Geos 100 Fall 2013 Final Study Guide: Use tests, study guides, text, handouts & lab book as sources. All of
my lecture power points, some with additional comments, are posted at
https://faculty.camosun.ca/tarkhamilton/ .
All Structure Labs and other late labs due no later than Friday Dec 6, 2013.
You will be allowed 1 handwritten double-sided page of notes as a crib sheet to aid you in recalling
formulas, jargon, processes etc. during the test.
The Test is Thursday Dec. 12 8:30-11:30 AM Young 220.
The Final exam as scheduled by registration will be 3 hours duration. It is cumulative for the whole course.
The emphasis will be about 60% on the last 3rd of the course from Ch8.-Time, Ch.9&13-Structures and
Mountain Building, Ch 10-Earthquakes and using Geophysics to examine the interior of the Earth and off
book, the Tectonics and Geology of Canada, especially that of Western Canada from my handout. We have
support videos on all of these including the Earth Revealed DVD’s, Cascadia the Hidden Fire (Quakes) and
Where Terranes Collide and lab exercises on all or most of these topics. The other 40% will revisit earlier
chapters on minerals, earth chemistry, ore deposits (Ch 20), plate tectonics (Chs: 1, 11& 12), geological
processes, 3 rock types and associated classification and rock forming processes and environments Ch’s 4,
5, 6, & 7 and support figures for sedimentary environments from Ch’s: 14, 15, 17, 18 & 19 (at least look at
the plates and read the captions in these). The balance will be about 60% multiple guess, mix and match,
true or false against 40% essay and labeled illustrations. You can expect essays on a time topic and a
structural geology mountain building topic in addition to syntheses of earlier chapters in both books.
Previous Essay Topics: Write short essays and use labeled illustrations to answer:
Include 10 facts, correctly used and related technical vocabulary clearly illustrated or discussed.
There will be 2 to 4 essays like those from this list and at least 2 of comparable complexity that are
not on the list.
Special Fracking Essay Topic for this term: Discuss the geology, technology, procedure,
environmental hazards, geological setting etc. for Canada to pursue a vigorous hydraulic slickwater
fracking program for shale gas and oil deposits. What are the issues for surface waters and
subsurface aquifers? What are the environmental issues with enhanced gas recovery attempts, pros
and cons? What can go wrong on a local, regional and planetary scale?
A) What kind of boundaries and geohazards exist along the west coast from the Queen Charlotte Islands
to Mendocino California. Name the plates are on each side of the boundary? What tectonic features
make up this boundary. What kind of seismic events are expected? How often do they occur? What can
be done by way of preparation or remediation? (10 points)
B) What types of earthquakes occur in Western Canada? When were the biggest ones? How big are they?
Where do they occur? How often do they occur? When were the last big ones? What are the
consequences for manmade structures (buildings, water, hydro power etc.)? (10 points)
C) Describe the sequence of events for the assembly of the Canadian Cordillera and why this theory is
important to geology. Include belts of accreted terranes and at least one terrane from each belt.
Describe the timing and tectonic forces that caused terrane accretion. Describe any resources whose
availability was affected by these processes. (10 points)
D) Describe “the Wilson Cycle” and relate it to the evolution of the continents and ocean basins. What are
the controlling forces and boundaries? What does the cycle entail and how long does it last? What is
the relevance of this to the geological evolution of North America in terms of uplift, subsidence,
rifting, accretionary tectonics and mountain-building. (10 points)
E) Congratulations! You are a new species of extremely long-lived and tough creature that was just born
on a hot vent on the east side of the Juan de Fuca ridge. Describe your upcoming journey as you ride
the oceanic crust and follow where it goes for the next 200Ma. Include each environment or process as
it overtakes you and your home in turn. The geological environments (sediment types, water depths,
temperatures, energies, biota, mineralogy) are the focus for this story. (10 points.)
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F) Explain the geological processes that can create tsunamis. How big are tsunamis in the middle of the
Pacific versus along the coasts? Explain how the tsunami warning system works in the Pacific Basin.
What are the environmental and structural effects of tsunamis on the coasts. Give examples from large
historic earthquakes and locations of significant tsunami damage. (10 points)
G) How was life, climate and the environment different than today for this region during the Cretaceous?
H) Describe mountain building processes and the different tectonic environments, mountain range types,
their relative elevations and their different internal make up including rock types and structures. Give
examples from North America, other continents and the oceanic regions. (10 points)
I) Describe and discuss the hazards and resource issues related to fracking.
J) Describe significant factors to make Avatar’s “moon” planet Pandora’s geology and processes
different from Earth’s.
K) Critique the geology of John Carter of Mars.
L) Caves/Karst based on IMAX film and karst features, formations, environments.
Matching or multiple choice: about 20 terms and definitions (details) from the entire course: mineral
names, rock types, geological processes, structures, natural resources, tectonics, solid earth geophysics,
magnetism, earthquakes. Use all geological vocabulary from the ends of the chapters we studied. Eg.:
Anticline, Body Wave, Convection, Decompression melting, Eclogite, Fumarole, Gondwanaland, Hotspot,
Isotope, Joints, Klippe, Lithospheric Plates, Moho, Nuee ardente, Orogeny, Placer, Quartzite, Reverse fault,
Stikinia, Topaz, Unconformity, Viscosity, Wrangellia, Xenolith, Yazoo, Zircon
Multiple Choice: 20 questions (synthesis) covering major concepts, cycles, processes
Eg.
1. What affects rock densities?
2. What are 3 different causes of transgressions or regressions.
3. Distinguish or provide an example for each of Sedimentary, Metamorphic and Igneous hosted ore
deposits and give a Canadian example of each one.
4. What is the main geophysical evidence for the Core?
5. How do we know how fast plates move?
6. Where would you expect down welling convection in the mantle?
7. What causes magnetic reversals?
8. What are the essential elements (conditions) for petroleum depostis?
9. What are some different kinds of ore deposits, geological environments and environmental issues with
mining (ch20).
10. Why are body waves different from surface waves?
11. Which do the most damage during earthquakes.
12. Why are P waves the fastest?
13. What are different kinds of evidence that the earth is hotter inside than on the surface.
On the Final, in place of a final Lab Practicum, There will be 3-4 short lab-like exercises lasting about 5-15
minutes each involving:
1) Relative dating, unconformities and a geological block diagram involving sequences of events and
labeling and naming structures including fault types and directions and different types of
unconformities.
2) Earthquake location from 3 stations and arrival times and intensity from S-P and amplitude.
3) Large scale Plate Tectonic boundaries from the map or cross sectional distribution of: earthquakes,
volcanoes, and contrasting types of crust
4) Geohazards: Earthquake, Tsunami, Landslides, Volcanic eruption etc.
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