EEES-6100 Glacial Stratigraphy & Geophysics
GPR transect, Silver Lake State Park 2004
Fall Semester, 2009. Instructors:
Dr. Timothy Fisher (on sabbatical) 419-530-2883 rm BO3096G timothy.fisher@Utoledo.edu
Dr. David Krantz 419-530-2662 rm BO3096F david.krantz@Utoledo.edu
Classroom: BO 3043, 8 – noon, Fridays
Office Hours (Dr.D., 3028 BO): 1 – 3 T, 9 – 12 W or make an appointment.
Purpose & Overview: To integrate glacial sedimentology and stratigraphy, with near-surface geophysical methodologies. Field work will involve collecting a variety of field data using ground penetrating radar, shallow seismic and resistivity tools, core and outcrop data in order to solve a research problem. Data worked up in the lab will then be presented as posters and in talks. The beginning of the semester will involve 2-3 weeks of lectures with assigned readings/seminars and some hands-on introduction to field procedures. The middle of the semester will involve collecting field data and data analysis, and the last third of the semester will involve continued data analysis, interpretation, poster and oral presentations.
Research projects will involve data collection at Maumee Bay State Park & on the shores of Lake Michigan
Tentative Schedule:
(1) Aug. 28 Introduction, Field work planning,
(2) Sept. 4 Field day, SuperSting and OhmMapper, MBSP Papers
(3) Sep. 11 Data processing Papers GIS from Sept. 4
(4) Sep. 18 Geophysical data interpretation Papers
(5) Sep. 24 - 27 FIELD EXPEDITION TO SHORES OF LAKE MICHIGAN
(6) Oct. 2-6 Debriefing, data processing and organization TBD
(7) Oct. 8 Data processing and organization TBD
(8) Oct. 16 Data analysis TBD
(9) Oct. 23 Data Analysis TBD
(10) Oct. 30 Data analysis TBD
(11) Nov. 6 Data analysis TBD
(12) Nov. 13 Magnetometer survey (field) TBD
(13) Nov. 20 Poster & Talk preparation TBD
(14) Nov. 27 Thanksgiving break, no class
(15) Dec. 4 Poster Presentations
(16) Dec. 11 Oral Presentations
Textbook: none
Readings:
There will be assigned readings for the earlier classes and sporadically thereafter. These readings will be made available at least one week ahead of time and must be read before class. Readings are available in the EEES 6100 folder outside Dr. Fisher’s office door[1]. Make a copy, and return the original. If available in pdf form, I will email you the file. You must ensure that there is space available in your in box for it. Many documents exceed several MB. In addition, reading lists will be provided for specific topics. Check your email often as this may be an important means of communication in this class.
Talk & Poster Presentation:
Each student will be responsible for presenting a poster and a talk on a topic selected with the approval of the instructors. Integral to the poster will be a well-written abstract, and the student will be expected to give a 15 minute oral presentation on their topic and be prepared to answer questions on its content. Class time for poster and talk preparation will be used to evaluate what makes a good poster and talk.
Field Work
Because the purpose of this course is to collect field data and work it up into presentable data, the first half of the semester will have numerous excursions to collect data at the field site. And no doubt after collecting the field data and working it up, we will want to return to the field site to collect more!
Disclaimer
This course is evolving as we go and is a significant departure from a standard lecture/lab course. This is a good thing, because this course gets you involved in actual research. You will be developing an hypothesis, coming up with a methodology to test that hypothesis, and doing the research in the field to collect data towards testing that hypothesis. As a result, parts of the course will not run smoothly, since rarely does a research project run smoothly. Don’t get discouraged, but realize that you are getting experience into the real world of research. Similarly, the time required for this course will most likely not be a consistent 3-6 hours per week, but will likely follow a binge and purge cycle. Again, a real world experience. A good attitude, willingness to try new things, the ability to improvise and ‘think outside the box’ will be welcomed!
Grading Scheme
A through F: Grade will be based on your participation during field work, lab work, data workup, poster and oral presentations.
[1] I do not have a box outside my office and my door opens on a very busy corridor – Dr.D.
Background image: Naib Krantz adjusts his ground-penetrating radar and is temporarily pleased that he has wormsign.