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Historical Geology

Course Study Materials for Historical Geology


Course Overview  

Welcome to Historical Geology online! We think you'll find this course very enjoyable. The Geology course series is designed to give you an overview of our planet and how it functions. Last semester, you took Physical Geology, in which you studied the processes that are active on our planet. Historical Geology will give you can overview of the history of our planet from both a tectonic and paleontological perspective. Historical Geology focuses on (1) the historical development of the rock units that make up the Earth's crust, (2) the preservation, documentation, and evolution of plant and animal evidence in the rock record, and (3) the development of the concept of geologic time.

The laboratory component of the course teaches students the fundamental concepts of historical geology by providing realistic situations to which they can apply geologic concepts and data.

  To get started, just select from the list of available subject materials below. Lecture videos, notes, PowerPoints, and review questions/answers are provided.

Keep in mind that this is a content-driven course. That is, reading and memorization are the order of the day, rather than group discussions commonly found in upper level and graduate courses.


Historical Geology Subject Materials

Choose a chapter to view available materials:

  1. THE DYNAMIC AND EVOLVING EARTH
  2. MINERALS AND ROCKS
  3. PLATE TECTONICS: A UNIFYING THEORY
  4. GEOLOGIC TIME: CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES
  5. ROCKS, FOSSILS, AND TIME—MAKING SENSE OF THE GEOLOGIC RECORD
  6. SEDIMENTARY ROCKS— THE ARCHIVES OF EARTH HISTORY
  7. EVOLUTION—THE THEORY AND ITS SUPPORTING EVIDENCE
  8. PRECAMBRIAN EARTH AND LIFE HISTORY—THE ARCHEAN EON
  9. PRECAMBRIAN EARTH AND LIFE HISTORY—THE PROTEROZOIC EON
10. EARLY PALEOZOIC EARTH HISTORY
11. LATE PALEOZOIC EARTH HISTORY
12. PALEOZOIC LIFE HISTORY: INVERTEBRATES
13. PALEOZOIC LIFE HISTORY: VERTEBRATES AND PLANTS
14. MESOZOIC EARTH HISTORY
15. LIFE OF THE MESOZOIC ERA
16. CENOZOIC GEOLOGIC HISTORY: THE PALEOGENE AND NEOGENE
17. CENOZOIC GEOLOGIC HISTORY: THE PLEISTOCENE AND HOLOCENE EPOCHS
18. LIFE OF THE CENOZOIC ERA
19. PRIMATE AND HUMAN EVOLUTION
20. The Holocene


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