GEO 3510 EARTH RESOURCES: Summer A 2008
Tuesday-Thursday 11AM-1:45PM
Florida International University
Department of Earth Sciences
Dr. Andrew W. Macfarlane
Office: PC 314
Phone: 348-3980
e-mail: macfarla@fiu.edu
Office hours: W 2-3 PM or by appointment
Required texts:
Resources of the Earth, 3rd edition, by Craig, Vaughan and Skinner.
Encounters with the Archdruid, by John McPhee.
Recommended text:
Coal: A Human History, by Barbara Freese
Course Goals:
The main objectives of this course are: 1) to identify the earth resources that are the basis of our present and future survival; 2) to understand how these resources formed in geologic terms, which is the basis for the discovery of new resource deposits, the estimation of reserves and planning of resource use; and 3) to understand the environmental consequences of the extraction, utilization and disposal of resources.
Attendance Policy:
You absolutely MUST attend the exams and the debate of the second text at the scheduled times. If you cannot attend at the scheduled time, you must contact me IN ADVANCE to take the exam at a different time. If you supply proof that you could not make it to the regular exam due to a serious personal emergency at that time (e.g., a note from your physician or arresting officer), I may allow you to take a make-up exam which will be entirely essay-type. Attendance at athletic events, practices, family outings or trips, hangovers, sniffles, sick friends or family, trips for other courses or forgetting the date of the exam, among many other excuses, are NOT acceptable and will NOT result in being allowed to take a make up exam. If you fail to attend an exam for any reason that does not in my opinion constitute an emergency, and if you do not contact me in advance, you will receive a zero for that exam. There are never exceptions to this policy.
Grading Policy:
Grades will be based on four scores: one midterm, one final exam, one in-class discussion session, and an attendance grade. The midterm will count 30% of your grade and the final exam will count for 40%. The discussion will cover the second required text (Encounters with the Archdruid), and will count 15% of your grade. The discussion will be graded entirely on participation, and there will be no make-up. I will take attendance at 5 random class meetings through the semester, and the attendance grade will make up the remaining 15% of your course grade. Attendance of 4 or 5 out of 5 = A, 3 out of 5 = B, 2 out of 5 = C, 1 out of 5 = D, 0 attendance = F. There will be an extra-credit quiz on the recommended text on July 31; a passing score on this quiz will mean an increase to your final grade of one increment (e.g., B+ to A-).
NOTE: Due to the length of lectures in the summer semester, we may be able to cover more or less topics that those included below. Therefore, this syllabus is provisional.
Class Schedule
Date Topic Reading
May 6 Course ground rules. Intro. to the Earth & plate tectonics Powerpoint
May 8 Rocks and minerals. Igneous rocks Powerpoint
May 13 Weathering and sedimentary rocks Powerpoint
May 15 Deformation and metamorphism Powerpoint
May 20 Basic mineral economics, mining laws, cartels Craig et al., ch. 3
May 22 Mining methods and consequences. Craig et al., ch. 4
May 27 Encounters with the Archdruid
May 29 Midterm exam. Energy resource overview. Craig et al., ch. 5.
June 3 Energy resources. Petroleum and coal. Craig et al., ch. 5
June 5 Consequences of fossil fuel use. Energy alternatives: Craig et al. ch. 3, 5
June 10 Abundant metals: iron, aluminum, magnesium, titanium Craig et al., ch. 7
Extra credit quiz.
June 12 Platinum and the ferroalloy metals vanadium, chromium Craig et al., ch. 8
Nickel and cobalt
June 17 Copper and the base metals. Gold. Craig et al, ch. 8
June 19 Fertilizers. Final exam. Craig ch. 9