EES 1 Final Exam (Workman Ford)
How old is the earth?
4.6 billion years
How long ago did the dinosaurs become extinct?
65 million years ago
How large of an earthquake (with respect to magnitude) can occur on the San Andreas?
8.3
Why is California a perfect place to study geology?
?
What is the age of invertebrates? Age of dinosaurs? Age of mammals?
Age of invertebrates - Paleozoic Age of dinosaurs - Mesozoic Age of mammals - Cenozoic
Where do deep-focus earthquakes occur?
Along subduction zone
What are the different types of fossilization?
Amber entombment, tar impregnation, freezing, permineralization, replacement, recrystallization
Who is James Balog?
An American photographer whose work explores the relationship between humans and nature.
Know the contributions of Andrija Mohorovicic, Beno Gutenberg, and Inge Lehman to geology.
Andrija: crust-mantle boundary (MOHO) Beno: core-mantle boundary Inge: inner core/outer core boundary
Understand the difference between an anticline and a syncline.
Anticline - a fold in which the YOUNGEST rocks occur Syncline - a fold in which the OLDEST rocks occur
What is a trace fossil?
Any evidence that life once existed
What is the California state gemstone?
Benitoite
What is the difference between a meandering and a braided stream?
Braided - multiple channels, coarse sediment Meandering - single channel, natural levees
Is ice a mineral?
By the strict definition, yes
What types of faults are associated with compression, tension, and shear?
Compression - reverse Extension - normal Shear - strike slip
What is the difference between a confined and unconfined aquifer?
Confined - has impermeable layers both above and below the aquifer Unconfined - impermeable layer below
What are the plate tectonic boundaries? Where can examples of each be found?
Convergent - japan, chile, Indonesia, Himalaya, Divergent - mid ocean ridges, East African Rift, Transform - San Andreas Fault
What is the internal structure of the earth? What are the layers?
Crust, mantle, outer core, inner core
What dictates the velocity of a river?
Discharge, channel shape, channel slope, channel smoothness
What are the types of load carried by a stream?
Dissolved load - Suspended load - makes water look "murky" or cloudy Bed load - sand and pebbles along the bottom
What is the relationship between plate boundaries and earthquake depth?
Divergent - shallow Transform - intermediate Convergent - deepest
What is mass wasting?
Downslope movement of material due to gravity
What is catastrophism?
Earth has been shaped by many catastrophes with processes that are no longer working. Earth can be 6000 years old.
What types of things can trigger a landslide?
Earthquake, volcanic eruption, excessive rainfall, rapid snow melt
Where does erosion take place in a meandering stream? Deposition?
Erosion - outside meander bend Deposition - inside meander bend
What was the main cause of the La Conchita landslide?
Excessive rainfall
What types of deformation can occur due to compression?
Folding and faulting
What are the types of mechanical (physical) weathering?
Frost wedging, root wedging, biological activity, unloading
What is an unconformity?
Gap in the rock record
Know three minerals and their uses.
Gold - Jewelry Quartz - Making glass Fluorite - Cameras
What is the California state mineral? State Rock?
Gold; Serpentine
How are sedimentary rocks classified?
Grain size and composition
What is the main force acting on landslides?
Gravity
What did William Mulholland want to do with Yosemite Valley?
He wanted to dam it, and form a reservoir
What is necessary for metamorphism to occur?
Heat and pressure
Which magma type is hottest? Which is the coldest?
Hottest = Basalt/gabbro Coldest = Rhyolite/granite
Know the layers of the earth and the general composition of the different layers.
Inner core is solid Fe and Ni; outer core is liquid Fe and Ni
What prevents debris from moving?
Internal friction
What does magnetic inclination tell us about where a rock formed?
Latitude at which the rocks formed
What are the physical properties of minerals?
Luster, hardness, crystal form, cleavage, streak, color
What is the difference between magma and lava?
Magma = molten rock below the surface Lava = molten rock above the surface
What is the largest volcano on earth?
Mauna Loa
What happens when two continental plates collide? Two oceanic plates?
Mountain building; Subduction
What is infiltration?
Movement of water through the soil column
What type of volcano is Mt. Shasta? Mauna Loa? Long Valley? Yellowstone?
Mt. Shasta - Composite Mauna Loa - Shield Long Valley - Caldera Yellowstone - Caldera
What is the definition of a mineral?
Naturally occurring, inorganic, crystal form, solid, definite chemical composition
Which is more dense, oceanic crust or continental crust?
Oceanic
What is the largest volcano in the solar system?
Olympus mons
What are the types of chemical weathering?
Oxidation, hydrolysis, dissolution
Which seismic waves are fastest?
P waves
What two plates does the San Andreas Fault separate?
Pacific and north American
What is foliation?
Parallel alignment of minerals
What is porosity?
Percent of pore space
When was the largest mass extinction on earth?
Permian-triassic extinction
What is the principle of uniformitarianism?
Present is the key to the past
What was Harry Hess' contribution to plate tectonics?
Proposed seafloor spreading
What are the four pieces of evidence that Arthur Wegener used for continental drift?
Puzzle piece fit of continents, matching rocks, matching fossils, glacial striations
What are magnetic anomalies? What would likely occur if the magnetic field reversed today?
Record in the rocks that indicate that magnetic north was at the south pole rather than the north. No major disaster would happen.
What is the difference between relative and absolute dating?
Relative puts things in a sequence; absolute assigns a number/age
What is viscosity?
Resistance to flow
What type of faults have the highest magnitude earthquakes?
Reverse
What is the difference between Richter magnitude and MMI magnitude?
Richter measures energy release; MMI describes damages
What is the motion of the San Andreas Fault?
Right lateral
What is permeability?
Rock's ability to transmit fluid
What is the California state fossil?
Saber-toothed Cat
Know the following terms: saltation, confined aquifer, unconfined aquifer
Saltation - bouncing and rolling of sediment in a stream bed Confined aquifer - has impermeable layers both above and below Unconfined aquifer - has impermeable layer at the base of the aquifer
What is an isotope?
Same number of protons, different numbers of neutrons
How does sedimentation contribute to the evidence for seafloor spreading?
Sediment is thicker near the continents, thinnest near the mid ocean; suggests youngest crust in the middle
How do we know about the Earth's interior?
Seismic waves
What are the three main contaminants in groundwater in California?
Sewage, nitrate, petroleum
What types of rock are associated with shield, composite (strato), and caldera-type volcanoes?
Shield - basalt and gabbro Composite - andesite and diorite Caldera - rhyolite and granite
What factors contribute to a volcano's eruption intensity?
Silica content, dissolved gas, water
How does crystal size relate to cooling rate?
Slow cooling = large crystals Fast cooling = small crystals
How does mechanical weathering affect chemical weathering?
Speeds it up by breaking the particles into smaller pieces - providing more surface area for chemical weathering to affect.
What caused the 2004 tsunami that killed some 200,000 people?
Subduction zone earthquake
What is Pangea?
Super continent
Why is there an area of "creep" along the San Andreas near Parkfield?
The SAF has serpentine which is degraded to talc at the base allowing for easy slip
What is the drainage basin of a river?
The area where all water will drain into that river
What is the principle of cross-cutting relationships?
The cutter (fault, dike) is younger than what it is cutting
What is textural maturity?
The more rounded a sediment is, the more mature it is; angular sediments are immature, close to the source.
What does porphyritic mean?
Two distinct crystal sizes in an igneous rock
What is the difference between an unaltered fossil and an altered fossil?
Unaltered - still has original fossil material Altered - material has been replace
How is obsidian created?
Very fast cooling
What is liquefaction?
When the ground turns into a slurry due to water in the soil
Who designed the LA Aqueduct?
William Mulholland
What is the goal of the Extreme Ice Survey?
With the creative integration of art and science can, ICE can help shape public perception and inspire action more effectively than either art or science can do alone on the planet's changing ecosystem.
Given what you know about plate tectonics, is the seafloor likely to be older or younger than the continental crust?
Younger
What is the law of superposition?
Youngest layer in a sequence of sedimentary rocks is on top
