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Field Lab: Ecosystem and Paleoenvironment Analysis

Field Lab: Ecosystem and Paleoenvironment Analysis. Emma Rainforth Associate Professor, Geology geology@ramapo.edu. Context. Curriculum: 300-level lec/lab Enviro Science majors (required); biology majors (elective) Course focus is on environmental/ecosystem change Course:

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Field Lab: Ecosystem and Paleoenvironment Analysis

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  1. Field Lab: Ecosystem and Paleoenvironment Analysis Emma Rainforth Associate Professor, Geology geology@ramapo.edu

  2. Context Curriculum: • 300-level lec/lab • Enviro Science majors (required); biology majors (elective) • Course focus is on environmental/ecosystem change Course: • Second field lab • ‘Practice run’ for Final Exam Freile et al, GANJ 2007

  3. Course Goals Addressed by this Lab • Students should be able to interpret the mode of life of an unidentified fossil specimen Students will be required to identify the fossil, analyze its functional morphology and consider the mode of life of other members of this fossil group. • Students should be able to analyze a fossil assemblage and reconstruct its geological and paleoenvironmental contexts Students will be required to identify the fossils present, determine the probable age of the assemblage, analyze the rock and ascertain the probable environment of deposition, and determine if the assemblage is a life or death assemblage. • Students should be able to explain the importance of paleontology to other realms of knowledge including geology, biology, and global change • Students should be able to effectively communicate paleontological information both orally and in writing

  4. Field Lab: East Stroudsburg, PA • Two Middle Devonian field sites • Brown Street quarry (low diversity, dwarf fauna) • Centerfield biostrome • Students collect as much as they can find / carry • Identify taxa (include labeled sketches) • Mode of preservation (cast/mold, complete/broken) • Relative abundance • Lithological information • Synthesize this information to ascertain depositional environment, paleoecological information, life/death assemblage • Written report (rubric provided; students self-grade)

  5. Brown St. quarry - Marcellus Shale (Flash drive for scale)

  6. Centerfield Biostrome - Mahantango Fm. (Flash drive for scale)

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