GEOL 373 - Regional Geology

Credits: 4
Planned Offering: Spring

Prerequisites: Instructor consent and two geology courses numbered 200 or above. The emphasis and location of the study area differs from year to year. Most course activity involves outside fieldwork with a series of multi-day to multi-week field trips. Information about the course is available prior to the end of the fall term. May be repeated for degree credit if the topics are different but only four credits may be used toward major requirements.

Spring 2013 topic:

GEOL 373: Regional Geology: Geology of Hawai’i (4). This course is an intensive study of the geology of the Hawaiian Islands. Its purpose is to provide an unparalleled opportunity to observe and investigate a wide variety of geologic processes in action. We spend several days studying volcanic processes at the most active volcano on earth, Kilauea, on the Big Island of Hawai’i. From there, we visit sites across the island (and all five of its volcanoes) investigating processes that effect island evolution including rejuvenated volcanism earthquakes/tsunamis, landslides, coastal and other geomorphic processes. We learn from scientists at the Hawaii Volcano Observatory, Puna Geothermal facility, and Mauna Kea Observatories about their current research. We also travel to the oldest island of the main Hawaiian Chain, Kauai, to investigate the processes involved in five million years of island evolution where we study current research on the evolution of basaltic landscapes in intensive weathering environments, in particular the Alaka’i swamp, the Waimea Canyon, and the Na Pali coast. Knapp. Spring 2013