Geology 107

Throughout the semester I will point out the significant contributions of certain scientists to the advancement of the science of geology. Many of these people were pioneers in their specific fields and laid the groundwork for the discipline of Geology over a century ago. Others blazed new trails and proposed new hypotheses that helped to bring about changes in fundamental geologic theories. Your assignment is to write a 4-5 page paper about an individual scientist and their contribution to the advancement of geology. In most cases these scientists are only briefly mentioned in introductory textbooks, so you will have to do some digging in the library to find out more about these people. Here is a list of individuals, but you may choose someone else if you wish:
 
 

N.L. Bowen, Marie Curie, J.D. Dana, Charles Darwin, James Hutton, Charles Lyell, Milutin Milankovitch, Charles Richter, Ernest Rutherford, F.J. Vine & D.H. Mathews, Alfred Wegener, and J.T. Wilson.

As an alternative to writing about an individual scientist, you may write about a significant geologic event that happened in the past. A significant event would be characterized by its scope, size, or by the repercussions of the event on life forms and the path of evolution. Your assignment is to write a 4-5 page paper about this significant event. Report on the geologic details of the event, its cause, effects, and underlying geologic principles. Examples include, but are not limited to:

The 1811-1812 New Madrid Earthquakes, the Cretaceous/Tertiary impact/mass extinction, formation of the Scablands, formation of the Moon, Mount Mazama's eruption and creation of Crater Lake, or any number of significant volcanic eruptions or earthquakes within the past 200 years.

Follow the research guidelines listed in Assignment #2 and make sure you have access to sufficient information for your paper (remember this is a GEOLOGY paper, so please your discussion of other non-geologic subject matter).