Bill Hirt, geology instructor
Department of Biological and Physical Sciences
College of the Siskiyous
800 College Avenue
Weed, California 96094
Office: Science 217 (7-217)
Office hours: MWF 10:00-10:50 AM, TR 12:30-1:20 PM and by appointment
E-mail: hirt@siskiyous.edu
Office phone: 530·938·5255
Lab phone: 530·938·5194
Fax: 530·938·5506
Spring 2013 Schedule |
| 8:00-8:50 AM | ||||||
| 9:00-9:50 AM | ||||||
| 10:00-10:50 AM | office hour |
office hour |
office |
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| 11:00-11:50 AM | Science 216 |
college hour |
Science 216 |
college hour |
Science 216 |
|
| 12:00-12:50 PM | ||||||
| office hour |
office hour |
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| 1:00-1:50 PM | GEOL 1220 Science 216 |
GEOL 1220 lab Science 216 |
GEOL 1220 Science 216 |
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| GEOG 1110 Science 216 |
GEOG 1110 Science 216 |
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| 2:00-2:50 PM | ||||||
| 3:00-3:50 PM | ||||||
| 4:00-4:50 PM | ||||||
| 5:00-5:50 PM | ||||||
| TBA | GEOL
1130 online |
GEOL
1130 online |
GEOL
1130 online |
GEOL
1130 online |
GEOL
1130 online |
GEOL
1130 online |
6:30-9:20 PM, 26-Apr |
XNH 0350 Science 216 |
XNH 0350 Science 216 |
* Once per month I will reschedule this office hour from 9-10 AM so that I can attend the Student Learning Council.
Academic Background and Research |
I began my study of geology at Santa Monica College, and went on to earn my degrees from UC Los Angeles and UC Santa Barbara. Since earning my Ph.D. I have continued to study how felsic (silica-rich) magmas form, accumulate in Earth's crust and change composition as they cool, crystallize and interact with other magmas.
Although I have studied some very hot felsic lavas in Idaho that are related to the Yellowstone hotspot (Hirt, 2002), most of my work has been has been directed towards understanding the development of a suite of felsic magmas that accumulated deep underground in California's Sierra Nevada about 85 million years ago. The compositions and textures of rocks in the Mount Whitney Intrusive Suite suggest that Earth's crust warmed as the intrusion grew, and that this warming enabled magma near the center of the body to stay molten long enough for crystals and melt to separate on a large scale and form a compositionally-stratified magma reservoir (Hirt, 2007).
I'm currently working with my colleague Jim Hatton to create a model of how the crust 'makes room' for a growing intrusion in order to develop a more accurate picture of its emplacement and thermal history (Hirt and Hatton, 2011). We hope this model will enable us to better understand the origins of the patterns of rock texture and composition found in many felsic intrusions.
Publications during current review period (Spring 2011—Fall 2014).
Campus and Community Service |
During the Spring 2013 semester I will serve as a member of:
- the Equivalency Committee, the Senate Executive Committee and the Student Learning Council on campus;
- and the board of the Shasta Valley Resource Conservation District.
