Geology 141, Spring, 2005Final Examination Page 1

Geology 141, Spring, 2005Final Examination... Page 1 ...

Geology 141Name Sr.?

Spring, 20053:30 p.m., 11 May, 2005

GE141: Physical Processes

of Planet Earth

Final Examination

This examination is worth 250 points, or 25% of your

overall semester grade. Exams will be graded as

quickly as possible; your individual point total will

be entered on the last page to ensure that only you

know how well you did on the exam, unless you

choose to divulge that information to others.

 Please enter your summer mailing address so your exam can be returned to you:

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

- George Carlin

INSTRUCTIONS: PLEASE read the questions CAREFULLY and completely. If you do not understand something as it appears on the exam, PLEASE ASK FOR CLARIFICATION!! It is to YOUR benefit to do so.

Please respond to each question in the most appropriate fashion. Please make your responses concise and to the point, but thorough; use sketch diagrams any place you believe that they may help explain your response. There should be ample space provided for an adequate response to each question; KINDLY RESTRICT YOUR RESPONSES TO THE SPACE PROVIDED.PLEASE ALSO remember that I CANNOT give any credit for responses I can't read! The number of points for each question is indicated in parentheses after the question.

(And PLEASE remember as well that, as promised on the syllabus, as painful as it is to do it, I WILL deduct a point each time I see "volcanoe" or "techtonic!")

1. Please enter in the diagram below, in their correct positions, the names of the nine minerals that constitute Bowen's Reaction Series. (Hint: they were ALL in your rock-forming mineral set in lab!) (10 points: 1 point each, plus one bonus point for the first correct response)

2. What is the most common rock-forming mineral that is NOT a silicate mineral? (5 points)

3. What are four minerals that are found exclusively, or almost exclusively, in metamorphic rocks, and whose very presence in a rock specimen will tell you it almost certainly had a metamorphic origin? (5 points: 2-1-1-1)

4. What are the two most common organic (=biogenic) marine sedimentary rocks, and of what mineral is each comprised? (5 points: 2-1-1-1)

Rock namedominant mineral

5. Four factors that can and do vary independently result in an enormous variety in metamorphic rocks. What ARE these four variables? (5 points: 2-1-1-1)

6. What are the two major geologic processes responsible for the shortening and thickening of the continental crust? (10 points: 5-5)

What kind of stress creates these effects? (5 points) .

7. Please identify by name any three stratovolcanoes, and two shield volcanoes, from anyplace in the known universe. (5 points)

Stratovolcanoes:Shield volcanoes:

8. The volcano shown below is Popocatepetl, which lies near Mexico City in central Mexico. (A) What specific rock type (e.g., limestone, quartzite) would you expect to find on its flanks, (b) Why does this volcano exist here at all, and (c) why is it usually so explosive when it erupts? (10 points: 2-4-4)

A: Rock type:

B. This volcano exists in Mexico because

C. It is explosive because

8. Why is granite, the most abundant igneous rock on the continents, so much more abundant than rhyolite, when both started out as the same kind of magma? (5 points)

10. Why are earthquakes so much more common in California, Oregon and Washington than they are in Maine? (Please be as specific as possible in your response.) (10 points)

11. While waiting in the checkout line at the grocery store, you see a headline in the Weekly World News that claims: "Radiocarbon dating of ancient lava flows proves humans and dinosaurs lived together 1,000,000 B.C.!" Cite two technical reasons (i.e., relating to the dating) why you now know that this has to be completely bogus. (10 points)

12. What is AMS dating, and why is it so special? (5 points)

13. The photograph below shows a feature in the Waterville Formation along the banks of the Kennebec River in Winslow. (A) What is shown in the photo, and (b) what kind of tectonic stress produced it ? (5 points: 3-2)

This photo shows

and it was created by

14. Why are the major mountain ranges we've discussed in class (the Andes, the Himalaya, the Cascades, the Sierra Nevada, the Urals, etc.) all linear features - with the mountains occurring in long lines (as is shown in the map below, of the Urals), rather than a large area of randomly jumbled mountains? (5 points)

15. What is the "S-wave shadow zone" and why is it significant? (10 points)

16. What is a talus ? (5 points)

17. What is the angle of repose of, for example, a talus or sand dune? (5 points)

18. What is the source for the cements in sedimentary rocks? (5 points)

What are three of these possible cements? (5 points: 2-2-1)

19. Streams carry sediment in three ways. What ARE these three individual parts of the sediment load called, and what specific sediments (clast size, etc.) comprise each of them? (10 points: 4-3-3)

The load of the stream is comprised of

20. The sketch map below shows an area including a segment of the Whatchamacallit River in Kentucky. Please identify by name each of the features indicated by a letter in the map area. (10 points: 2 points each)

A =

B =

C =

D =

E =

21. Where in the above diagram would be the safest place for you to buy your new dream home? WHY? (10 points)

22. What is the difference between vadose water (in the unsaturated zone) and phreatic water (in the zone of saturation), as they relate to the water table and underground water? Which is the true groundwater? (10 points)

23. Based on the water-supply survey we conducted in class (the results of which were tabulated and distributed in class), approximately what percentage of your class relies in whole or in part on wells (i.e., groundwater supplies) for all or part of their domestic water supply?

(multiple choice - circle the number that answers the question)(5 points)

a. about 10% b. about 25% c. about 40% d. about 50% e. about 75%

24. Where does groundwater come from? (5 points)

25. Caves and karst topography almost always occur in areas underlain by what specific kind of rock? (5 points)

26. What are the two mechanisms by which glaciers move? (10 points: 5-5)

27. If glacial ice is no harder than your fingernails, how is it possible for glaciers to gouge and carve the landscape, even scouring into solid rock? (5 points)

28. Identify one major INdirect way that glaciation influences the environment. (5 points)

29. What is the origin of rain-shadow deserts, such as that which exists in central Nevada? (10 points)

30. The dominant agent of erosion in deserts, in terms of the total amount of sediment moved over the course of time, is (5 points)

31. The cliffed coast at left, below, is on western Kodiak Island, Alaska; the cliffs are over 500 feet (150 meters) high. The coast at Cape Lookout, North Carolina, is shown on the right. What specific and different coastal geologic processes are dominant here, to make these two coasts so different? (10 points)

32. On the maps on the following page (the maps are printed back-to-back), locate precisely each of the following localities or features. FOR SMALL FEATURES OR LOCALITIES, use a sharp arrow drawn from your label to the feature, so there can be no doubt about what you are labeling. PLEASE remember that IT IS TO YOUR BENEFIT that your label is clear enough that there is NO question as to your meaning or intent! (20 points, 1 point each)

And YES, all labels must be correctly spelled for credit!

[ Since all you have to do is copy the name from the list below! ]

On the map of the U.S. & Canada: On the map of the world:

ManitobaHudson's Bay

Bay of FundyMediterranean Sea

Cascade RangeNewfoundland

Chesapeake BayBaja California (not "Baja CA")

TennesseeAmazon River

NebraskaTaiwan

WyomingCuba

Long IslandUral Mountains

Lake HuronPuerto Rico

LouisianaGreenland

Grade on exam: ______out of 250 possible.

Semester point total: ______out of 1000 possible.

Final semester grade: ______

Have a great summer!