This course presents basic geologic concepts through examples in our national parks and monuments. It illustrates how mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes, and other geologic phenomena result from processes that occur within or on the surface of the Earth. The plate tectonic framework is used to present geology in a systematic way, so that students learn to interpret landscapes in national parks and other areas of the country.

                                                  Sunset Crater Volcanco                                                                             Crater Lake National Park,
                                                  National Monument, Arizona                                                                   Oregon (Photo by R. J. Lillie)
                                                  (Photo by R. J. Lillie)

Course Handouts:

The material highlighted below as Bold, Blue, Underlined will open as PDF files in Adobe Acrobat. It will be most economical to print them out in black-and-white. I will add chapters as the term progresses.

Course Syllabus

Term Paper - Draft
Term Paper - Outline

Midterm Exam (2000)
Final Exam (2000)

Introduction

Part I  The Landscapes and Processes of Our National Parks

Chapter 1  Plate Tectonics and Our National Parks
Chapter 2  Geologic Features and Processes

Chapter 3  Continental Rifts
Chapter 4  Passive Continental Margins

Chapter 5  (Very Preliminary Draft)  Subduction Zones
Chapter 6  (Very Preliminary Draft)  Collisional Mountain Ranges

Chapter 7  (Very Preliminary Draft)  San Andreas and Other Transforms

Chapter 8  (Very Preliminary Draft)  Oceanic Hotspots
Chapter 9  (Very Preliminary Draft)  Continental Hotspots

Chapter 10  (Not Available)  Alaska and Other Areas

Chapter 11  (Not Available)  North American Craton

Glossary (Not Available)  

Useful Websites (Not Available)  

  National Park Service:  http://www.nps.gov/
      Park (Virtual) Geology Tours:  http://www2.nature.nps.gov/grd/tour/index.htm
      Geological Resources Division:  http://www2.nature.nps.gov/grd/
      Geoscientist-in-the-Parks Program:  http://www2.nature.nps.gov/grd/geojob/index.htm
 
  U. S. Geological Survey:  http://www.usgs.gov/
      Geology of National Parks:  http://www2.nature.nps.gov/grd/usgsnps/project/home.html
      Earthquake Information:  http://earthquake.usgs.gov/
      Volcano Information:  http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/
      Cascade Volcano Observatory:  http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/

  Oregon State University:  http://osu.orst.edu/
      Department of Geosciences:  http://osu.orst.edu/dept/geosciences/
      College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences:  http://www.oce.orst.edu/
      Valley Library:  http://osulibrary.orst.edu/research/

  National Association for Interpretation:  http://www.interpnet.com/

  National Center for Science Education:  http://www.ncseweb.org/

  Student Conservation Association:  http://www.sca-inc.org

  Tanya Atwater (Plate Tectonic Animations):  http://www.geol.ucsb.edu/~atwater/