Project I - Volcanoes

You may work in groups of up to three (3) students per group, or you may choose to work by yourself. You will have until September 8, 1998 to tell me who you are working with - one sheet of paper per group with all names listed. I strongly encourage you try and communicate via e-mail. Remember, that everyone in the group needs to participate and it will be up to each group to police itself -- making sure that everyone does their part. Students have been known to drop a course every now and then and it will happen in this class. If someone drops out, the remaining students will have to pick up the work.

You may submit material via e-mail or by leaving it with me after class. When you hand in material make sure that the names of all of the group members are included. Everyone in the group will receive the same grade for the check points and the final report for Project I.

I suggest that you read through the project description so that you can see where this is heading. Feel free to work ahead.

The project consists of five exercises. Pay attention to the due dates (check points) which are listed on the reading list. Work through the exercises in the order that they are described.

The setting of the project is as follows. You are a reporter for the Cascading Times, a large daily newspaper published somewhere in the vicinity of the Cascade Mountains. There is a growing concern that a major eruption will take place sometime in the future. Your assignment is to write an opinon piece in which you:

1. review the causes of volcanic activity in general and in the Cascades in particular,

2. comment on the probability that another eruption will take place in the future,
3. and provide advice as to what the residents should do in case of another eruption.

The article should be no longer than 1,000 words.

1. Part 1 : Searching For Specific Information

2. Part 2 : Mineral Properties

3. Part 3 : Distribution of Active Volcanoes

4. Part 4 : Topographic Expression of Mt. Fogo

5. Part 5 : Remote Sensing

6. Virtual Dating - probably not what you are thinking. This is an extra credit exercise which is worth up to 20 points. Hand in your certificatewith the final project. Virtual Dating will give you a good sense of how one might determine the absolute age of a rock sample.

   [hand in the answers to part 5 of Project I when you hand in the article]