ESCI 111
Planet
Earth
·
What are the subdivisions of geology?
·
Know the spatial aspect of the solar system (planet)
·
Know some of the basic properties of the planets.
·
Terrestrial vs. Big Planets
·
Speed of Light question.
·
What is the plane of the ecliptic?
What is the angle of the earth’s axis with respect to the plane of the
ecliptic?
·
What makes earth unique from the other planets
·
How far is earth from the sun?
When is the sun closest to the earth?
·
Vernal vs. Autumnal Equinox.
·
What effect has water had on earth?
·
What is the basic composition of the atmosphere?
·
What are the basic layers of the atmosphere?
·
What do the atmosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere have in common?
·
What percentage of the earth is covered by water?
·
How much of the earth’s water is fresh water?
·
What is the biosphere? Where are
its boundaries?
·
What is the lithosphere? What
two rock types make up the lithosphere?
Structure of the Earth
· Know the compositional and structural layers of the earth. –this is a big topic.
·
What causes the earth’s magnetism?
·
Where is the magnetic pole?
·
Know the characteristics of the continents.
·
Know the components of a continent.
·
Know the characteristic of the ocean floor.
·
Know the major features of the ocean floor.
·
Know the three types of crustal deformation
·
Know the three basic types of folds
·
Know the three basic types of faults.
·
Know the hanging wall vs. the footwall.
·
What causes the plates to move?
What is convection in the mantle?
·
What causes mountains to form?
What causes ocean trenches?
The Dynamic
Earth
·
Know the hydrologic process.
·
Know the basic characteristics for rivers, glaciers, groundwater, and
shoreline systems.
·
What are some of the major problems with the hydrologic system?
·
What is a convergent plate boundary? Divergent? Transform?
·
What is isostacy? Be able to
give some examples of isostatic adjustment.
·
Where do earthquakes occur? Why?
·
What is the name of the fault that is found just south of St. Louis?
·
How have humans been able to modify the hydrologic system?
Geologic
Time
·
Know the history of the attempts to date the earth.
·
Relative dating vs. absolute dating.
·
Know what an unconformity is.
·
Know the basic principals of relative dating.
·
Know the basic geologic time scale
·
What were the major subdivisions of the geologic time scale based upon.
·
Radioactive Decay (parent, daughter)
·
The half-life of the elements listed in class
·
How old the earth is scientifically estimated to be and how we can
determine it
·
Know what geologic period we are currently experiencing
·
Did dinosaurs really exist during the Jurassic
Minerals
·
What is a mineral – five primary characteristics
·
How is graphite different from a diamond?
·
Where and under what conditions do crystals form?
·
What is cleavage – What minerals have one, two, and three directions of
cleavage?
·
What is hardness – What is the name of the hardness scale – list the
primary minerals of the hardness scale.
·
How hard are a fingernail, a copper penny, and a glass plate?
·
What minerals have a high specific gravity?
·
How is color different from streak?
Which is the best for mineral identification?
·
What mineral has conchoidal fracture?
What mineral has an adamantine luster?
·
What minerals have a metallic luster?
Which minerals have striations?
·
What is conchoidal fracture?
·
What is a rhombus?
Igneous Rocks
·
Where do igneous rock originate (i.e., from what material)
·
What is magma? What are the two
types of magma?
·
Know the different textures of igneous rocks and where they are found
·
What is a porphyritic texture and under what conditions does it form?
·
What are the primary minerals found in granite and rhyolite?
·
What are the primary minerals found in granite and gabbro?
·
What kind of texture does pumice have?
·
Is granite intrusive or extrusive?
Is basalt intrusive or extrusive?
·
What color are mafic minerals?
What color are felsic minerals?
·
When does magma become lava?
What are the three types of volcanoes and their characteristics?
·
What are a batholith, laccolith, stock, dike, and a sill?
·
Where would one find a large batholith?
Sedimentary Rocks
·
Where do sedimentary rocks originate?
·
What is the process of sedimentary rock formation?
·
What are the basic types of sediment?
·
Clastic sediment is named according to size – what is this size
breakdown?
·
What are some methods of clastic sediment movement?
·
What do we mean by rounding (when referring to sediment)?
·
What do we mean by well sorted?
How do different environments sort materials?
·
Define lithification – compaction – cementation.
·
Describe one process of chemical sediment deposition.
·
What causes deposition of clastic materials?
·
If a conglomerate is lithified gravel, what are sandstone, and
siltstone?
·
Where does limestone originate (i.e., what is the process of
formation)?
·
Name three different types of limestone?
Metamorphic Rocks
·
What does the word metamorphic mean?
·
Metamorphic rocks come from what other types of rocks?
·
What are the four causes of metamorphism?
·
Where does low-grade metamorphism occur? High grade?
·
What are the three types of metamorphism?
·
How does the hydrothermal process work?
·
When one adds heat and pressure to shale, what is the resulting rock?
·
When one adds heat and pressure to quartz sandstone, what is the
resulting rock?
·
When one adds heat and pressure to limestone, what is the resulting
rock?
·
A gneiss results from what grade metamorphism? Schist and Slate?
Weathering
·
What is the difference between mechanical and chemical weathering?
·
Know the different type of mechanical weathering and how they work.
·
Know the primary type of chemical weathering and basically, how they
work.
·
How can jointing affect the mechanical weathering process (accelerate
or decelerate?)
·
What is regolith? What is the
soil solum?
·
What are the characteristics of the A-horizon and the B-horizon?
·
Know the difference between illuviation and eluviation.
·
Know the fertility of soils that formed under different natural
vegetation conditions
·
Know the five soil forming factors
·
What is the zone of accumulation, zone of leaching, etc.
Mass Movement
·
What is mass wasting?
·
Know the factors that control Mass Wasting.
·
What is creep. – Creep vs. Mudflow.
·
What is solifluction. – what is permafrost?
·
What is subsidence and what are the two primary ways that it can occur?
Stream Systems
·
Components of a stream.
·
stream gradient – be able to calculate.
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Discharge – be able to calculate.
·
Things that affect stream flow.
·
Processes of stream erosion.
·
Competence vs. Capacity.
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Types of sediment transport.
·
What happens when stream slow down?
·
Mid-channel bar vs. a point bar deposit.
·
Oxbow lake and meander scar.
·
Delta.
·
What is a flood plain?
·
Why do rivers and streams have large bends and curves?
Groundwater
·
What is groundwater?
·
Water table vs. zone of aeration
·
Porosity vs. permeability
·
Types of porosity
·
Types of rocks with low and high permeability
·
Characteristics of the water table
·
What causes the movement of groundwater?
·
What is hydraulic head?
·
What is a perched water table?
·
What causes an artesian well?
·
What causes the formation of a spring?
·
What causes a geyser?
·
What is the process of erosion by groundwater
·
How do caves form? – stalactite vs. stalagmite .
·
What are some of the changes occurring in our groundwater?