Weathering, soils and saprolite CRSS6220 / GEOL6560 - Spring 2002
Professors: Paul A. Schroeder and Larry T. West
This course blends the fields of geochemistry, clay mineralogy, soil mineralogy and pedology. Emphasis will be placed on extensive site sampling of soil/saprolite/rock sequences throughout Georgia and the field-based interpretation of sample physical properties. Alternating every week with each field excursion*, we will conduct classroom discussions and perform exercises aimed at understanding the biogeochemical and physical mechanisms responsible for the weathering process and landscape evolution. Each student will be responsible for guiding the discussion for one of the weeks spent in the classroom.
Class meets on Tuesdays at 8 AM. A schedule of class dates and topics is listed below. This schedule is subject to change. On some Tuesdays, we will be in the field all day. *Field days are noted below. Bring a field notebook and hand lens to each class. Please note the weekend field trip to the coast. We will need to share the cost of a two-night motel stay and meals.
Grading for the course will be based on completeness, correctness and neatness of a field notebook (30%), exercises (30%), a final project report (10%), and a final exam (30%).
Date Subject / location
| January 8, 2002 | Introduction, course materials and requirements |
| * January 15, 2002 | * Elberton granite - Petrology, saprolite and soil |
| January 22, 2002 | Physical properties of rocks and soil analysis ___________________ |
| * February 1, 2002 | * Athens gneiss - Soil pits, tilled soils and soil moisture |
| February 8, 2002 | Inorganic chemical weathering ____________________ |
| * February 15, 2002 | * Gladesville norite - Petrology, saprolite and soil |
| February 22, 2002 | Biochemical weathering ____________________ |
| * February 29, 2002 | * Shoulderbone ultramafics - Petrology, saprolite and soil |
| *March 14, 2002 | Biochemical weathering |
| *March 21, 2002 | * Daniel Springs meta-gabbro - Mapping economic ore deposits |
| March 28, 2002 | Intensity and rates of weathering ____________________ |
| * April 4, 2002 | * Huber kaolins and Tivola Limestone - Petrology, saprolite and soil |
| April 11, 2002 | Exposure ages and denudation rates ____________________ |
| * April 18, 2002 | * North Georgia fault zones and Paleozoic Blue Ridge Province |
| April 25, 2002 | Weathering and global climate change ____________________ |
| * April 28-30, 2002 | * Jekyll Island, Georgia - Pleistocene paleosols and coastal soils |