Curriculum Map

Introductory Geology

Author:
Geoffrey W. Cook, Assistant Teaching Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, California

This Curriculum Map provides a list of highly relevant and engaging content from throughout AccessScience for use in enriching your teaching. Site assets such as tables, graphs, diagrams, photos, and animations have been mapped to standard topics taught in an introductory Geology course. Use the "Copy Link" functionality to paste a direct link from each asset into your school's learning management system for easy incorporation into your curriculum.

Course Topics


Earth as a Planet
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Diagram This figure, from the article Geodynamo, illustrates the anatomy of Earth, showing its main layers, their radii, and Earth's rotational vector. copy link
Diagram This figure, from the article Geology, supplies more detail on Earth's significant layers, showing them in cross section. The figure also includes a cross section comparing the relative thickness of continental and oceanic crust. copy link
Animation This silent animation shows how our solar system (including the Sun and planets) formed from a solar nebula approximately 5 billion years ago. copy link
Diagram This schematic diagram, from the article Solar system, shows four phases in the formation of our solar system, which eventually led to formation of the Sun and planets. copy link
Animation This animation depicts Earth's magnetic field, and shows how convection of fluid in Earth's outer core creates the geodynamo, which has been active for the past 3.5 billion years. copy link
Diagram This schematic representation, from the article Earth interior, posits a theory of flow within Earth's mantle and outer core. This heat and material flow is also relevant to a discussion of plate tectonics. copy link
Rocks and Minerals
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Table This table from the Mineral article lists important examples of common rock-forming and economically significant minerals. It also lists their primary environments of formation, copy link
Diagram Silicates are the most common minerals found in Earth's crust. This illustration, from the article on silicate minerals, shows the six varieties of silicate crystal structures. Their physical properties are frequently dictated by the way in which SiO4 tetrahedra are grouped together, as shown here. copy link
Video Biography This video and biographical sketch features Jillian Banfield, who won the 2011 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth and Environmental Science for discovering the underlying principles of mineral formation and alteration by microbes. copy link
Diagram The Bowen reaction series, diagrammed in this flow chart from the Petrology article, predicts the order in which minerals will crystallize out of a melt. copy link
Biography Bowen's reaction series (see above) is based on a series of experiments made by petrologist Norman Levi Bowen in the early 20th century at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. copy link
Diagram This diagram from the article Rock shows the classification of certain sedimentary rocks based on proportions of the three most common clastic minerals: quartz, feldspars, and clays. copy link
Table This table from the Rock article provides a simplified classification of major igneous rocks on the basis of composition and texture. copy link
Diagram This block diagram from the article Pluton shows various types of common igneous intrusions. copy link
Diagram This full-color illustration from the Metamorphism article shows a cross section through a contact metamorphic aureole, indicating changing metamorphic facies assemblages with changing proximity to the intrusion. copy link
Graph This pressure-temperature diagram from the Metamorphism article shows commonly accepted metamorphic facies and several metamorphic field gradients from various petro-tectonic environments. copy link
Biography Pentti Eelis Eskola was an important Finnish geologist who was fascinated by the study of metamorphic rocks. copy link
Diagram This diagram includes a photograph showing a large, well-formed crystal of quartz, the most common oxide on Earth's surface. The figure also depicts the arrangement of silicon-oxygen tetrahedra in quartz's crystal lattice. copy link
Plate Tectonics
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Animation This animation, Continental Drift, reconstructs the drift of continents over the past 250 million years, since the breakup of Pangaea. copy link
Biography The German Earth scientist Alfred Wegener fathered the theory of continental drift, depicted in the animation above. copy link
Biography Harry Hess was a modern U.S. geologist who, among his many accomplishments, built upon the work of other scientists to develop the theory of seafloor spreading, revolutionizing our view of plate tectonics. copy link
Animation This colorful animation, Plate Tectonics, shows how forces within Earth's interior cause lithospheric plates to move and interact. copy link
Map This map from the article Plate tectonics shows the major plates of Earth's lithosphere, including plate margins, and the types of motion between plates. copy link
Diagram This diagram (not to scale) from the article Asthenosphere shows the location of this layer in the upper mantle. copy link
Map This map from the article Mid-Oceanic Ridge shows the global extent of this system as it winds through the ocean depths. copy link
Map The locations of Earth's principal subduction zones are shown on this map from the article Subduction zones, along with the velocity of plate movement. copy link
Diagram This diagram from the Subduction zones article shows cross-sectional views of end-member subduction zones, including Chilean- and Mariana-type boundaries. copy link
Diagram This cross-sectional diagram from the article on the evolution of continents shows constructive and deconstructive processes within a typical subduction zone. copy link
Briefing This Briefing, Deep earthquakes, describes the 2013 Sea of Okhotsk event, which was located at a subduction zone. copy link
Map This map from the article Transform fault plots the major transform faults of North and Central America. copy link
Weathering, Erosion, and Mass Wasting
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Reaction This general chemical reaction from the article Weathering processes shows how silicate rocks are attacked primarily by hydrolysis during chemical weathering. copy link
Diagram This diagram from the article Fluvial erosion landforms illustrates various landforms that can develop on flat-lying and dipping sedimentary rocks as a result of water flowing over the land. copy link
News A 2012 study dating rock erosion at the Grand Canyon suggests that this ancient chasm is 70 million years old—much older than previously thought. copy link
Biography John Wesley Powell was a U.S. geologist whose enormous and original studies produced lasting insights into erosion by rivers, volcanism, and mountain formation. copy link
Video Biography Geomicrobiologist Jillian Banfield, interviewed in this video, has demonstrated how and why weathering processes can vary greatly between the controlled environment of the laboratory and the natural world. copy link
Diagram This illustration from the Landslide article depicts seven different types of landslides. copy link
Soils
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Photograph This photograph of a soil profile from the Soil article shows typical soil horizons that differ noticeably in their properties. copy link
Table This table from the Soil article depicts the classification scheme for soils, listing names of the highest category, the order. copy link
Table This table from the Soil chemistry article gives average percentages of the major elements (and some microelements) for several orders of soil. copy link
Graph This graph from the Soil article illustrates the relationship between water potential (index of retentive forces) and water content for different soil materials. copy link
Diagram This schematic from the Soil chemistry article summarizes factors influencing the chemistry of solutions in the pore spaces of soil. copy link
Diagram An integrated system of soil management, including crop rotation, pest management, and water conservation, among others, is shown in this diagram from the Soil article. copy link
Atmosphere, Oceans, and Climate
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Graph This plot of changes in atmospheric oxygen pressure over time, obtained from sediment analyses, summarizes evidence for the evolution of atmospheric oxygen since Earth was formed. copy link
Diagram This diagram from the Atmosphere article shows the vertical structure of Earth's atmosphere in terms of pressure, height, temperature, and compositional properties. copy link
Diagram This diagram from the Atmosphere article presents the radiation energy budget of Earth's atmosphere compared to the total incoming solar radiation. It is useful for introducing the concept of the greenhouse effect. copy link
Diagram This diagram from the Ocean article illustrates the role of wind in establishing major current gyres. copy link
Diagram The Ekman spiral, which plays a role in the force and distribution of subsurface currents, is elegantly illustrated in this diagram from the Ocean circulation article. copy link
Animation This animation shows how the El Niño weather pattern arises from changes in atmospheric and oceanic flows. copy link
Diagram This schematic from the Climatology article illustrates the complex interactions among the atmosphere, oceans, ice, and land that together create Earth's climate. copy link
Table The Köppen climate classification system, a system for assigning short codes to Earth's climate zones, is presented in this table. copy link
Video Biography Franklin Award laureate W. Richard Peltier, who has advanced our understanding of Earth systems by demonstrating profound interconnections between surface-climate variability, is interviewed in this video. copy link
Video Biography Our understanding of Earth's climate history has been vastly improved through collective studies of ice cores by the award-winning husband-and-wife team of Lonnie G. Thompson and Ellen Stone Mosley-Thompson, interviewed in this video. copy link
Diagram This model from the Climate modeling article predicts what Earth's climatic response would be to an increase of atmospheric greenhouse gases. copy link
Earthquakes and Seismology
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Animation This short and silent animation about earthquakes shows how seismic waves radiate out from focus points on fault lines. It also points out the epicenter and fault scarp. copy link
News This 2013 news story presents evidence that fault zones can repair naturally within a relatively short amount of time after earthquakes strike. copy link
Equation The article on seismic risk provides this general expression for the total risk that can be expected from a seismic hazard. copy link
Animation This animation, Tsunami, shows how undersea earthquakes can cause seismic sea waves to form. copy link
Diagram This diagram from the Tsunami article shows an example of a deep-ocean tsunami detection system. copy link
News This 2013 news article, entitled Landslides detected from afar, describes how seismic signals and satellite data can help scientists detect and characterize giant landslides that occur in remote, mountainous regions. copy link
Geologic Structures
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Diagram This illustration from the Fold and fold systems article depicts key elements of a fold. It may help students better understand the dynamics of folding. copy link
Diagram This diagram, from the article Fault and fault structures, illustrates different types of faults, including dip-slip, strike slip, and oblique faults. copy link
Diagram This figure from Fault and fault structures highlights the difficulty in identifying actual motion in dip-slip faulting after subsequent erosion. It also demonstrates the difference between slip and separation. copy link
Diagram This cross-sectional diagram, also from Fault and fault structures, indicates the complex nature of tectonism in the Basin and Range Province, and shows its pervasive normal faulting due to crustal extension in this region of the western United States. copy link
Diagram This illustration from the Anticline article shows the relationship of the structure of an anticline to topographic features on its surface. copy link
Diagram This illustration from the article Graben depicts a simple horst-graben structure common to regions that have undergone extensional stress or tectonism. copy link
Geologic Time
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Table This table from the Geologic time scale article shows both relative and absolute (numerical) boundaries for the major subdivisions of Earth's history. copy link
Diagram Unconformities represent missing time in the geologic record. They are typically associated with erosional or nondepositional time periods. This illustration from the Unconformity article highlights the four types of unconformities. copy link
Table This table from the article on rock age determination lists common radioisotope systems (parent-daughter pairs) used in absolute (numerical) determinations of rock and mineral ages, along with their half-lives. copy link
Biography The Scottish philosopher James Hutton first proposed the principle of uniformitarianism in his influential book, Theory of the Earth. As this biography explains, Hutton's principle still forms the groundwork for much geological reasoning today. copy link
Biography After Hutton's death, Scottish geologist Charles Lyell expounded on the theory of uniformitarianism and organized the evidence for it into a popular and coherent form. The themes presented in Lyell's influential book, The Principles of Geology, still form the groundwork for much geological reasoning today. copy link
Glaciers
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Graph Global glaciation is directly related to solar fluctuations in association with Earth's solar orbit and tilt. This diagram from the Glacial history article includes a graph of changes in Earth's orbital elements (also known as Milankovitch cycles) over the past 250,000 years and extending 100,000 years into the future. copy link
Maps These two maps from the Glacial geology and landforms article compare the present distribution of global glaciation to the distribution of glacial ice during the Late Wisconsinan glacial maximum 18,000 years ago. copy link
Photograph This image shows a series of glacial scratches (straia) and chattermarks etched into bedrock—common evidence of erosional effects seen on glaciated landscapes. copy link
Photograph This image shows an example of an isolated erratic boulder in southern Ontario, Canada, providing evidence of glacial transport during the last ice age. copy link
Diagram This full-color illustration, also from the Glacial geology and landforms article, shows the types of glacial landforms that result from alpine (mountain) glaciation. copy link
Diagram This illustration/photo combination details the components and structure of a typical drumlin, which is commonly associated with deposition of glacial till by continental glaciation. copy link
Hydrology
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Diagram This diagram from the Water resources article shows the main components of the hydrologic cycle, including numerical volume estimates for oceans and other reservoirs. copy link
Diagrams The diagrams in this figure from the River article highlight various types of structural and topographic drainage patterns commonly formed by river and stream systems. copy link
Table This table from the Water resources article lists the world's major river systems in terms of their yearly discharge to the ocean. copy link
Table This table, also from the Water resources article, lists the world's major freshwater lakes in terms of surface area, and shows their significant physical attributes (depth, size, and length). copy link
Graph This bar chart highlights freshwater usage during 2000 in the United States, including type of usage and percentage of water consumed for each purpose. An interesting student project would be to compare this usage to other countries during that same year, or to present-day usage. copy link
Volcanoes
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Animation This animation shows how a volcano forms from accumulation of magma erupted through openings within Earth's crust. copy link
Diagram This cross-sectional diagram from the Volcano article illustrates a variety of igneous bodies caused by magma consolidating below the crustal surface. copy link
Diagram The top portion of this figure illustrates some common types of volcanic landforms that result from different eruptive processes (explosive versus effusive volcanism). copy link
Table This table from the Volcanology article lists some of the more significant historical eruptions in the context of their impact on society (i.e., casualties and causes of death). copy link
Article Section A key part of the forecasting challenge for volcanic eruptions is that few data can be observed before a catastrophic main eruption. Central to the statistical strategies that are necessary for forecasting is the application of fundamental rock mechanics in assessing the failure of the rock mass. This section of the 2010 Research Review, entitled Volcano seismicity in the laboratory, elaborates on advances in the use of experimental rock physics as a laboratory tool. copy link
Photographs These digital images of Mount St. Helens Volcano show the development of lava domes within the amphitheater between 2003–2007. This relatively fast growth illustrates the dynamic nature of volcanism. copy link