GEOG 3251 SUMMER 2010, TERM B

MID-TERM REVIEW

Topics to review:

  • Importance of the mountains
  • Why do we care about mountains?
  • Historical attitudes toward mountains (pre-historic to modern)
  • Definitions of mountains
  • Be prepared to list criteria for defining mountains (general) vs high mountains (alpine) environments
  • Sacred mountains:
  • What makes some mountains sacred
  • Ways to worship in different cultures
  • Examples of some sacred mountains
  • Be prepared to link the sacredness of the mountains to plate tectonics, volcanism and earthquakes in various places discussed later in class
  • Plate tectonics:
  • Be able to describe the theory of plate tectonics, starting with the structure of the Earth; provide clues for this theory; continental drift theory.
  • Compare and contrast oceanic vs. continental crust in terms of chemical composition (felsic/basaltic vs mafic/andesitic), thickness, etc..
  • Be able to explain why we find fossils on Mt. Everest
  • Know names and location of the plates discussed in class (N. American, S American, Juan de Fuca, Faralon, Eurasian, Indian, Nazca) and know which mountain orogenies they are involved in
  • Be able to define mountain orogeny in general
  • Define subduction zone and be able to draw a generic mountain formed at the subduction zone (incl. the crusts)
  • Define magma, subduction, trenches
  • Be able to summarize the Laramide orogeny
  • Know the types of plate boundaries, and the landforms associated with each (eg. cordillera mountains, hot spot volcanoes, volcanic arcs, complex mountains etc..)
  • Explain what a hot spot is
  • Examples of each landform associated with each type of plate boundary
  • 4 Major processes involved in mountain formation
  • Define/identify faults (different types – normal, low angle, high angle reverse, transform), folds; mountain ranges associated with each of these
  • Rocks:
  • Know the three main rock categories, and most typical rocks discussed in class
  • Know what rock formations we find in the Flatirons
  • Volcanoes
  • Two types of volcanoes (shield vs composite), their composition and eruption, examples of each;
  • Know why hot spot volcanoes differ in composition than volcanic arcs
  • Be able to label elements of a composite volcano
  • Earthquakes
  • Where they occur, and why
  • Know the three types of waves associated with earthquakes
  • Why earthquakes are destructive
  • Mass movement types
  • Rock slides
  • Creep
  • Lahars
  • Landslides
  • Huascaran disaster: be able to explain the 1970 Huascaran disaster using plate tectonics, glaciers, earthquake, landslide, human elements
  • Human sacrifice in the Andes:
  • What was human sacrifice and why it was performed
  • How were high altitudes sites chosen
  • Who were the Incas?
  • Be able to relate Inca activity in the mountains with plate tectonics, volcanism and earthquakes