake Bay BolideEvent
35 million years ago billions of kg of water
instantly evaporated billions more shot 100km
into atmosphere tsunamis 1.2km high
Lecture 1 III.E.i
Graphics Michael Hall, Virginian-Pilot
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Chesapeake Bay BolideInfluence on Stratigraphy
USGS
USGS
Lecture 1 III.E.ii
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Chesapeake Bay BolideInfluence on Geomorphology
Michael Hall, Virginian-Pilot
Lecture 1 III.E.ii
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Chesapeake Bay BolideInfluence on Groundwater
USGS
Michael Hall, Virginian-Pilot
Lecture 1 III.E.ii
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Chesapeake Bay BolideInfluence on Modern
Relative Sea Level
Lecture 1 III.E.ii