Possible topics for presentations

1. Possible topics for presentations Whatever you pick, make sure you emphasize the stratigraphic and geomorphic aspects of the matter!! Below are a few examples from previous years. Also, I give a couple dozen possibilities. You needn’t choose any of the ones I list. If you wish, you could peruse a dozen or so recent issues of GSA Bulletin, Geology or another geological journal, to see if any geomorphic/stratigraphic topic interests you. Email me with your interests, so that I can make sure there is enough literature available to work from. Examples from previous years: The Pleistocene Dead Sea (Lake Lisan) The history of glacial Lake Agassiz, Canada The Little Ice Age The history of Lake Lahontan, Nevada The history of glacial Lake Missoula The Channeled Scablands, compared to Scablands on Mars

2. Suggested topics • Volcanoes • The morphology and stratigraphy of sector collapses of large volcanoes • Sources: Moore et al., my book Big Island, Hawaii; recent paper on Canary Islands; Mt. St. Helens’ 1980 and prior, USGS Prof Paper 1250/1251; Mt. Shasta, Geology paper within past few years • The morphology and stratigraphy of lava domes, like the one forming in the center of Mount St. Helens • Sources: Mt. St. Helens’ 1980 and prior, USGS Prof Paper 1250/1251 • Some aspect of the eruptive history of Santorini or another volcano • Sources: Santorini guidebook (see me). August 2003 GSA Bulletin article on: Eruptive history and geochronology of the Mount Baker volcanic field, Washington

3. Glaciers and Pleistocene climate • The history of glacial Lake Agassiz and its implications for end-glacial climate change • Antarctic Ice Sheet. Paper in August 2003 GSA Bulletin, Neogene glacial record from the Sirius Group of the Shackleton Glacier region, … uses sedimentary characteristics of strata to infer history of the ice sheet and differences from present ice sheet. • Late Pleistocene climate variations • Sources: Try a recent article in EOS, v 81, no. 51, front page, or other recent papers on ice-core stratigraphy • Deglaciation histories • Sources: Recent GSA Bulletin paper, Early Holocene delevelling and deglaciation of the Cumberland Sound region, Baffin Island, Arctic Canada • The Stratigraphy and Chronology of the Little Ice Age, 1600-1860 AD

4. Aeolian processes, sediments and landforms Loess, its origins, distribution The late Pleistocene-Holocene history of the Sahara Lakes Yellowstone Lake. Interesting paper in August 2003 GSA Bulletin on Hydrothermal and tectonic activity in northern Yellowstone Lake, uses high-res seismic reflection lines to interpret depositional and tectonic history. The history of Lake Bonneville deformation and its implications for crustal deformation and mantle rheology Sources: JGR paper by Bills et al.; Passey, 1984?; Gilbert 1890; etc. The history of Lake Lahontan, Nevada

5. Reefs The evolution of coral reefs Recent paper (July 2003 GSA Bulletin) on the facies and environmental relationships in the Florida Keys: Regional Quaternary submarine geomorphology in the Florida Keys Rivers Switching of the Nile about AD 800 and its implications for an abandoned coastal community Late Pleistocene evolution of the Mississippi The Channeled Scablands, Pacific Northwest Latest Source: Number and size of last-glacial Missoula floods in the Columbia River valley between the Pasco Basin, … , Benito and O’Connor. GSA Bull., May 2003 River deltas Recent paper (April 2003 GSA Bulletin): Holocene evolution of the western Orinoco Delta, Venezuela

6. Tectonics • The use of Holocene records to understand earthquake recurrence on San Andreas fault • Large earthquakes along the Oregon-Washington coast • Sources: Start with recent papers in GSA Bulletin: Great Cascadian earthquakes and tsunamis of the past 6700 years, Coquille River estuary, southern coastal Oregon (October 2003), or Evidence for earthquake-induced subsidence about 1100 yr ago in coastal marshes of southern Puget Sound, Washington (2002) Could focus on one of these, or one or more of the many older refs in their ref lists. • Earthquakes and tsunamis in the Puget Sound area from liquefaction evidence • Source: GSA Bulletin, April 2001, p. 482-494 • Other paleoseismic stuff • Sources: McCalpin’s Paleoseismology book; chapter 8 through 12 in my textbook, The Geology of Earthquakes has many references

7. Fault-scarp geomorphology • Sources: See my textbook, The Geology of Earthquakes, Chapter 7 • The tectonic geomorphology and stratigraphy of the Taiwan collision • Sources: Ask Bruce Shyu, see recent article in GSA Bulletin, October 2001 issue • Public Policy • The influence of geologic knowledge on US Gov’t (FEMA) policy regarding natural hazard assessment and mitigation • This would be a new topic for Ge 112. For example, you could focus on whether FEMA’s policies regarding mitigation of floodplain hazard makes sense from a geologic point of view. Similarly, you could look at hurricane hazard mitigation or potential, or volcanic hazard policy. I have no appropriate references. But you would want to make sure you explored the geologic aspects of the problem, not just the policy wonk stuff.

8. Coastal storms, tsunamis • The use of barrier beach/estuary stratigraphy to infer hurricane frequency. • Source: Recent paper in GSA Bulletin, 2001, v. 113, p 714-727 • Tsunami deposits • Sources: Tsunamis, recent book by Edward Bryant; K-T impact, Goto;Bourgois; others; 2004 Aceh, …

9. Bradley Lake tsunami story GSA Bull July/Aug 2005 • K-T impact tsunami deposits (Tada et al., Goto et al., Bourgois et al.)