• Outcomes for Week 9
• Tasks for Week 9
• Making Timely and Substantial Contributions to Discussion Threads
• Assigned Discussion Threads for Week 9
• Weekly Summary

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Welcome to the ninth week in Pacific Northwest Geology online. The main topic for this week is the Mesozoic geology of the Pacific Northwest. The Mesozoic Era began about 245 million years ago and ended about 66 million years ago. It was the age of the dinosaurs.

Outcomes for Week 9

Now let us take a look at what is happening this week. At the end of the ninth week, you should be able to:

• describe the relationship between the beginning of subduction in the Pacific Northwest and the separation of North America from Pangaea.
• discuss when in the geologic record dinosaurs lived and when they became extinct.
• describe where in the Pacific Northwest dinosaur fossils can be found and what that says about climate and landscape at the time of the dinosaurs.
• describe the evidence of warmer climates and inland seas during the Mesozoic in the Pacific Northwest.
• compare the Sevier and Laramide orogenies and describe where they occurred.
• descibe two different interpretations of the shear zones in the San Juan Islands.
• describe the ways that vast amounts of real estate were added to Oregon and Washington during the Mesozoic.

Tasks for Week 9

• Read Lecture #9 and the course content Web pages to which it is linked.
• Make timely and substantial contributions to the assigned discussion threads (see below).
• Discuss with the rest of the class the assigned discussion question.
• Complete Lab Assignment #9.
• Send Lab Assignment 9, on time, in two parts
1. an e-mail message to the instructor as directed in the lab assignment
2. the Lab Assignment 9 form in your online classroom. Follow the instructions on the answer form carefully.
• Take the weekly Pacific Northwest Geology quiz online.
• Write your weekly summary on the last day of the week and post it to the classroom discussion area by the end of that day (see below).

Making Timely and Substantial Contributions to Discussion Threads

Each week you are assigned one (or several) discussion threads. You are expected, at minimum, to submit a comment of your own, and at least one response to another student's comment, as your contribution to that thread. You are also expected to provide substance to at least one of your postings. Substance means such things as descriptions of real geological examples that you have encountered, or references (with your own comments) to things you have read about, or references (with your own comments) to other Web pages that are relevant to the discussion thread.

You are also welcome to, and encouraged to, start your own discussion threads and respond to other students' discussion threads. The minimum requirement is to take part in the discussion threads that are assigned at the beginning of each week, in the agenda.

Assigned Discussion Thread for Week 9

Here is a listing of the ninth week's assigned discussion threads.

The DIG Web site at http://www.dinosaur.org/statedino.htm points out that the only states in the U.S. in which dinosaur fossils have not been found are Washington and Hawaii. The islands of Hawaii did not exist until after the Mesozoic era, so no dinosaur fossils would be expected there. However, in Washington there are numerous rocks of Mesozoic age.

1. Why would you not expect dinosaur fossils to be found in most of these rocks in Washington, despite their age?
2. Where in Washington are there rocks in which it is reasonable to expect dinosaur fossils to be found? Why is it reasonable to think there could be dinosaur fossils in those rocks?

Your Weekly Summary

Your weekly summary is important. It is to be completed on the last day of the online week. It is to be sent to the Weekly Summary discussion thread.

Writing a summary helps you solidify in your mind what you learned that week. A high-quality summary clearly describes the main ideas you learned, with some specific examples. Demonstrate what you have learned and discuss your experience in learning it, in your own words.

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