Study Guide for Midterm Exam 1 - Principles of Earth Science | GEOL 1312, Study notes of Geology

Download Study Guide for Midterm Exam 1 - Principles of Earth Science | GEOL 1312 and more Study notes Geology in PDF only on Docsity! GEOL 1312 -- Principles of Earth Science II Study Guide Midterm Exam 1 The midterm exam will be comprehensive and multiple-choice. This review sheet is a guideline only – there may be a few questions on the exam not specifically addressed here but covered in class, the assigned reading, or the homework. Things to help you study: Class notes Homework assignments Assigned reading Animations posted on the web This Study Guide Atoms, Elements, and Minerals  General definitions  Components of an atom: neutrons, protons, electrons  Ions, compounds  Major elements in the crust  Physical properties of minerals: hardness, cleavage, streak, etc…  Crystals: definition, shapes  Mineral classes: silicates, carbonates. The Rock Cycle  General definition  Processes that relate different rock types Igneous Rocks  General definitions, vocabulary  Sources of igneous rocks  Intrusive vs. extrusive igneous rocks, properties Metamorphic Rocks  General definitions, vocabulary  Ways that rocks transform into a metamorphic state  Types of metamorphism: compact, burial, regional dynamothermal, hydrothermal Sedimentary Rocks:  General definitions, vocabulary  Types and compositions: clastic, organic, chemical, bioclastic rocks  Clastic sedimentary rock formation process: weathering, transport, sedimentation, lithification  Shape and sort: what they tell us about sedimentary rocks  Lithification processes  Types of clastic rocks (conglomerate, sandstone, shale), how we classify them (size). Sedimentary Structures:  General definitions, vocabulary  Types: ripple marks, bedding, cross-bedding, mud cracks Fossils  General definitions, vocabulary  Types of fossils  What we use fossils for Weathering & Erosion  General definitions, vocabulary  Mechanical weathering: frost wedging, pressure-release fracturing, thermal expansion & fracturing, abrasion, organic activity  Chemical weathering: dissolution, oxidation, hydrolysis  Primary “agents” of erosion: wind, water, gravity, ice Determining Geologic Ages:  Relative ages: Principles of Original Horizontality, Superposition, Cross- cutting Relationships, Faunal Succession  Types of unconformities  Correlation  Absolute ages: radioactive dating methods, what a half-life is, how to calculate the age of a sample given its half-life and the amount of decay Mass Extinctions & Geologic Time  What they are  What causes them  When the major ones were.  Geologic time: be familiar with major divisions and the important things that occurred during them: Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic 17. Which sedimentary rock is made of clay minerals? a. Conglomerate. b. Evaporites. c. Limestone. d. Shale. 18. The principle of original horizontality is based on the fact that a. sediment usually accumulates in horizontal layers. b. sedimentary rocks generally become younger from bottom to top. c. sedimentary rocks must be older than an intruding dike. d. rocks can be dated by studying radioactive decay of the elements. 19. The half-life of carbon-14 is ~6,000 years. If a rock that formed 18,000 years ago originally contained 100 grams of carbon-14, about how much carbon-14 would be left in that rock today? a. 12.5 grams b. 25 grams c. 33 grams d. 50 grams 20. True or False? Carbon-14 dating is used to determine the age of materials older than 1 million years. 21. Fish, amphibians, and reptiles all evolved during the a. Cenozoic era. b. Mesozoic era. c. Paleozoic era. d. Proterozoic Eon. 22. In the weathering process of pressure-release fracturing, a. salts crystallize in cracks enlarging fractures. b. bedrock minerals decompose to clay. c. bedrock expands and fractures when the overlying rock erodes away. d. bedrock dissolves and ground water carries the dissolved ions away. 23. The process whereby granite fractures in large plates or shells like the layers of an onion is called ___________________. 24. True or False? If you live in a moist climate, you would be unlikely to find halite in your backyard. 25. _____________ is a layer of loose rock fragments mixed with clay, silt, and sand overlying bedrock. a. Loam b. Humus c. Litter d. Regolith or soil