CLASSROOM EXPLORATION OF STRATIGRAPHIC PROBLEMS: PROJECT-BASED INQUIRY INTO SEDIMENTATION AND STRATIGRAPHY OF CRETACEOUS BOOK CLIFFS EXPOSURES, UT

In order to generate a more meaningful classroom experience, project-based learning techniques have been applied to various data collected and published about the classic sedimentary exposures of the Book Cliffs, Utah. The primary learning objective for the project is: Given an outcrop, a one- or two-dimensional section, correlation diagram or another representation of a stratigraphic section, interpret the depositional history of the sequence and develop an internally consistent hypothesis about the relative importance of sediment supply, subsidence and/or base level in creating the sequence. An unstated goal involves turning the course textbooks into well-thumbed references.

Using online and other resources linked to the course website, students learn to draw measured sections, characterize grain texture and shape using thin-sections or photographs, determine depositional environments on the basis of bedding, sedimentary structures and paleobiological data, interpret vertical stacking patterns with regard to sea-level change, and correlate facies laterally. The project incompasses four exercises over a four-week period. Most of the products are constructed by students using a computer graphics program, and are turned in and graded electronically. A five-point grading rubric is used.