GEOG102 Week 9 1
Lab week 9: A Pacific Northwest Geologic Mystery
Lab Purpose and learning objectives 1. Report, describe, and interpret your observations of several features found in the Pacific
NW.
2. Formulate a hypothesis explaining how several landform features relate to each other and explain what took place to create them (Your story).
3. Use the scientific method to structure your exploration and explanations. Instructions and Overview Step 1. a. You are going to investigate and solve a mystery about a geological phenomenon in
our “backyard”. You will be given several pieces of evidence and multiple clues and hints containing geologic information for you to observe, formulate hypotheses about, and interpret. b. Using the eight pieces of evidence provided, and the large map of the Northwest with their locations, make observations and interpretations and record these in the table provided (see page 6). You will type these up and upload these to Canvas. c. Hints are provided along with the evidence to help guide your group and should be used for discussion when making your observations and interpretations. You do not need answer these questions in your report. However, discuss each question as a group to learn about each piece of evidence so that you can come up with plausible interpretations and observations.
Step 2. Once you have investigated all eight pieces of geological evidence and have recorded your observations and thoughts, sit down with your group and develop a narrative of what you think happened based on the evidence. Include the ways each piece of evidence supports your description, i.e., what does your clue indicate about the larger picture. For example, the presence of a sesame seed on my shirt might mean that I recently ate a Big Mac, but it could also mean I ate a sesame bagel.
Step 3. Using the scientific method (see page 5) write, independently of the group, a clear 500- 600 word lab report compiling this information into a narrative explaining, or solving, the Pacific Northwest Geologic Mystery. Note the typed tables of should be attached as
Name: _____________________________________________________
Lab Day:_________________________ Lab Time:____________________
GEOG102 Week 9 2
appendices and can be referred to in the report, but do not count towards the 500-600 words.
Grading:
10% Neatness, spelling, and grammar 30% Your observations and interpretation must be typed following the attached sheet (page 6) 60% The 500-600 typed summary connecting the hints into a cohesive explanation of the Pacific Northwest Geologic Mystery
What to hand in at Wednesday lecture during the last week of class □ Typed observations and interpretations on attached sheet. □ 500-600 word typed lab report Lab Report Requirements 1. Lab reports must be typed. Standard one inch margins, double spaced, size 12 fonts are
required (either Times New Roman or Calibri). Your observations and interpretation sheets can be size 10 font and single spaced.
2. A title, brief introduction and several well-organized paragraphs are mandatory. Use the following headings to subdivide your report: Introduction (~50 -75 words), Method (~50-75 words), Observations and Interpretations (main body of the paper) (300-400 words), and Conclusion (~50-100words). Attach the typed observation/interpretation tables from the lab period as an appendix.
3. See the discussion of the scientific method on page 5 and use this to guide the observations and interpretation section of your lap report.
4. Each paragraph should contain a topic sentence and the other sentences should support that topic sentence. Each sentence must be complete, grammatically correct and use correctly spelled words. Sentences and paragraphs must be clear in their meaning, not sloppy or vague.
5. Reports must be uploaded to Canvas for your TA to grade. 6. Professional language should be used throughout the report. The report should be written in
the 3rd person (not 1st). Words should be technical and professional, not colloquial or slang. Contractions ("they're", "we're", "it's") should be avoided.
7. The meaning of each sentence and paragraph must be clear. Do not assume that your TA will understand your meaning if you use vague language, incomplete sentences, or if sentences are not put together in a coherent manner. Your TA has been instructed not to try to make sense out of sentences or paragraphs that lack organization or are poorly organized.
GEOG102 Week 9 3
Relief Map of the Pacific Northwest (locations are approximate)
The Hints – Questions to Ponder… Where were glaciers present 15,000 years ago?
Do not answer these questions directly in your lab report. They are hints to help you interpret what you observe at each station
1. McMinneville, Oregon • How could a jökulhlaup (a subglacial outburst flood) have occurred in the Willamette
Valley? What does the distribution of erratics in the Willamette Valley tell you about how they got there?
• What is the importance of identifying the rock type of an erratic? What does this tell you about the history of the rock?
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2 3 4 5
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2. Eastern Washington • What processes (and how much force) result in rocks being stripped of soil? What
processes result in rocks being submerged in sediment? • What is the relationship between the present day Columbia River and the Scabland
channels?
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3. Spokane, Washington • When is a puddle muddy? When is it clear? How might that result in production of
rhythmites? A rhythmite consists of layers of sediment or sedimentary rock which are laid down with an obvious periodicity and regularity.
• What does the number of layers in rhythmites tell you?
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4. Coulee City, Washington • What processes can create rounded boulders like these? What natural processes can move
boulders from one place on the earth to another? • What does the rock type tell you about where these boulders came from? What does it
mean if these rocks were a rock type very different than the rock near where they were found?
• What if these rocks look very similar to rocks found in Montana? •
5. Missoula, Montana • What processes create a shoreline along a lake or reservoir? • What does the presence of shorelines high on a mountainside above a valley mean? What
must have been present to create shorelines in these locations?
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6. Corvallis, Oregon • The Willamette series of soils consists of very deep, well drained soils that formed in
silty glaciolacustrine deposits. • What processes contribute to the sudden deposition of large amounts of similar-sized
material? • How is it possible that Reser Stadium has had both mammoth bones found beneath it
while also having been some 400 feet underwater all within the same geologic time? • What processes could create very flat valleys, such as the Willamette Valley? • What are some possible sources of the material that makes up Willamette Valley soils? •
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7. Camas Prairie, Montana • What processes create ripples in sand? What determines how big a ripple is? • How could you get giant ripples in Montana?
8. Dry Falls, Washington • Do waterfalls have enough energy to carry large rock or pull large rock out of the
ground? Do waterfalls move over time? • What does the size of the waterfall tell you about the size of the river? • What is the relationship between the modern river (Columbia?) and the scoured
channels?
GEOG102 Week 9 9
The Scientific Method Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” Use the following figures describing and illustrating the scientific method to think about the Pacific Northwest Geologic Mystery The right hand side of the figure below describing the use scientific method to study the effects of dust on mountain snowpack is a good template for the observation and interpretation section of your lab report
GEOG102 Week 9 10
Hint Location
Observations (Just the facts)
Interpretations (What do the facts mean?)
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GEOG102 Week 9 11
Clue Location Observations (Just the facts)
Interpretations (What do the facts mean?)
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GEOG102 Week 9 12
Clue Location
Observations (Just the facts)
Interpretations (What do the facts mean?)
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Additional thoughts
(if needed)

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