GEOLOGY 309                     VOLCANOLOGY                       Winter 2004

TERM PAPER AND POSTER - guidelines

 

Term paper

5 pages of 12 point-font text, double spaced. Figures, tables, and bibliography are not considered to be part of the 5 pages, but are a required part of the paper.  Citations to references must be included within the text (see below). You must divide your paper into separate parts with different subheadings.  These subheadings would make up the skeleton of your outline. As a guide, I have listed a good outline organization (with appropriate subheadings) for your paper.  Depending on which volcanic center you are studying, you may add other pertinent sections. 

 

1.  Introduction

2.  Background

            Plate tectonic setting

            Geologic history of the region

3.  Eruptive activity - past major eruptions, present activity.  Include duration of eruptions, eruptive style, repose times between eruptions, etc.  Depending on your volcano type, you have lots of freedom in this section.  This section will make up the bulk of your paper.

4.  Present/future hazards and/or eruptive expectations for the future

5.  Conclusion

6.  Bibliography - Your paper and poster must have at least two journal or book references that you have read yourself (not referenced on a web page).  See http://www.apastyle.org/elecmedia.html for how to cite a web page. 

7.  Associated tables and figures - cite sources and include figure captions. You should include several figures and tables.  A map that shows location relative to the rest of the world (and plate tectonic setting) and a more detailed map or photograph of the important features of the volcano is required.

 

 

1.  Use of citations within the text of your paper (do NOT use footnotes)

Here are some examples:

á      Jones et al. (1995) suggest that future eruptions of Arenal could be very destructive.

á      Fifty thousand people were killed by mudslides when El Chichon erupted in the middle of the night (Miller and Thompson, 1992).

á      Mt. St. Helens is considered the most active of the Cascade volcanoes (Johnson et al., 1998)

á      Mt. Rainier has the highest volume of glacial ice of any Cascade volcano (CVO web page, 2000)

 

You would use these citations every time you are paraphrasing, or getting information from another source.  You can put them in at the beginning of a paragraph if the whole paragraph is from the same source, or you can intersperse them between sentences if the paragraph is from mixed sources.  You would then refer to these citations in your bibliography.  Of course you know that you can never use the exact wording of another source unless you have the wording in quotations.

Be very careful not to plagiarize.  Acknowledge all sources of information.  When in doubt about how to paraphrase information, ask me for suggestions.  Use at least two journal or book references that you have read yourself (not referenced on a web page).

 

 

2.  Bibliography (at end of paper)

Only list in the bibliography those papers that are cited in the text (see above).  If they are not cited in the text, there is no reason to reference them!

Use the style of the Geological Society of America Bulletin for your Bibliography.  Look at a recent issue for more examples:

 

Journal articles:  Author, date, Title of article: Journal, volume, pages. 

Selverstone, J., Axen, G. J., and Bartley, J. M., 1995, Fluid inclusion constraints on the kinematics of footwall uplift beneath the Brenner Line normal fault, Eastern Alps: Tectonics, v. 14, p. 264-278. 

 

Books:  Author, Date, Title of Book (edition): Place of publication, Publisher, pages.

Drever, J. I., 1988, The geochemistry of natural waters (second edition):  Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Prentice Hall, 437 p.

 

Edited Books:  Authors, date, Title of article, in Editors, Title of Edited Book, pages.

Zim, J., Axel, R.S., 1989, Tectonic setting of olistostromal units in the Talladega slate belt, Alabama Appalachinas, in Horton, J. W., and Rast, N., eds., Melanges and olisto-stromes of the Appalachians:  Geol. Society of America Special Paper 228, p. 247-269

 

Geologic maps:  Author, date, Map name: Place of publication, Publisher, Scale.

Staikopoulos, G. and Efstratiades, G., 1987, Geological map of Greece, Akhladhokhorion sheet:  Athens, Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration, scale 1:50,000. 

 

 

3.  Figures

Figures can be placed within the text or at the end.  They should be referred to sequentially in the text. Examples:

"Figure 1 shows..."      or     "Gold is found in several locations (Fig. 1)"

 

You can put the figures themselves at the end of the paper (after the bibliography); they do not need to be embedded within the text.  Give a caption for each figure and acknowledge the source, using the same style as described in 1 above.

 

 

Grading of paper - 75 points total

a.  (10 points) completeness and quality of outline

b.  (10 points) overall adherence to guidelines (you either get 0 or 10 points)

c.  (10 points) overall grammar and clarity of writing, writing style, organization

d.  (5 points) content:  tectonic setting and geologic history

e.  (20 points) content:  eruptive activity content

f.  (5 points) content:  hazards and future activity (only if applicable)

g.  (10 points) Quality of sources cited (how much did you delve into the literature); citation of those sources within the text

h.  (5 points) Quality of figures and tables. 

 


Poster

Size Ð At least 3Õ x 4Õ poster board or cardboard.  Stiff corrugated material is preferred over flimsy, material.  The folding kind that the bookstore sells is the most preferable.

 

Display - This poster should convey all the same information in your paper, but not by pasting up your text pages.  Be creative!  Your goal is to have a visually pleasing display packed with easily digested information.  Convey your information with the least amount of text.  Some text is essential, but the best posters are ones that have a lot of figures and tables that can be interpreted without reading long paragraphs. 

a.  Text - must include introduction

b.  Figures with figure captions.  MUST include location map and geologic or photographic map of the volcanic feature you are discussing

c.  Tables, graphs, etc.

d. Bibliography is essential

HINT:  Remember the old saying that a figure is worth a thousand words.  Use figures, tables, and illustrations with figure captions to convey all the same points that you did in your paper

 

Grading of poster (25 points total) -

a.  (5 points) adherence to guidelines (poster size, presence of bibliography, etc.) (0 or 5 points)

b.  (15 points) content, design & layout (use of figure captions, appropriate mix of figures & text, quality of data presented)

c.  (5 points) clarity and quality of illustrations, captions, and tables (i.e., can someone walk up to your poster, look at it, and learn all the important points with no verbal communication)

 

 

WHAT IS PLAGIARISM?

I have had a lot of trouble in this course having people understand what plagiarism is.  You must always cite the source of any information in your text or your poster, even if it means having a citation after every sentence.  This includes downloading images off the internet.  Here are some definitions:

 

Plagiarism is the uncited use of material that comes from another individual or organization's work. 

á      If you use a figure from a web page, and don't cite the source of that figure in your bibliography, you are plagiarizing.

á      If you use information from a paragraph or even a sentence from another source such as a web page or a journal, and do not cite it, you are plagiarizing. 

 

PLAGIARISM IS GROUNDS FOR FAILURE OF THIS COURSE, AND, IN EXTREME CASES, EXPULSION FROM THE UNIVERSITY