Course Description

Course Description

Welcome to Physical Geology! Physical Geology is the study of Earth, specifically, the materials that make up our planet and the processes that shape its surface. By completing this course, you will earn three units of lecture and 1 unit of lab credit transferable to CSUs and UCs.

To succeed in this course, you are expected to become familiar with many new vocabulary words and phrases, like subduction, phaneritic, and crustal deformation. You will need to think critically to solve geologic questions and communicate your understanding of geologic processes using college-level writing. Simply memorizing facts will not be enough to pass this course. An example of a critical thinking question would be: “Why does high-silica magma lead to explosive volcanic eruptions?” To answer this question, you need to know first what silica is and understand how it affects the physical properties of magma, then how these physical properties can affect a volcanic eruption. By the end of this semester, you will gain a deeper appreciation of the world around you while becoming a better thinker, which should benefit you throughout life.

The study of physical geology can be broadly categorized into the constructive geologic processes that add new rock and build up the topography of Earth’s surface and the destructive geologic processes that remove rock and wear-down landforms. The first half of this course will primarily cover the processes associated with the constructive processes, like plate tectonics and volcanic activity. The second half will focus on the processes operating in opposition to the constructive forces, the destructive forces, weathering and erosion, for example.

For most students, succeeding in this class requires hard work. According to research, students should spend 2-3 hours of study time for each hour of class time to earn good grades. For this class, that translates to about 10-12 hours of classwork per week, which will include reading, watching and considering lectures, taking and studying notes, completing with comprehension all assignments, participating in discussions, and communicating with your classmate and your professor.