Instructor: Paula Messina
Office: DH 307
Phone: 408/924-5027
E-Mail: pmessina@geosun.sjsu.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday, 2:00 - 3:00 pm; Thursday 10:00- 11:00 AM, and by appointment
Course Home Page: http://geosun.sjsu.edu/paula/134/

Course Objectives: The course will focus on the interactions of systems that shape the Earth's surface, and the landforms that result. Laboratory exercises are designed to apply field techniques, photo and topographic map interpretation to infer active tectonics; fluvial, glacial, and aeolian processes; soil formation; landsliding, and other surface processes.

Prerequisites: Geology 101 and Geology 101L, or permission of the instructor. The ability to read topographic maps is essential!

Required Text: Don J. Easterbrook: Surface Processes and Landforms, Second Edition. Prentice Hall, 1999. Additional materials will be handed out in class.

Required Readings: Click here

Required Field Trip: Click here for some images from a previous field trip!
 

Assessment:
Midterm (Tuesday, October 15, 2002) 20%
Final (Wednesday, December 18, 0715-0930) 30%
Labs (Not equally weighted) 50%
[Landform of the Week +10%]
 

Grading Policy: Late papers will not be graded, and will be assigned a grade of (zero) unless you:

• •present a medical excuse,
• •notify me at least one week before the due date of schedule conflicts, or
• •have a verifiable emergency.

Attendance: You are expected to attend every class session. Some of the lecture material is not covered by the text.
 

Please note: It is the policy of the University and this Department that a course may not be dropped after September 13, 2002. After September 13, dropping a course is permissible only for serious and compelling reasons. See Schedule of Classes for details.
 

Click here to download Adobe Acrobat Reader

Week	Tuesday	Lab	Thursday
1	8/27: Course Introduction, Foundations of Geomorphology / Review of Topographic Map Fundamentals	Intro. to DH210 Computer Lab: TOPO Software.	8/29: Mechanical Weathering
2	9/3: Chemical Weathering	Lab #1 (con'd)	9/5: Glacial Processes
3	9/10: Glacial Landforms Lab 1 is due at 0830 today	Lab #2: Erosional and Depositional Landforms of Glaciers	9/12: Sierra Nevada Geologic History/ Field Trip Logistics
4	9/17: Volcanic Processes	Lab #2 (con'd)	9/19: Volcanic Landforms Lab #2 is due at 8:30 today.
Mono Basin Field Trip: Friday 9/20 through Sunday 9/22
5	9/24: Fluvial Processes	Lab #3: Mono Basin Field Trip (con'd)	9/26: No class
6	10/1: Fluvial Landforms, Drainage Patterns	Lab #3 is due at 12:20 today.	10/3:.Mass Wasting
7	10/8: Groundwater Study Guide for the Midterm Exam	Lab #4: Drainage Basins	10/10: Q/A for Midterm
8	10/15: Midterm Exam Click here to see a copy of a previous year's midterm exam	Lab #4: Drainage Basins (con'd)	10/17: No class
9	10/22: Tectonic Landforms Lab #4 is due at 1215 today.	Lab #4 (con'd) Review of Midterm Exam	10/24: Geomorphic Expression of Folded Strata
10	10/29: Bay Area Tectonism Field Trip	Lab #5 will be distributed in the field	10/31:Geomorphic Expression of Faults and Joints
11	11/5: Quaternary Climate Changes/Periglacial Processes and Landforms	Lab #5 (con'd)	11/7: Periglacial Processes and Landforms
12	11/12: Coastal Processes, Shoreline Development	Lab#5 is due at 12:20 today.	11/14: No class
13	11/19:Coastal Processes/Field Trip Click here for a copy of the field guide	Santa Cruz Field Trip. Lab #6 will be distributed in the field.	11/21: Aeolian Erosional Processes and Landforms
14	11/26: Aeolian Depositional Processes and Landforms	Lab #6 (continued)	11/28: No class (Thanksgiving)
15	12/3: Extraterrestrial Geomorphology	Lab #6 is due at 12:20 PM today.	12/5: Q/A for Final Exam Click here to get a copy of the final exam review sheet Click here too see a copy of a previous year's final exam
16	12/10: (Last day of class): Unfinished Business

Final Exam: December 18, 2002 7:15 - 9:30 AM