Notice
As part of Phase 3 of our return to campus plan, most units will now run tutorials, seminars and other small group learning activities on campus for the second half-year, while keeping an online version available for those students unable to return or those who choose to continue their studies online.
To check the availability of face to face activities for your unit, please go to timetable viewer. To check detailed information on unit assessments visit your unit's iLearn space or consult your unit convenor.
Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Convenor
Simon George
Contact via 02 9850 4424
12WW, 329
send email
Lecturer
Stefan Loehr
Contact via 02 9850 8378
12WW, 334
send email
Lecturer
April Abbott
Contact via 02 9850 8342
12WW, 338
send email
Lecturer
Sean Murray
Contact via 02 9850 6121
11WW, basement
send email
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Credit points |
Credit points
10
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
Admission to MGeoSc or MScInnovationGeologyGeophys or GradDipGeoSc
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
GEOS7710
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Unit description |
Unit description
This optional unit provides masters students with the foundations of palaeoenvironmental analysis as applied to some key geoscience problems. The unit will have a problem-based approach that focuses on understanding important processes, especially with examples from the Neoproterozoic, Cretaceous and the modern day. We will introduce the fundamentals of ocean circulation, nutrient supply and the carbon cycle. Students will assess the veracity of biogeochemical oceanographic signals, especially with respect to diagenetic overprinting. Box models will be introduced as a means for understanding geochemical and isotopic signals. The unit will cover co-evolution of life and its environment, the effect of bioturbation on sediments, especially across the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary, and the geochemical record of life as expressed through biomarkers. The unit will build knowledge about important techniques and methods such as stable and radiogenic isotopes, organic geochemistry and microscopic techniques for assessing sediments and sedimentary rocks. Assignments will build skills in practical and industry applications of this area, including in the energy industry. This unit is suitable for students outside of Earth and Environmental Sciences, particularly those developing research skills in Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences. |
Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Assignments in GEOS8810
Assignments will be distributed in iLearn and discussed in class.
The 4 "last 15" assessments will be distributed and discussed in class.
Assessment at Macquarie University is standards-based, as outlined in the Assessment Policy. This means that your work will be assessed against clear criteria, and these criteria (e.g. in a rubric) will be made available when the assessment tasks are released to you on iLearn.
There are two assignments (see unit guide for titles and timing). The assignments will be released to you electronically (not in hard copy) on iLearn on the date shown and will be discussed during the next workshop. The assignments are heavily essay based, so skill at writing essays is important. Each assignment topic must be fully researched and the essay written in your own words. Cutting and pasting information from web pages is NOT acceptable. Information you obtain from other sources (brief quotes, images, ideas) must be fully referenced in the text (author, year), with references listed at the end of the essay (year, author, title, journal or link). See later in the handout for sections on academic honesty and referencing. Students who fail in these fundamental principles and basic skills may score zero for assignments.
Both assignments are to be submitted using Turnitin. Macquarie University promotes student awareness of information management and information ethics. As well as training and the provision of general information, the University tackles the issue of plagiarism through use of an online plagiarism detection tool (Turnitin). This software is used in conjunction with a set of procedures to ensure its use is equitable. You will need to submit the text of both assignments for GEOS8810 to Turnitin via the iLearn page.
The two major assignments will be due by 17:00 on Mondays, by which time the assignment must be uploaded to turnitin.
Turnitin automatically compares your work to the work of your classmates, previous students from Macquarie and other universities, and with material available on the Internet, both freely available and in subscription-based electronic journals and books. The results will be sent only to your unit convenor and tutors, who will analyse these in reference to the University's standard Policy on Plagiarism.
Turnitin procedure for the two assignments
1. Two Turnitin links will be placed under “Assignments” on the iLearn page for GEOS8810. There are also links in the “Activities” box on the right hand side of the iLearn page.
2. For each assignment when it is due, click the corresponding link, then click “Submit Paper”.
3. Select submission type for your assignment as file upload. You then upload the file. We advise you to first convert the file into .pdf (but not as scanned .pdf), as formatting of diagrams and captions quite commonly change in word files during conversion on the iLearn system. Select your name, and write or paste in the assignment title.
4. Note: graphics are not checked and can be left in uploaded files. The reference list (bibliography) is also not checked. The unit convenor will see your plagiarism %, but this will not be available to you.
5. Resubmissions are set to not be allowed, so please make sure you submit the final version. The system is also set to not display to students the assignment’s originality rating.
6. You should always check that you have uploaded the correct file. If you have a problem, please email the Unit Convenor and ask for a resubmission. You must also keep a copy of your assessments until the end of semester in case there is a problem with your submission. It is your responsibility to ensure that you can provide a copy of your assessment if requested.
For help or more detailed instructions on turnitin:
http://turnitin.com/en_us/support/help-center
We will endeavour to return marked assignments to you within 14 days of submission. If at any time you have reason to query an assignment mark, please contact Simon George by phone or email to arrange a meeting.
Illness and extensions
If you want consideration for illness when submitting any assignments, you MUST submit a complete a Special Consideration form.
If you want to apply for an extension, you must EMAIL Prof. Simon George BEFORE THE DUE DATE of the assignment and state the reason you are seeking an extension. This will not be granted automatically, but will be considered on a case-by-case basis. You will be notified by return email as to when you will need to submit your assignment. Attach a copy of the email to the assignment and tick on the cover sheet that the extension has been granted. LATE PENALTIES (loss of marks) will apply for work that is late where no extension has been granted: it is a 5% per day penalty for late work (i.e. 1/20 of the marks allocated to the exercise will be deducted for each day that the work is late).
Academic honesty
Using ideas, images and small quantities of text (quotes) from other sources (books, web pages, other students or elsewhere) is allowable, but must be fully referenced as described below. Using excessively large amounts of text from other sources, even if properly referenced, should be avoided. You don't get marks for copying and pasting, you get marks for thinking about what you read, understanding it and being able to explain your understanding in your own words. Simply rearranging the key phrases from someone else's text is not the same thing as writing in your own words. Using material from other sources (including text, images or ideas) without full referencing is plagiarism. Some students in the last few years on similar units to this one have been given zero marks for assignments and have been automatically failed because of plagiarism, especially caused by purchase of assignments from various web sites.
The following is a link to the University’s Academic Honesty Policy. You are required to read this policy at the start of this session. https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policies/academic-honesty
The University defines plagiarism in its rules: “Using the work or ideas of another person, whether intentionally or not, and presenting this as your own without clear acknowledgement of the source of the work or ideas”. Plagiarism is a serious breach of the University's rules and carries significant penalties. The policy explains what plagiarism is, how to avoid it, the procedures that will be taken in cases of suspected plagiarism, and the penalties if you are found guilty. Penalties may include a deduction of marks, failure in the unit, and/or referral to the Faculty or University Discipline Committee. GEOS8810 uses turnitin to help monitor plagiarism.
Referencing
It is important that you understand how to correctly reference the information you do use, as often you will want to legitimately quote material or ideas from other sources. Information obtained from any source, including the Internet, is covered by copyright law. You must acknowledge any source that you refer to in your assignment, both within the text of your assignment, and at the end of it (by including a list of references). Referencing your sources also enables the reader to view your sources and follow your essay. Academic conventions and copyright law require that you acknowledge when you use the ideas of others. In most cases, this means stating which book, journal article and website is the source of an idea or quotation.
There are two aspects to learn: in-text references and a list of references cited. Please note that for the GEOS8810 assignments, we insist that you reference using in-text references, with a reference list at the end (i.e. not with footnotes). This is a common way to do it in many areas of science (but not all!), and it reminds you and indicates to the reader what the source is and how old it is. For GEOS8810, please use the APA Style of referencing. There is much information on in-text references and referencing of print and non-print sources available at: APA Style of referencing (7th edition) (see quick reference guide).
How to cite references within the text of an assignment:
These are also called in-text references. When you use another's ideas you should immediately acknowledge your sources. Always give the surname of the author and the date of publication. Use the author-date method of citation for quotations and paraphrasing. Note spelling of et al. (used when 3 or more authors). Note that the in-text refs don’t have author initials.
Direct quote: Brown et al. (1990, p. 12) conclude that ‘the depth to the Moho under the oceans is less than under the continents’. Note that for a direct quote the page must be cited.
General acknowledgement of the source of information: “As explained by George and Osborne (2010), biomarkers in fluid inclusions…..”
More specific reference but not a direct quote: “The distribution of Martian volcanism in the highlands (Johnson, 2011) can be used to infer… etc.”
More general reference to sources: “Most older textbooks in geology (e.g. Peters et al., 1941; Stamp 1938) either ignored the deep ocean basin deposition or……”
Website in text: “Details about PhD scholarships are available from the Macquarie University web site <http://www.hdr.mq.edu.au/>.”
How to create a list of references:
At the end of your assignment, create a list of the references you have cited in the text. Arrange this in alphabetical order of author’s surnames. The author's surname is placed first, followed by initials or first name, then other authors the same way, and then the year of publication is given. Where an item doesn't have an author, arrange it by its title.
Then the reference needs the paper or book title, journal (if it is a journal article), publisher (if it is a book) or URL and date accessed (if it is a web page). The format should follow the Harvard style as described in these links: it is a good guide, and your references should contain the same information.
Please be very careful (a) to put in the reference list every citation from the text (including web sites) and any figure/table captions, and (b) to not put in the list references that you have not cited in the text or figure/table captions.
Reference examples: journal
George, S.C., Volk, H., Dutkiewicz, A., Ridley, J. and Buick, R. (2008) Preservation of hydrocarbons and biomarkers in oil trapped inside fluid inclusions for >2 billion years. Geochimica Cosmochimica Acta 72, 844-870.
French, K.L., Hallmann, C., Hope, J.M., Schoon, P.L., Zumberge, J.A., Hoshino, Y., Peters, C.A., George, S.C., Love, G.D., Brocks, J.J., Buick, R., Summons, R.E. (2015) Reappraisal of hydrocarbon biomarkers in Archean rocks. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 112, 5915–5710.
Reference example: book
Peters, K. E., Walters, C. C. and Moldowan, J. M. (2005) The Biomarker Guide, 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1155 pp.
Reference example: chapters in edited books
George, S.C., Volk, H., Dutkiewicz, A., 2012. Mass spectrometry techniques for analysis of oil and gas trapped in fluid inclusions. In: Handbook of Mass Spectrometry (Edited by Lee, M.S.), Wiley, pp. 647-673.
Reference example (web site, author and date known):
Wright, S. 2004, Open area test site (OATS) development, undergraduate project, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, viewed 27 March 2011, <http://eprints.usq.edu.au/archive/00000047>.
Reference example (web site, author and date not known):
Macquarie University, NSW, viewed 12 January 2012, <http://www.hdr.mq.edu.au/>
Name | Weighting | Hurdle | Due |
---|---|---|---|
Paper review | 30% | No | 28/9/20 |
Workshop questions | 20% | No | Four "Last 15" exercises in weeks 1, 2, 3, 11 |
Oral Presentations | 20% | No | 3/11/20 |
Research report | 30% | No | 24/8/20 |
Assessment Type 1: Literature review
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: 28/9/20
Weighting: 30%
Paper review on understanding past Earth events
Assessment Type 1: Quiz/Test
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: Four "Last 15" exercises in weeks 1, 2, 3, 11
Weighting: 20%
Short tests on three of the workshops, to be done in the student’s own time
Assessment Type 1: Presentation
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: 3/11/20
Weighting: 20%
Oral Presentations by everyone in the unit on individually allocated topics
Assessment Type 1: Report
Indicative Time on Task 2: 30 hours
Due: 24/8/20
Weighting: 30%
Research report on a palaeoenvironment or biogeochemistry topic
1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:
2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation
DELIVERY AND RESOURCES, GEOS8810
Unit iLearn
This unit has an iLearn page that can be accessed through ilearn.mq.edu.au. It contains important information and other materials relating to the unit, including details and links for assessments.
Communication
The unit iLearn is the primary way that we communicate with you. Please check it regularly for announcements and posts. You are encouraged to use the Discussion Board on iLearn to post questions and generate discussion with other students. Please only email the convenor with private matters – all other questions should be posted on iLearn.
Unit Organisation
This unit is delivered in weekly workshops. The organisation of these is outlined in a detailed unit schedule which is available on iLearn.
Workload
The expected workload for this 10-credit point unit is 150 hours of activity, comprising 26 hours of workshops, 95 hours on assessments, and 29 hours of review of workshops and weekly readings.
Requirements to complete this unit satisfactorily
To complete this unit satisfactorily, you must:
1. Participate in all scheduled classes;
2. Complete all assessments; and
3. Achieve a pass grade or higher.
The descriptions for grades common to all coursework units offered by Macquarie University are outlined in Schedule 1 of the Assessment Policy.
Recommended Texts and/or Materials
These will be notified weekly on iLearn
Technology Used and Required
This unit will use iLearn and Echo360. See the Instructions on how to log in to iLearn and the iLearn quick guides for students which will help you:
• Getting started - Find out how to navigate and familiarise yourself with the iLearn environment
• Activities - Learn how to effectively complete the activities required of you in iLearn
• Assignments and Gradebook - Find out how to submit assessments and view your grades using iLearn
• Online study tips - Studying online is a unique experience, learn how to navigate it here
• Discussion forums - Explore the different types, and features of discussion forums in iLearn
• Lecture recordings - Find out how to access lectures online, as well as the features available to you
GEOS7710/8810 Palaeoenvironments and Biogeochemistry, 2020 S2 | |||||
Location/Time: unless otherwise stated, Tuesdays 10-12, 11WW 130 Tute Rm | |||||
Week | Dates/times | Module | Who | Workshop topic | The 4 "Last 15" assessed exercises (5% each), and assignment timings |
1, Tues | 28-Jul-20 | Global Circulation | AA | Introduction to unit. Physical processes: box models and introduction to circulation | 1. Daisy World |
2, Tues | 04-Aug-20 | Global cycles; Radiogenic Isotopes; box models | AA | Physical processes: circulation of the atmosphere and oceans, salty ocean | 2. Box modelling exercise; assignment 1 released |
3, Tues | 11-Aug-20 | Global cycles; Radiogenic Isotopes; box models | SG | Chemical processes: Elemental Cycling, Nutrients & Box Models | 3. Joly's age of ocean |
4, Tues | 18-Aug-20 | Global cycles; Radiogenic Isotopes; box models | AA | Radiogenic isotopes: and the stories they tell | |
5, Tues | 25-Aug-20 | Life & Biogeochemistry | SL | Introduction to proxies, focus on inorganics | Assignment 1 due 24/8/20 |
6, Tues | 01-Sep-20 | Life & Biogeochemistry | SL | Oceanic Anoxic Events: Geological, climatic, oceanographic and biological interplay during Greenhouse Earth | |
7, Tues | 08-Sep-20 | Life & Biogeochemistry | SL | Bioturbation: impact on the sedimentary record | Assignment 2 released |
Break | |||||
8, Tues | 29-Sep-20 | Stable Isotopes | SM (or SL) | Determining palaeotemperatures and palaeoenvironments using stable isotopes: Oxygen Isotopes and Paleothermometry | Assignment 2 due 28/9/20 |
9, Tues | 06-Oct-20 | Stable Isotopes | SM (or SG) | Carbon Isotopes, Earth’s Climate, and the Carbon Cycle | Presentation tips 30 mins. |
10, Tues | 13-Oct-20 | Organic Geochemistry & Biomarkers | SG | Introduction to biomarkers: Diagenesis, Inference of palaeoenvironments, thermal maturity | Assignment 3 released (orals) |
11, Tues | 20-Oct-20 | Organic Geochemistry & Biomarkers | SG | Marine biogeochemistry: Palaeothermometers (alkenones and TEX86), environmental biomarkers, and oil spills | 4. Palaeo sea surface temerature exercise |
12, Tues | 27-Oct-20 | Organic Geochemistry & Biomarkers | SG | The chemical record of life on Earth; Microorganisms and the deep biosphere | |
13, Tues | 03-Nov-20 | Wrap up | SG, AA, SL, SM | Student Oral Presentations | Assignment 3 due (orals) |
SG = Prof. Simon George; AA = Dr April Abbott; SL = Dr Stefan Löhr; SM = Dr Sean Murray |
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Students seeking more policy resources can visit the Student Policy Gateway (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/student-policy-gateway). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.
If you would like to see all the policies relevant to Learning and Teaching visit Policy Central (https://staff.mq.edu.au/work/strategy-planning-and-governance/university-policies-and-procedures/policy-central).
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/study/getting-started/student-conduct
Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to help you improve your marks and take control of your study.
The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
If you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
Minor changes to ordering. "Last 15" is on 4, not 3 exercises.