Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Course Outline

The stratigraphic record – a time sequence of depositional surfaces – is our window to the long view of surface dynamics.

This course covers:

• Sediments in the rock cycle
• Production of sediments at the Earth's surface
• Physics and chemistry of sedimentary materials
• Scale and geometry of near-surface sedimentary bodies, including aquifers
• Sediment transport and deposition in modern sedimentary environments
• Burial and lithification
• Survey of major sedimentary rock types
• Stratigraphic relationships of sedimentary basins
• Evolution of sedimentary processes through geologic time

Prerequisite

Introduction to Geology (12.001)

Primary Textbook

Leeder, M. Sedimentology and Sedimentary Basins. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Science Ltd., 1 October 1999, 592 pp. ISBN: 9780632049769.

Secondary Textbook

Boggs, S., Jr. Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 15 December 2000, 774 pp. ISBN: 9780130996961.

Grading

Midterm Exam

Closed book. Will cover material presented in Lectures 2 through 12.

Final Exam

Closed book. Will cover material presented in Lectures 13 through 22.

Labs

Write-ups for all labs will be graded. Lab exam will be closed book.