Determining Mantle Temperature and Composition from Discontinuities
Anna Courtier, James Madison University
This pair of activities uses observations of mantle discontinuity structure to examine mantle heterogeneity and differences in the depth extent of melt sources for ridges and "hotspots." The first ...

Finding the Moho under Milwaukee
Vince Cronin, Baylor University
A seismogram was recorded at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee by Keith Sverdrup during the explosive demolition of a section of the nearby Hoan Bridge on December 28, 2000. The explosive demolition and ...

Scientific debate: Mantle plumes
Brennan Jordan, University of South Dakota
A structured format for a debate of the mantle plume hypothesis and alternative hypotheses with supporting materials.

Is the New Madrid Seismic Zone at risk for a large earthquake?
Eliza Richardson, Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus
In this lesson we discuss the controversy regarding the extent of seismic risk in the central United States today. We learn how to estimate earthquake recurrence interval using a variety of methods. This lesson ...

How do Faults Slip: Earthquakes versus Episodic Tremor and Slip
Mike Brudzinski, Miami University-Oxford
A comparison of earthquakes and episodic tremor and slip using GPS and seismic data to illustrate how faults slip.

Characterizing Plate Boundaries
Bill Hirt, College of the Siskiyous
Students examine maps showing four different types of geologic data along three specific plate boundaries, and document the patterns in the data along each boundary. Next, they compare their observations to the ...

NanTroSEIZE in 3-D
Donald Reed, San Jose State University
We have developed a web-based virtual expedition, NanTroSEIZE in 3-D, based on a seismic survey associated with the NanTroSEIZE program of NSF-MARGINS and IODP to study the properties of the plate boundary fault ...

Geologic Mapping Exercise
Andrew Smith, Vincennes University
This exercise is designed to simulate some of the mapping aspects of a basic geological investigation. This mock geological investigation is a good wrap-up exercise because it incorporates a variety of geological ...

Guided Reading of Scientific Journal Articles
Carol Ormand, Carleton College
This is a sequence of assignments for my Structural Geology course that guides students through the process of critically reading and analyzing scientific journal articles. For each article, I outline the general ...

Exercise 8: Using LiDAR and GPS data to model the water table in ArcScene
Barb Tewksbury, Hamilton College
Barbara and David Tewksbury, Hamilton College Summary In this exercise, students process LiDAR data for the Hamilton College campus area to determine accurate elevations of wellheads of sampling wells on campus. ...