G308 Paleontology and Geology of Indiana

This course focuses on the geological and evolutionary processes that have shaped our planet and life on it over the last 550 million years, the long, fossil-rich period known as the Phanerozoic. Using Indiana as the focus, you will learn about the evolutionary history of major groups of animals and plants, the origins of life on land, the growth of the North American continent, changes to the Earth's atmosphere and oceans, and the interactions among life, climate, sediments, and geological structures.

Information about the crinoid Elegantocrinus hemisphericus, the Elegant Sea-lily

Most Recent Lecture

Back to the Present, and the Future

Friday, April 26th, 13:25 - 02:15 PM, GY 447

The pattern of glacial-interglacial cycles; Oxygen isotope proxies for climate; Regional differences in paleoenvironmental change; Late Quaternary extinction and the role of humans; Current changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide and global temperature; Comparison with past; Certainties and uncertainties from a geological and paleontological perspective.

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Indiana Fossils

Lithostrotion hormodites

The rugose coral Lithostrotion hormodites from the Ste. Genevieve Limeston (Mississippian).

See photo...

Technical terms

continental crust

Felsic crust, composed dominantly of silicate rocks enriched in silicon, oxygen, aluminum, sodium, and potassium, is lighter than mafic oceanic crust, which makes it "float" higher to form continents.

Hoosier paleontologists

Samuel Almond Miller

Miller was a lawyer and amateur paleontologist who was born in Ohio in 1837. He described many fossils from the Paleozoic of North America and authored several major compendia of North American fossils, including "North American Geology and Paleontology" (1889).

Syllabus 2013

Dr. P. David Polly

Department of Geological Sciences
Indiana University
1001 E. 10th Street
Bloomington, IN 47405
pdpolly@indiana.edu
Website