EOSC 110

Instructor: David Sasse

dsasse@eoas.ubc.ca
 Welcome to EOSC 110: Solid
Earth!
As you come in…
1. Come and pick up a physical course syllabus and
questionnaire

2. Connect your iClicker account using the iClicker

Sync link on Canvas

3. Log on to Canvas and review the syllabus and

course schedule. (If you haven’t already.)
What is this course about?
1) Earth Materials!
TLDR: Earth/Minerals/Rocks
What is this course about?
2) Earth Processes
TLDR: Plate tectonics, mountains, volcanoes, natural
hazards
Key Questions
1) What is the Earth made of?

As a group, come up with a list of 4 things in your life

that come from the Earth – explain how they are
related to the Earth.
Key Questions
2) How was the Surface of the Earth shaped?

Think about where you live. How was the ground

your house is on formed (or shaped)? (Explain to
each other where you live too)!
Week Dates Topics Assignments Readings

1 Introduction ACTIVITY 1 1
Sep 07 Intro/Earth’s Interior & Earth’s 22
formation
2 Sep 12 Structure of the Earth 9
Sep 14 Plate Tectonics I 10
3 Sep 19 Plate Tectonics II ACTIVITY 2 -
Sep 21 Minerals My Place 1 2
4 Sep 26 Magmatism/Volcanos 4
Sep 28 Magmatism/Volcanos -
5 Oct 03 Igneous Processes ACTIVITY 3 3
Oct 05 Weathering 5
6 Oct 10 Mass Movement My Place 2 15
Oct 12 NO CLASS
7 Oct 17 Midterm I
Oct 19 Sedimentary Processes 6
8 Oct 24 Geological Time ACTIVITY 4 8
Oct 26 Metamorphic Processes 7
9 Oct 31 Structures & Mountain Building I 12
Nov 02 Structures & Mountain Building II ACTIVITY 5 -
My Place 3
10 Nov 07 Seismology and Earthquakes ACTIVITY 6 11
Nov 09 Midsemester Break
11 Nov 14 Midterm II
Nov 16 Mineral Resources 20
12 Nov 21 Rivers ACTIVITY 7 13
Nov 23 Glacial Processes 16
13 Nov 28 Virtual field trip ACTIVITY 8 -
Nov 30 Natural Hazards My Place 4 -
14 Dec 05 TBA ACTIVITY 9 -
Dec 07 Review
 This Class
• Lecture: Tues / Thurs 2:00 – 3:30

• Textbook:
Earle, Steven Physical Geology, BC Campus
(online: https://opentextbc.ca/physicalgeology2ed/ 2020
Mark Breakdown…
In class activities 10%

Participation (clickers) 5%

“My Place” Activities 4x2.5% 10%

Lecture midterm exam 1 20%

Lecture midterm exam 2 20%

Lecture final exam (cumulative) 35%

A note on grades…
TAs

Javad Ghanei Jeroen Goumans

Office hours TBA…

How to succeed in this class?
• Come to class!
• Ask questions
• Work with your classmates
• Preview textbook and skim through lecture material
(lectures typically uploaded by 6 pm the day before
class)

• Use me as a resource!
Office hours / email / appointments
What is Geology?
• Geology is the study of Earth (interior and exterior),
the minerals and rocks around us, and the surface
processes acting over the vastness of geological
time.
 Geology as a Science

Physics Chemistry Biology Geography Math and Computer

Statistics Science

Geophysics Paleontology Numerical

Modelling
Geochemistry Mapping
Mapping, Modelling
etc.

Geoscience/Geology/Earth Science

Understanding the Real World

What does a Geologist do?
Why Study Geology?
Source: NASA

Source: RiffRaffBriz/Twitter

Taal, Jan 2020

I want to hear from you!
1) Why are you taking this course?

2) What do you hope to get from the course?

3) How many hours do you expect to put into this

course each week outside of lecture time?

4) Do you think this course might be useful in the

future? If so, how?

5) If there was a field trip, would you be interested?

 Field Trip?

Cross section – Stanley Park

Cross section – Lower Mainland

Stanley Park UBC Point Grey Bluffs

Learning Goals
• Understand and describe some of the basic
principles of Geology, especially Steno’s laws

• Given a basic cross section with layers, order

sequences from oldest to youngest

• Be able to use proper time notation when

describing events on a geological time scale
Catastrophism (17th -19th century)
• Proposed by Archbishop
James Ussher in mid
1600’s
• Earth’s surface is shaped
by sudden catastrophic
events
• Earth only believed to be
a few thousand years old
 Principle of Uniformitarianism
• The same physical processes active in the environment
today have been operating throughout the geologic
time.
• “The present is the key to the past.”
• Landforms change over the scale of long time periods
Modern
 Ancient
Photo by Michael Rygel
Match!
1) A

2) B

C
3)
 Principle of Original Horizontality
• Sediments are deposited
horizontally according to the
laws of gravity

• Any folding occurs

afterwards due to stresses
imposed on horizontal
layers
Relative Time and Superposition
• Principle of Superposition: Rock and sediment are
always arranged with the youngest bed
“superposed” toward the top of a rock formation
and the oldest at the base, if they have not been
disturbed.
Superposition
Principle of cross-cutting
relationships
• Geologic features such as faults, and magma
intrusions are younger than rocks they cut through
Oldest to youngest?
Steno’s laws summary
Geological time
“no vestige of a
beginning, no prospect
of an end”

~4,500,000,000 years old

Time Notation
Processes we will talk about use big numbers, so we
use abbreviations when we talk geological time

Ka (kilo anum) = 1,000 years

Ma (mega anum) = 1,000,000 years
Ga (Giga anum) = 1,000,000,000 years

E.g., The last lava flow eruptions from Mt. Baker

were ~ 12.7 Ka (12,700 years ago)
Geological Time
Cosmic Calendar

Source: National Geographic

The surface of the Earth
Plate Tectonics
• The foundation of Geology…
Plate Movement Over Time
• Model of plate motion and reconstruction

~ 280 Ma to present
By Understanding Plate Tectonic
you will:
• Understand how the surface of the Earth is shaped
• Be informed about where and how natural
disasters act
• Appreciate different landforms when you travel
 The Earth is Layered
• The Earth has layers which vary by physical
properties

Mantle Convection
Plate tectonic processes and varying conditions around
the globe give rise to over 4,000 naturally occurring
minerals
Minerals make up rocks

Rocks like Granite can be

seen almost everywhere
you go in BC!

Including your kitchen and

bathroom!...