ESC 101 Chapter 1 Question Assignment
Due Thursday, Sep. 16, at the start of class
Choose ONE of the following questions from your text Review Questions. Answer the question using only
your notes and text. Do not copy any material from either the classroom presentation or the text. Use your
own words. One paragraph should be enough. You will know you are “done” when you have answered the
question by providing details and a brief explanation.
From Chapter 2 Review Questions, Page 16:
12. Why is Earth considered a dynamic planet? What are its three concentric layers and their
characteristics?
15. What is the Big Bang? What evidence do we have that the universe began approximately 14 billion
years ago?
14. Discuss (explain) why plate tectonic theory is a unifying theory of geology.
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ESC 102 Chapter 2 Question Assignment
Due Thursday, Sep. 16, at the start of class.
Choose ONE of the following questions from your text Review Questions. Answer the question using only
your notes and text. Do not copy any material from either the classroom presentation or the text. Use your
own words. One paragraph should be enough. You will know you are “done” when you have answered the
question by providing details and a brief explanation.
From Chapter 2 Review Questions, Page 36
11. How do plutonic rocks differ from volcanic rocks? Give one example of each. (that is, name one
plutonic rock and one volcanic rock)
15. Compare regional and contact metamorphism. Give an example of a rock that forms under each
condition. (name the two rocks)
16. Why is ice a mineral but water vapor and liquid water are not minerals?
19. Cubic crystals of the minerals pyrite, halite and galena are common, so how could you tell them apart?
(See appendix C, or your mineral charts)
[Your answer should include descriptions of tests and results for each mineral.]
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ESC 102 Chapter 3: to be assigned
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ESC 102 Chapter 4 Question Assignment: Due ____Nov. 2_______ at the start of class.
Choose ONE of the following questions from your text Review Questions. Answer the question using only
your notes and text. Do not copy any material from either the classroom presentation or the text. Use your
own words. One paragraph should be enough. You will know you are “done” when you have answered the
question by providing details and a brief explanation.
From Chapter 4 Review Questions, Page 84
11. Explain the difference between relative dating and absolute dating. (give examples of how each is
obtained)
13. Describe the principle of uniformitarianism according to Hutton and Lyell. What is the significance of
this principle? [hint: in terms of the rate of Earth’s processes and Earth’s age]
19. Why do igneous rocks yield the most accurate radiometric dates? Why can’t sedimentary rocks be
dated radiometrically? What problems are encountered in dating metamorphic rocks?
20. Why are the fundamental principles used in relative dating so important to geology? Briefly describe
three of the principles used in relative dating.
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ESC 102 Chapter 5 Question Assignment: Due ___Nov. 2________ at the start of class.
Choose ONE of the following questions from your text Review Questions. Answer the question using only
your notes and text. Do not copy any material from either the classroom presentation or the text. Use your
own words. One paragraph should be enough. You will know you are “done” when you have answered the
question by providing details and a brief explanation.
From Chapter 5 Review Questions, Page 108
12. You encounter an outcrop where you see a layer of sandstone overlying granite. What kinds of
evidence would allow you to determine which of the two rocks is youngest?
17. What criteria are necessary for a fossil to be a good guide fossil? Explain your answer.
18. How can you use the principle of uniformitarianism to interpret events that no one witnessed, such as
the origin of an ancient wind-blown dune deposit?
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ESC 102 Chapter 6 Question Assignment: Due ___Nov. 2__________ at the start of class.
Choose ONE of the following questions from your text Review Questions. Answer the question using only
your notes and text. Do not copy any material from either the classroom presentation or the text. Use your
own words. One paragraph should be enough. You will know you are “done” when you have answered the
question by providing details and a brief explanation.
From Chapter 6 Review Questions, Page 129
11. Under what conditions are evaporites deposited, and what are the most common evaporite rocks?
12. How and why do the sedimentary deposits on the inner and outer continental shelf differ? (inner is
closer to the continent; outer is further from the continent)
20. Describe the sedimentary properties of rounding and sorting. Are they useful in environmental
analyses?
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ESC 102 Chapter 7 Question Assignment: Due Nov. 2 at the start of class.
(Questions 11, 16, 20 page 152)
11.
Does natural selection really mean that only the biggest, fastest, and strongest are likely to survive?
Explain and give an example.
16.
Give three examples of predictions from evolutionary theory. Explain each one in a sentence or two.
20.
How did the experiments carried out by Gregor Mendel help answer the inheritance questions that
plagued Darwin and Wallace?
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ESC 102 Chapter jj8 Question Assignment: Due Nov. 2 at the start of class.
(Questions 13, 17, 19 page 171)
13.
Explain the two processes that accounted for adding free oxygen to Earth’s early atmosphere?
Which one was the most important?
17.
How do stromatolites form and what is their significance?
19.
Explain whaqt it means to say that the earliest organisms were hetertrophic, anaerobic, prokaryotic
cells.