Themes of the Week:
This week's themes focus on how geologic events give rise to mountain ranges, a process called orogeny. We will examine the role of plate tectonics in orogenies and look at the types of orogenies that have built the mountains of the Pacific Northwest.
To fully explore these themes you will:
- Define the term orogeny.
- Explain the geologic processes that form mountain ranges at subduction zones, including accretionary complexes and volcanic arcs.
- Describe how a region far inland of a subduction zone can undergo orogeny.
- Describe how transform plate motion can affect the geology of mountain ranges.
- Relate each item in the following list to orogeny: volcanism; intrusion; regional metamorphism; contact metamorphism; clastic sedimentation; angular unconformities; nonconformities.
- Describe the following orogenies in the Pacific Northwest in terms of the geologic times in which they occurred, the regions that they affected, and the major structures and bodies of rock they formed: Sevier, Laramide, Basin and Range, North Cascades (Cretaceous), Cascadia (Neogene and Quaternary).
- Relate selected rocks from your Pacific Northwest Geology Rocks collection to orogenies in the Pacific Northwest.
By completing the following:
- Read Lecture 7-Orogenies in the Pacific Northwest and its linked Basics and Focus pages and refer to them in your assignments.
- Participate in the Week 7 Discussion in the online classroom. See Weekly Discussion Rubric
- Read Week 7 Lab Assignment. Complete Lab Assignment #7 by:
- submitting the Lab #7 answer form in the online classroom
- Take Quiz #7 in the online classroom. See the Weekly Quiz Rubric.
- At the end of the week, compose a summary of the main things you learned about the geology of the Pacific Northwest and post it in the online classroom Week 7 Summary. See the Weekly Summary Rubric.
Return to schedule
Geology of the Pacific Northwest
Agenda Week 7
updated: 6/21/13
Agenda Week 7
updated: 6/21/13