Syllabus: G528, Analysis of Sedimentary Basins

Fall, 2005

 

Professor Marc Hendrix, SC359; Office Phone: 243-5278; email = marc.hendrix@umontana.edu

 

 

DATE             LECTURE TOPIC                                                                READING

8/29                Intro - What is a sedimentary basin?                           Miall, Ch. 1

8/31                Crustal Properties, tectonic settings                             Ingersoll, 1988

 

9/5                   NO CLASS – LABOR DAY HOLIDAY

9/7                  Tectonic settings                                                       Busby and Ingersoll Ch. 1

 

9/12                Review of sedimentary structures

9/14                Stratigraphic Analysis Lab (in field till noon)             Miall, Ch. 2, 4.5.1-4.5.6

 

9/19                Paleocurrent Analysis & Lab Intro                                    Miall, Ch. 5.9

9/21                Paleocurrent Lab cont.; Strat Lab Due (15%)

 

9/26                Provenance Analysis; Prov. Analysis Lab.                      Miall, Ch. 5.5. 9.4

9/28                Prov. Analysis Lab cont.; Paleocurrent Lab Due (10%)  Papers TBA

 

10/3                Well logs                                                                      Miall, Ch. 2.4.5, 5.4.2

10/5                Subsidence Analysis; Provenance Lab Due (15%)       Miall, Ch. 7

                                                                                                         Papers TBA

10/8 (Sat.)       Sed Basins midterm field data acquisition (all day) - attendance required

 

10/10             Subsidence Analysis Lab

                        Due date for decision on final project topic

10/12              Sequence Stratigraphy, Sea Level change                        Miall, Ch. 5.4.1, Ch. 88

                        Subsidence Analysis Lab Due (15%)

 

10/17              Continental Deposystems                                              Miall, Ch. 6

10/19              Continental to marginal marine systems                         Papers TBA

 

10/24              Shelf Deposystems                                                       Miall, Ch. 6

10/26              Deep Marine deposystems                                             Papers TBA

                        Midterm Exams due at class time

 

10/31              Rift basins                                                                    Miall, Ch. 9.3.1,

11/2                Rift basins, cont.                                                           Papers TBA

 

11/7                Passive continental margins, aulacogens                          papers TBA                          

11/9                 NO CLASS - THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY                 

 

11/14              Intra-arc, back-arc, and remnant ocean basins                 papers TBA

11/16              Trenches, trench-slope basins, and forearcs                    Miall, Ch. 9.3.2,                    

 

11/21              Retroarc and Peripheral Foreland basins                           papers TBA

11/23               NO CLASS – TRAVEL DAY FOR STUDENTS

 

11/28              Strike-slip basins                                                           Miall, Ch. 9.3.3, paprs TBA

11/30              Student presentations of final project                           

 

12/5                 Student presentations of final project                           

12/7                 Student presentations of final project                    Final papers due at class time

 

This class will synthesize much of what you have learned about in other classes (sed/strat, geophysics, tectonics) and introduce you to a variety of new topics, all in the context of the interpretation of sedimentary basins, their history of fill, and their record of greater tectonic processes.  You will be asked to do a significant amount of reading for this class.  Most of the reading is in Miall’s book (Principles of Sedimentary Basin Analysis, 3rd ed.; Springer-Verlag), but I will also assign various papers pertinent to individual topics.  Please do your best to keep up with the reading.

 

Grades will be based on four laboratory exercises (10-15% each, depending on the lab), one take-home midterm exam (25%), and one final presentation/paper (20%).

 

The mid-term will be a take-home exam that will require you to synthesize a wide variety of data, some of which you will gather in the field on a full-day outing on Saturday, October 8.  Participation in the field data acquisition is required for all students in the class.

 

The final project will consist of an 8 page (maximum) paper on the evolution of a sedimentary basin of your choice, as well as a 20-30 minute presentation on your final results.  The sedimentary basin that you choose to study must be located somewhere off the North American continent.  The paper must contain the results of a geohistory analysis from at least one stratigraphic section you have derived from the literature and should focus on integrating the different sorts of data you can find in the literature (stratigraphic, provenance, paleocurrent data, etc.) that pertain to your basin.  Because you may need to use the interlibrary loan system for obtaining some of your reference materials, it’s important that you decide on your basin and begin to research it as soon as possible.  (It may take several weeks to receive materials ordered via the IL system.)  Please decide on the basin you will research by Monday, October 10.  Final papers will be due on Monday, December 7 at class time and will not be accepted after the due date.

 

There will be no final exam for this class.