ASSEMBLING PANGEA: BRINGING PHYSICAL GEOLOGY TOGETHER THROUGH PLATE TECTONICS

The theory of plate tectonics is often described as "the unifying theory of geology." In other words, this theory helps to illustrate that many geologic processes are inter-related, and that an understanding of plate tectonics helps us to understand current processes as well as make predictions about those processes in the future. I explain this to the students by stating, "plate tectonics makes the rest of geology make sense."

In teaching a course such as Physical Geology, students are given an overview of many geologic processes such as igneous processes, earthquakes, and mountain building. Also, students are given the basics of plate tectonic theory. Often in Physical Geology texts, plate tectonics occurs as one of the last chapters of the book.

In an attempt to show how geologic processes inter-relate, I have re-arranged how topics are discussed. I now begin each semester with an introduction to plate tectonics. Following this, I discuss the other topics of the course from the perspective of plate tectonics. This is accomplished by dividing the course into units based on tectonic setting: Divergent Boundaries, Convergent Boundaries, Transform Boundaries, and Intraplate Processes (this encompasses the topics that do not fit as well with plate tectonics). As a part of each unit, the other topics from the text are discussed. For example, we discuss igneous processes at divergent settings, and then again later during the unit on convergent settings.

The benefits of this re-organization include: 1) students obtain a greater understanding of the global nature of Earth's processes and how individual processes are related to and influenced by other processes, and 2) topics are revisited during other sections of the course (for example, igneous rocks, metamorphism, earthquakes, and volcanoes are all discussed several times during the course), which provides the students an opportunity for review.