GEOL 102-6 Section 20: Geological Impacts on Civilizations

Writing Assignment #4

Writing Assignment 4, due Tuesday 14 March by 3:00 P.M.

Write a five-page paper in which you compare and contrast an ancient and a modern example of geological processes impacting upon civilization. How are they similar? How are they different? Discuss evidence supporting the significance of your claimed relationships.

Your paper should be written so as to appeal to a general readership. Refer to at least five published sources of information, including at least one regular (non-encyclopaedic) book and one periodical. Try to cite primary sources. Articles from peer-reviewed scholarly journals are especially valuable.

Your topic need not be restricted to the time periods or geographical areas that we have discussed in class. You are encouraged to submit a statement of your topic (and perhaps an outline) in written form for early feedback. You are encouraged to make use of the Writing Place in the University Library. The due date given above is for the final version only; you are encouraged to submit a draft manuscript by Tuesday, March 7, to enable you to undertake revisions.

Here are some sample topics to indicate what I have in mind for this assignment. (You should feel free to choose one of these sample topics, if you wish.)

• the construction and operation of urban water supplies for Roman Nemausus (Nîmes) and for modern Los Angeles
• sedimentation and its control during Roman times in the Po river delta and during modern times in the Mississippi delta
• the drainage and lowering of the Alban Lake in Roman times and of Lake Okeechobee in the 19th century
• deforestation in Bronze Age Europe and in modern Amazonia
• the exploitation of metal ores as it relates to Roman silver mines in Iberia and to the California gold rush
• desertification inside the northward bend of the Yellow River in China during the 9th century BC and in the Sahel south of the Sahara Desert in the 1970s
• volcanic eruptions of ancient Mt. Vesuvius and modern Mt. Pinatubo
• large earthquakes in ancient Knossos and modern Tokyo
• the establishment, maintenance, and control of trade routes as illustrated by the ancient wine trade and the modern petroleum trade
• the subsidence of Swamp Castle during Monty Python's quest for the Holy Grail (just kidding) and subsidence in modern California's San Joaquin valley
• climate changes such as the cooling in 3rd-century Roman Europe and the 15/16th-century Little Ice Age
• effects of terrain on combat during Scipio's siege of Numantia in Roman Lusitania and Operation Desert Storm in modern Iraq
• motivations for and impacts of the Roman roadcuts along the Danube and the modern tunnel beneath the English Channel

Remember: Don't just write a book report or a chronological narration. Collect a variety of information; then present your own analysis and thoughts on the similarities and differences, and on their importance. Clearly outline your reasoning.