Geology Exam One
What is a fault?
A fracture that has movement
Significance of tectonic cycle
•Global zones of resources (oil, gas, & mineral ores) • Global belts of earthquakes and volcanic activities • Impacts on the landscape and global climates • Geologic knowledge of plate tectonics: foundation for urban development and hazard mitigation
What is unifomitarianism?
* The Present is the key to the past *The Present is the key to the future *Changes of frequency and magnitude: Geological processes and human activities
Different means of measuring sustainability
*Use and consumption of non-renewable resources (oil) *Natural replenishment and renewable rates *Development and improvement of human environment versus viable environment *Not lead to environmental crisis
What are seismic P waves and their propagation properties?
-Primary, Push-pull, or compressive wave. Travels like a sound wave -Parallel -Fastest rates of propagation, first arrival to the seismograph -Body wave travels through Earth's interior and ALL media- solid and liquid
Evidence of Continental Drift And seafloor spreading
-There was no solid evidence of a mechanism for continental drift 1. Similar fossils found in rocks on different continents 2. Similar rock structures found on different continents 3. Continents fit together like puzzles 4. Climate evidence in glaciers moving in the same directions
Physical properties to identify a mineral
-made of inorganic or chemical compound -definitive chemical composition -Made of naturally occurring solids -Formed by geologic processes
Three Types of Plate Boundaries
1. Divergent- plates moving apart and new lithosphere produced in mid-oceanic ridge 2. Convergent-Plates collide, mountain building 3. Transform-two plates slide past one another *Earth's interior convection is mechanism for plate tectonics
4 types of chemical bonds
1. Ionic Bond 2. Covalent Bond 3. Metallic Bond 4. Van Der Waals Bond
4 objectives of Environmental Geology
1. To better understand environmental problems 2. Geologic knowledge for problem solving 3. Minimize environmental degradation 4. Optimize resources to maximize environmental benefits
Age of the Earth
4.6 billion years
Difference between theory and hypothesis?
A hypothesis is an educated guess to explain something. A theory is backed up with experiments and results.
Rock Structure
Brittle Deformation, joints and faults Ductile Deformation, mountains
What mineral group does limestone belong to?
Carbonate
Sedimentary Rock:
Clastic: (shale, sandstone) compacted and cemented from detrital sediments. Non Clastic:(Limestone) precipitated from chemical solutions and or accumulated chemical, biological matter.
What force formed a fold?
Compressional
Earth's Concentric Layers
Crust, Moho Discontinuity, Upper Mantle, Lower Mantle, Outer Core, Inner Core, Lithosphere, Asthenosphere
What texture could halite be?
Crystalline
Definition of Sustainability
Development which ensures that future generations have access to the resources that our planet offers
Three units for Geologic Time. Smallest to largest
Epoch, Period, Era
What has more silica? Mafic or Felsic?
Felsic
Metamorphic Rock:
Foliation:(Slate, gneiss) Preferred alignment of platy mineral particles. Non Foliation: (Marble, quartzite) Randomly arranged and interlocked mineral particles
5 Criteria a material must meet to be considered mineral
Inorganic, naturally occurring, solid, solid with orderly crystalline structure, and define chemical compound.
Igneous Rocks:
Intrusive:Crystallized/solidified beneath Earth's surface(Granite) Extrusive: Crystallized/ solidified at or near Earth's surface (Basalt)
Difference between knowledge and imagination?
Knowledge: What is known Imagination: No limits
Four subsystems of the Earth System
Lithosphere: Land Atmosphere: Air Hydrosphere: Water Biosphere: Living Things
What is the Gaia Hypothesis?
Living matter on the Earth collectively defines and regulates the material conditions necessary for the continuance of life.
Is Earth and open or closed system? Why?
Open system; transfer and exchange of matter and energy
The Law of Crosscutting
Rock is younger than the other one it cuts
The Law of Superposition
Rocks become progressively younger towards the top in an undisturbed and undeformed rock sequence
What are seismic S waves and their propagation properties?
Secondary or shear waves -Perpendicular -Slower than P waves -Body waves go through Earth's interior, but NOT liquid layers
The Law of Horizontality
Sedimentary rock layers nearly horizontal under normal conditions
Why is human population an environmental problem?
Silently aggravating global warming Environmental pollution Habitat loss
Three Rock Laws
The Law of... Crosscutting Horizontality Superposition
Main fossil of Mississippi?
Whale Bone
