Sample Final

Question 1

Continental Crust

Answer 1

(30-70km; Si, O, Na, K, Al, Ca)

Question 2

Oceanic Crust

Answer 2

(3-10km; Si, O, Fe, Ca, Al)

Question 3

Mantle

Answer 3

(2900km; Si, O, Fe, Mg)

Question 4

Core

Answer 4

(3400km; Fe, Ni)

Question 5

Lithosphere

Answer 5

includes both crust and uppermost mantle, 100-150km

Question 6

Asthenosphere

Answer 6

250km Mantle

Question 7

Mesosphere

Answer 7

Mantle

Question 8

Outer core

Answer 8

core

Question 9

inner core

Answer 9

core

Question 10

Chemical Layers

Answer 10

Continental Crust, Oceanic Crust, Mantle, Core

Question 11

Mechanical Layers

Answer 11

Lithosphere, aesthenosphere, Mesosphere, Outer Core, Inner Core

Question 12

Clastic Rocks

Answer 12

Sandstone, conglomerate, & mudstone

Question 13

Biogenic Rocks

Answer 13

Limestone

Question 14

Chemical Rocks

Answer 14

Halite & Gypsum

Question 15

What minerals would you expect to find in a basalt, and how would you identify them

Answer 15

mafic, so: plagioclase feldspar (white, two directions of cleavage at 90deg), pyroxene (dark green/black, two directions of cleavage not at 90deg)

Question 16

What tectonic setting might you find a basalt in?

Answer 16

found at continental rifts and in oceanic crust;

Question 17

Is basalt phaneritic or aphanitic?

Answer 17

aphanitic (crystals too small to be visible)

Question 18

What are the four features of clastic rocks used to identify and classify them?

Answer 18

composition, grain size, grain sorting, grain roundness.

Question 19

Sediment high in a mountain canyon

Answer 19

conglomerate, fairly rounded, well sorting (unless glacial)

Question 20

Sediment at the base of a mountain range

Answer 20

coarse gravel conglomerates and coarse sands mostly, some muddy lenses, fairly rounded, composition depends on source rock

Question 21

Sediment on a flat plain

Answer 21

well sorted, well rounded sandstone in river channels, mud in floodplains

Question 22

Sediment moving from the coast to the deep ocean

Answer 22

progressing from well sorted, well rounded sand to silt to mud as the water gets deeper.

Question 23

How do floods in mountain streams differ from floods in rivers on flat plains

Answer 23

Floods in mountains confined to canyons and cause damage at riverbanks, on plains the floods fill the whole floodplains

Question 24

Where do floods happen in either location?

Answer 24

Floods in mountains can be seasonal or flash floods, floods on plains tend to be seasonal.

Question 25

How do earthquakes occur

Answer 25

Strike-slip behavior: plates constantly move, and pressure builds up along faults due to rocks sticking together by friction. When the pressure overcomes friction, the rocks jolt back to where they should be (like a rubber band snapping).

Question 26

How do earthquake waves cause damage, and which cause the most damage?

Answer 26

Earthquake waves cause damage by moving the ground in different directions, surface waves (L&R) cause the most damage.

Question 27

Foreland basin

Answer 27

reverse thrust / compression

Question 28

Rift Valley

Answer 28

tension / normal

Question 29

Transpressional Range

Answer 29

Strike-slip / shear

Question 30

Metamorphic: Quartzite

Answer 30

protolith: quartz-rich rocks

Question 31

Metamorphic: Marble

Answer 31

protolith: limestone

Question 32

Metamorphic: Slate

Answer 32

Protolith: shale (mudstone)

Question 33

What are two ways to determine how much metamorphism has undergone

Answer 33

Strength of foliation, mineral grain size, amount of shear (only if sheared), mineral assemblage (i.e. which minerals the rock contains)

Question 34

1Sketch a syncline that has been eroded down so the core is exposed on the flat ground. Will these core rocks be older or younger than the ones on the limbs?

Answer 34

/\ shaped : Syncline is a downward fold, so the axis should be lower than the limbs. The oldest rock will be on the limbs, the youngest in the center.

Question 35

What must the rock layers be like to produce a confined aquifer?

Answer 35

A confined aquifer is a water-saturated layer of porous, permeable rock that has an impermeable layer (aquitard) above it, cutting it off from the surface (confining it).

Question 36

Where the water level be in a well tapping an unconfined aquifer? A confined aquifer?

Answer 36

An unconfined aquifer is open to the surface. Water in a well tapping an unconfined aquifer will be at the water table, water in a well tapping a confined aquifer will be at the potentiometric surface.