Final Essay.  due Friday, March 3.
In  750 words or less, describe any topic that relates to our course.  Your essay can be somewhat generic (eg. "A summary of weathering phenomena") or more specific (eg. "Chemical weathering effects on the Sistine Chapel").  What IS important is that you pick a topic that you find interesting and on which you can find enough information to really learn something.

Each essay should have a title and a reference list.  You need a minimum of 3 references from good sources (ok, yes, you can use one textbook).  I also strongly recommend that your essay include "figures" to illustrate some of your most important points.   Make sure you refer to the figures within the body of your text.  For example:  "Gravel deposits typically form on the inside bends of river meanders (fig. 2)." --> then, figure 2 shows a map or photo of a meandering river with gravel bars on all the inside bends.

Refer to your references within the text.  For example: "The Atchafalaya River is poised to capture the Mississippi (Chen, 1983)." --> then, in your references, list the article by Chen as: Chen, A., 1983, Dammed if they do and dammed if they don't: Science News, v. 123, p. 204-207.  Note that the reference has the author's name, the year, the title, and source.
 

Essays also need to be typed and STAPLED!  Pleasestaple your own paper!  Or don't--> Non-stapled papers will automatically lose one point.  (grumble grumble)

Essays also need to be free of typos, mis-spellings and other preventable anti-communication devices.  You're allowed one! mistake, before I start deducting points.

Good ways to make favorable first impressions: Use illustrations and have a lot of references--and put some time into making your essay lookgood.

Click here for some hints on writing essays.

some ideas for essay topics:
Expansion of gravel quarry near Eugene
Glaciation of some place that you find very special.
Precambrian Glaciations--there's a Scientific American article on this topic.  The authors think it might be responsible for the rise of multicellular organisms.
Nuclear Waste Disposal--as a problem or specifically the preferred site in Nevada.
Coastal Erosion
Coastal dunes.  Coastal dunes near Florence, OR.
The 1872 Mining Law.
Acid mine waste
Acid mine waste at.... (Name your place.   Butte, Montana?)
Water issues--water supply, contamination...  in Everglades, in Las Vegas, NV, Allocation of the Colorado River Water, Mono Lake
Groundwater in Yellowstone National Park
Flood Control  issues.  dams?  levees?  Use of non-structural flood control measures.
The Cambrian Transgression.

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Some suggestions for finding references