An introduction to the fundamental principles and processes of geology using America’s national parks as examples. Topics include geologic time (e.g., relative and absolute age dating techniques), earth materials (e.g., air, water, rocks, minerals), plate tectonics, and the processes that form landscapes (e.g., mountain building, volcanism, deposition, erosion). Examples of national parks that are used include Hawaii Volcanoes, Yosemite, Glacier, Yellowstone, Mammoth Cave, and Great Smokey Mountains. Lecture discussions will be augmented with labs and field trips to local parks of geologic interest.

This course fulfills the Quantitative Reasoning and Division III lab-science distribution requirement.

Link to Geology of National Parks Library Web Page

Class field trip to Silurian sandstone outcrop at Flat Rock in Pennsylvania.	Class field trip to Silurian sandstone outcrop at Flat Rock in Pennsylvania.