Laboratory Studies in Earth History

These exercises or "studies" will help students understand how ancient conditions can be read from rocks and fossils, how geologic forces at the surface and within the planet can alter the environment, and how events of the past can be placed within an integrated chronological sequence. The exercises are designed for students who may not intend to specialize in geology. This does not mean, however, that the treatment is superficial, nor that it cannot give adequate preparation for students pursuing an academic major in the earth sciences.

1 Introduction to Sedimentary Rocks

2 Textural Clues to the History of Sediment

3 Sedimentary Rocks under the Microscope

4 Ancient Sedimentary Environments

5 Tectonic Settings

6 Sea-Floor Spreading and Plate Tectonics

7 Age Relations and Unconformity

8 Rock Units and Time-Rock Units

9 The Advance and Retreat of Ancient Shorelines

10 Fossils and Their Living Relatives: Protists, Sponges, Corals, Bryozoans, and Brachiopods

11 Fossils and Their Living Relatives: Mollusks, Arthropods, Echinoderms, Graptolites, and Plants

12 Fossil Indicators of Age, Environment, and Correlation

13 A Brief Survey of the Vertebrates

14 Geologic Maps and Geologic Structures

15 Canadian Shield and Basement Rocks of North America

16 Mountain Belts of North America

17 The Interior Plains and Plateaus

18 Identification of Minerals

19 Igneous Rocks

20 Metamorphic Rocks

List of Tables

List of Colorplates

List of Plates

Preface

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