Courses

Our planet is about 4.6 billion years old, and has supported life for at least the last 3.5 billion of those years. This course will consider the inter-related nature of Earth and the life that inhabits it, starting with the first living organisms and progressing to the interaction of our own species with the Earth today. Students will investigate the dynamic nature of the Earth-life system, examine many of its feedbacks, and learn about the dramatic changes that have occurred throughout the history of the Earth. We will ask questions such as: How did the Earth facilitate biologic evolution, and what effects did those biologic events have on the physical Earth? When did photosynthesis evolve, how can we detect that in the rock record, and how did this biological event lead to profound changes in the environment? How and why did animals evolve and what role did environmental change play in the radiation of animal life? How did the rise and radiation of land plants affect world climate? How do plate tectonics, glaciation, and volcanism influence biodiversity and evolutionary innovation? What caused mass extinctions in the past and what can that teach us about our current extinction crisis? Labs will involve hands-on analysis of rocks, fossils, and real-world data as well as conceptual and analytical exercises; field trips will contextualize major events in Earth history and will help students learn to read the rock record. Through these investigations, the class will provide a comprehensive overview of Earth history, with special attention paid to the geological and paleontological history of the northeastern United States. [ more ]

The Earth is a work-in-progress, an evolving planet whose vital signs--as expressed by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and shifting plates--are still strong. In a geological time frame, nothing on Earth is permanent: ocean basins open and close, mountains rise and fall, continental masses accrete and separate. There is a message here for all of us who live, for an infinitesimally brief time, on the moving surface of the globe. This course uses the plate tectonics model--one of the fundamental scientific accomplishments of the past century--to interpret the processes and products of a changing Earth. The emphasis will be on mountain systems (on land and beneath the oceans) as expressions of plate interactions. Specific topics include the rocks and structures of modern and ancient mountain belts, the patterns of global seismicity and volcanism, the nature of the Earth's interior, the changing configurations of continents and ocean basins through time, and, in some detail, the formation of the Appalachian Mountain system and the geological assembly of New England. Readings will be from a physical geology textbook, a primary source supplement, selected writings of John McPhee, and references about the geology of the Northeast. [ more ]

The oceans cover about 72% of Earth's surface, yet we know the surface of Venus better than our own ocean floors. Why is that? This integrated introduction to the oceans covers formation and history of the ocean basins; the composition and origin of seawater; currents, tides, and waves; ocean-atmosphere interactions; oceans and climate; deep-marine environments; coastal processes; productivity in the oceans; and marine resources. Coastal oceanography will be investigated on an all-day field trip, hosted by the Williams-Mystic program in Connecticut. [ more ]

With a title merging two inter-related fields, this course could be subtitled "An Introduction to Earth Materials and Analytical Techniques." As the basis for all subsequent solid-earth courses in the major, it provides a systematic framework for the study of minerals - Earth's building blocks: their physical and chemical properties at all scales and the common analytical methods used to identify and interpret them. The course progresses from hand-specimen morphology and crystallography through element distribution and crystal chemistry to the phase relations, compositional variation, and mineral associations within major rock-forming mineral systems. Laboratory work includes the determination of crystal symmetry; mineral separation; the principles and applications of optical emission spectroscopy; wavelength- and energy-dispersive x-ray spectrochemical analysis; x-ray diffraction; the use of the petrographic microscope; and the identification of important minerals in hand specimen and thin section. [ more ]

The metal in your soda can, the plastic in your Nalgene, the components of your computer, the glass in your window, the hydrocarbons being burned to keep you warm in the winter or to transport you in cars or aircraft, the cars and aircraft themselves: all are made of materials mined from the Earth. Right now there are more people building more houses, paving more roads, making more vehicles, more electronics, and more plastic packaging--all with geologic materials. As demand soars in both established and growing economies, and as we realize the environmental damage that can result from resource extraction and processing, the importance of understanding Earth's resources increases. Finding new deposits and managing those we have requires insight into the geology that underlies the location and origin of strategic Earth materials.This class introduces the geologic processes that control formation, distribution, and extent of materials reserves: dimension stone and gravel, base and precious metal ores, gemstones, petroleum, nuclear energy sources, and specialty materials for medical, technological, and military uses. [ more ]

The fossil record is a direct window into the history of life on Earth and contains a wealth of information on evolution, biodiversity, and climate change. This course investigates the record of ancient life forms, from single-celled algae to snails to dinosaurs. In addition to the intellectual discovery of fossils as organic relics and the ways in which fossils have been used to support conflicting views on nature, geologic time, and evolution, we will cover a range of topics central to modern paleobiology. These include: how the fossil record informs our understanding of evolutionary processes including speciation; the causes and consequences of mass extinctions; how fossils help us tell time and reconstruct the Earth's climactic and tectonic history; statistical analysis of the fossil record to reconstruct biodiversity through time; analysis of fossil morphology to recreate the biomechanics of extinct organisms; and using fossil communities to reconstruct past ecosystems. Laboratory exercises will take advantage of Williams' superb fossil collections as well as published datasets to provide a broad understanding of fossils and the methods we use to study the history of life on Earth. We will also view a diversity of fossils in their geologic and paleo-environmental context on our field trip to Eastern New York. [ more ]

This class provides a practical look at fast-evolving methods used to integrate information about the Earth's surface with spatial data collected by disciplines such as archaeology, economics, the field sciences, history and political science. Remote sensing involves collection and processing of data from satellite and airborne sensors to yield environmental information about the Earth's surface and lower atmosphere. Remote sensing allows regional mapping of rock materials, analysis of vegetation cover and measurement of urban areas and land-use change over time. A Geographic Information System (GIS) links satellite-based environmental measurements with spatial data such as topography, transportation networks, and political boundaries, allowing display and quantitative analysis at the same scale using the same geographic reference. This course covers concepts of remote-data capture and geographic rectification using a Global Positioning System (GPS), as well as principles of remote sensing, including linear and non-linear image enhancements, convolution filtering, and image classification. Principles of GIS include display and classification, spatial buffers, logical overlays and techniques of spatial analysis. Weekly labs focus on training in the application of techniques using data from the region and other areas of North America. [ more ]

In recent years, there has been a growing public and scientific interest in the Earth's climate and its variability. This interest reflects both concern over future climate changes resulting from anthropogenic increases in atmospheric greenhouse gases and growing recognition of the economic impact of "natural" climate variability (for example, El Ni?o events), especially in the developing world. Efforts to understand the Earth's climate system and predict future climate changes require both study of parameters controlling present day climate and detailed studies of climate changes in the past. In this course, we will review the processes that control the Earth's climate, like insolation, the greenhouse effect, ocean circulation, configuration of continents, and positive and negative feedbacks . At the same time, we will review the geological record of climate changes in the past, examining their causes. Laboratory exercises and problem sets will emphasize developing problem solving skills and using quantitative analyses to assess if a given explanation is possible and reasonable. These exercises will include developing and applying numerical models of the radiative balance of earth and the carbon cycle. [ more ]

We live in a solar system full of wonders. Each planet and each moon is strange: different from our Earth, and different from each other. The recent flood of images and data from Mars constantly reveals new marvels the rest of the solar system is even stranger. The U.S. put men on the moon; there are robots on Mars; and the Soviet Union landed several times on Venus. The other worlds are known only from flybys and remote images, but it's amazing how much those can teach us. By focusing on recent research, we will examine how the solar system works and delve into its mysteries. Topics may include the possible Late Heavy Bombardment of the moon, runaway greenhouse on Venus, water on Mars, hidden oceans on Europa, and the methane weather cycle on Titan. [ more ]

Carbon dioxide is the most important atmospheric greenhouse gas, and human activities are adding carbon to the atmosphere at unprecedented rates. Yet only half of the carbon we emit each year remains in the atmosphere because biological, geological, and chemical processes continually cycle carbon from the atmosphere to the ocean, to land plants and soils, and to sediments. The workings of the carbon cycle are at the center of many controversies surrounding the causes of past climate changes and the outcome of future global warming. How was the Earth's climate steered by past changes in the carbon cycle, billions and millions of years ago? Will natural processes continue to take up such a high percentage of carbon emissions as emissions continue and climate changes? Can and should we coax natural systems to take up even more carbon? How might carbon emissions be reduced on the scale of the Williams campus? We will explore these issues through readings of current journal articles and reports. [ more ]

The structure of the Earth's crust is constantly changing and the rocks making up the crust must deform to accommodate these changes. Rock deformation occurs over many scales ranging from individual mineral grains to mountain belts. This course deals with the geometric description of structures, stress and strain analysis, deformation mechanisms in rocks, and the large scale forces responsible for crustal deformation. The laboratories cover geologic maps and cross sections, folds and faults, stereonet analysis, field techniques, strain, and stress. [ more ]

The composition and architecture of sediments and sedimentary rocks preserve information about the rocks that were eroded to form them, the fluids and forces that transported them, the mechanisms by which they were deposited, and the processes by which they were lithified. This course will provide an introduction to the principles of sedimentology, including sedimentary petrology, fluid mechanics, bedform analysis, and facies architecture. [ more ]

Using plate tectonics and the geologic assembly of New England as a template, this course explores the origin of crystalline rocks - volcanic, plutonic, and metamorphic - that comprise 94% of the Earth's crust and record most of its history. Field and lab studies (the crux of the course) are backed up by phase-rule applications and fundamental thermodynamic principles. Chemical and mineralogical compositions and rock fabrics provide evidence for crystallization or re-crystallization processes and environments, particularly as they define present or past plate boundaries or tectonic settings. Lab work emphasizes thin section analysis, with a 3-week segment devoted to interpreting the igneous rocks of New England collected on field trips.. [ more ]

Over the last 543 million years of life on Earth, five major mass extinctions have occurred, each dramatically changing the makeup and course of life on our planet. During some of these events, over 75% of all marine animal species went extinct and groups like the dinosaurs vanished from the planet after over 100 million years of ecological dominance. This tutorial course will explore the idea of extinction from the evolution of the concept in human thought to current research on the mechanisms and patterns of extinctions through time. We will examine how to determine when an extinction is "mass" versus "background", and delve into the causes and consequences of the major mass extinction events of the Phanerozoic, including tackling the potential human- induced extinction event occurring in the present day. Over spring break, we will travel to Italy to explore the geological boundaries of the two largest mass extinctions: the Permian-Triassic (believed to be the largest extinction ever), exposed in the Dolomite mountains of Northern Italy, and the Cretaceous-Paleogene (where the dinosaurs and many other groups went extinct), exposed in the hills of Umbria. This trip will allow us to combine field observations with tutorial readings to fully synthesize the causes and consequences of major mass extinctions through time. [ more ]

Fifty years after the sea-floor spreading hypothesis was first verified using magnetic anomalies, we have spectacular data sets from paleomagnetism, seismology, volcanism, the Global Positioning System, and digital elevation models that provide rich details into the kinematics and mechanisms of present and past plate motions. After an introduction to the theory of plate tectonics, we will learn how to 1) access these data sets, 2) portray them on Google Earth and other geographic information systems, and 3) use them to test important tectonic models. We will also explore ways in which tectonics, climate, and erosion affect each other during the evolution of mountain ranges. Class meetings will include lectures and discussions of assigned reading. Labs will include field trips and computer-based projects using large data sets. [ more ]

Geosciences senior thesis. [ more ]

Geosciences senior thesis. [ more ]

Geosciences independent study. [ more ]

Geosciences independent study. [ more ]