Prepare for the test that will be given on:
________________________________
Name: ______________________________
Date: ______________________
Science Period: _______
Study Guide for Connecticut Geology Test
1. Rock Cycle
a. Igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks
b. Characteristics of each rock group
c. Examples of rocks in each group
d. Forces/processes that change one type of rock into another
e. Review interactive rock cycle websites, notes
2. Weathering and Erosion
a. Difference between weathering and erosion
b. Weathering – breakdown of rock materials in place
c. Erosion – movement/transportation of sediment
d. Mechanical (physical) versus chemical weathering
e. Climate that enhances chemical weathering
f. Climate that enhances mechanical weathering
g. Region where weathering is the slowest
h. Destructive forces that break down rock into small particles called sediments
i. Sediment/particle sizes – gravel, sand, silt, and clay
j. Clay size particles travel farthest and settle last
k. Hard rocks weather less and slower than softer rocks
l. Frost wedging
m. Plant roots
n. Abrasion
o. Dissolution – limestone caves example
p. Acid rain
q. Oxidation
r. Rusting
s. Hydrolysis
t. Mass wasting due to gravity like landslides, mudslides, avalanches, creep
u. Moving water, wind, wave action, and ice/glaciers cause changes to existing
landforms and create new landforms like valleys (V-shaped and U-shaped),
floodplains along rivers, canyons, caves, beaches or dunes
v. Erosion caused by man – deforestation, farming, cut into sloped hillsides, burning
fossil fuels – increase acid rain
w. Erosion control by man – like rip rap, retaining walls, vegetation
x. Choosing the best building site for a house and protecting house from erosion
y. Review Planet Earth Weathering and Erosion text, W&E Station Lab, and
Weathering and Climate Computer Lab
3. Deposition
a. Eroded/moving sediments settle again/come to rest,
b. Due to loss of energy when water or wind slows down
c. Change in slope can change energy/velocity of moving sediment
d. Create deltas, fill lake bottoms
e. Review Planet Earth Weathering and Erosion text and W&E Station Lab
4. Glaciers
a. Connecticut has been covered by glaciers; most recent extended south to create
coastal islands including Long Island and Cape Cod
b. Glaciers form in areas where annual snowfall is greater than seasonal melt to get
gradual buildup of snow and ice from one season to the next
c. Glaciers increase and decrease in size over long periods of time, depending on
variations in Earth’s climate
d. Glaciers move slowly, spreading outward across a region (continental glaciers) or
moving down a slope (confined, alpine, mountain glaciers)
e. Moving glaciers reshape the land beneath them by scraping (plucking and quarrying),
transporting, and depositing soil and rock
f. Glacial landforms have many identifiable shapes
g. Connecticut’s landscape includes many glacial landforms such as:
i. Till
ii. Moraines
iii. Striations – scratches
iv. U-shaped valleys
v. Esker
h. Review glacier computer lab
5. Geologic Time
a. Earth’s geologic history goes back 4.6 billion years to formation of Earth
b. Geologic time is subdivided by major events that happened
c. Relative timeline – shows sequence/order of events, but not specific dates
i. Laws of Superposition
ii. Law of Included Fragments
iii. Law of Cross-cutting Relationships
iv. Interpret relative dating of a geologic cross-section
d. Absolute timeline – gives specific dates using a chemical composition analysis of the
rock called radiometric dating
e. “Earliest” means the oldest
f. Review Relative Dating of Rock Layers (older, oldest, youngest), Geologic Time: A
History of the Earth, Geologic Time in Connecticut worksheet questions
6. Connecticut Rocks and Geological History
a. Rock types, characteristics, and how they were formed
i. Igneous – basalt (traprock)
ii. Metamorphic – gneiss, schist, marble
iii. Sedimentary – sandstone, shale
b. Major plate tectonic events that created what is now Connecticut
c. To help recall: “crunch – crunch – crunch – crack”
d. How geological history is seen in today’s landscapes
i. North-south trending hills, ridges and valleys
ii. Connecticut Valley/Hartford Valley/Hartford Basin with traprock ridges like
Sleeping Giant State Park, and low lying sedimentary/sediments that were
farmed by early settlers
iii. Glacial features cover Connecticut – till and moraines challenged farmers,
became source of rock walls seen throughout Connecticut
e. Review Geologic Time in Connecticut worksheet questions, Connecticut Rocks Lab,
and Connecticut Landscapes and Geological History (Terranes and Terrains).