Course Materials for GE146:
The Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in northern Arizona exposes a spectacular section of geology representing nearly a billion years of Earth history.
Deciphering Earth History Autumn, 2012

These presentations (in Microsoft PowerPoint8) are made available solely for the use of students in GE146: Deciphering Earth History, at Colby College. These are the actual presentations made in class, sometimes augmented slightly to enhance the materials. However, nothing of substance will be added to materials once they have been presented in class without notifying the entire class that such a change has been made. In order to view these, you will need to download them onto a computer capable of running Microsoft PowerPoint. Colby users not having this software may download it from the general server.

Click HERE for access to OLD EXAMS for GE141 (Earth and Environment). Our exams will follow a similar format.

Click HERE for access to OUR OLD EXAMS.

First lecture - 5 September, 2012 (Introductions)
Semester Syllabus (as a pdf file)
Geography Review Homework (as a pdf file)
Second lecture - 7 September, 2012 (Intro. to Earth System History)
Third Lecture - 10 September, 2012 (Relative age assessments in Geology)
Fourth Lecture - 12 September, 2012 (Quantitative age assessments in Geology - Part I)
Fifth Lecture - 14 September, 2012 (Quantitative age assessments in Geology - Part II)
Sixth Lecture - 17 September, 2012 (Chemistry of the Earth & Intro. to Minerals)
Geochronometry Homework (as a pdf file)
Seventh Lecture - 19 September, 2012 (Minerals II)
Eighth Lecture - 21 September, 2012 (Rocks)
Ninth Lecture - 24 september, 2012 (Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks, Part I)
Tenth Lecture - 26 September, 2012 (Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks, Part II)
Geochronometry Homework Answers (as a .pdf file)
First Hour Exam Study Guide (as a .pdf file)
Eleventh Lecture - 28 September, 2012 (Sedimentary Rocks, concl.; Diversity in the Fossil Record)
on 1 October, 2012, we had our first hour exam.
First Hour Exam Answers (as a .pdf file)
Twelfth Lecture - 3 October, 2012 (Evolution and Diversity in the Fossil Record, cont.)
Thirteenth Lecture - 5 October, 2012 (Interpreting paleoenvironments, paleoclimate, paleogeography)
Fourteenth Lecture - 8 October, 2012 (Interpreting paleoenvironments, concl.)
Fifteenth Lecture - 10 October, 2012 (Plate Tectonics I)
Sixteenth Lecture - 12 October, 2012 (Plate Tectonics II)
on 15 October, 2012, we were on fall break.
Seventeenth Lecture - 17 October, 2012 (Plate Tectonics III)
Eighteenth Lecture - 19 October, 2012 (Galactic Origins)
Nineteenth Lecture - 22 October, 2012 (Earliest Earth)
Twentieth Lecture - 24 October, 2012 (the Proterozoic)
Twenty-first Lecture - 26 October, 2012 (Life of the Proterozoic; early Phanerozoic)
Twenty-second Lecture - 29 October, 2012 (Early Phanerozoic, cont.)
on 31 October, we discussed the impacts of "Superstorm Sandy" and reviewed for the exam.
Second Hour Exam Study Guide (as a .pdf file)
on 2 November, 2012, we had our second hour exam.
Second Hour Exam Answers (as a .pdf file)
Twenty-third Lecture - 5 November, 2012 (Cambrian-Ordovician Life and Environments)
Twenty-fourth Lecture - 7 November, 2012 (Early Paleozoic Life, concl.; The Silurian)
Twenty-fifth Lecture - 9 November, 2012 (Silurian Life; the Devonian)
New Fossil writing assignment (as a .pdf file)
Twenty-sixth Lecture - 12 November, 2012 (Devonian Life; Mississippian Environments and Life)
Twenty-seventh Lecture - 14 November, 2012 (Pennsylvanian-Permian Environments and Life)
Twenty-eighth Lecture - 16 November, 2012 (Permian Fossils & Extinction; the Mesozoic, Part I)
Twenty-ninth Lecture - 19 November, 2012 (The Jurassic)
Thirtieth Lecture - 26 November, 2012 (the Cretaceous and K/T Boundary)
Thirty-first Lecture - 28 November, 2012 (the K/T Boundary & Paleogene)
Thirty-second Lecture - 30 November, 2012 (the Cenozoic, Part 2)
Thirty-third Lecture - 3 December, 2012 (the Cenozoic, Part 3)
Thirty-fourth Lecture - 5 December, 2012 (the Cenozoic, Part 4)
Thirty-fifth Lecture - 7 December, 2012 (the Cenozoic, Part 5)

Study Guide for Final Exam (as a pdf file)

Though many people think of dinosaurs and their world when they think of ancient life, these beasts who ruled the Earth for 180 million years are far from the only interesting life forms that existed in the past. This enormous diorama - one of the most detailed re-creations of a prehistoric environment ever constructed - depicts the rich diversity of plants and animals that lived in a late Mesozoic forest in what is now China. It is from the rich Liaoning fossil trove that we are learning that at least some dinosaurs had primitive feathers or even fur. (image from http://www.cmnh.org/site/Img/AboutUs/Pressroom/AncientFossils/4-RM%20LiaoningDiorama.jpg)

The Colby Geology web pages are maintained by R. E. Nelson. Please e-mail any questions, comments
or suggestions you may have, especially if you encounter difficulties.



You are visitor number to this Geology 146 Lecture Page since 6 September, 2011

[ This page last modified on 11 December, 2012. ]