Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America

15-6 3:30 PM Rudge, David W. [217867]
EARTH SCIENCE IN AN ON-LINE ENVIRONMENT
RUDGE, David W., Biological Sciences & The Mallinson Institute for Science Education,
Western Michigan University, 3134 Wood Hall, M.S. 5410, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5410,
david.rudge@wmich.edu and PETCOVIC, Heather L., Department of Geosciences and
The Mallinson Institute for Science Education, Western Michigan University, 1903 W
Michigan Ave, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5241
SCI 5900 Earth Science for Sch. Sci. Ed. is a graduate level on-line geoscience course offered
at a large mid-Western university taken by area high school science teachers for the purpose
of their on-going professional development. It was created collaboratively by a science educator
with some previous experience developing on-line courses (but no formal training in the earth
sciences), and an earth science educator who kept him honest. The course was developed
against the possibility it would be taken by a single student at a time. Students take a series
of learning modules that feature films on introductory earth science content, multiple choice
quizzes and concept mapping. Students write occasional reflection essays with reference to
select readings on typical misconceptions associated with earth science concepts. Students are
also responsible for a five part term paper, which includes: (1) an explanation of a chosen earth
science concept/process and identification of common misconceptions students have about that
concept/process, (2) an argument for why a scientifically literate person should know the concept/
process, (3) an assessment instrument that could be used to determine whether how proficient
a student is with regard to the scientific concept/process, (4) a unit plan that details how the
concept/process would be taught, and (5) an argument that defends why teaching the concept/
process in the way described will indeed help students learn the concept/process. A mandatory
rewrite of the entire paper is required of all students. During the presentation the authors will
share the story of how the course was developed with particular attention to the strengths and
limitations of teaching earth science in an on-line environment. They will also share their attempts
to assess both student learning of science content and student comfort with the mode by which it
is being delivered.
15-7 3:50 PM Keen, Kerry L. [218768]
AN ACTIVE WORKSHOP ON PRINCIPLES OF GROUNDWATER FLOW EMBEDDED IN A
“NORMAL” UNDERGRADUATE HYDROGEOLOGY COURSE
KEEN, Kerry L., Plant and Earth Science Dept, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, 410 S.
3rd Street, River Falls, WI 54022, kerry.l.keen@uwrf.edu
After some years of struggling with how best to help students develop a solid and integrated
understanding of fundamental principles in my Hydrogeology course, I decided a different
approach was needed. The topics to focus on include subsurface water zones, head, gradients,
potentiometric surfaces, and flow. The revised approach incorporates a mix of short lectures
and exercises, followed immediately by feedback, and structured so that each builds on the prior
mini-lecture and exercise. I could have simply kept forcing this into the existing standardized time
structure for this course (two 2-hour classes per week), but that was inefficient and ineffective.
The long time gaps between class sessions worked against developing student abilities to
process and synthesize these concepts.
Instead I created a 1-day weekend workshop focused on the topics specified above. We
purposefully meet in a different classroom. A substantial set of workshop handouts: lecture notes
plus exercises, are picked up at the beginning. We start by defining subsurface water zones,
in the form of a group ice-breaker activity. This is followed by discussing head in the saturated
and unsaturated zone, which leads directly to applying these definitions to an exercise on head
measurements in a vertical cross-section through a field of nested piezometers and tensiometers.
Once head values are contoured across both zones, flow can be diagrammed. While students
work individually or in pairs, I answer questions and provide guidance. This is followed by
projecting the exercise key, with further discussion/clarification. After a hearty and varied lunch
(provided by me – and critical to workshop “success”), we build to more complex geology and
systems of multiple potentiometric surfaces. Toward the end of the approximately 6-hour day, we
return to analyze a data set of water-level measurements at a field site of nested piezometers,
in the context of what has been learned earlier. Last year, I incorporated a follow-up exercise
at the start of the next regular class session to help solidify what they learned in the workshop.
Although students are tired by the end of the workshop, many make significant strides toward an
enlightened understanding of the key concepts.
15-8 4:10 PM Zimmerman, Alexander N. [216805]
INTRODUCTION TO SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY: A PROJECT-BASED UNDERGRADUATE
UPPER DIVISION COURSE
POLLARD, Alexander KH Sr, Geology Department, Lake Superior State University, 650 W.
Easterday Ave, Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783, ZIMMERMAN, Alexander N. Jr, Geology
Department, Lake Superior State University, 650 W. Easterday Ave, Sault Ste Marie, MI
49783, azimmerman1@lssu.edu, BROWN, Lewis M., Geology and Physics, Lake Superior
State University, 650 W. Easterday Ave, Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783, and KELSO, Paul,
Department of Geology and Physics, Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste. Marie,
MI 49783
Introduction to Sequence Stratigraphy is an upper division course developed at Lake Superior
State University Geology Department as a part of a NSF sponsored undergraduate curricular
revision. It is designed to teach the basic concepts of sequence stratigraphy in the context of
clastic and carbonate systems. Based on constructivist educational philosophy, this course
integrates lecture and laboratory utilizing diverse active learning strategies that focus on real-life
experiences and problems. Course objectives include gaining an understanding of the concepts
and applications of sequence stratigraphy and learning the basic methods of stratigraphic
correlation using well logs. A further goal is for students to use geologic computer software to
develop graphic representation of sedimentary rock sequences including construction of crosssections,
fence diagrams, isopach and structure contour maps, ect. Lecture material focuses
on the development of sequence stratigraphy concepts, mechanisms, descriptions of cycles of
varying episodicies within the Pennsylvanian, shallow marine clastic and carbonate cyclicity,
and time correlation applications. Students engage in laboratory exercises and work in teams of
two on a semester-long project. This project requires students to interpret the stratigraphy and
develop a petroleum prospect in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming. Target formations are those
the students examine in outcrop in their prerequisite sophomore-level field course to the Black
Hills, South Dakota. Each team works on a different specified field and they compete to generate
the best prospect. Students model real life experience by downloading borehole data from the
Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission website and entering it into Rockworks software.
Teams present weekly progress reports which include work completed, such as pertinent maps
and cross sections, and plans for future work. A final individually written paper and a team
oral presentation are required. When engaged in project-based activities, students uniformly
report heightened interest and motivation. Student’s skills in data analysis, interpretation and
presentation increase throughout the project as do interpersonal skills related to group dynamics
in an industry modeled, development team approach.
SESSION NO. 16, 1:30 PM
Thursday, 2 May 2013
T22. Topics in Vertebrate Paleontology
Fetzer Center, Room 2040
SESSION NO. 16
16-1 1:35 PM Deuter, Leigh H. [218052]
A REVIEW OF THE CHONDRICHTHYANS FROM THE MISSISSIPPIAN SYSTEM OF
NORTHERN ALABAMA, USA
CIAMPAGLIO, C.N., Earth and Environmental Science, Wright State University - Lake
Campus, 7600 Lake Campus Drive, Celina, OH 45885, CICIMURRI, David J., Curator,
South Carolina State Museum, 301 Gervais Street, Columbia, SC 29201, and DEUTER,
Leigh H., Earth and Environmental Sciences, Wright State University, 3640 Colonel Glenn
Hwy, Dayton, OH 45435, deuter.2@wright.edu
It has been over a century and a half since Tuomey’s (1858) seminal work on the geology
and paleontology of Alabama, wherein he provided the first descriptions of Mississippian
chondrichthyans in the state. Since that time very little has been published on the subject,
which is surprising given the extensive Mississippian age exposures found throughout northern
Alabama. Casual observation of the limestone benches in and around north-central Alabama has
revealed diverse and abundant chondrichthyan faunas, and vertebrate fossil occurrences appear
to be well known to local collectors.
Recent fieldwork and examination of several museum and private collections has revealed that
the number of chondrichthyan species occurring in upper Mississippian (primarily Chesterian)
rocks of northern Alabama is greater than previously known. Combined with taxa documented
prior to the present report, 26 distinct chondrichthyan taxa are found in calcareous strata within
the Monteagle Limestone, Pride Mountain Formation, Bangor Limestone, Hartselle Sandstone,
and Tuscumbia Limestone.
We emend several earlier taxonomic identifications, with Cladodus newmani herein reassigned
to C. sp. cf. C. bellifer, and C. magnificus is Saivodus striatus. Newly documented species include
Polyrhizodus sp., cf. Ctenoptychius apicalis, Deltodus sp. cf. D. undulatus, and Deltoptychius sp.
cf. D. acutus. In addition, occurrences of Carcharopsis wortheni are corroborated.
Additionally, a cursory inspection of micro-remains from the Pride Mountain Formation have
revealed the presence of Cooleyella and Isacrodus. We have no doubt that additional species
will be uncovered, especially when rock exposures are more carefully inspected for macro- and
micro-vertebrate remains.
16-2 1:55 PM Gottfried, Michael D. [218331]
EXCEPTIONAL 3D PRESERVATION IN A TARPON-LIKE FISH FROM THE CRETACEOUS OF
THE CHATHAM ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND
GOTTFRIED, Michael D. 1 , FORDYCE, R. Ewan2 , and LEE, Daphne2 , (1) Geological Sciences
and Museum, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1045, gottfrie@msu.edu,
(2) Department of Geology, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand
We report on a large tarpon-like fish [Elopomorpha] from the Cretaceous of Pitt Island, Chatham
Islands, New Zealand. The 3D-preserved specimen is the most complete and informative fossil
elopomorph reported to date from the Southern Hemisphere. Features supporting elopomorph
affinities include the lack of a separate retroarticular ossification on the lower jaw, and a
primitively retained median gular. Affinity with the Family Megalopidae (tarpons) is indicated by
the superior mouth position, large posttemporal fossae, and laterally compressed body covered
in large and extensively overlapping cycloid scales. The specimen’s elongate body, high and
strongly developed coronoid process on the mandible, enlarged median gular, and relatively
low-profile head indicate that the Pitt Island fish represents a distinctive new taxon within
megalopids. The specimen also possesses two distinctive and unusual features: a cluster of thin
scale-like anamestic bones in the cheek region between the infraorbitals and preoperculum, and
a continuation of the lateral line scales on a tapering lobe that extends posterior to the caudal
peduncle and onto the base of the caudal fin. The nature of the exceptional 3D preservation of
the specimen suggests that the carcass was subaerially exposed and ‘mummified’ prior to burial
in the tuffaceous matrix. The overall morphology of the specimen indicates a fish similar in many
respects to the extant tarpons Megalops atlanticus and M. cyprinoides but with a lower, more
shallow head profile and a more attenuated body, along with several unique skeletal features not
previously reported on megalopid fishes.
16-3 2:15 PM Jeffery, David L. [218645]
A NEW PERMIAN VERTEBRATE TRACKWAY SITE IN THE DUNKARD GROUP OF THE
APPALACHIAN BASIN
JEFFERY, David L., Dept Petroleum Eng & Geo, Marietta College, 215 Fifth Street, Marietta,
OH 45750, jefferyd@marietta.edu
A new tetrapod trackway site in the Appalachian Basin has yielded at least five ichnogenera within
the Marietta Sandstone member of the Washington Formation, a part of the Pennsylvanian to
Permian Dunkard Group. Preliminary identification of specimens that have numerous consecutive
prints forming trackways includes the ichnogenera Limnopus, Dromopus, Dimetropus,
Batrachichnus, and Laoporus. Numerous stray prints that are not part of distinct trackway sets
are also present, although difficult to ascribe to a genus. The tracks are convex casts on the
bases of successive layers of thinly bedded, fine grained sandstone that are discontinuous
and each being up to several centimeters thick. The sandstone is interbedded with thin layers
of shale on the order of one centimeter thick. The sandstone must be pried up to reveal the
prints as casts on the underside of the slabs. The sandstone slabs also display mudcrack casts,
raindrop impressions, and have numerous fern frond impressions. The overall succession of
thinly interbedded sandstone and shale is as much as a meter thick and covers an area of 30
meters along the outcrop and back 3-4 meters along an excavated bench, before extending
beneath overlying strata, a fortunate result of recent road improvements. This succession is the
top-most meter of a large, complex ten meter thick sandstone channel fill that makes up the
Upper Marietta Sandstone. Overlying strata consist of a thick succession of shales interpreted as
floodplain deposits that are primarily paleosols and red beds with thin, discontinuous greywackes.
The trackways are interpreted to have been preserved in successive fining upward flood or
splay deposits. The sandstone casts are the initial sands at the base of a splay deposit that
filled trackways impressed into fine muds capping the previous splay. This apparently happened
during the final filling of the large erosional channel scour making up the Marietta Sandstone that
formed during a significant downcutting event, likely cuased by a drop in base level. The channel
subsequently filled with sands. Trackways are preserved in the transition from the coarse grained
2013 GSA North-Central Section Meeting 21