Exam Review for Spring Quarter, 2009

Exam 3 (Final)- Tuesday, June 16

Topics covered on Exam 3:
(Material is from lecture, labs, and the chapters noted below in your book)

  1. Basic History of Cougar Mountain (including evidence)
  2. Earthquakes & the Earth's Interior (Chap 10, Discussion Articles) - mainly parts not on the last test
    1. Effects of earthquakes (ground shifting, tsunami, liquifaction, etc.)
    2. Forecasting and predicting earthquakes / Earthquake safety
    3. Basic knowledge of earthquakes in the northwest (discussion and lecture)
  3. Earth's Interior (Chapter 11)
    1. Basic evidence used to understand Earth's interior (seismic waves, density, etc.)
    2. Basic layers in the Earth (crust, mantle, outer core, inner core, lithosphere, asthenosphere)
    3. Other properties of the Earth's interior - magnetism, heat flow, etc.
  4. Plate Tectonics (Chap 12,13)
    1. Basic theory of plate boundaries
    2. What happens and what is created at each type of plate boundary
    3. How plate motion is determined (lab exercise)
    4. Formation and basic characteristics of ocean and continental crust
    5. Tectonic setting of the Pacific Northwest
  5. Mass Wasting (Chap 14)
    1. Types - creep; rock, debris, mud / fall, flow, slide
    2. Causes – what controls stability (slope, composition, water, etc.), triggers of mass wasting
    3. Prevention – methods
  6. Rivers (Chap 15)
    1. Hydrologic cycle and basics of water
    2. Basic terms (drainage basin, discharge, base level, hydrographs, etc.)
    3. Infiltration - what controls infiltration rate vs. runoff
    4. Erosion, transport and deposition by streams (how does it happen, relationship to velocity, etc.)
    5. Landforms - features formed by streams (point bars, deltas, meanders, etc.)
    6. Floods - prediction and prevention
    7. How a stream changes from headwaters to the mouth
  7. Groundwater (Chap 16) and Glaciers (final lecture)
    1. Recharge - what controls recharge rate vs. runoff
    2. Movement & storage - porosity, permeability, flow, water table, aquifers, etc.
    3. Mapping the water table and determining flow
    4. Hot springs and geothermal energy
    5. Problems with groundwater removal (subsidence, saltwater intrusion, etc.) and solutions
    6. Glaciers - basic concepts about glaciers and how they shapped our area from Monday's lecture
  8. Labs (a lot of this overlaps with lecture, but be sure to understand some of the tools we used)
    1. Be able to read a basic contour map (Lab 7)
    2. Map Terms - contour interval, latitude, declination, etc. (Lab 7)
    3. Calculating plate velocities (Lab 9)
    4. Reading and understanding flood frequency graphs and flood hazard maps (Lab 11)
    5. Mapping the groundwater table and understanding how it relates to GW flow (Lab 12)

Hints and General Information:

  1. Overlap new/old - lahars & quakes/mass wasting, rivers & sediments and sedimentary rocks, etc.
  2. Many of the chapters we covered tie into plate tectonics. I suggest making a chart listing the three type of plate margins and the type of features/forces/geologic "events" etc. that are associated with each.
  3. Current Events - Be able to apply your knowledge to current event information — possibly floods, slides, etc.
  4. Understand why the different topics we have discussed are relevant to society (e.g., natural disasters (landslides, floods), etc.)
  5. Look over some of the major concepts from early inthe quarter - basic concepts of rocks, telling time, plate tectonics, etc.
  6. Please bring a scantron to the test.

 

Exam 2 - Monday, May 18

Topics covered on Exam 2:
(Material is from lecture, labs, and the chapters noted below in your book)

1.   Weathering (Chap 5)

  1. Chemical vs. Mechanical - examples of each
  2. Cratering basics
  3. What controls rate of weathering
  4. Products of weathering - dissolved ions, clay, etc.

2.   Sedimentary Rocks & Fossil Fuels (Chap 6 & Discussion)

  1. Clastic (Detrital) vs. Chemical sediments and basic types of sedimentary rocks
  2. How to describe texture and composition of sedimentary rocks & what it tells you
  3. How sediments are transported and how they change during transport (near/far from source)
  4. Environments in which sedimentary rocks form
  5. Sedimentary structures
  6. Fossil fuel (types, how they form, where are they located)
  7. Concept of Peak Oil
  8. Alternate fossil fuels (examples)
  9. Impacts of using fossil fuels

3.   Metamorphic Rocks (Chap 7)

  1. Causes (temperature, pressure, etc.) and types of metamorphism (contact, regional, etc.)
  2. Texture (foliation) and composition (index minerals) of the rocks
  3. Basic types of metamorphic rock (slate, phyllite, schist, gneiss, quartzite, marble)
  4. Be able to read a facies diagram (e.g., the lab exercise) & know where differnt met. rocks form

4.   Geologic Time (Chap 8)

  1. Relative vs. Absolute time
  2. Basic principles of relative dating (superposition, cross-cutting, etc.)
  3. Unconformities and correlation
  4. Radiometric dating (how it works, radioacticity, half lives, types of decay, examples, what we can date, etc.)
  5. Age of the Earth (what is it and what does it come from)
  6. Basics of geologic time scale (know basic units and how it is divided up)

5.   Deformation (Chap 9)

  1. Types of stress and deformation (examples & how they are associated with plate boundaries)
  2. Strike and Dip
  3. Folds (syncline, anticline, domes, basins)
  4. Joints & Faults (normal, reverse, strike-slip, etc. (know hanging vs. foot wall))

6.   Earthquakes & the Earth's Interior (Chap 10) - depending on what we cover through Friday

  1. What causes earthquakes and how are they related to plate margins
  2. Types of energy (waves) released by an earthquake
  3. How earthquake energy is measured (Mercalli and Richter scales)
  4. Basic knowledge of earthquakes in the northwest
  5. Effects of earthquakes (ground shifting, tsunami, liquifaction, etc.)
  6. Forecasting and predicting earthquakes / Earthquake safety

7.   Basic History of Cougar Mountain (including evidence)

Hints and General Information:

  1. Know how to identify sedimentary and metamorphic rocks using a rock identification chart. (Similar to igneous rock question on the last test.)
  2. Study the geologic time lab and know how to place geologic events in relative order. (I will not give you a question as hard as the last cross-section in the lab.)
  3. You do not have to learn all the divisions of the Geologic Time Scale, but do know HOW it is divided up and what the basic divisions are (Eons, Eras, Periods, Epochs).
  4. Current Events - Be able to apply your knowledge to current event information — possibly fossil fuels. (Similar to volcano questions on the last test.)
  5. Understand why the different topics we have discussed are relevant to society (e.g., weathering produces soils, destroys building stones, fossil fuels and society, etc.)
  6. Please bring a scantron to the test.

 

 

Exam 1 - Monday, April 20

Topics covered on Exam 1:
(Material is from lecture, labs, and the chapters noted below in your book)

1.   Overview & General Information (Chap 1)

  1. Basic Rock Cycle
  2. Scientific method - Observation (evidence) vs. Interpretation (hypothesis or theory)
  3. Important geologists -Hutton, Wegner, Hess, Bowen

2.   Plate Tectonics (Chap 1 and Lab 0)

  1. Continental Drift - Evidence, how is it different than plate tectonics, why it failed
  2. Basic layers of the Earth (mantle, core, crust; lithosphere, asthenosphere) and their characteristics
  3. Basics concept of plate tectonic theory
  4. Plate margins - Divergent, Convergent (subduction & collision), Transform & the common characteristics of each (know some examples of each)
3.   Minerals (Chap 2 and Lab 2)
  1. Basic chemistry –atomic number & weight, isotopes, bonds, elements, minerals, rocks, etc.
  2. Important elements & minerals that make up the earth's crust
  3. Definition of a mineral, mineraloids, polymorphs, etc. and how crystals form
  4. Physical Properties - what they are (hardness, cleavage, etc.), how they relate to chemistry
  5. Mineral Families - (silicates, carbonates, etc.), examples of each
  6. Silicate Minerals - silica tetrahedron, different types (chains, sheets, etc.), examples, mafic vs. felsc minerals
  7. Examples of common uses of minerals

4.   Igneous Rocks and Volcanoes (Chap 3 & 4, Lab 3, and video)

  1. Magma formation - what effects melting temp, relationship to plate tectonics, partial melting
  2. Differences between mafic and felsic magmas
  3. How magma crystallizes - grain size, Bowen's reaction series
  4. Igneous Rocks - what characteristics (texture, composition) represent, how to ID
  5. Intrusive features (plutons)  - tabular plutons vs. batholiths/laccoliths
  6. Volcanoes - general information about eruptions
  7. Volcanoes - products of eruptions (flows, pillow structures, gases, pyroclastics, etc.) and types of volcanoes
  8. Difference between mafic/felsic eruptions, products & volcanoes
  9. Volcanic hazards and predicting eruptions/preventing loss of life (including video)

Hints and General Information:

1.   Don't memorize chemical symbols or formulas, however, do know how to read a chemical formula.  If I ask you a question involving a formula I will write the formula and the name of each element (see sample question 3).

2.   The test may include some questions that are related to concepts or methods explored in lab (e.g., how to ID a rock using an ID chart – see sample question 2), however, the test will not include any actual rock or mineral samples (this time).

3.   Current Events - Be able to analyze current event information (see sample question 1)

4.   The test will be include multiple choice/matching quesions plus some short answer questions.

5.   Please bring a scantron to the test.

Sample Questions:

1.   On Monday, March 9th a volcano called Piton de la Fournaise (located on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean) began to erupt.  The lava that erupted had a very low viscosity, and did not erupt explosively.  Spectators watched as it flowed down the flanks of the volcano and into the Indian Ocean.

      (a) Is the lava erupting from this volcano mafic or felsic (circle one)?

      (b) What type of igneous structure would this type of lava form if it erupts under water? __________

      (c) Reunion Island is NOT located on a plate margin, in fact it is located in the middle of the Indian Plate.  Explain how this type of volcano forms.

2. Geological Field Trip

While taking a trip over Snoqualmie Pass you stop to look at the rocks.  Use your knowledge of geology and the attached igneous rock ID chart to answer the following questions. (Note: A Igneous rock ID chart would be included with this question)

A. Just over the pass you stop at Kachess Lake and notice that the rocks are light colored and fine-grained.

      (a)  What would you call this rock? (Use the ID chart to give it a name)  ________________

      (b) Compared to a darker colored rock, would this rock have a high or low silica content?   _________

      (c)  Would the magma that formed this rock have erupted explosively or passively?  _________

3. Carefully answer the question below by matching each mineral with its "mineral family". Each answer is used only once!  Answer on your scantron sheet. [Chemical Symbols: K-potassium, Al - aluminum, Si - silica, O- oxygen, Fe - iron, Ca - calcium, C - carbon, S - Sulfur]

A.     native element                 26. ____    calcite (CaCO3)

B.     carbonate                        27. ____    pyrite (FeS2)

C.     silicate                            28. ____    diamond (C)

D.     oxide                              29. ____    Corundum (Al2O3)

E.      sulfide                            30. ____    Orthoclase (KAlSi3O8)

Geology 101 Homepage / Science Division / Bellevue College Home Page

Tuesday, June 16, 2009