EART 206 -Great Papers in the Earth Sciences

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Professors: Rob Coe and Quentin Williams

Lecture: W,F 9-10:45 E&MS Room D226

Class website: http://es.ucsc.edu/~rcoe/eart206/206-05.htm

This course provides an opportunity for graduate students to explore the origins of a broad range of key issues in Earth Sciences by reading and leading discussions of classic papers that have been identified by the faculty. Most of the selected papers were key in the development of modern ideas in Earth Sciences. In many instances an early classic paper is paired with a more recent paper to emphasize subsequent evolution of the original ideas and to provide a modern perspective. The participating faculty will lead discussions of some of the classic papers and will provide contextual perspectives. This class also provides a chance for students to practice their critical thinking and hone their scientific presentation and discussion skills.

Grading in the class will be based on attendance, participation, and presentations that students will give on the papers. Students will choose the papers they will present at the first class meeting. Each presentation should lay out the logic and methods of the paper and cover the main conclusions. Historical context, on both the ideas and the lead authors, is relevant and welcome. In many cases, supplemental reading is supplied that will help presenters (and other class participants curious about the topic). Before making their presentations, students should feel free to touch base with a faculty member to ensure that their thinking about the paper is on track and to let the faculty know (roughly) what they plan to present. After class the a copy of the presentation (electronic or paper) should be provided to both Quentin and Rob.

All students are expected to read every assigned paper. If there are points you do not understand, ask the presenter to clarify. Reading the papers in advance is essential and the faculty may ask questions to ensure that everyone is preparing for the lectures.

SYLLABUS

First Class Meeting

W 1/5

Introduction and Logistics

Age of the Earth

F 1/7 (Rob)

1. Kelvin, L., On the secular cooling of the Earth, Trans. Royal Soc. Edinburgh, vol. XXIII, 295-310, 1862.

2. Stacey, F.D., Kelvin’s age of the Earth paradox revisited, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 13155-13158, 2000.

End early so as to attend 10-11 am in A340 “PALEOCLIMATE AND PALEOELEVATION OF THE WESTERN CORDILLERA OF THE UNITED STATES” (thesis defense by Katie Snell)

Supplemental Reading

1. Badash, L., The age-of-the-Earth debate, Sci. Am., Aug., 90-96, 1989.

2. England, P.C., P. Molnar, and F.M. Richter, Kelvin, Perry and the Age of the Earth, American Scientist, 95, 342-349, 2007. (Another paper examining the reasons why knowledge of radioactive heat production was not the crucial reason for the failure of Kelvin's calculations and exploring why he and others persisted in their belief of such an erroneous young age of the earth.)

W 1/12

1. Patterson, C., Age of meteorites and the earth, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 10, 230 237, 1956. (Christian)

2. Dalrymple, G.B., The age of the Earth in the twentieth century: a problem (mostly) solved, in Lewis, C.L. and Knell, S.J. (eds.), The Age of the Earth: from 4004 BC to AD 2002, Geological Society, London, Special Publications 190, 205-221, 2001. (Viranga)

Supplemental Reading

1. Hoffman, A.W., Lead isotopes and the age of the Earth—a geochemical accident, in Lewis, C.L. and Knell, S.J. (eds.), The Age of the Earth: from 4004 BC to AD 2002, Geological Society, London, Special Publications 190, 223-236, 2001.

Darwin and Evolution

F 1/14 (Paul Koch)

1. Darwin, C., Chapt. 15, Origin of Species, 353-374, 1859.

Supplemental Reading

1. Mayr, E., Introduction, pp. vii-xxvii, in On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin: A Facsimile of the First Edition, Harvard Univ. Press, Cambridge, MA, 1964. (The party line on Darwin and his role, written by one of the leading evolutionary biologists of the 20th [and early 21st] century. He died in 2005 at the age of 100, having written his last book at age 97.)

2. Gould, S.J., Eternal metaphors of palaeontology, pp. 1-26, in Patterns of Evolution, A. Hallam (ed.), Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1977. (A slightly long and pompous, but highly readable and interesting philosophical paper on the core questions that drive a great deal of paleontological research, and how all the core questions pre-date the theory of evolution).

3. Eldredge, N., and S.J. Gould, Punctuated Equilibria: An Alternative to Phyletic Gradualism, pp. 82-115, in T.J.M. Schopf (ed.), Models in Paleobiology, Freeman, Cooper and Co., San Francisco, 1972. (Punctuated equilibrium: the paper that started it all, almost.)

Origin of the Moon and Solar System Dynamics

W 1/19 (Erik Asphaug)

1. Stevenson, D.J., Origin of the Moon - The Collision Hypothesis, An. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci., 15, 271-315, 1987.

Supplemental Reading

1. Agnor, C.B., R.M. Canup, and H.F. Levison, On the character and consequences of large impacts in the late stage of terrestrial planet formation, Icarus, 142, 219-237, 1999.

Structure and Composition of the Earth