Exploring El Niño
Kevin Theissen, University of St Thomas
In this introductory-level lab activity, students first view a 20-minute portion of an informative video to learn about the operation of an array of moored buoys that is used to detect changes in the El Niño ...

An abrupt global climate change event in Earth history- Evidence from the ocean
Kevin Theissen, University of St Thomas
Students work in pairs to explore and synthesize key paleoceanographic evidence for the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM)as found in marine sediment cores collected and analyzed during Ocean Drilling Program ...

An Introduction to Seismic Interpretation Using Open Source Software (OpendTect)
Jeannette Wolak, Tennessee Technological University; Jeannette Wolak Luna, Tennessee Technological University
This is a series of three lab exercises integrating seismic interpretation and sedimentary geology. Each lab uses freely available software from dGB Earth Sciences, OpendTect. The seismic volume is the F3 Block in ...

Introduction to well logs for use in the petroleum industry
Walter Borowski, Eastern Kentucky University
This exercise uses a suite of well logs (aka electric logs) to interpret lithology within a stratigraphic section and to determine fluid content within borehole rocks.

Visualizing Data from a Journal Article: A Critical Thinking Exercise
Jeannette Wolak, Tennessee Technological University; Jeannette Wolak Luna, Tennessee Technological University
This is a take-home exercise for junior or senior-level students in a Sedimentation/Stratigraphy course. It may be used to bridge topics of geomorphology, depositional environments and clastic sedimentology. The ...

Building a Facies Model
William W. Little, Brigham Young University-Idaho
Facies models are often abstract and difficult for undergraduate students to fully understand. As a result, they tend to memorize idealized diagrams from text books that can be reproduced for an exam, then ...

Lag to peak with a stream table
Amanda Schmidt, Oberlin College
Students use a small stream table in groups to investigate how channel form determines the shape of the hydrograph (including lag to peak). They use three channels: no channel (just sediment filling the table), a ...

Paleoecology of the Penn-Dixie Quarry
Lisa Whitenack, Allegheny College
Students work in groups to collect fossils and sediments from the Hamilton Group (Devonian), process their samples, and determine the paleocology and diversity metrics for each formation in the Hamilton Group. ...

Meander Migration in the Amazon Basin
Les Hasbargen, SUNY Oneonta
This activity is targeted at introductory to upper division undergraduate courses in geomorphology or Earth system science. Students view time series animation of satellite imagery of part of the Amazon River basin ...

Measuring Sedimentary Structures for Paleocurrent Reconstruction
Kyle Fredrick, Pennsylvania Western University
This is a combination field/lab exercise for an upper-level Sedimentology course. Students will use Brunton compasses to collect structural and sedimentological data. Orientation data will be analyzed using Rose ...