Announcing the Release of the New MARGINS (and GeoPRISMS) Mini-Lessons

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We are pleased to announce the availability of 15 data-rich class exercises (mini-lessons) that explore tectonic, structural, geochemical, and sedimentary processes along continental margins. Designed for upper-level undergraduate courses, the exercises use cutting edge science and data resulting from MARGINS and GeoPRISMS research to teach about  chemical cycling in subduction zones (SubFac), seismogenic zone processes at subduction zones (SEIZE), rift structure and evolution (RCL), and sediment cycling from “source to sink” at continental margins (S2S).  Representative mini-lessons include:

RCL
  • Bathymetry of Rifted Margins
  • Exploring Styles of Extension in the Gulf of California
  • Role of Sedimentation in Rifting
  • Role of Plate Motion Obliquity in Rifting
SEIZE
  • Accretionary vs. Erosive Subduction Margins
  • The Spectrum of Fault Slip
  • The Plate Boundary Fault of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake
S2S
  • From Source to Sink: How Sediment Reflects the Journey from the Mountains to the Sea
  • Sediment Dispersal and Continental Margin Stratigraphy
  • Contemporary Climate Oscillations: ENSO and a case study of the Huanghe River
  • Holocene Optimum: A time of massively increased sediment discharge for Asian Rivers
  • Sediments and Carbon Burial on the Continental Margins
SubFac
  • Subduction Zone Metamorphism
  • Slab Temperatures Control Melting in Subduction Zones, What Controls Slab Temperature?
  • Central American Arc Volcanoes, Petrology, and Geochemistry
These lessons and more information about the MARGINS Mini-Lesson Project can be found at:

http://serc.carleton.edu/margins/index.html

We also invite additional contributions to this collection as new scientific observations and data become available through ongoing continental margin studies. For more information about adding to the collection, please contact Juli Morgan (morganj@rice.edu).
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The mini-lessons were developed by an interdisciplinary team of about 20 scientists and educators, who participated in a three year curriculum development project funded by an NSF DUE grant. Many thanks to all of the following contributors:

Julia Morgan (GeoPRISMS, Rice University), Andrew Goodliffe (University of Alabama), Jeff Marshall (Cal Poly Pomona), Ellen Iverson (SERC, Carleton College), Cathy Manduca (SERC, Carleton College), Jenn Beck (EvalArts Consulting), Robert Stern (Univ. of Texas Dallas), Ben Edwards (Dickinson College), Sarah Penniston-Dorland (Univ. of Maryland), Chris Kincaid (Univ. of Rhode Island), Casey Moore (UC Santa Cruz), Jeff Marshall (Cal Poly Pomona), Eliza Richardson (Penn State University), David Pearson (Idaho State University), Scott Bennett (USGS Golden, CO), Rebecca Dorsey (Univ. of Oregon), Andrew Goodliffe (Univ. of Alabama), Jack Loveless (Smith College), Lisa Lamb (Univ. of St. Thomas), Sue Cashman (Humboldt State University), Steve Kuehl (Virginia Inst. Marine Science), Lonnie Leithold (North Carolina State University), Kathleen Surpless (Trinity University), Adam Hoffman (Univ. of Dubuque), August Costa (GeoPRISMS, Rice University), Kristin O’Connell (SERC, Carleton College).