Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Teaching Big History, Richard B. Simon, Mojgan Behmand, Thomas Burke, Esther Quaedackers, Seohyung Kim, Kiowa Bower, Neal Wolfe, James B. Cunningham, Cynthia Taylor, Martin Anderson, J. Daniel May, Philip Novak, Debbie Daunt, Jaime Castner, Ethan Annis, Amy E. Gilbert, Anne Reid, Suzanne Roybal, Alan Schut, Cynthia Brown, Harlan Stelmach

Harlan Stelmach

Teaching Threshold 6: The Rise Of Homo Sapiens, Richard Simon, Mojgan Behmand, Thomas Burke, Esther Quaedackers, Seohyung Kim, Kiowa Bower, Neal Wolfe, James Cunningham, Cynthia Taylor, Martin Anderson, J. May, Philip Novak, Debbie Daunt, Jaime Castner, Ethan Annis, Amy Gilbert, Anne Reid, Suzanne Roybal, Alan Schut, Cynthia Brown, Harlan Stelmach

Cynthia Taylor

Teaching Big History, Richard B. Simon, Mojgan Behmand, Thomas Burke, Esther Quaedackers, Seohyung Kim, Kiowa Bower, Neal Wolfe, James B. Cunningham, Cynthia Taylor, Martin Anderson, J. Daniel May, Philip Novak, Debbie Daunt, Jaime Castner, Ethan Annis, Amy E. Gilbert, Anne Reid, Suzanne Roybal, Alan Schut, Cynthia Brown, Harlan Stelmach

Mojgan Behmand

Teaching Big History Or Teaching About Big History? Big History And Religion, Harlan Stelmach

Harlan Stelmach

Analyst A: Alternatives In Analysis Of The Utexas1 Surface Wave Dataset, Paul Michaels

Paul Michaels

In February of 2011 an earthquake event caused significant damage and loss of life in Christchurch, New Zealand. Such an event serves as motivation for improved foundation design and characterization of the shallow subsurface. In January of 2013, University of Texas engineers acquired surface wave data which has been made available to the ASCE GeoInstitute Geophysical Engineering Committee for a benchmark project. Participants were invited to process and interpret the common data set. This paper reports the results designated as those of "Analyst A". The active vibroseis and sledgehammer data were combined to produce a composite Rayleigh wave dispersion curve. …

Geochemistry Of The Great Valley Group: An Integrated Provenance Record, Kathleen Surpless

Kathleen D. Surpless

Sedimentary geochemistry of fine-grained strata of the Great Valley Group (GVG) in California documents a provenance signal that may better represent unstable, mafic minerals and volcanic clasts within sediment source regions than the provenance signal documented in the petrofacies and detrital zircon analysis of coarser sedimentary fractions. Geochemistry of the GVG provides an overall provenance framework within which to interpret sandstone petrofacies and detrital zircon age signatures. The geochemical signature for all Sacramento Valley samples records an overall continental arc source, with significant variation but no clear spatial or temporal trends, indicating that the geochemical provenance signal remained relatively consistent …

Does The Great Valley Group Contain Jurassic Strata? Reevaluation Of The Age And Early Evolution Of A Classic Forearc Basin, Kathleen D. Surpless, Stephan A. Graham, Jacob A. Covault, Joseph L. Wooden

Kathleen D. Surpless

The presence of Cretaceous detrital zircon in Upper Jurassic strata of the Great Valley Group may require revision of the lower Great Valley Group chronostratigraphy, with significant implications for the Late Jurassic–Cretaceous evolution of the continental margin. Samples (n = 7) collected from 100 km along strike in the purported Tithonian strata of the Great Valley Group contain 20 Cretaceous detrital zircon grains, based on sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe age determinations. These results suggest that Great Valley Group deposition was largely Cretaceous, creating a discrepancy between biostratigraphy based on Buchia zones and chronostratigraphy based on radiometric age dates. These …

Lithofacies Control In Detrital Zircon Provenance Studies: Insights From The Cretaceous Methow Basin, Southern Canadian Cordillera, Kathleen Surpless, J. Mahoney, Joseph Wooden, Michael Mcwilliams

Kathleen D. Surpless

High-frequency sampling for detrital zircon analysis can provide a detailed record of fine-scale basin evolution by revealing the temporal and spatial variability of detrital zircon ages within clastic sedimentary successions. This investigation employed detailed sampling of two sedimentary successions in the Methow/Methow-Tyaughton basin of the southern Canadian Cordillera to characterize the heterogeneity of detrital zircon signatures within single lithofacies and assess the applicability of detrital zircon analysis in distinguishing fine-scale provenance changes not apparent in lithologic analysis of the strata. The Methow/Methow-Tyaughton basin contains two distinct stratigraphic sequences of middle Albian to Santonian clastic sedimentary rocks: submarine-fan deposits of the …

Detrital Zircon Provenance Analysis Of The Great Valley Group, California: Evolution Of An Arc-Forearc System, Kathleen Surpless, Stephan Graham, Joseph Wooden, Michael Mcwilliams

Kathleen D. Surpless

The improved resolution of sediment provenance from detrital zircon analysis of Great Valley stratigraphy enables recognition of previously undocumented arc magmatism and the evolution of regional drainage systems within the Cretaceous arc-forearc system related to uplift, magmatism, and structure in the arc. Great Valley detrital zircon age data confirm previous studies that indicate that the locus of the sediment source in the southern Sierra Nevada arc migrated east with the active volcanic front and suggest rapid rates of uplift and unroofing of the southern arc. Sacramento Valley detrital zircon age data indicate a more complex history of drainage in the …

Provenance Of The Pythian Cave Conglomerate, Northern California: Implications For Mid-Cretaceous Paleogeography Of The U.S. Cordillera, Kathleen D. Surpless, Gregory Alan Augsburger

Kathleen D. Surpless

Provenance analysis of middle Cretaceous sedimentary rocks can help distinguish between disparate tectonic models of Cretaceous Cordilleran paleogeography by establishing links between sediment and source, as well as between currently separated basins. This study combines new detrital zircon age data and compositional data with existing provenance data for the Pythian Cave conglomerate, an informally-named unit deposited unconformably on the eastern Klamath Mountains, to test possible correlations between the Pythian Cave conglomerate and similar-age deposits in the Hornbrook Formation and the Great Valley Group. These provenance results indicate that restoring Late Cretaceous clockwise rotation of the Blue Mountains adds a significant …

Understanding A Critical Basinal Link In Cretaceous Cordilleran Paleogeography: Detailed Provenance Of The Hornbrook Formation, Oregon And California, Kathleen Surpless, Emily Beverly

Kathleen D. Surpless

The Hornbrook Formation is a Cretaceous overlap assemblage that rests unconformably on accreted terranes and plutons of the Klamath Mountains in southern Oregon and northern California. The combined results of sandstone petrography, detrital zircon U-Pb age and Hf isotopic systematics, and whole-rock Nd analysis document an abrupt change in sediment sources for the Hornbrook Formation during the Late Cretaceous. The lower members of the Hornbrook Formation record provenance in the Klamath Mountains and the Sierran Foothills belt that is characterized by detrital zircon age distributions with large Jurassic and Early Cretaceous peaks (170-130 Ma) and positive zircon Hf and whole-rock …

Evolution And Stratigraphic Architecture Of Marine Slope Gully Complexes: Monterey Formation (Miocene), Gaviota Beach, California, Kathleen Surpless, Richard Ward, Stephan Graham

Kathleen D. Surpless

Three small headlands in the sea cliffs west of Gaviota Beach, California, are the remnant fill of three discrete submarine gullies incised into the late Miocene submarine slope environment. These promontories provide excellent, three-dimensional exposure of the gully fill in outcrop, permitting documentation of their complex internal stratigraphic architecture. Detailed study of these exposures elucidates the sedimentologic processes that occur in the filling of slope gullies, guides interpretation of the acoustic records of otherwise unsampled modern gully systems on continental slopes, and provides insight into the heterogeneity that may characterize slope gully petroleum reservoirs. We develop a comprehensive facies scheme …

East-Derived Strata In The Methow Basin Record Rapid Mid-Cretaceous Uplift Of The Southern Coast Mountains Batholith, Kathleen Surpless, Zachary Sickmann, Trevor Koplitz

Kathleen D. Surpless

The Jurassic–Cretaceous Methow basin of northern Washington State and southern British Columbia forms an overlap sequence linking several small tectonostratigraphic terranes. Sandstone petrography, sandstone and mudrock geochemistry, and detrital zircon U–Pb age and Hf analysis of mid-Cretaceous, east-derived Methow strata together document a remarkably uniform provenance signature that suggests proximal, abundant, and unchanging sediment sources throughout deposition. The eastern belt of the Coast Mountains batholith, intruded into Stikine and related inboard terranes of the Intermontane superterrane, along with Jurassic and Cretaceous plutons of the westernmost Okanogan Range, provide the best match to the provenance signature of east-derived sediment in the …

Proterozoic Metamorphism Of The Tobacco Root Mountains, Montana, John Cheney, John Brady, Kara Tierney, Kathleen Surpless, Heidi Mohlman, Jessica Frisch, Christine Hatch, Michael Steiner, Sarah Carmichael, Robin Fisher, Carrie Tuit, Kurt Steffen, Pamela Cady, Josh Lowell, Leandra Archuleta, Jillian Hirst, Karl Wegmann, Brian Monteleone

Kathleen D. Surpless

Textures and mineral assemblages of metamorphic rocks of the Tobacco Root Mountains are consistent with metamorphism of all rocks during the Big Sky orogeny (1.77 Ga) at relatively high pressure (P >1.0 GPa) followed by differential reequilibration on a clockwise P-T path at lower pressures (0.6–0.8 GPa). The highest pressures are documented by coarse-grained kyanite and orthopyroxene in aluminous orthoamphibolites, which require P ≥ 1.0 GPa. Other higher-pressure mineral assemblages of note include kyanite + orthoamphibole and kyanite + K-feldspar. Abundant textural evidence for partial melting in pelitic and basaltic rocks includes leucosomes, very large (several cm across) porphyroblasts of …

Constraints On The Emplacement Age Of The Heart Mountain Slide, Northwestern Wyoming, D. Malone, John Craddock, M. Anders, A. Wulff

John Craddock

No abstract provided.

Inner-Shelf Circulation And Sediment Dynamics On A Series Of Shoreface-Connected Ridges Offshore Of Fire Island, Ny, John Warner, Jeffrey List, William Schwab, George Voulgaris, Brandy Armstrong, Nicole Marshall

George Voulgaris

Locations along the inner-continental shelf offshore of Fire Island, NY, are characterized by a series of shoreface-connected ridges (SFCRs). These sand ridges have approximate dimensions of 10 km in length, 3 km spacing, and up to ∼8 m ridge to trough relief and are oriented obliquely at approximately 30° clockwise from the coastline. Stability analysis from previous studies explains how sand ridges such as these could be formed and maintained by storm-driven flows directed alongshore with a key maintenance mechanism of offshore deflected flows over ridge crests and onshore in the troughs. We examine these processes both with a limited …

Age And Provenance Of Eocene Volcanic Rocks At Hominy Peak, Northern Teton Range, Wyoming: Implications For The Emplacement Of The Heart Mountain Slide, D. Malone, John Craddock, L/ Tranel, M. Mustain

John Craddock

No abstract provided.

Age And Provenance Of The Eocene Crandall Conglomerate: Implications For The Emplacement Of The Heart Mountain Slide, D. Malone, J. Breeden, John Craddock, M. Anders, A. Macnamee

John Craddock

No abstract provided.

Student Experience 14: "So What?", Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

This activity is designed to encourage students to question their own learning and the implications that learning has to them as well as to the broader community. For example: How will this knowledge, these skills and these concepts influence individual lives and the life of the community? What impact does this have on the environment? The activity also helps teachers to reflect about the relevance of lessons within their own curriculum and appropriateness of their teaching strategies. And it is a way for students to take the concepts and apply them in new ways making them more relevant.

Student Experience 03: Photo Points, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Students learn about using photogrammy (making multiple identical images of a location taken with a camera whose relative position is known to a certain degree of accuracy) to monitor change over time. This set of activities within the following lesson will help students learn about the process of collecting identical images and its importance, and practice collecting images from set locations, first in their own environments and then in the field. With this background, students can participate in photo point data collection during their expedition on Geology Day, and have a better understanding of the importance of this data collection. …

Student Experience 02: Powers Of Ten Background, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Powers of Ten (P10) refers to scale. This scale can be an excellent tool to use when framing observations. In other words, P10 is a way of putting objects being observed into context using size as the focal point. Once students understand the terminology, it can be used to both communicate and focus attention.

Student Experience 11b: Mammoth Hot Springs Microbe Wheel, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Mammoth Hot Springs Microbe Wheels.

Student Experience 12: Using The Ir Thermometer To Develop Answerable Questions, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Students learn about and use IR thermometers in the classroom or some place on the school grounds to develop answerable questions. After developing the questions, they perform brief investigations to answer their questions and share their findings with their classmates.

Student Experience 04: Mammoth Hot Springs Photo Points, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Photos taken over time from set photo points can help to increase understanding of terrace formation and concretely map the movement of microbial communities. Now, and in the future, researchers can use these high quality photos to help answer questions about things such as microbial mat migration, possible shifts in water flow, and formation of terracing through travertine precipitation/deposition. In the meantime, visitors and students will have access to these photos and can compare visible changes themselves.

Background 4: Student Experience Lesson - Systems Study, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

This lesson helps students observe, integrate and articulate their knowledge of a familiar earth system by considering how the different parts of the system interact to keep it in balance. Students first explore the word “system” and then apply the concept of systems to a familiar natural environment. Students will create a collage that is a representation of this system through discussion, further inquiry, and investigation.

Student Experience 08: Starrs Temperature Tools, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Students get a chance to use various temperature tools to explore the Celcius temperature scale. They also will explore the differences in the temperature tools and determine and share with the whole group which tools are appropriate for measuring temperature in different situations.

Background 3: Microbiological Communities In Mammoth Hot Springs, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Microbial Communities in Mammoth Hot Springs Background

Student Experience 07: What's In The Bag?, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

This is a "black box" activity. Students use their sense of hearing, touch, and smell to figure out what objects are contained in their paper bag.

Background 6: Student Experience Lesson - Facies Modeling Using Video, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Background for Student Experience Lesson: Facies Modeling Using Video

Student Experience 10: Grid Protocols, Ana K. Houseal

Ana K Houseal

Students will use specific protocols and equipment to systematically collect comprehensive data from a single location at a single point in time.