GES 226: At the intersection of geochemistry, sedimentary geology, and paleobiology
Recent work in geochemistry, sedimentary geology, and paleobiology increasingly supports the notion that common geological factors control long-term biogeochemical cycles, the erosion and deposition of sedimentary rocks, and the evolution of the marine biosphere. During this course students will read and discuss recent primary literature addressing the possible mechanisms underlying these patterns. Questions addressed will include: Why do sedimentary rock area and biodiversity covary? How are these records linked to biogeochemical cycles, as inferred from the stable isotope compositions of elements such as carbon and sulfur? What are the relative roles of biotic interactions vs. physical environmental changes in shaping the macroevolutionary history of life?
Last offered: Spring 2014
GES 249: Petroleum Geochemistry in Environmental and Earth Science
How molecular fossils in crude oils, oil spills, refinery products, and human artifacts identify their age, origin, and environment of formation. The origin and habitat of petroleum, technology for its analysis, and parameters for interpretation, including: origins of molecular fossils; function, biosynthesis, and precursors; tectonic history related to the evolution of life, mass extinctions, and molecular fossils; petroleum refinery processes and the kinds of molecular fossils that survive; environmental pollution from natural and anthropogenic sources including how to identify genetic relationships among crude oil or oil spill samples; applications of molecular fossils to archaeology; worldwide petroleum systems through geologic time.
Last offered: Winter 2010
GES 284: Field Seminar on Eastern Sierran Volcanism
For graduate students in the earth sciences and archaeology. Four-day trip over Memorial Day weekend to study silicic and mafic volcanism in the eastern Sierra Nevada: basaltic lavas and cinder cones erupted along normal faults bounding Owens Valley, Long Valley caldera, postcaldera rhyolite lavas, hydrothermal alteration and hot springs, Holocene rhyolite lavas of the Inyo and Mono craters, subaqueous basaltic and silicic eruptions of Mono Basin, floating pumice blocks. If snow-level permits, silicic volcanism associated with the Bodie gold district. Recommended: 1 or equivalent.
Last offered: Spring 2013
GES 285: Igneous Petrogenesis of the Continents
Radiogenic isotopes, stable isotopes, and trace elements applied to igneous processes; interaction of magmas with mantle and crust; convergent-margin magmatism; magmatism in extensional terrains; origins of rhyolites; residence times of magmas and magma chamber processes; granites as imperfect mirrors of their source regions; trace element modeling of igneous processes; trace element discriminant diagrams in tectonic analysis; phase equilibria of partial melting of mantle and crust; geothermometry and geobarometry. Topics emphasize student interest. Prerequisite: 180 or equivalent.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
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