Lecture 1:
What are the top 5 elements (by weight %) that make up the Earth?
What are the three major rock types?
What are the Core, Mantle, Crust?: Temperature, mechanical properties (brittle/ductile),
thickness, composition. Two types of crust – one is generally younger and one is older – why?
Lithosphere Asthenosphere, and Mesosphere: How they relate to Crust and Mantle,
mechanical properties, temperature, thickness. Where is Asthenosphere closest to the surface of
the Earth? Why? Be able to draw a picture that includes
core/mantle/crust/lithosphere/asthenosphere/mesosphere.
What is Plate Tectonics? Seafloor Spreading? Contiental Drift?
What are the two causes of plate motion?
How many major plates are there? What are their names?
What are the three types of plate boundaries? Make sure you can draw them in both map
view and cross section.
How fast do plates move?
What is the Wilson Cycle?
What is isostasy, and what does it have to do with the topography of the Earth? (hint, less
dense things float high, more dense things float low).
Lecture 2:
Is the surface of the sun hotter/cooler than the core of the Earth?
Does temperature increase or decrease as you get deeper in the Earth? What about the
(liquid part of the) oceans?
What are the three mechanisms for heat flow?
Which way does heat flow?
What is the main reason why the interior of the Earth is hot? (hint – it’s NOT due to
radioactive decay)
How does heat escape from the core?
What percentage does radioactive decay contribute to the heat flow of the Earth?
What is a geotherm? Be able to draw an approximate geotherm for the Earth.
What defines the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary?
Lecture 3:
What is an example of an earthquake myth (covered in class)?
Lecture 4:
What is an earthquake?
What is a fault? What is the difference between a fault and a fracture?
What is seismology? A seismogram?
What is the difference between stress and strain? Elastic and Plastic?
What is a hypocenter/focus? Epicenter? How are they different?
What is an active fault defined by? Inactive?
Orientation of a fault plane is defined by what two directions?
What is a hangingwall? Footwall?
What are the three styles of faults? Be able to draw a picture of each.
What is an oblique fault?
Which type of plate boundary is each fault style associated with? What kind of stress?
What is a seismic wave?
What are several ways seismic waves can be generated (besides earthquakes)?
What are the three measurable quantities of seismic waves (or any waves)?
What are the five types of seismic waves?
What are the two types of body waves? Why are the different? Which one is faster? What
materials can they travel through?
What are the two types of surface waves?
Why do waves refract?
Lecture 5:
What is a seismometer?
How can three seismometers be used to find the epicenter of an earthquake?
Lecture 6:
What is Seismic Intensity?
What is an isoseismal?
What is the Mercalli Intensity Scale? What is the possible range of values? Which
indicates the most amount of damage?
What is earthquake magnitude?
What are the names of TWO different magnitude scales?
Are there more big earthquakes or small earthquakes? What is a ‘Major’ earthquake
defined as? A ‘Great’ earthquake? How many per year?
What is seismic moment?
Lecture 7:
What is the difference between reflection and refraction?
What are the major boundaries of the Earth? Their depths?
How can seismic waves be used to study the interior of the earth?
What do the ‘Beachballs’ describe?
How have humans made seismic waves? How have earthquakes been triggered by
humans?
What is a Tsunami?
Lectures 8-10:
Regarding these major earthquakes:
San Francisco, CA, April 18, 1906
Prince William Sound, Alaska, March 27, 1964
Lisbon, Portugal, 1755
Loma Prieta, CA, Oct 17, 1989
Northridge, CA, Jan 17, 1994
Kobe, Japan, Jan 17, 1995
Izmit, Turkey, Aug 17 1999
Bam, Iran, Dec 26, 2003
Know the following:
Location, date, magnitude and intensity, name of fault (if listed), plate tectonic cause, general
impact, and anything unusual about the earthquake.