GEOS 100 – Exam 1 Study Guide
1.) Technical vocabulary to know and be able to use in definitions or multiple choice
questions: (For time terms know when they were relatively and what happened
then or distinguished them in Earth history.)
Accretion
Age of the Universe and the Earth
Aluminosilicates (Andalusite, Kyanite, Sillimanite)
Amphibole
Anhydrite
Archean
Atmosphere (What is it made of, how is it formed and what does it do?)
Biosphere
Calcite
Cambrian explosion of life
Catastrophism
Chemical Bond types (and minerals that display them, property differences?)
Chemical Differentiation of Earth Chemical formulas for >20 minerals: augite, albiteanorthite, fluorite, gypsum, halite…
Chain silicates (2 types) (pyroxenes and amphiboles)
Clay Minerals
Continents
Convection
Core (Inner versus Outer, size and composition and origin)
Cleavage angles and numbers versus common mineral types that display them &
relation to ionic arrangements or silicate structures
Climate versus weather. (What causes climate change?)
Cretaceous
Crust (Continental versus Oceanic, age, thickness, composition, origin)
Cryosphere
Deep (Geological) Time
Devonian
Differentiation (of Earth)
Dolomite
Eocene
Fluorite
Framework (tectosilicates)
Geosphere
Geothermal gradient (oceanic versus continental)
Gypsum
Hadean
Halite
Heat sources (what are the 2 big ones now? What about at the beginning of earth
history?)
Hydrosphere (what makes it up? Where is most of the fresh water?)
Igneous (processes involved and plutonic versus volcanic rock types)
1
Isostasy: Pratt versus Airy Models
Isotope (radioactive versus stable)
Jurassic
Lithosphere (crust plus brittle upper mantle, continental versus oceanic)
Mantle (Upper, Lower, depths, compositions, origin)
Magma (2 abundant types: basalt from peridotite and granite from lower crust e.g.
gabbro or amphibolite)
Magma evolution and processes: partial melting, fractionation, assimilation, mixing
Massive extinction
Melting versus temperature
Metamorphic (Dynamic, dynamothermal, Thermal and rock types: breccia and fault
gouge, schist and gneiss, skarns and hornfels)
Mid Ocean Ridges and Rifts (where, what happens, how long?)
Mississippian
Muscovite
Moh’s Hardness Scale: (Talc, Gypsum, Calcite, Fluorite, Apatite, Orthoclase, Quartz,
Topaz, Corundum, Diamond)
Micas (biotite, chlorite, muscovite, clays)
Mineral Groups (by anion types: Oxides, Hydroxides, Halides, Sulfates, Sulfides,
Carbonates, Phosphates and Silicates) know several of each type by name and
environment e.g. where would you classify and find: Chlorite, Limonite, Augite,
Barite, Sphalerite, Hematite, Cassiterite, Sylvite, Dolomite, Beryl,
Plagioclase – where does it occur, how abundant, how distinguished?
Nebular Hypothesis
Ocean Basins
Ordovician
Orthoclase (K-spar)
Paleozoic, Phanerozoic and Precambrian: (Which came first? What do they mean?)
Paradigm, Theory, Hypothesis
Pennsylvanian, Permian
Plate Tectonics and motions (rates, directions, locations, plate margin processes)
Physical Properties (Lustre, hardness, cleavage, fracture, habit, specific gravity,
colour, conductivity) & what determines each?
Polymorphs (What are 2 for Carbon? For Calcium Carbonate, Aluminosilicates? Etc.)
Precambrian (Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic, Ediacaran)
Pyroxene
Radioactivity
Radius of Earth
Rifts and Mid ocean ridges
Rock Cycle
Scientific Method: observation, hypothesis, theory, test, reiterate…
Sedimentary (processes involved: clastic and bio-chemical and rock types)
Seismicity/seismology (Why does earth have this and what can it tell us?)
Sheet silicates (phyllosilicates)
Subduction Zones (where, what happens, how long)
Tectonic Boundary (what are the 3 types and what happens there?)
2
Tectosilicates: Quartz, feldspars, zeolites. What do they all have in common?
Transform faults, Deep sea trenches and subduction zones
Uniformitarianism
Wilson Cycle (what is it and how long does it last?)
2.) Study guide questions from the back of each chapter: facts, theories, minerals,
rocks, relating processes:
What is memorable about Mt. Logan?
What is the current world population and how does this relate to natural resources?
What are the eons, eras, periods & epochs of the geological time scale & why do we
have this unusual “yardstick” for time and earth history?
Is there any causal relationship between earthquakes and landslides?
Is there any causal relationship between earthquakes and volcanoes?
What are gradual versus episodic geological processes and give examples?
What are geological hazards and what do they have to do with human activity versus
natural processes?
What is the relationship between geological time, processes and long term changes
like: uplift, erosion, weathering, transport, sedimentation, melting, crystallization,
compaction, cementation, landscape evolution, mountain building, subsidence etc?
Who were Ussher and Hutton and what “contributions did they make?
What are the largest layers in the Earth, their composition, thicknesses and origin?
Why is convection important and what powers it inside the earth?
How long is a Wilson Cycle?
Why are mid ocean ridges high and trenches deep?
What is the difference between a mineral and a rock?
Where do mountain belts form?
What kinds of rocks are not made from minerals?
What distinguishes an ore from a mineral?
3
Why do we classify minerals as silicates sulfides, carbonates etc?
What is polymorphism why does it occur? Give 2 different pairs of mineral examples.
What is the difference between crystal face and a cleavage plane?
What determines a mineral’s: hardness, luster, streak, density, tenacity, habit etc?
Provide 2 contrasting mineral examples for each of the physical properties.
What rocks exhibit volcanic textures and which have plutonic ones?
How and where are diamonds formed (see ch 21)?
What kinds of minerals are found in placer deposits?
What are the most abundant mineral types in each of earth’s major layers?
What are the dominant rock types in ocean crust, continental crust and mantle?
Why does the temperature rise with depth in the earth related to heat generation and
thermal conductivity?
How does the Earth come to have internal heat and convection?
What and where is the low velocity zone?
What are the 2 dominant types and locations of partial melting?
What are 2 fundamentally different kinds of sediments or sedimentary rocks?
When and where does metamorphism occur?
What characteristics distinguish the precious gems?
Do all geological processes operate at the same rates throughout geological time; why
or why not?
Are mineral deposits uniformly distributed; why or why not?
What minerals make up Moh’s hardness scale?
Be able to explain the chemical or structural basis for mineral properties such as
hardness, cleavage, luster, specific gravity etc.
What kinds of changes can transform one rock type into another? Discuss this for 2
rocks and explain how they are related by the rock cycle. Where on or in the Earth
would this transformation occur?
4
Exam Format:
10-15 matching terms and definitions e.g.
H 1. High pressure polymorph of carbon
H. Diamond
20-50 Multiple choice (pick best answer and write letter of that answer in blank at
edge of test form. E.g.
____ 22. Planet with common water found in all 3 phases: solid Liquid and gas.
a. Mercury
b. Pluto
c. Earth
d. Venus
4-6 Essay-discussion-labelled drawings e.g.
Draw a cross section of Earth labeling its internal layers. Provide a scale bar and
indicate at what depth the boundaries occur. Show any zones of liquid or partial
melting and indicate where internal convection occurs especially relative to layers
and lithospheric plate edges. (10 points)
5