GEOL 8T – Earth Science Lab for Teachers

Learning Objectives for Exam #2

We have covered a number of subjects over the past few weeks.  Topics have included:  Weathering; Sedimentary Rocks; Metamorphic Rocks; Sand; Fluvial Processes; Earth’s Interior; Seismic Waves; Plate Tectonics; Geologic Activity at Tectonic Plate Boundaries; and Volcanic Hazards.

Completed labs included: Mechanical and Chemical Weathering; Sedimentary Rock Imagery; Sedimentary Gallery Walk; Metamorphic Gallery Walk; Sand Activity; River Cutters; Levee and River Field Trip; What’s Inside the Earth;

Seismic Waves: A Tool to Peer Inside the Earth; Plate Tectonic Machines; Earthquake Patterns; Volcanoes Where and Why?; and Long Valley Analysis.

From the lab manual information, lecture and class discussions, and from the lab exercises, you should have a reasonable understanding of the concepts involved in each lab.  For the exam, you will be expected to provide information and answer questions related to the materials covered in each lab, and specific details of the information listed below.

Be sure you are familiar with the reason we did each lab.

Weathering

List and describe the process of Mechanical (Physical) Weathering, including at least two agents of this type of weathering.

List and describe the process of Chemical Weathering including at least two agents of this type of weathering.

Describe the process and path a rock through sediment may take to get from an outcrop to a beach 400 miles away.  Include information on the change in the number, shape, and size of minerals present along the path.

Explain the general and specific procedures and processes demonstrated in the Weathering Lab exercises Shake It Up, Fizzies, Ice Power/Mighty Plants, and Crumbling Granite.

Sedimentary Rocks

Given rock samples, and using your Quick Guide to Basic Sedimentary Rock Identification (Page 85 of the Geol 8T Lab Manual), correctly identify any of the Detrital or Chemical/Biochemical Rocks on the chart.

From a given rock sample, be able to identify the likely depositional environment for that sample.

Metamorphic Rocks

Given Metamorphic Rock samples and your Quick Guide to Basic Metamorphic Rock Identification (Page 89 of the Geol 8T Lab Manual), correctly identify any of the rocks listed on the chart.

Given a pair of rock samples, be able to identify the foliated sample from the non-foliated sample.

Be able to explain how any of the metamorphic rocks formed, and the likely parent rock that it formed from.

Sand

Given a sample of sand and a microscope, and using the Sand Activity charts on pages 98-100, be able to properly identify the size, sorting, and roundness of the sand sample.  Also be able to list the most likely mineral(s) present in the sample.

Be able to tell a reasonable story of the likely travels for your sand sample to get from it’s place of origin to it’s final resting place from which it was collected.

Fluvial Processes (Including Field Trip)

Properly identify the features of a river system, from headwaters, to the ocean.  Include details of the relative size, shape, and erosive energy for each part of the stream/river system.

Identify the cause and most common location of meanders and oxbows in a stream system.

Describe and be able to properly identify the relative volume of water and movement of sediment in a river (fluvial) system.  Include details of the location and reason for alluvial fans, deltas, etc.

Be able top discuss and properly describe what would happen if a meandering river were located in an area of rapid tectonic uplift, and how the system may look after significant sudden uplift of the land in the area.

Earth’s Interior

Properly identify the layers within the earth.  Be able to identify the features, locations, and characteristics of the inner core, outer core, lower mantle, upper mantle, and crust.

Seismic Waves

Describe how scientists use seismic waves to understand the interior of the earth.

Properly identify the details and characteristics of P-, S-, and surface waves.

Plate Tectonics and Geologic Activity at Tectonic Plate Boundaries

Given an image or figure, properly label and describe the parts of the tectonic system, including: plate boundaries (convergent, ocean-ocean, ocean-continent, continent-continent, transform), hot spots, subduction zones, spreading centers, suture zones, and other relevant features.

Properly label and describe the following types of faults: transform (right-lateral, left-lateral), dip-slip (normal, reverse, and thrust), fault trace, earthquake focus, and earthquake epicenter.

Identify and describe the type of earthquake and volcanic activity at the various types of plate boundaries, including the relative depth or pattern of earthquakes and type and distribution of volcanoes relative to the plate interactions.

Volcanic Hazards

List and describe the potential hazards associated with different types of magma/lava, and eruptive styles.

From historic volcanic eruption information, be able to develop a hazard map for a given volcanic area.  Be sure to cover all hazards evaluated in the Long Valley Analysis lab.