Anda di halaman 1dari 158

Physical Geology 101

PHYSICAL GEOLOGY Page


Chapter 1 Introduction to Geology Chapter 2 Origin of the Solar System Chapter 3 Plate Tectonics Chapter 4 Minerals Chapter 5 Igneous Rocks Chapter 6 Volcanoes Chapter 7 Weathering and Soil Chapter 8 Sedimentary Rocks Chapter 9 Metamorphic Rocks Chapter 10 Geologic Time Chapter 11 Crustal Deformation Chapter 12 Earthquakes Chapter 13 Earths Interior Chapter 14 Ocean Basins Chapter 15 Mountain Ranges and Construction of Continents Chapter 16 Erosion and Mass Wasting Chapter 17 Running Water Chapter 18 Groundwater Chapter 19 Ice and Glacier Chapter 20 Deserts and Wind Chapter 21 Shorelines Chapter 22 Climate Change Chapter 23 Earths Resources Chapter 24 Geologic Hazards Chapter 25 Planetary Geology 2 4 7 15 27 34 41 45 54 63 71 79 88 92 97 102 106 117 122 126 131 139 144 150 154

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 1 Introduction to Geology


What is Geology?

(p.1-6)

Geology is a science: Greek "geo" = Earth, "logos" = discourse. So geology is the science of the Earth.

Age of the Earth


Geology is the study of the Earth and all its natural component parts that impact on each other. Although we have no reason to believe that the processes we see happening around us today were any different to the processes that have been occurring throughout Earth history, we know these processes are very slow, which raises the issue about exactly how old the Earth is. The earliest estimates of the age of the Earth were not based in science at all, but were determined from th biblical interpretations. James Ussher, an Irish Anglican archbishop, suggested in the early 17 century that the Earth formed a mere 6010 years ago, in 4004 B.C. Clearly, this estimate makes no sense scientifically as the geologic processes that constantly modify the Earth are far too slow for anything of any consequence to happen in so short a time. Usshers supporters, however, simply inferred that early geologic events (such as the creation of mountains) must have been extremely rapid and catastrophic; an idea known as catastrophism. However, there is no geologic evidence to support such an idea. With the advent of better scientific studies and hypotheses, it became clear that the Earth is extremely ancient. This idea was first promoted th in the late 18 century by a Scottish physician named James Hutton, often referred to as the father of modern geology. He coined the famous phrase regarding the age of the Earth: no vestige of a beginning no prospect of an end. Hutton introduced the Principle of Uniformitarianism, which implies that we can study modern geologic processes to understand the history of the Earth because of the great body of evidence that these modern processes have occurred throughout Earth history. Simply stated, this principle advocates the present is the key to the past. In order to better understand the long complex history of our planet, we must develop a strong understanding of its geologic complexity. This includes the evidence for how the Earth initially formed, its internal structure, the material it is made out of, the nature of the Earth's surface and the natural processes that operate at the surface, its dynamic characteristics such as earthquakes and volcanoes, its resources, and its physical, chemical, and biological history.

Q: So what is Physical Geology?


Physical geology is concerned with the materials that make up the Earth as well as the processes that operate on those materials, either at or beneath the surface of the Earth. What materials?: What processes?: elements, minerals, rocks, water plate tectonics, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, mountain building, the action of rivers, glaciers, oceans, and wind, and weathering and erosion.

To understand these processes and the great amounts of time needed to see their lasting impacts, we have to think about time in a whole new way in comparison to human perceptions of time. In geology, we have to think in terms of deep time, in which processes may occur over millions of years.

Physical Geology 101

Thats why geologists developed the geologic time scale to divide the long duration of Earth history into numerous time divisions, dating all the way back to about 4600 million years ago!

What will we look at in this course? the origin of the Earth and how it has changed through time the composition of the Earth and its interior structure movements of tectonic plates and the causes of earthquakes and volcanoes the natural processes that shape the surface of the Earth the natural processes that modify the interior of the Earth Earth's resources that are utilized by mankind mankind's impact on the Earth and the environment the geology of other planets the development of life on Earth and implications for life on other planets

Why should we study geology?


We are fundamentally dependent on Earth's resources to function as a society. We need to know where to find these resources so that society can continue to function. But, we must also recognize that many of Earth's resources are finite and could eventually run out. So we must also know how to manage our resources and recognize how our use of the resources may ultimately be impacting on the planet. We also need to know about geology for practical reasons, like choosing a safe place to construct buildings where they will be safe from river flooding, landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other potential natural disasters. We also need to be able to pick safe sites for building dams and bridges, nuclear power stations, and for disposing of society's waste products so as not to create environmental disasters.

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 2 Origin of the Solar System


The Scientific Method One of the basic questions you may have asked yourself about geology is: How do we know all these things about the Earth? Well, most of our knowledge and ideas are based on the various analyses that scientists have undertaken. The basic approach to doing science consists of the following sequence of tasks: (1) Collection of scientific data through observations and measurements. (2) Attempt to explain the data through the development of a _________________. (3) Continued observations and experiments to test the robustness of the models. (4) Accept, modify, or reject the hypothesis. If it becomes generally accepted due to overwhelming evidence, then we call it a _______________, which must always be scientifically testable. Example of a generally accepted theory in geology: ____________________________

Earth Systems The Earth is part of a larger system, called the solar system, but the Earth itself is made up of a number of interdependent systems. The four main Earth systems are the _________________, _________________, _________________, and _________________. We will talk about the lithosphere a little later. List the characteristics of the other three below: Atmosphere:

Hydrosphere:

Biosphere:

Each system interacts with the others. For example, the constant motion of water from the surface to the atmosphere and back is called the _________________________. The Earth always maintains a balance between the 4 systems, however.

The Solar System and Origin of the Earth Solar system constituents: _____ planets (~150 moons), asteroids, comets, meteoroids. The planets and moons are held in regular orbits by the forces of gravitational attraction.

Physical Geology 101

Terrestrial planets:

1.__________________ 3.__________________

2.__________________ 4.__________________

Main characteristics: _____________________________ Jovian planets: 5.__________________ 7.__________________ 6.__________________ 8.__________________

Main characteristics: _____________________________ New solar system category in 2006: dwarf planet: e.g. ______________

Development of the Solar System: Big Bang: ________________ years ago. Clouds of matter gathered into galaxies and solar systems. He and heavier elements form from H in stars by _____________________. We use the ________________________ to explain the development of the solar system, which developed after a giant supernova explosion. Blobs of material coalesced from this supernova, which formed heavy elements like uranium that could not have formed in our relatively small sun, called a _____________________. The giant blob of material that developed into our solar system is referred to as the _____________________. Dust and gases contracted due to gravity and begun to spin faster, forming a flattened disk shape with 99% of the matter at the center (i.e., the developing Sun). Accretion of matter within the disk caused planets to develop. The size of the collapsing sun stabilized when thermal energy was balanced by gravitational collapse. Formation of the Sun and planets was complete by ________________ years ago.

Internal Structure of the Earth The terrestrial planets formed by a process called differentiation which means that molten material cooled and eventually formed: _________________________________________________________________.

What is density? ______________________________________________________

What is the unit of measurement of density? ________________ What is the density of water? ____________

Physical Geology 101

What are the three principal layers that formed inside the differentiated Earth? 1. _______________ Description: 2. _______________ Description: 3. _______________ Description: The mantle makes up about _________ of the volume of the Earth. What are the two types of crust? 1. ___________________ Characteristics:

2. ___________________ Characteristics:

The oldest rocks on Earth are _____________ years old and were found in ____________________. We can also classify the layers in the Earth based on their physical properties (e.g., whether they are liquid or solid; or how strong they are). The names of these layers, moving successively deeper into the Earth, are: 1. __________________ Description: brittle solid; includes the ____________ and the ___________________; 67 mi thick. 2. __________________ Description: _________________; up to 410 mi deep. 3. __________________ Description: ________________; down to 1802 mi. 4. __________________ Description: ________________; down to 3212 mi. 5. __________________ Description: ______________________; center of Earth at a depth of 3968 miles.

The lithosphere is broken up into many fragments called ________________________.

FINAL QUESTION: The process whereby all the plates move around is called: _______________________________

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 3
Plate Tectonics
Plates in Motion The tectonic plates are constantly in motion. Where they collide, the compression can result in the production of high ______________________. Where they rip apart, __________________ may form. Despite our observation of such features for a very long time, the theory of plate tectonics is nonetheless a fairly recent idea. The beginnings of plate tectonic theory were introduced by Alfred Wegener in the year __________. He called his new hypothesis ________________________. This concept implied that the continents have not always been in their present positions, but have drifted and changed positions over long periods of geologic time. What observation about the continents led to Wegeners hypothesis? ______________________________________________________________________ It was hypothesized that all the continents had once been joined together as one large supercontinent called _________________. At some point in time, this supercontinent broke apart, and the continents drifted off to their present locations. Initially, these ideas were highly criticized by geologists, who could think of no mechanism by which the granitic continents could possibly force their way through solid basaltic ocean crust. It took many decades for geologists to finally realize what the mechanism is that allows continental drift to actually occur. In fact, plate tectonics is responsible for the mountain ranges; ocean basins; ocean current circulation patterns; climatic variations; distributions, evolution and extinctions of plants and animals; volcanoes and earthquakes; and economic mineral locations. It is a unifying theory for all topics of geology.

Evidence for Plate Tectonics Continental Fit One of the most convincing lines of evidence for continental drift and plate tectonics is the way that the continents seem to fit so well together despite being separated by oceans today. Example: _____________________________ and __________________________. It must be more than sheer chance that these coastlines match so well. But, if we look only at the present day coastlines of these continents, there seem to be large gaps between them when we bring them back together. But sea level fluctuates through time, so the shape of the present day coastline can be misleading. What depth below sea level marks the continental edges? _____________ Using the true edges of the continents as a comparison, the largest gap between Africa and South America is only 90 km (56 mi). Using the true edges of the continents to match up the ancient jigsaw puzzle pieces, the components of all of Pangea fit together very well.

Physical Geology 101

Matching Geology Matching coastlines is one line of evidence but taken alone, it is not enough. One of the obvious things to look for if two continents were once joined together is a similarity in their geological characteristics (i.e., the rocks). We would expect sedimentary rocks to form on both continents at the same time if they were actually stuck together. Do we see similar geology across the continents? YES or NO

What aged rocks match up very well across the join between Africa and South America? ____________________________ So before this time, Africa and South America must have been linked together.

There is also very clear evidence for the continuity of geologic structures like mountain ranges from one continent to the next. For example, a mountain belt in eastern North America called the __________________ matches up across Pangea with similar aged mountains in Ireland, Great Britain, Greenland, and Scandinavia called the ____________________.

What continents of the southern hemisphere show a remarkable similarity between rocks that are Carboniferous to Jurassic in age? _____________ ______________ ______________ ______________ ______________ What do we call this combination of joined land masses that existed in the southern hemisphere during this time period? ______________________

Paleoclimate Evidence If the continents were once joined together and there was an ice age during that time, we would expect glacial features to match up across the continents. We see this in _______________, _______________, _______________ , and ________________, where there are similar aged thick glacial deposits that match up across the continents when they are put back together. What age are these glacial deposits? ____________________________________ We also see consistency between the ice motion directions across the continents that formed Gondwana. Ice can scratch deep grooves called __________________ into bedrock that provide evidence of the direction the ice moved. When the Gondwana landmasses are fit back together, the direction of the grooves is consistent with the ice sheet radiating away from a central high point in southern Africa. The Carboniferous glacial deposits in Gondwana suggest that it was situated near the ___________________ at that time, which was the high point for all this ice.

Physical Geology 101

What were the northern continents of Pangea collectively called? ___________________ Is there is evidence of for Carboniferous glacial deposits in any of the northern hemisphere continents? YES or NO

This suggests that Laurasia must have been near the ________________ during the Carboniferous.

Fossil Evidence If the continents were once joined together, we might also expect them to have had the same types of plants and animals during the time that they were linked. In Gondwana, the plants and animals evolved very similarly, but after Pangea split up, plants and animals evolved very differently because they were totally cut off from each other. What type of plant fossil from the Carboniferous period is found in rocks in Africa, South America, India, Australia, and Antarctica? _______________________

Could the seeds of this plant have been carried across the oceans by the wind? YES or NO ? Why? ______________________________________

The only way we could have had this same plant in all these different continents is if the continents were all joined together at some point. There are also types of animals that are similar between the continents, such as a small freshwater aquatic reptile called _________________________. Where can fossils of this species be found? _________________ and _____________ This species was far too small to have been able to swim across and entire ocean to get from one continent to the next. So the continents must have been together.

The Wandering of the Poles As if the evidence weren't convincing enough already, geophysicists in the 1950s discovered something else that seemed to point towards the existence of continental drift. They were looking at the record of ancient magnetism in rocks, called _____________________. As a rock forms, any magnetic minerals in the rock become aligned parallel to the Earths magnetic field of the time. For example, rocks forming today (like lava rocks that erupt from a volcano) preserve a record of the magnetic field that exists on Earth today. Earth's magnetic field is horizontal near the equator and vertical at the magnetic poles. The angle between the magnetic field direction and the horizontal at any point is called the __________________________. At any point on Earth today, the magnetic inclination is constant. It only changes as a function of _________________ (or distance from the equator towards the poles).

Physical Geology 101

If the continents had always been in their current locations, there shouldn't be any change in the magnetic inclination recorded by magnetic minerals in rocks at any one location as we move back through geologic time. But it turns out that the magnetic inclination in rocks in many locations HAS changed a lot through time. Geophysicists can use the magnetic inclination to determine the ancient locations of the continents with respect to the magnetic poles. What they found is that the location of the poles seems to have wandered around a lot through geologic time. What do we call this phenomenon? ______________________. Nonetheless, similar aged rocks in different continents seem to indicate completely different locations of the magnetic north poles. Examples: the continents of ______________________ and __________________. Its as if the rocks formed in completely different magnetic fields, which cant possibly be true as there is only one magnetic north pole. What was weird though was that the _________________ of the polar wander paths through time are very similar on both continents, suggesting some sort of link between the two. Geophysicists somewhat reluctantly started to accept that perhaps it was the continents that had been moving around, rather than the magnetic pole itself, which is unlikely to have moved around so much and couldnt possibly have been in two different places at the same time. If we rotate North America back towards Europe as if the Atlantic Ocean weren't even there (i.e. fitting Pangea back together), the positions of the magnetic poles are identical through time on both continents! During what period of time are the polar wander paths identical in Europe and North America? ____________________________________ This is extremely convincing evidence that these continents were once joined together because they would be expected have an identical magnetic pole location history if they were joined together. Hooray for plate tectonics!

QUESTION: What is the most convincing evidence of all for plate tectonics? ____________________________ Seafloor Spreading In the early 1960s, samples of basaltic ocean crust were dredged up from various locations across the ocean basins. The samples were then analyzed to test for their _____________ properties, which led to the discovery of something quite intriguing. What was discovered about the magnetic properties of the ocean floor rocks as you move further and further away from a mid-ocean ridge? ________________________________________________________________________ The magnetic polarity that is the same as what exists currently on Earth is called ________ polarity (i.e., compasses point towards current-day magnetic north).

10

Physical Geology 101

The magnetic polarity that is the opposite of what exists currently on Earth is called ____________ polarity (i.e., compasses would point towards current-day magnetic south). Are paleomagnetic reversals seen in rocks of all the Earths oceans? YES or NO

What was discovered about the pattern of magnetic reversals on one side of a ridge compared to the opposite side of the ridge? ______________________________________ The evidence suggested that new basaltic crust must have been generated at the ridge and then been pushed to either side at a later time when the next cycle of lava got squeezed out of the middle of the ridge. As each new cycle of basaltic lava erupted, it cooled and preserved a record the Earths magnetic field in the magnetic minerals inside the rock. So why does the paleomagnetic field recorded in the ocean rocks change through time? _______________________________________________________________ How often does the magnetic pole switch happen on Earth? _______________________ So the ocean floor acts like a conveyor belt, carrying volcanic rocks to either side of the ridge further and further away from each other as new material forms at the ridge. What happens to the continents during this whole process? ________________________________________________________________________ In other words, the continental and oceanic crust move together, rather than the continents plowing through the oceanic crust. This is how continental drift happens. Individual continents start out as a single continent that tears apart; then the pieces slowly move away from each other as a new ocean basin is created between them by seafloor spreading.

Age of Oceanic Crust The age of oceanic crust ____________________ AWAY from the ridge. Where are the youngest oceanic crustal rocks? ________________________________ Where are the oldest oceanic crustal rocks? ___________________________________ How old are these rocks? _____________________________ The oldest rocks were once at the ridge itself, when the ridge initially formed and split the continents apart.

The Tectonic Plates The combination of continent and oceanic crust on either side of a ridge represents a tectonic plate, which is constantly on the move. Do all tectonic plates have continents on them? YES or NO

Where does the fastest plate motion occur on Earth? ___________________________ How fast is the spreading rate at this ridge? ________ cm/year

11

Physical Geology 101

How many tectonic plates are there? _______________ These plates consist of brittle crust and upper mantle, (called the ____________________) floating around on an underlying weak and ductile layer called the __________________. The current plates were once arranged in such a way as to form the supercontinent of ______________. By looking at the rates of spreading happening along the ridges today, it can be determined how fast various plates have been moving apart through geologic time, so we can reconstruct their motions moving backwards in time. Pangea began to break apart during the _________________ Period. How long ago was this? ___________million years ago. Web fun: http://www.odsn.de/odsn/services/paleomap/animation.html It has been suggested that the continents may all come together again someday and the whole process will start again. This ongoing cycle of plate motions is called the ___________________, named after the geologist who first promoted modern concepts of plate tectonics in 1965. Over what time span is this plate tectonic cycle thought to occur? Every ___________________ years.

Plate Boundaries Seafloor spreading implies that the plates are moving apart from each other. Subduction implies the plates are colliding. A third possibility arises where two plates are simply sliding past each other. What do we call these three types of plate boundaries? 1) _____________________ (e.g. mid-ocean ridges and rift valleys) 2) _____________________ (e.g. subduction zones) 3) _____________________ (e.g. transform faults)

Divergent Boundaries Divergent plate boundaries represent locations where plates are moving apart along a huge crack in the lithosphere (e.g., mid-ocean ridges). What are divergent boundaries called on land? ____________________

On land, divergent boundaries represent locations where the crust is being stretched and uplifted by underlying basaltic magma that starts to erupt into the valleys as they pull apart. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are common. Example: Mt. Nyiragongo in the Dem. Rep. of Congo (Feb. 2002). Eventually, the middle of the valley turns into _______________ as a new ocean basin is created.

12

Physical Geology 101

Where is this happening today? ___________________________ Where has a new, narrow ocean basin already formed where Africa split apart from Arabia? ________________________

Convergent Boundaries New oceanic lithosphere is created at a divergent boundary. So where does oceanic lithosphere go to die? At a convergent boundary, where two plates collide, it gets consumed back into the mantle by the process of ___________________. This process keeps Earth's surface area constant through time. It also explains why the oldest oceanic crust is only 180 million years old; all older oceanic crust has been subducted. List the three different types of convergent boundaries: _______________________ _______________________ _______________________

Ocean-ocean: this is where two ocean plates collide, causing the oldest, coldest, and densest of the two to subduct beneath the other, forming an ocean trench on the seafloor. As the subducting ocean plate gets deeper, it starts to melt and the magma rises to the surface of the plate that doesn't subduct, which is called the _____________________. This forms a line of volcanic ocean islands called an ___________________, usually a few 100 km away from the trench. Location examples: ______________________________________________

Ocean-continent: this is where oceanic lithosphere subducts beneath a continent.

Why is it that oceanic lithosphere always subducts but continental lithosphere never does? ____________________________________________________________ Melting of the subducting plate and rising of the magma produces a line of volcanoes on the continent called a ______________________ Location example: __________________________ Continent-continent: a final possibility is where continents collide with continents. This occurs when all the oceanic lithosphere between two continents gets subducted, resulting in the continents coming together. When the continents collide, why does neither one of them subduct? ____________________________________________________________________ Instead, the continents forming a huge mountain range along a line where the continents collides, called a ______________________. Earthquakes are common here.

13

Physical Geology 101

Location example: __________________ (where ___________ collided with __________) What can be found at the top of Mt. Everest, and why? ________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ Many mountain belts around the world show tell-tale signs of having been formed at convergent plate boundaries sometime in the geologic past (e.g., Appalachians).

Transform Boundaries The final type of plate boundary is a transform boundary. This is where two plates slide past each other along a long fault called a ___________________. Fracture zones that offset mid-ocean spreading ridges are transform faults (e.g. along the mid-Atlantic ridge). Geologic features can be offset by 100s of km along transform faults, and sometimes they even come on-land, such as the ___________________________ in California.

Driving Mechanism for Plate Tectonics So why do we get plate tectonics in the first place? What is driving the motion of the plates across the asthenosphere? Plate motions are probably driven by a process in the mantle called _________________. This may occur in just the asthenosphere or in the entire mantle. The process involves mantle material moving heat upwards towards the surface, where it cools and then moves back downward again the repeat the process, forming a convection cell. Sometimes, a huge jet of molten magma called a ___________________ rises from the outer core boundary and pierces the crust at a site called a __________________. As a result of the plate moving across the stationary hot spot, a line of islands may be formed over time at the Earths surface.

QUESTION: Where is an example of where a line of islands formed in this way? ____________________________

14

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 4
Minerals
States of Matter All matter exists in one of three states: solid liquid gas

The controlling factors that dictate the state are: ____________ and ____________. Example: at sea level, the following materials are in what state? gold - ___________________ mercury - ________________ oxygen - _________________

6. Minerals II
What is a mineral? The five characteristics required in order for a compound to be a mineral are: it must be ________________________________________ it must be ________________________________________ it must have been formed by _________________________ it must have ______________________________________ it must have ______________________________________

(p. 78-87)

Characteristics of Minerals We will work through the following list of items to determine which of them, if any, are minerals: steel, plastic, sugar, table salt, mercury, ice, coal, sea shell, obsidian, mica, chalk, coral, paper, gold.

Naturally Formed No substance created artificially is a mineral. Examples of artificial substances: ________________________________________

Solid Liquids and gases are not minerals, irrespective of their chemical composition.

15

Physical Geology 101

e.g. petroleum cannot be a mineral. Is water a mineral? _________. What about ice? YES / NO / CANT DECIDE YET Is molten rock (lava) a mineral? _________ What can we eliminate from the list because it isnt a solid? ____________________

Formed by Inorganic Processes Anything formed from a living organism and containing organic materials is not a mineral. Is coal is a mineral? _______ Explanation: ________________________________________________________ So which were the organic materials (i.e., not minerals)?: ________________________

General Chemical Formula Minerals always have a generally consistent chemical formula, so atoms are always present in very specific ratios. Is glass a mineral? _______ Explanation: ___________________________________________________________ Which sample can we eliminate that is a naturally formed type of glass? ____________

Chemical formulae may be: Simple (consisting of a single element, called _____________________): Examples: _______________ - chemical formula: ______ _______________ - chemical formula: ______ Simple (consisting of more than one element): e.g. ________ (____) - always contains one Si atom for every two O atoms.

Complex (many elements) e.g. ________________________: KMg3AlSi3O10(OH)2

What is atomic substitution? ______________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Two similar-sized and similar-charged ions that often substitute for each other in minerals are _________ and __________.

16

Physical Geology 101

Example of atomic substitution:

Olivine - (Mg, Fe)2SiO4

In olivine, there will always be two atoms of either Mg or Fe (or one of each) for every one Si atom and every four O atoms.

Characteristic Crystal Structure The atoms in a mineral are organized into regular, repetitive geometric patterns in three dimensions, called a __________________. We therefore say that all minerals are __________________. The crystal structure of any mineral is a unique characteristic of that mineral. Does glass have an internal crystal structure? __________ What term is used to describe the internal structure of glass? __________________

Items remaining on the list that we can classify as minerals: 1) _______________ 2) _______________ 3) _______________ 4) _______________

How many types of minerals are there? ______________________

Why aren't there a lot more?: (1) some combinations are chemically impossible (2) relative abundances of minerals in the crust (see table) dont allow more Table of Element Abundances in the Crust % of crust (by weight) 46.6 27.7 8.1 5.0 3.6 2.8 2.6 % of crust (by atoms) 62.6 21.2 6.5 1.9 1.9 2.6 1.4

Element Oxygen Silicon Aluminum Iron Calcium Sodium Potassium

Symbol O Si Al Fe Ca Na K

17

Physical Geology 101

Magnesium All others

Mg

2.1 1.5

1.8 0.1

Based on the above element abundances in the crust, it is not surprising that the majority of common minerals contain both ________ and ________.

How do we Identify Minerals? Physical properties: Color: What causes a certain type of mineral (e.g., quartz) to come in a variety of colors? ___________________________________________________________________ For what type of minerals do we find the streak? ________________________ color or streak luster crystal shape cleavage hardness density

Luster: Luster refers to how a mineral surface reflects light. The two types of luster are ________________ and ___________________.

Crystal Shape: The planar surfaces on the outside of a crystal are called _________________. The angles between different faces are called _______________________, and they are always constant for any particular mineral.

Cleavage: What are cleavage planes? ____________________________________________ Do not confuse cleavage planes with crystal faces. They look very similar, but only the very outside edges of a crystal are crystal faces, but there are many potential cleavage planes inside the mineral along which the crystal may break apart. The angles between different cleavage planes inside a crystal are always constant for a particular mineral. This is why cleavage is such a useful way of identifying a mineral. Do ALL mineral crystals have cleavage planes? ________

18

Physical Geology 101

What are the curved fracture surface in minerals without cleavage planes? ______________________________ Hardness: Hardness is how easy it is to scratch the mineral. The strength of the atomic bonds controls hardness. What scale do we use to identify mineral hardness? : ________________________ The softest known mineral is: ___________ The hardest known mineral is: _____________

Density or Specific Gravity: This is the mass per unit volume (different for different minerals). __________ minerals tend to have the highest specific gravities.

Other Properties Halite (table salt): ___________________________ Talc: _____________________________ Magnetite: __________________________

QUESTION: What happens to calcite when hydrochloric acid is spilled on it? __________________________________________

Temperature measurement: Temperature scale used in geology: ________________________ Freezing point of water: ____________ Boiling point of water: ____________

To convert from F to C: Subtract 32 then divide by 1.8. To convert from C to F: Multiply by 1.8 then add 32.

Pressure measurement: Pressure scales used in geology include:

19

Physical Geology 101

__________________(atm)

and

________________ (Pa).

5 2 sea level pressure = 1 atm = 1.013 bars = 1.013 x 10 Pa = 14.7 lbs/in

The Stuff that Makes up all Matter The make-up of solid matter on Earth, from smallest to largest is: ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ Elements Can we break down elements chemically? YES or NO

Atoms The atom is the smallest particle that uniquely defines an element, like a fingerprint. Typical approximate size of an atom: _____________ Particles that make up an atom: ______________ (charge is __________) ______________ (charge is __________) ______________ (charge is __________)

Protons and neutrons together define the ____________ of an atom. The layers of electrons that orbit around the nucleus are called ______________ or ___________________________. What is the definition of: Atomic number: _______________________________________________________ (uniquely identifies an element) Mass number: _______________________________________________________ Is mass number exactly the same as atomic weight? YES or NO YES or NO

Can atoms of the same element have different atomic numbers?

For example, each and every H atom has exactly ____ proton (atomic # = 1). Can atoms of the same element have different mass numbers? YES or NO

Atoms of the same element that have different mass numbers are called _________________ Example: carbon can exist in 3 forms: _______________________________

20

Physical Geology 101

The average weight of an atom of any element, taking into account the relative abundances of the different isotopes of that element, is called the _________________. Ions Ions are what we get when the electrons partnered with one atom start fooling around with someone else's atom. Types of ions: A LOSS of electrons creates a ____________ charged particle called a ___________ e.g. __________ A GAIN of electrons creates a ____________ charged particle called an ___________ e.g. __________

Compounds What is a chemical compound? ___________________________________________ e.g., __________________ A common compound is table salt, or _______________________ (chemical formula: _____________). How do we write out a chemical compound formula? CATIONS first or ANIONS first

The smallest possible quantity of a compound is called a __________________

Do molecules have the same properties as the elements they're made from? YES or NO What holds molecules together? __________________________

Bonding What exactly is chemical bonding? ________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ In bonded atoms, electrons may be ____________, ____________ or ____________.

There are FOUR types of chemical bonding: ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________

Ionic bonding What happens to the electrons? __________________________________________ Example: ______________

21

Physical Geology 101

Are ionic bonds weak or strong? ______________________

Covalent bonding What happens to the electrons? __________________________________________ Example: ______________ (chemical formula: ___________) Are ionic bonds weak or strong? ______________________

Metallic bonding What happens to the electrons? __________________________________________ What does metallic bonding make metals good for? ___________________________

van der Waals bonding Definition: ____________________________________________________________ What similar type of bond relies on weak electrostatic charges? ___________________ Are van der Waals bonds weak or strong? ___________________ Example: ____________________ (chemical formula: ___________)

QUESTION: What are the building blocks of all geological materials like rocks and soil? _______________________________

Mineral Families O and Si make up ______% of all atoms available to make minerals in the Earth's crust. Minerals in which cations combine with O anions are called _______________.
4If Si gets added, O and Si combine to form the ________________ anion: (SiO4) . Minerals containing 2-

this anion are called _________________. The most abundant family of minerals is the _________________. The second most abundant are the ___________________. Minerals that are not silicates are called _____________________.

22

Physical Geology 101

Types of non-silicates: ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ ____________________

Anion Present _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ none e.g., _________

99% of all rocks in the crust are made up of _________________, _____________, __________________, and _______________________ (a total of about 30 minerals). These 30 or so minerals are called the rock-forming minerals because they are the main components of most common rock types. 75% of the Earth's crust is made up of two types of silicate minerals: ______________________ and _________________________. Less common types of minerals in rocks are called ____________________ minerals.

Silicates What does a silica anion look like? _______________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ What is meant by the word tetrahedron? __________________________
4Why do silica tetrahedra have a charge of negative-4: (SiO4) ?

___________________________________________________________________ How do silica tetrahedra get rid of the negative charges? ______________________ What mineral is pure silica? (Clue: its chemical formula is SiO2)

_________________

By sharing oxygen atoms in the crystal lattice (rather than just sharing electrons), silica anions can form several types of atomic arrangements: independent tetrahedra (no sharing) (e.g. ________________) single chains (e.g. ________________) double chains (e.g. ________________) sheets (e.g. ______________ and _______________)

23

Physical Geology 101

3D framework (e.g. ______________ and _________________)

Each of these patterns results in different types of silicate minerals. Cations fill in gaps between the silica tetrahedra. Five common cations that bond with silica tetrahedra are: _______ _______ _______ _______ _______

The exact silicate mineral that forms depends on the arrangement of the silica tetrahedra and the types of cations that bond with them.

Ferromagnesian Silicates These are the silicate minerals that contain ____________ and _____________. Typical dark colors of ferromagnesian silicates: ____________ , ____________ , ____________ , ____________ Examples of ferromagnesian silicates: ____________ , ____________ , ____________ , ____________ , ____________

Nonferromagnesian Silicates Typical color of nonferromagnesian silicates: _________________________ Examples of nonferromagnesian silicates: ____________ , ____________ , ___________________

The two types of feldspar are in the feldspar group of minerals are: __________________ (contains the element _________) And ___________________ (contains the elements _______ and _______)

Non-silicates

Oxides Any mineral that contains O atoms but no Si are called oxides. Examples of oxides: _____________________ and ____________________

24

Physical Geology 101

Carbonates
2Minerals containing the carbonate anion (CO3) are carbonates.

Examples of carbonates: ___________________ and ___________________ How can you tell the difference between the above two carbonate minerals? _____________________________________________________________________

Sulfides and Sulfates What are sulfides? ________________________________________________ Examples of sulfides: __________________ and _________________

What are sulfates? ________________________________________________ Example of a sulfate: ________________

Native Elements Some minerals are comprised of only a single type of element arranged into a complex 3D crystal lattice. These are called native elements.

Examples: _____________, _______________, ______________, ______________ What are polymorphs of an element? ____________________________________________________

Where do Minerals Come From? There are many ways that minerals can form in the Earth's crust: Cooling of magma or lava: _____________________________________________ Hydrothermal: _______________________________________________________ Evaporation: ________________________________________________________ Alteration: __________________________________________________________

Naming Minerals Minerals may be named in a number of ways: after their discoverers (famous mineralogists or people with inflated egos) after the locality where they were discovered (e.g. vesuvianite from Mt. Vesuvius) after their physical properties (e.g. magnetite is magnetic) after their chemistry (e.g. fluorite contains F; chromite contains Cr)

25

Physical Geology 101

Uses of Minerals How many tons of minerals does each of us use every year? ______________ Uses: ____________: glass, optical instruments, sandpaper, steel alloys ____________: drywall ____________: ceramics, paper ____________: porcelain, ceramics, enamel, glass _____________________: catalytic converters, chemotherapy, jewelry

Economic Classification of Minerals Economic minerals are classified as either mineral resources or mineral reserves.

Mineral _______________: the actual amount of a mineral that exists in rocks. How does the amount change through time? ____________________________

Mineral _______________: the amount of the mineral that can be economically extracted. How does the amount change through time? ____________________________ QUESTION: Which is greatest in amount: mineral reserve or mineral resource? _____________________________

26

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 5 Igneous Rocks


What Makes a Rock? What is the difference between a mineral and a rock? A mineral is: _____________________________________________________________ A rock is: _______________________________________________________________ Do rocks have a chemical formula? The three rock types are: 1._______________ - How do they form?: _______________________________ YES or NO

2._______________ - How do they form?: _______________________________

3._______________ - How do they form?: _______________________________

Magma and Lava Inside the Earth, molten rock is called ______________. On the surface of the Earth, molten rock is called _____________.

Why do rocks melt? ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ The rate that temperature increases with increasing depth inside the Earth is called the: ___________________________________ On average, this temperature gradient is about _____ C increase per 1km increase in depth into the Earth. Is the geothermal gradient the same everywhere on Earth? ____________________ ____________________________________________________________________ Contour lines of equal temperature, used to represent the changing temperature with depth inside the Earth, are called ____________________. They show that the rate of temperature increase is highest beneath the oceans.

Most rock types will start to melt at the Earths surface at temperatures of between ______C and _______C. Temperatures this high are reached at a depth of about 100 km/62 mi below the continents. So why isn't the whole inside of the Earth a liquid below 100 km?

27

Physical Geology 101

1. The _______________ also increases with depth, which affects melting temperatures. As pressure increases, melting temperature _____________. 2. Also, the presence of ___________ in the magma tends to lower the melting temperature. Pressure is the most important control on the melting temperature of particular rock types.

The Origin of Magma In rocks, different minerals have different melting temperatures at a particular pressure. Which mineral will start to melt first as a rock gets heated up inside the Earth? ________________________________________ This process of melting different minerals at different times as a rock gets heated up is called ________________________. e.g., the mineral _______________ tends to melt before other minerals. The chemistry of the melted portion is very different to the chemistry of the solid minerals left behind. If we raise the temperature high enough though, eventually the whole rock will melt. If we were to somehow remove the partial melt before all of the rock gets melted, we would leave behind bits of rock with a different chemistry to the rock that we started out with. The melted part would also have a different chemistry to the original rock. This process of separating the melt from the solid rock is called __________________. It happens a lot inside the Earth because high pressures squeeze the melted part out of the solid parts like water out of a sponge. As a result of these processes, we end up with many different types of igneous rocks that form from the melted parts (magma) and the left-behind solid parts. Why does magma move up towards the Earth's surface? ______________________________________ From how deep does most magma originate? _____________________ Most magma first accumulates underground in a large reservoir or pod of magma called a_____________________. Eventually, it will erupt onto the surface as lava.

Properties of Magma and Lava The most abundant elements in the Earth's crust are: Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, Na, K, H, O What is the most abundant component of magma? _______________

There are four types of magma or lava (and thus igneous rocks) based on composition: _________________: >65% silica; lots of Na, K, and Al (light-colored rocks) _________________: 53 - 65% silica (light and dark colors)

28

Physical Geology 101

_________________: 45-52% silica; lots of Ca, Fe, and Mg (dark-colored rocks) _________________: <45% silica; lots of Fe and Mg (very dark-colored rocks)

Partial melting and fractionation of ultramafic rocks in the mantle produces mafic magma. Mafic lava then gets erupted at ________________________, such as the mid-Atlantic ridge at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, halfway between Europe and North America. Mafic magma can also develop above mantle plumes at __________________, where jets of magma burn holes through the crust from below. Examples of hot spots: _________________ and _________________. Mafic oceanic crust moves back down into the mantle at a ______________________, where it starts to partially melt. This partial melt forms either an intermediate or a felsic magma. We have a subduction zone right off the coast of Washington and Oregon called the Cascadia subduction zone. Intermediate and felsic magma is produced in this subduction zone which erupts from Cascades volcanoes, such as _____________________. Magma contains liquid, solids (crystals) and gases all mixed together. What do we call dissolved gases inside a magma? ____________________ How hot can magma get? _____________________________ The ability of a lava to resist flowing downhill is called the ___________________. How fast have lavas been recorded to flow in Hawaii?: The two types of lava flow on Hawaii are: ___________ (ah-ah): Description: sharp, blocky fragments Fast or slow? ____________ _____________ (pah-hoy-hoy): Description: smooth and syrupy texture Fast or slow? ___________ What are the main controls on how fast a lava will flow? __________________ (hotter = faster) and ___________________ (more silica = slower) So what type of lava tends to flow the fastest? _________________ What is the furthest that lava flows been known to flow (in the Columbia River valley region of the Pacific Northwest)? ___________________ _______ mph

Igneous Rocks Igneous rocks can form through one of two processes: 4) through accumulation and hardening of ______________________ (hot ash). through the process of cooling and ______________________ of minerals from magma or lava.

29

Physical Geology 101

The type of minerals that grow is determined by the __________________ of the magma or lava. The type of igneous rock that forms is determined by the ________________________ that crystallize out of the magma or lava. Do rocks that form from lava have big or small crystals? Do rocks that form from magma have big or small crystals? BIG or SMALL or SMALL

BIG

FINAL QUESTION: During crystallization, what controls the size of crystals that grow? _____________________________________________

Textures of Igneous Rocks The rate of cooling and crystal size determines the texture of an igneous rock. What is the definition of rock texture? _______________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ We define two types of igneous rocks on the basis of grain size: 1. ____________________: rapid cooling at the Earth's surface small mineral grains. Forms from ______________. Also called: __________________ 2. ____________________: slow cooling inside the Earth large mineral grains Forms from ______________. Also called: __________________ Types of Rock Textures Magma that rises to the Earth's surface erupts as lava and immediately starts to cool due to contact with either the atmosphere or sea water. What are the two ways lava erupts onto the Earth's surface? _______________________________ (volcanic mountains) _______________________________ (big cracks in the crust)

Bulbous pods of chilled lava are formed whenever lava erupts onto the ocean bottom or in a lake. What do we call this type of lava? ______________________

30

Physical Geology 101

What is the general name given to the volcanic glass that forms due to very rapid cooling of lava? _______________. What sort of texture does it have? _____________ When small crystals develop from cooling of lava, the texture is called: ______________________ (also called ___________________) When big crystals develop from cooling of magma, the texture is called: ______________________ (also called ___________________) Crystals start to grow in magma before it erupts, so volcanic rocks often contain these larger-sized crystals, called __________________, that then become embedded in a matrix of much smaller grained crystals (called ___________________) that grew after the lava erupted. This type of texture is called a __________________ texture. What are gas bubbles in lava called when they are frozen in place? ________________ What texture is produced in the rock? ______________________ e.g. pumice

What is unusual about pumice? __________________________________ Volcanic rocks in which pyroclastic material fragments got welded together have a ________________ texture, also called a ________________ texture (e.g., ________). If the mineral crystals are very big (>1 inch to several feet across), we say the rock has a _________________ texture. These rocks are usually the last portion of the magma body to crystallize due to the presence of silica-rich fluids that allow large crystals of quartz, feldspar, and muscovite to grow (i.e., not due to slow cooling).

Mineral Assemblages Most igneous rocks are composed of one of more of the following six minerals or mineral groups: ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________

The types and amounts of minerals in an igneous rock define its mineral assemblage. The growth of minerals is determined by the original chemistry of the magma and the temperature of the magma at each point during its cooling history. What are the four different magma types based on differences in silica content?

31

Physical Geology 101

_______________, _______________, _______________, _______________ Temperature an important control on what type of rock forms because different minerals crystallize at different temperatures as a melt cools and crystallizes. Because minerals have explicit chemical formulae, we know the temperatures that each one forms at. As a result, we know there is a predictable sequence of mineral growth from magma or lava. This sequence of mineral growth from molten magma or lava is called: ___________________________

This series of mineral development has two branches: continuous and discontinuous

Crystallization occurs at the same time along both branches.

What is the order of mineral crystallization along the discontinuous branch? 1. ______________________ 2. ______________________ 3. ______________________ 4. ______________________ The magma chemistry changes as each mineral crystallizes out and removes "ingredients" from the remaining magma. The ingredients left behind in the magma form ever different minerals further down Bowen's Reaction Series. What crystallizes out of magma along the continuous branch? ____________________ What are the last three minerals to crystallize out of magma or lava? _____________________ _____________________ _____________________

Do we form the entire mineral assemblage on Bowens Reaction Series (all 9 minerals) every time we cool a magma? (in other words, do all igneous rocks contains all 9 minerals?) YES or NO

Characterizing Igneous Rocks Now we know the following controls on the formation of igneous rocks: the mineral assemblage is determined by the chemistry of the original melt the texture is determined by how fast the melt cools

This implies that two igneous rocks with different textures could actually have the same mineral assemblage. All that would differ is the size of the mineral grains in the rock. Nonetheless, these rocks would have different names.

Volcanic Rocks There are three main types of volcanic rocks:

32

Physical Geology 101

_____________: it is a mafic rock, so it is dark colored - green or black. _____________: forms from intermediate lava. Often contains light and dark minerals together. _____________: forms from felsic lava. Contains mostly quartz and K-feldspar. If the rock contains Na-plagioclase instead of K-feldspar, it is called ____________

Plutonic Rocks The three equivalents of the volcanic rocks in the plutonic category are: _____________: like basalt, but with big mineral grains. If there is a lot of olivine present instead of plagioclase, the rock is called _________________. _____________: like andesite, but with big mineral grains. _____________: like rhyolite, but with big quartz and K-feldspar crystals. If it contains Naplagioclase, it is called ______________________.

Plutonism All bodies of intrusive igneous rocks are referred to as _____________. They form when magma migrates upwards through the crust and eventually starts to solidify. The rock around the intrusive rock is referred to as ___________________. Examples: batholiths, dikes, sills, laccoliths, volcanic pipes and necks.

Batholiths The largest kind of pluton is a batholith. They are irregular shaped bodies of igneous rock that cut across the layers of the country rock around it. They generally do not extend deeper than about 20 miles. Examples: (1) _______________________________________________ (2) _______________________________________________

Dikes and Sills When magma moves up towards the Earth's surface, it may do so by pushing its way through fractures in the rock. If the magma then cools and crystallizes inside the fracture, it forms a dike or a sill. The feature that forms when magma cuts across rock layers is a _______________. The feature that forms when magma intrudes between rock layers is a ____________. Example of local basalts that erupted from dikes as fissure eruptions: __________________________________________________

33

Physical Geology 101

Underneath volcanoes, dikes and sills form a network of conduits for magma to move up towards the volcano and sometimes allow lava to erupt out along the flanks of a volcano instead of from inside its crater. Laccoliths Sometimes, very thick sills push up the overlying rock layers, forming laccoliths. What is the general shape of a laccolith? _______________________________

Volcanic Pipes and Necks Magma moves up into a volcano from a magma chamber through a tube-like conduit called a volcanic pipe. The magma may eventually crystallize inside the pipe. If it is later exposed by erosion, it forms a volcanic neck (e.g., Ship Rock, NM). FINAL QUESTION: What famous example of a volcanic neck was featured in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind? __________________________________________

34

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 6 Volcanoes
Volcano Statistics How many volcanoes erupt on land or in shallow water every year? ____________ How many volcanoes have erupted in the USA in the past 200 years? ___________ How many volcanoes in the world emit rocks, ash, gas or lava every day? ___________ Examples of 5 volcanoes that have shown eruptive activity in the past week: _______________________ _______________________ _______________________ _______________________

_______________________ How many active volcanoes are there in the world? ___________ How many people live on or near these volcanoes? _______________ In the past 500 years, there have been 7 catastrophic eruptions that have killed more than ____________ people at a time. Since 1800, there have been 19 eruptions that have killed more than 1,000 people.

Potential volcanic hazards: __________________ e.g. Hawaii, Iceland, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico __________________ e.g. Galeras, Colombia __________________ e.g. Mt. Vesuvius, AD79; Mt. St. Helens, 1980; Pinatubo, 1991 __________________ effects: respiratory ailments and collapsed roofs; e.g. Pinatubo __________________ e.g. Lake Nyos, Cameroon, 1986 1,700 people killed __________________ e.g. Armero, Colombia, 1985 25,000 killed; Mt. Rainier, WA. __________________ pyroclastics, rocks, trees, etc. - e.g. Nevado del Ruiz, Colombia __________________ e.g. Krakatau, Indonesia, 1883 eruption created a tsunami that killed >35,000 people. __________________ e.g. Kalapana, Hawaii, 1975 (also caused a tsunami)

Additional causes of death in the long-term: _________________________________ The most destructive known volcanic episode happened about 251 million years ago in Russia, forming a large region of basalt lava flows called the _______________________. The lava from that eruption covered a million square miles and resulted in the death of 90% of all sea life and 70% of all land creatures- an extinction level event of global proportions. Since then, there have been 9 other enormous floods of basalt onto the Earth's surface. Which flood basalt event happened about 16 million years ago in the Pacific NW?

35

Physical Geology 101

____________________________________________ Types of Eruptions The two types of eruptions are ______________________ and ____________________.

Nonexplosive Eruptions What location typically experiences nonexplosive eruptions? _________________ What is the largest volcano on Earth? _____________________ What are the viscosity and silica content characteristics of lava that generally produces nonexplosive eruptions? Viscosity: HIGH or LOW ? Silica content: HIGH or LOW ?

What type of lava would have these characteristics? ______________________ Gases spattering out of a volcanic vent produce a ____________________. The most active volcano on Earth is __________________, with >50 eruptions since 1823.

Mafic lava that erupts nonexplosively can flow great distances, and eventually builds up a type of volcano called a _____________________. Such volcanoes typically have very wide bases and gently sloping sides. Examples of shield volcano locations: ___________________ ____________________ ____________________..

Where are fissure eruptions common (also nonexplosive)? ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________

Explosive Eruptions What are the viscosity and silica content characteristics of lava that generally produces explosive eruptions? Viscosity: HIGH or LOW ? Silica content: HIGH or LOW ?

What type of lava would have these characteristics? ___________________________ Explosive eruptions results in huge volumes of pyroclastic material and gases being forced up into the atmosphere in the shape of a huge column called a ______________________.

36

Physical Geology 101

How high can these columns reach? ________________ Examples: ______________________ and _______________________. When the pyroclastic material first gets ejected sideways from the volcano, the type of eruption is called a _____________________ (happened at Mt. St. Helens in 1980).

Sometimes, volcanic material can rush down the slopes of the volcano just like an avalanche, and is called a _________________________. It contains extremely hot bits of semi-molten rock, called ___________, as well as huge volumes of poisonous gases. What are the three types of tephra (from biggest to smallest particles)? ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________

The lava from explosive eruptions is silica-rich and very viscous so it doesnt flow far. Along with pyroclastic flows, it builds up a multilayered, steep-sided volcano called a: __________________________ ; also called a _____________________________ Examples of stratovolcanoes: ___________________ and _____________________

Volcanic Features There are a number of types of features on Earth that formed through volcanic processes. Cinder Cones Cinder cones are built from blobs of congealed lava and lapilli size pyroclastic material ejected from a volcanic vent that fall to the ground as cinders or clinkers. This material collects in a heap around the vent, forming a circular or oval cone. Most cinder cones have a bowl-shaped crater at the summit and rarely rise more than a thousand feet or so above their surroundings. They form due to a single, shortlived eruptive event. Example from Idaho: ________________________________ Craters and Calderas A crater is a funnel-shaped depression that exists at the top of most volcanoes. What is a caldera? _______________________________________________________ Example of a caldera in the Cascades: ______________________________

Tuff Rings and Maar Craters Explosive eruptions of pyroclastic material may leave a ring of debris around a vent, called a tuff ring. Example: ____________________________

37

Physical Geology 101

Similar explosive eruptions may occur when lava flows cover over a lake, forming a circular depression at the surface called a maar crater, surrounded by ejecta and which may fill with water to form a circular lake.

Lava Domes After an eruption, a volcano doesn't necessarily become inactive. It may start to push up the crater or caldera, forming a mound called a lava dome. Examples: ________________________ and ________________________

What is the worlds largest lava dome? __________________________

Predicting Eruptions What are the three categories for volcano activity? 1. __________________ (is erupting or has erupted in recent history) 2. __________________ (has not erupted in recent history but has the potential to erupt) 3. __________________ (shows no signs of activity) Some tell-tale signs of an impending eruption include: 1. Sudden bulging inside the crater due to the magma chamber filling up (measured with a tiltmeter). 2. Increased minor earthquake activity. 3. Increased water temperature in the crater lake. 4. Increased gaseous emissions.

QUESTION: What is the most active volcano in the Cascades? __________________________________

Western U.S. Volcanoes The western United States is dotted with potentially active volcanoes or volcanic areas. How many? ______________ Even the Craters of the Moon area in southern Idaho has the potential to spring to life again. How long ago was the last lava eruption at Craters of the Moon? __________________ Craters of the Moon exists because of the passage of the _______________________ hotspot below southern Idaho due to the motion of the North American plate. Yellowstone represents a giant _______________. It could potentially erupt explosively at some time in the future, producing an event of global catastrophic proportions.

38

Physical Geology 101

Yellowstone last produced lava eruptions _______________ years ago.

Cascades Range Volcanoes Numerous volcanoes along the coast of northern California, Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia define the __________________ mountain range. Most of these are active or dormant. Mount St. Helens' eruption in 1980 is the only recent eruption but all of the volcanoes have the potential to do major damage. Which volcano erupted to form Crater Lake? _________________________ How long ago did this eruption (the largest in history along the Cascades) occur? __________________ years ago What major metropolitan areas are at risk for volcanic eruptions? 1. ____________________ (city in OR) - ______________________ (volcano) This volcano erupted in 1866 and in the 1790s.

2. ____________________ (city in WA) - ______________________ (volcano) This volcano last erupted in 1825 and produced as many as 60 ______________ in the past 10,000 years. The most active volcano in the Cascades is ______________________ followed by _______________________. In the last 4,000 years, all but two (Mt. Jefferson and Crater Lake) of the Cascades volcanoes have erupted at least once. How many times has Mt. St. Helens erupted in the past 4,000 years? ______________ Before Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980, the most recent eruption was: ______________ in California, which erupted from 1914-1917. It still has active thermal springs and boiling mud pools (such features are called _________________) and is the world's largest lava dome. What volcano erupted 27,000 years ago, forming a caldera that now contains the lava dome we call Lassen Peak? ________________________

Mt. St. Helens: 1980 Eruption Geologists of the United States Geological Survey have known about the dangers posed by Mt. St. Helens for a long time. In fact, in 1978, just 2 years before it erupted, these geologists warned: Mt. St. Helens is "an especially dangerous volcano because of its past behavior and its relatively high frequency of eruptions during the last 4,500 years." What were the first signs of activity on Mt. St. Helens that began on March 27, 1980? _______________________________________________ This activity continued through April and early May. How did the shape of the mountain change during this time, and why?

39

Physical Geology 101

________________________________________________________

The actual eruption of the volcano on May 18th 1980 was triggered by an ___________________ (caused by the movement of magma), which set off a huge ____________________ that ripped away the side of the mountain, exposing the magma chamber within. This was the largest landslide in recorded history, causing an explosive release of all the gases trapped beneath the bulge. Mount St. Helens then erupted; first sideways as a ____________________, then upwards to form a 19 km high _________________.
2 The lateral blast reached speeds of 670 mph and destroyed 600 km of forest, leveling the trees like matchsticks. Huge mudflows, or lahars, were produced by the melting of snow and glacial ice on the mountain. Tens of thousands of animals were killed, along with 63 people caught in the blast zone.

The ash that erupted from the volcano moved eastwards under the prevailing wind system and covered central and E. Washington, N. Idaho and W. Montana in ash.

40

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 7

Weathering and Soil


Disintegration of Rock Rocks exposed to the elements break down into smaller particles called _____________ which eventually breaks down further to form ___________. This process is called weathering. Definition of weathering: ______________________________________________________ Definition of erosion: _________________________________________________________ Definition of mass wasting: ____________________________________________________

Weathering takes place where the 4 earth systems lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere can interact with each other. i.e., at the Earth's surface. How deep can weathering penetrate into the Earth? ____________________________ Descriptions of the two kinds of weathering: _______________: rock is physically broken down but the minerals dont change

_______________: rock is broken down by chemical or biochemical alteration of minerals, or by dissolving minerals and removing them in solution.

Mechanical Weathering Any weathering that involves the physical breakdown of rock is called mechanical weathering. There are five main types: 1. ________________: when water freezes and expands, forcing rock to break apart. How much does water expand when it freezes? ____________ What is the process called where fractures in rock are forced apart by the water inside them freezing? _______________________ (this is just another way of saying frost wedging) The chunks of rock that then fall off and collect on a slope are called ____________.

2. ______________________: rocks under pressure deep inside the Earths crust get brought slowly to the surface over geologic time (e.g., by the effect of erosion or mountain building). At the surface, the rocks expand and break apart. The process whereby rocks get uplifted is called ______________________. The rock breaks into thin slabs or sheets during uplift. The fractures between these slabs of rock are called __________________. The process that produced these thin slabs or sheets is called _________________.

41

Physical Geology 101

The large bodies of weathered rocks that are created at the Earths surface as a result are called ________________________ (Example: _________________).

3. ______________________: temperature extremes and sudden temperature changes may cause a rock to peel off in layers, like an onion. This is a type of exfoliation called _____________________.

In what type of environment is this likely to happen? _________________ So are rocks good or poor conductors of heat? GOOD or POOR ?

4.______________________: the forces of growing crystals can break bits off rocks. This is common where water containing dissolved minerals evaporates. What mineral commonly grows when water evaporates?: _______________

5.______________________: plant roots penetrate cracks and force rocks apart, whereas burrowing animals help break down rocks and soil into smaller particles.

Chemical Weathering (1) One type of chemical weathering is when ions are removed from minerals in the rocks, causing them to dissolve completely. In this case, we say that the ions have been carried away in solution and the process itself is called _______________. What two types of minerals frequently get dissolved and removed in solution?: 1. ___________________ 2. ___________________

So what three types of rocks made up of these minerals can potentially dissolve?: 1. ___________________ 2. ___________________ 3. ___________________

What types of ground collapse features in limestone are caused by dissolution? ___________________ (2) Rainwater is actually a weak acid. Raindrops falling through the air dissolve CO2, resulting in the formation of an acid compound called ___________________ (H2CO3). This acid facilitates rainwater's ability to chemically attack rock minerals. Also, water that seeps into the ground absorbs additional CO2 from decaying organic matter, which causes it to become even more acidic. Rainwater interacts with man-made atmospheric pollutants such as _____________ and _______________ compounds, resulting in an even stronger acid called _________________ which speeds up the weathering process.

42

Physical Geology 101

The reason rain can cause weathering is because dissolved H ions displace larger cations in minerals in + + 2+ rocks, such as K , Na , and Mg . This is a type of chemical weathering involving reactions with water, which we call __________________ reactions. This is exactly how feldspar is able to break down into clay, and is why marble gravestones lose the inscriptions on them over time. (3) A third type of chemical weathering is when oxygen is added to a metal to form an oxide. This is called ___________________. Such chemical reactions are particularly common in areas affected by _________________________ (i.e., waste water from mining operations). Example: iron pyrite oxidizes to form _________________ acid. This is commonly introduced into streams in regions near old ___________ mines.

Factors Influencing Weathering How long does it take for a layer of topsoil to develop from the weathering of underlying rocks? _____________________________ The main factors that control how susceptible a rock is to mechanical or chemical weathering are: ________________: some minerals are more susceptible to weathering than others.

Example: ______________ is very resistant to weathering ______________ is not very resistant to weathering In general, minerals get more resistant to weathering as we move down Bowen's Reaction Series (i.e., olivine and Ca-plagioclase are least resistant).

______________________________: if rocks contain lots of fractures, they are more susceptible to weathering such as through frost wedging. The greater the number of joints, the more surface area that's available for chemical weathering.

Jointed rocks are weathered by having the corners rounded off to form smooth, rounded boulders. This process is called __________________ weathering.

_______________:

What type of climate is best for chemical weathering? _____________________ Where is this most likely to occur? ________________________ What type of climate is best for mechanical weathering? _____________________ Where is this most likely to occur? ________________________

Soil Soils can originate through one of two ways: they can either be:

43

Physical Geology 101

_____________________ (formed in place), or ______________________ (brought in from somewhere else). Soil deposited during river floods are transported (e.g. along the Nile River each year). Transported soils may also be deposited by the wind. For example, the soils in the Palouse region were blown in by winds about 10,000 years ago. We call this type of wind-blown soil ________________. We recognize five different horizons in a soil profile that reflect the progressive downward migration of weathering action. The horizons are (from the top down): ____________________________. The O horizon is mostly decaying organic matter, called __________________. The A horizon is a mix of organic matter and minerals, like clay. The O and A horizons together are called _________________. The E horizon is not always present- it contains very little organic matter or oxidized minerals, so it tends to be light colored. It is common in acidic soils. The B horizon is predominantly brown or red, consisting of oxidized clay minerals. The C horizon is mostly original rock that has started to oxidize and weather. Do we always see each of these soil horizons in every soil profile? We also distinguish three main families of soil types: _________________: rich in clays and are common in areas of moderate rainfall and temperate climates, such as the eastern, central and NW United States. These soils are the best for agriculture. YES or NO

5) _________________: are common in areas having dry climates, like the SW United States. They are rich in CaCO3 and other soluble minerals like gypsum. Water evaporation precipitates these minerals forming a hard, light-colored layer called ____________. They are not very fertile unless highly irrigated.

_________________: are common in tropical and equatorial areas with high temperatures and high rainfall. The soils are red and strongly leached, meaning all the nutrients have been dissolved and carried away in solution. They can support tropical rainforests but cannot support agriculture if the forests are clear-cut.

Some types of soils expand when water gets added, which can result in a lot of disruption of surface structures. These types of soils are called __________________. QUESTION: By what percentage can expansive soils increase in volume when water gets added? ______________________

44

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 8

Sedimentary Rocks
Sediment Deposition Weathering results in rock being broken down into smaller fragments, called regolith. This regolith is then broken down to form soil. The regolith may also be eroded and transported away from where it first formed by the surface processes of water, wind, and ice. Eventually, eroded material must get dropped somewhere else- a process called __________________. The loose material that is deposited is referred to as _________________ which eventually bonds together and hardens to form sedimentary rock. How much of the Earth's crust is comprised of sedimentary rocks? _________ Nonetheless, sedimentary rocks cover most of the sea floor and about __________ of the continents, so they are the type of rock that we see most often at the surface.

Sedimentary rocks are usually banded into many layers, one on top of the next, like a layered cake. Example: __________________________. We call these layers __________ or _____________, and the overall appearance is called either: ____________________ or ____________________.

Each bed is separated from the next by a break called a ________________________. We can we distinguish one bed from another because they commonly show: ______________________________________________________

Significance of Sediments The appearance of beds in sedimentary rocks and the type of sediment that makes up the rock can tell us many things about the history of the Earth. This is because sediments tell us something about the surface processes that created the sediment. We can understand this by looking at the types of sediments we find in different environments on Earth today. Example: How different are the sediments found in river channels, lake bottoms, and beaches?

Fill in the type of sediment in each environment: RIVER CHANNELS: ________________ LAKES: _______________ BEACHES: ________________ So different environments and on Earth, and the processes that occur there, tend to be associated with different types of sediment. What do we call these different types of environments? __________________________________.

45

Physical Geology 101

Sedimentary rocks can tell us about the past distributions of rivers, lakes, oceans, deserts, and glaciers. We may even learn about how climate changed over time in certain places. Examples: (1) In the Great Lakes region, we see evidence of long-term climate change in the sediments that were: __________________________________________________ (2) In what type of ancient environment did the limestones in Florida form? ________________________________________________________________

Types of Sediment Sediment comes in all different shapes and sizes, as well as being formed through different processes in different depositional environments. We can divide sediment into three categories based on where it came from: _________________ sediment: broken down particles of rock produced by weathering and erosion. Also called __________________ sediment. _________________ sediment: precipitates out of water during evaporation or because of chemical reactions in water. _________________ sediment: mostly broken fragments of once living organisms, e.g. decayed plants; seashells.

Detrital (Clastic) Sedimentary Rocks Also called clastic sedimentary rocks. Detrital sediment may be transported and deposited by rivers, lakes, glaciers, wind, waves, etc. (any surface process). The individual grains in detrital sedimentary rocks are called __________________ which are made up of bits of individual minerals and sometimes fragments of broken down rocks that we call __________________________. Fill in the following chart showing the different types of clast grain sizes, and examples of materials having a similar size: CLAST NAME SIZE < 1/256 mm 1/256 - 1/16 mm 1/16-2 mm > 2mm SIMILAR SIZE STUFF OTHER INFO aka "mud" aka "mud" usually quartz

46

Physical Geology 101

The names of the detrital sedimentary rocks that form from the different types of clastic sediment are determined by the size of the clasts that make up the rock:

SEDIMENT SIZE clay ->

ROCK NAMES _________________ or _________________

Contains thin layers of sediment called ________________ or _________________ We can tell the difference between these two rocks through these characteristics: Shale: if broken, it _____________________ (i.e., the rock is ____________) Mudstone: this rock is more _______________.

SEDIMENT SIZE silt ->

ROCK NAME ________________________

What are simple tests for the presence of clay or silt in a rock? Clay: ___________________________________________________ Silt: ____________________________________________________

SEDIMENT SIZE sand ->

ROCK NAMES

_________________ or ________________ or _______________

How do these three rock types with sand-sized grains differ from each other? Sandstone: the clasts are mostly made of _______________ Arkose: some of the clasts must be made of _______________ Graywacke: some of the clasts must be ______________________

SEDIMENT SIZE pebbles + ->

ROCK NAMES _________________ or _________________

We can tell these two apart because the clasts in conglomerate are ___________ whereas the clasts in breccia are ______________. Sorting and Rounding Some sedimentary rocks are made up of a range of sizes of clasts. The range of clast sizes is a characteristic called the sorting of the sediment.

47

Physical Geology 101

If there are a range of sizes, the sediment is ____________________ but if the clasts are all about the same size, the sediment is ____________________. We can also characterize the clasts on the basis of their shapes, which we call the rounding of the sediment. The rounding can range from ___________________ to ____________________. Rounding of sedimentary particles results from clasts being bashed together during transport. Small particles of the clasts chip off, causing grains to become more and more rounded over time. Examples: beach sand is: [well sorted or poorly sorted] [well sorted] [well rounded [well rounded] or angular]?

Also, ________________ sand is:

This type of sand will eventually form a type of rock called ______________________. Sediment deposited by glaciers is called _____________ and is dumped in a big heap. The type of rock that forms from it is called _________________. glacial sediment is: [well sorted or poorly sorted] [well rounded or angular]?

Chemical Sedimentary Rocks Chemical sediment forms when sediment particles form directly out of water through the process of ______________________. This can occur in one of two ways: ______________________ (e.g., dripstone and __________________) or ______________________ (i.e., involving living things)

The most common inorganic mechanism by which chemical sediments form is by: __________________: as water evaporates, minerals like ____________ or ___________ or _______________ precipitate out of the water. e.g. Great Salt Lake; Dead Sea. The type of rocks that results from evaporation are called ___________________. e.g., evaporation of the _____________________ Sea in the Pliocene.

When organic processes result in the precipitation of chemical sediments, we say the rocks are: __________________: plants and animals in water can alter the water chemistry. Organisms can change the amount of dissolved CO2, which may cause __________ (i.e., ________________) to precipitate out. This is how many _________________ are formed.

48

Physical Geology 101

What other mineral can precipitate out of water due to the presence of organic life, and what type of rocks get formed by it? MINERAL _______________________ ROCK _______________________

Biogenic Sedimentary Rocks Biogenic sediment is the broken down remnants of once living organisms and so is not the same as chemically produced biochemical sediment. The individual fragments of bones and teeth make a type of sediment particle called ________________ sediment. What two types of biogenic rocks contains lots of broken down fragments of coral, sea shells and the CaCO3 skeletons of marine organisms? _____________________ and ______________________ A type of limestone containing large seashell fragments is called _________________. Some organisms have siliceous shells, meaning they are made of silica. These may accumulate on the ocean floor to form a rock called ____________, which is usually so fine-grained, you can't see the individual particles of quartz. (e.g., flint). Rocks that are made up of the remains of plants are called ___________. The dead material accumulates in thick piles, first forming ____________, which finally turns into coal because of high temperatures and pressures underground.

Lithification Loose particles of sediment that have not yet turned to rock are called: ____________________________ The phenomenon by which this sediment is turned into rock is called ______________. It literally means "turn to stone". We say the sediment lithifies. The chemical, physical, and biological processes that occur in the rock during lithification are called diagenetic processes. So the sediment is said to undergo _____________________ as it lithifies. The three diagenetic processes are: ________________________________________. Compaction is when sediments get buried deeper and deeper because of all the material being piled up on top. The sediments get compressed and any water present in the sediments starts to get squeezed out like squeezing a wet sponge. Cementation is when the water getting squeezed out of the sediments fills up gaps between the sediment grain, called pore spaces, and minerals precipitate out of the water. These minerals start gluing the grains together, so they are called cement. Recrystallization is when some minerals change into stronger types of minerals due to increasing pressure and temperature. The stronger minerals help bind the rock together.

49

Physical Geology 101

QUESTION: What minerals often form the cement that glues sediment particles together during diagenesis? ____________________ and __________________ Depositional Environments Sedimentary rocks can tell us a lot about the type of environment in which they formed, such as a river, a beach, or a glacial environment, and the past distributions of such environments. These types of studies of sedimentary depositional environments form a sub-discipline of geology called: ________________________. Sedimentary Structures Sedimentary structures provide clues about the type of depositional environment a particular sedimentary rock formed in. Sedimentary structures are the ________________________________________ that form during or after deposition as a result of physical or biological processes in the depositional environment. In other words, they are generally some form of observable characteristic of the rock appearance, EXCLUDING rock color or the type of sediment present. Types of structures: 1) Layers within sedimentary rocks form a type of sedimentary structure called: __________________ (or stratification) How thick are beds? _________________________ Beds represent a more or less continuous episode of deposition of sediment. They are separated by flat surfaces called ________________________ along which the rock tends to part or break. Bedding planes represent one of the following two possibilities: (1) ___________________________________________________________ (2) ___________________________________________________________ At some later time after a bed has formed, a new layer of sediment is deposited on top of it, forming a new bed. 2) Sometimes we can see gradual changes in the size of sediment grains from the bottom to the top of an individual bed. This is a type of sedimentary structure called: _______________________________ What size sediment is at the bottom of a graded bed? ____________ or ____________ What size sediment is at the top of a graded bed? ____________

50

Physical Geology 101

The reason this happens is because of a gravitational effect in flowing water. The larger, heavier clasts are hard for the water to carry, so they are the first to sink to the bottom when the water slows down and loses energy. As the speed of the water decreases, progressively smaller clasts settle down on top of the larger clasts, forming a graded bed. Graded bedding is commonly related to these two causal factors: (1) ___________________________ (form when the water slows down); and (2) ___________________________ (due to submarine landslides)

3) In many sedimentary rocks, the beds will appear to have fine layers inside them cutting from the top to the bottom of the beds at an angle to the bedding planes. This type of sedimentary structure is called: ____________________________ In what three environments is cross-bedding common in sandy sediment? 1. ______________________________ 2. ______________________________ 3. ______________________________ Cross-bedding forms as a result of flowing water or wind that topples sediment over the edges of dunes or underwater ripples. As a result, the dune or ripple creeps forward, with cross-beds forming on the front slope because of the sediment grains sliding down. Cross-beds are always inclined downwards in the direction of the flow of the wind or water current that formed them. For this reason, cross-beds can tell us about ancient water or wind flow directions, which we call ________________________. Make a sketch of a cross-bed:

4) The rippled appearance of sandy sediment along the bottom of river beds are like tiny underwater sand dunes created by flowing water. These ripples sometimes get preserved in sedimentary rocks, where they are called: ____________________________ They can also form on top of sand dunes in deserts by wind currents. Which type of ripple shape forms where there is a more or less constant water or wind flow direction? asymmetric or symmetric ? For this reason, asymmetric ripple marks are also called ________________________. e.g., environment where asymmetric ripples form: ____________________ Such ripple marks can therefore indicate the paleocurrent direction (i.e., ancient flow in a consistent direction). Which type of ripple shape forms where there is a constant back-and-forth motion of water or wind? asymmetric or symmetric ?

51

Physical Geology 101

For this reason, symmetric ripple marks are also called ________________________. e.g., environment where symmetric ripples form: ____________________

5) The type of sedimentary structure that forms due to wet mud shrinking and cracking as it dries out is: ______________________ They indicate that the sediment must have been deposited in an environment where periodic drying occurred. Examples: ___________________, ___________________, ___________________

Rock Color The color of unweathered sedimentary rocks is NOT a type of sedimentary structure. Nonetheless, color is useful in that it can tell us about the amount of oxygen in ancient depositional environments. Dark colors like grey, green and black are often due to iron in the sediment that formed in a _________________ environment, meaning there was very little oxygen present. Reds and browns indicate lots of oxygen- an _________________ environment- which causes iron to form Fe-oxides like hematite.

Fossils Fossils are the remains of plants and animals preserved in sedimentary rocks. Give examples of fossil animal remains (hard parts): ____________________________ Give examples of types of fossil plant remains: ________________________________ Sometimes, evidence of organic life occurs in the form of tracks, trails and burrows on or in the sediment. These are not actual remains of the organisms, just evidence of their presence, and are a type of fossil called ________________________. Organic remains are very delicate and can get destroyed by many sedimentary processes so it's important that they get buried by sediment soon after being deposited to protect them from being eroded away or broken apart by water or wind currents. Fossils can tell us about ancient depositional environments because some plants or animals must have lived in ________________________ whereas others must have lived in ________________________. Fossils are very important for determining the age of sedimentary rocks. Certain species of plants or animals only existed at a certain time period in Earth's history. So if you see a particular type of fossil in a rock, you know the rock must have formed during the interval of Earth's history during which that particular species existed on Earth.

Sedimentary Bed Variability

52

Physical Geology 101

Why do differences occur from one bed to the next in sedimentary rocks (e.g., different colors, grain sizes, sorting and rounding, and bed thicknesses)? _______________________________________________________. The types of changes that can occur in depositional environments over time include: rise and fall of sea level rivers changing course glaciers advancing or retreating lakes swelling or evaporating deserts migrating and growing tides moving in and out

Whenever a particular type of sediment is distinguishable from another type of sediment that formed in a different depositional environment, we say that each sediment type represents a particular type of _________________________________. What are the different types of sediment characteristics that we can use to distinguish one sedimentary facies (i.e., formed in different environments) from another? __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________

Because depositional environments have a limited lateral extent on the Earths surface, we see lateral variations in the sedimentary facies of the sedimentary rocks that are ultimately produced. For example, right near the beach, the high energy of the waves produces well sorted quartz sand grains. Slightly deeper in the water, finer sediment like silt and clay sinks to the ocean floor. In deep water, bioclastic carbonate sediment may be collecting on the ocean floor. List the three different facies types associated with these three environments and the three types of sedimentary rocks they will create: FACIES _______________ _______________ _______________ ROCK TYPE _____________________ _____________________ _____________________

These three facies can therefore tell us about the ___________________________ as well the fact that the water must get _____________________________________. Sediment Types in Depositional Environments We can divide sediment up into two categories based on depositional environment: ________________: forms on land Examples: ______________________________________________________ ________________: forms in the ocean Examples: ______________________________________________________

53

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 9 Metamorphic Rocks


New Rocks from Old What is the Greek origin of the word metamorphism? meta means _________________; morphe means __________________.

Definition: metamorphism refers to all the changes that occur in the minerals, chemistry, and structure of solid rocks as a result of the physical and chemical conditions deep in the crust. So metamorphism involves changing existing rocks to make new ones. This is different to igneous and sedimentary rock processes: Igneous rocks: made from molten magma or lava. Sedimentary rocks: diagenesis is the lithification process that binds the particles of sediment together to form rock.

When rocks undergo metamorphism, we say that they have been ______________________. Does metamorphism involve any rock melting? YES or NO ? Changes that occur during metamorphism: _______________: existing minerals convert into new minerals _______________: minerals change their appearance because of the forces that are involved in metamorphism.

Depth of Metamorphism Metamorphic rocks form in the Earth's crust underneath where sedimentary rocks form near the surface (i.e. where the process called ________________ occurs), but above the depths where magma begins to form through the process of __________________ (where present). The depth range of metamorphism will thus depend on the local ____________________________. What is the lower temperature limit of metamorphism? ______________ What is the deepest depth (approximately) that diagenesis occurs? ______________ Pressures at this depth are more than ____________ times greater than atmospheric. We have to have high enough pressures AND temperatures for metamorphism to occur, by recrystallization (the growth of new minerals). What is the upper temperature limit of metamorphism? ___________________ What mineral starts to melt at this temperature, if present in the rock? _____________________

54

Physical Geology 101

The three grades of metamorphism are: ___________________ (only occurs at shallower depths than ___________) ___________________ ___________________ Do low-grade metamorphic rocks resemble the original rock? YES or NO Do high-grade metamorphic rocks resemble the original rock? YES or NO

Controlling Factors The type of metamorphic rock that forms is very dependent on what the original rock is, but the exact changes that occur to the original rock will vary depending on what the metamorphic conditions are. The controlling factors are: 1. ____________________ 3. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 4. ____________________

Pressure Pressure refers to the effect of the increasing weight of the overlying rocks as you go deeper and deeper into the crust. This pressure is referred to as the: ____________________________ This pressure is the same from all directions, just like water pressure deep in the ocean. If pressure is the same from all directions: do objects decrease in volume because of the pressure? do objects change their shape because of the pressure? YES or NO YES or NO

Under lithostatic pressure, rocks decrease in volume- the mineral grains get more and more tightly packed and they start to ________________, forming a metamorphic rock. If forces are stronger in one direction than other directions (unlike pressure), we use the term _____________ to talk about the forces acting on the rock. This may happen because of the forces of the tectonic plates pushing against each other. In particular, if there is a greater push from one direction compared to another direction results in a type of stress called __________________________. Because of these unequal stresses, rocks get squished in one direction more than others. This causes platy minerals (e.g. ___________), which grow in sheets, to align with each other perpendicular to the direction of the largest stress. This alignment of minerals in metamorphic rocks is called ________________. Because it is a physical characteristic of the rock, we refer to this foliation as a type of metamorphic ____________________.

55

Physical Geology 101

In low-grade metamorphic rocks, the grain sizes are usually very small and the foliation may be difficult to see. A tell-tale clue is that the rock breaks apart easily along the foliation, just like with cleavage in minerals, forming flat, plate-like fragments. This characteristic is called _________________________. In intermediate-grade metamorphic rocks, recrystallized mica and chlorite grain sizes are bigger and the foliation is easier to see and is often wavy in appearance. This type of foliation is called ________________________. In high-grade metamorphic rocks, recrystallized minerals segregate into light and dark bands, forming a __________________________. This type of foliation is also called ________________________.

Temperature Heat is a crucial part of metamorphism because chemical reactions occur faster as temperatures: INCREASE or DECREASE ? What are the two sources of heat for metamorphism? 1) ____________________________ or 2) ______________________________

Eventually the temperatures will get high enough that a certain rock type can no longer remain solid at the existing pressures and partial melting begins. If partial melting doesn't melt all of the rock, we can end up with rocks that are part metamorphic and part igneous (usually granite). These type of rocks are called ____________________.

Fluids What are 2 examples of holes or openings in rock that can contain fluids or volatiles? 1. ___________________ (gaps between grains in sedimentary rocks) 2. ___________________

What types of minerals contain water in their chemical makeup? __________________ (e.g., clay) What types of minerals contain OH in their chemical makeup? __________________________ (e.g., mica and amphibole- can be used to make H2O in chemical reactions) What are 2 examples of fluids or volatiles that are used in metamorphic reactions? ____________________ and _____________________.

Fluids are important for metamorphic reactions because they allow existing minerals to dissolve, or they allow new minerals to crystallize from the chemical ingredients present in the fluid.

56

Physical Geology 101

Do fluids speed up or slow down chemical reactions during metamorphism? SPEED UP Time How long does it usually take for one silicate mineral to fully convert into a different silicate mineral (even when the temperatures and pressures are very high)? ____________________________ or SLOW DOWN

Types of Metamorphic Rocks We can broadly divide metamorphic rocks up into two categories. Those that have a foliation and those that don't. In other words: __________________ and ______________________

Foliated In order from the lowest to the highest metamorphic grade:

__________________: forms when shale undergoes low-grade metamorphism. Develops a foliation called a _____________________. What products are made from slate? _________________________________

__________________: slightly higher grade metamorphism of shale and forms an obvious foliation.

6) __________________: intermediate-grade metamorphism of shale, with big mica crystals that form a pronounced foliation called a ___________________. __________________: form from high-grade metamorphism of clay-rich sedimentary rocks and granite. The metamorphic minerals segregate into light and dark bands producing a ___________________texture. __________________: forms when ______________ undergoes low-grade metamorphism. The resultant rock is similar to a schist that develops from a shale, but in the case of basalt, contains mostly green chlorite minerals. __________________: intermediate-grade metamorphism of basalt. Contains amphibole. __________________: high-grade metamorphism of basalt. Contains pyroxene.

Non-Foliated __________________: metamorphic rocks with large recrystallized grains that show no foliation. __________________: forms when _____________ gets metamorphosed. The original quartz grains recrystallize into tightly packed, reorganized quartz crystals.

57

Physical Geology 101

__________________: forms from _______________. It is entirely made up of the mineral _______________. All the original mineral grains recrystallize, obliterating all sedimentary features, and forming an often pure white rock with a sugary look to it. The purity of the rock is why it is used for gravestones and for sculptures (calcite is soft and easy to sculpt).

QUESTION: What famous and intricate Michelangelo sculpture was made out of marble? ____________________ Causes of Metamorphism The two main processes that occur within a rock during metamorphism are: ______________________: physical processes like squeezing and crushing - caused by strong forces (causes a _____________) ______________________: changes in mineral chemistry / growth of new minerals from old ones. YES or NO

Can these two processes occur together at the same time?

The six main driving mechanisms (types of metamorphism) for the above metamorphic processes are: ________________ metamorphism (aka _____________ metamorphism) ________________ metamorphism ________________ metamorphism ________________ metamorphism ________________ metamorphism (aka _____________ metamorphism) ________________ metamorphism along fault zones

1. Contact or Thermal Metamorphism Contact metamorphism occurs around an ________________________. The heat of the intrusion radiates out and metamorphoses the rocks in contact with the intrusion, called host rocks or ______________________. The region of metamorphosed rock around an intrusion is called an ________________. Contact metamorphism occurs around all types of igneous intrusions, regardless of their size. Examples: _______________________________________________________ Effect of intrusion size:

58

Physical Geology 101

The larger the intrusion, the wider the zone of metamorphism around the intrusion. Batholiths can metamorphose rocks over a distance of ____________ ____________________ away from the batholith. Dikes and sills may only have aureoles _________________________ wide. What other three factors may influence the size of an aureole? 1. ___________________________________ 2. ___________________________________ 3. ___________________________________ Which type of magma produces the widest aureoles, and why? Type: ___________________ Reason: ___________________________________________________ Temperature is more of a factor than pressure around an intrusion. So which type of metamorphic process is most commonly associated with contact metamorphism? mechanical deformation OR mineral recrystallization?

So contact metamorphosed rocks usually don't have a foliation. Typical metamorphic rock type produced: __________________

2. Hydrothermal Metamorphism Many of the hot fluids, or ___________________________, coming off of a magma intrusion can cause changes in the minerals in the surrounding rocks. This is called hydrothermal alteration. This type of metamorphism, driven by fluids, is also called _______________________. Environment where metasomatism commonly occurs: ________________________ Types of minerals that form here due to hydrothermal alteration: __________________, ___________________, and ___________________

Hydrothermal fluids may also carry metallic ions that precipitate valuable ore minerals in the rocks around the intrusion. What are nine examples of these ore minerals? 1. _________________ 4. _________________ 7. _________________ 3. Regional Metamorphism How large of an area may be affected by regional metamorphism? _____________________________ Regional metamorphism occurs at convergent plate boundaries where tectonic plates collide. What are two characteristics of these types of locations? 2. _________________ 5. _________________ 8. _________________ 3. _________________ 6. _________________ 9. _________________

59

Physical Geology 101

1. ________________________ 2. ________________________ The resultant metamorphic rocks form the deep cores of the mountains (e.g., the __________________). The rocks are highly deformed and foliated, which tells us that strong forces must have been involved in their creation. So which type of metamorphic process is most commonly associated with regional metamorphism? mechanical deformation OR mineral recrystallization?

What types of metamorphic rocks are associated with regional metamorphism? _____________________ _____________________ 4. Burial Metamorphism Burial metamorphism occurs in regions where a lot of sedimentary rocks get piled on top of each other inside a so-called ________________________. The rocks get buried deeper and deeper under the weight of the rocks on top. These basins can extend down to depths of ______ km. Initially the sediment undergoes diagenesis, turning the sediment into rock. Then, when the rocks get buried to depths where the temperature exceeds _______C, burial metamorphism begins. Typically, the metamorphic rocks so produced do not exhibit a foliation. So which type of metamorphic process is most commonly associated with burial metamorphism? mechanical deformation 5. Dynamic Metamorphism in Fault Zones What does dynamic mean? ___________________________ This type of metamorphism results predominantly from large differential stresses within narrow zones of deformation in the crust called fault zones or ___________________. Near the surface, the deformation in fault zones is brittle and results in a highly fragmented rock called fault breccia. Deeper down, where temperatures are higher, minerals recrystallize and get aligned parallel to each other, producing a noticeable foliation. The type of fault rock produced is called __________________. What minerals are common in these rocks? _____________ and ________________. Based on the strongly foliated rocks, which type of metamorphic process is most commonly associated with dynamic metamorphism? mechanical deformation 6. Impact or Shock Metamorphism OR mineral recrystallization? or mineral recrystallization? _____________________ _____________________

60

Physical Geology 101

This type of metamorphism is produced by the instantaneous spike in heat and pressure caused by the collision of a rapidly moving projectile with the Earth. These projectiles are called ______________________. The types of impact-produced rocks that are created are called ___________________. Mineral Assemblages and Metamorphic Grade What are the three grades of metamorphism? ___________________ , ______________________ and ___________________

Where contact metamorphism occurs around an igneous intrusion, the grade of metamorphism _________________ as you get further and further away from the intrusion. This makes sense because the rock temperature gradually gets less and less further away from the intrusion so the metamorphic grade must decrease. We see this change in metamorphic grade by the different combinations of metamorphic minerals present in the rocks. Any particular combination of minerals is called a: ___________________________ At different distances from an intrusion, different combinations of minerals can be seen, even though the original rock was the same at each point before metamorphism began. Each mineral assemblage is characteristic of specific metamorphic conditions (grades). Are the types of minerals that occur in each assemblage dependent on the type of rock being metamorphosed? YES or NO ? Geologists have studied metamorphic rocks in great detail and have determined that specific assemblages of minerals occur consistently when any particular rock type gets metamorphosed. These mineral combinations are called: _________________________ Example: if a clay-rich rock (e.g., shale) gets metamorphosed, the resultant rock contains the minerals muscovite and chlorite. What do these minerals indicate about the grade of metamorphism? (choose one) Low grade Intermediate grade High grade

If muscovite and chlorite start to turn into the mineral biotite, what is the grade of metamorphism? (choose one) Low grade Intermediate grade High grade

If we have a metamorphosed clay-rich rock that contains the minerals garnet, staurolite, or sillimanite, what is the grade of metamorphism? (choose one) Low grade Intermediate grade High grade

For the same original rock type (like shale), the index minerals are always the same for a particular metamorphic grade. This is why mineral assemblages in metamorphic rocks can tell us so much about the conditions of metamorphism.

61

Physical Geology 101

Do we see the same index minerals as in clay-rich rocks when we progressively metamorphose basalt to higher and higher metamorphic grades? YES or NO ?

We know exactly which mineral assemblages result from the metamorphism of specific rock types, so we can always determine the grade of metamorphism by identifying the index minerals present in the rock. What do we call lines on a geologic map that show the boundaries between the locations of different grades of metamorphic rocks with different mineral assemblages? ______________________

Pressure and Temperature Ranges of Metamorphic Conditions The full range of temperature and pressure conditions that control the grade of metamorphism for any rock type can be divided up into a number of smaller divisions of discrete T and P ranges called __________________________. Metamorphic facies are just a more refined way of looking at metamorphic grade.

FINAL QUESTION: What are the different types of metamorphic facies? ____________________ ____________________

____________________

____________________

____________________

____________________

____________________

62

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 10

Geologic Time
Geologic Time Sedimentary rocks consist of layer upon layer of sedimentary material that we call beds, or strata. Each bed was deposited by some sort of sedimentary process at the Earths surface. What is the approximate length of time of the history of human civilization? ______________________ What thickness of sediments could have gotten deposited in this amount of time? ______________________ Based on these sedimentation rates, how long did it take surface geologic processes to make all the layers of rock in the Grand Canyon? _________________________ The Grand Canyon is just a miniscule portion of all the rocks that have formed in the Earth's crust. A far greater amount of time was needed to make the rest of the rocks in the Earth. How much time? (i.e., how old is Earth?) ________________________ What are the two ways in geology that we describe geologic time? 1. _____________________-> refers to exactly how old a rock is in millions of years 2. _____________________ -> do not need to know the actual age of the rocks, but are instead interested in the relative order of geologic events Relative Age Relative age refers to the order in which geologic layers formed, and their ages relative to each other, or in other words, the ________________________________. What is the geologic discipline that is specifically concerned with relative ages of sedimentary strata? ________________________ With relative age, we don't worry about exactly when in Earth's history geologic events happened. It could have been 2 million years ago or 200 million years ago. All we are concerned with is the age of each feature relative to another one. The relative ages or order of the layers is called the ____________________________.

Stratigraphy The three principles we use in stratigraphy are: 1) principle of ___________________________ 2) principle of ___________________________ 3) principle of ___________________________ Each of these is used to determine the order in which strata were deposited at some point in Earth's geologic past.

63

Physical Geology 101

Principle of Original Horizontality Definition: Sedimentary beds are initially ___________________________. Original horizontality occurs because the deposition of sediment is always controlled by the effects of _____________________. The horizontal nature of the layers may be preserved for a long time through geologic history. Location example of horizontal layers: ____________________________. BUT, if you see layers that are not horizontal (they may be bent or tilted), what does this tell you about what must have happened to the rocks? __________________________________________________

Principle of Stratigraphic Superposition Definition: _____________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ The word superposition is derived from super (above) and positum (to place). With stratigraphic superposition, all we know is the relative ages, not the actual ages.

Principle of Cross-Cutting Relationships Definition: Any undeformed horizontal layer must be ___________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ So if a bed has an igneous intrusion going through it, which is older? the bed OR the igneous intrusion?

If a bed has a fault cutting through it, which is older? the bed OR the fault?

Unconformities There may be long periods of geologic time when no sediment gets deposited on top of the existing sediment for some reason (i.e. a break in deposition). Or maybe sediment got deposited and then got eroded away again before the next layer got deposited. What do we call rock layers that are deposited one on top of another with no major time break between each one being deposited? -> we say that the two beds are ________________________. Such beds are typically separated by a ______________________.

64

Physical Geology 101

If a boundary between two rock layers represents a major time break (so there is a gap in the geologic record), we call it an _______________________. This effect is very common in geology, which is why some parts of Earth's history are missing in the rock record in some places, but are present in other places. Some places may have a gap in the record, and others may not. Is a bedding plane an unconformity? YES or NO

What are the three types of unconformities? TYPE 1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________ DEFINITION - beds are parallel (often horizontal) above and below - beds have different inclinations above and below - rocks underneath the beds are igneous or metamorphic

When igneous rocks intrude into country rocks that were already there, the boundary between the two is not an unconformity. Instead, the boundary is called an: _______________________________

Matching up Rock Layers Between Different Locations Sedimentary beds often cover great distances or areas. We often try to match up beds in one location with corresponding beds in another location that formed at the same point in geologic time. Matching beds from one location to another is called __________________. Over very great distances, it may become difficult to accurately match beds, so we have to rely on evidence such as fossils that are common to the rocks in the two regions of rocks that are being correlated.

Use of Fossils for Correlation Fossils are the remains of living organisms (plant and animal) that are preserved in rocks. The study of fossils is called _______________________. Most fossils represent plants and animals that no longer exist on Earth today. They are extinct. In fact, most species only existed on Earth for a relatively short period of geologic time. So if you see a rock with a certain type of fossil in it, you can narrow down the period of time in which the rock was deposited. If a single bed contains a whole bunch of fossils, they represent a number of species that all existed together during the point in geologic time when the bed got deposited. This combination of fossils is called a __________________________. If we correlate rocks in different locations based on their identical fossil assemblages, we are using a technique called __________________. What do we call the order of fossil assemblages throughout the rock record? ___________________________

65

Physical Geology 101

The fossil assemblage present in any particular sedimentary rock can tell us when in geologic time those rocks formed, by telling us where the rocks belong in the overall stratigraphy, which is the order of all rock layers everywhere. Some fossils may appear in fossil assemblages in many rock layers, and some may only be found in a small portion of the rock record- maybe a single bed. It all depends on how long the species were around before going extinct. Fossils of species that only existed for short periods of geologic time are called _________________ and are good indicators of actual ages of rocks that contain them. We can find similar faunal successions all over the world. The faunal successions are simply showing us how life on Earth evolved through time in a consistent manner all over the world. So we can sometimes correlate rocks with similar ages all over the world based on the combinations of fossils present inside them.

The Geologic Time Scale In geology, we try to get our minds around the vastness of geologic time by dividing it up into smaller segments of time, each with its own name. That way, we can talk about small portions of geologic time by name, and know exactly what part of geologic time were talking about.

QUESTION: The time scale that we use in geology is referred to as the: __________________________________ The Geologic Column There are numerous divisions and subdivisions of time in the geologic column. Use the table below to list the hierarchy of major divisions and subdivisions. You should know the difference between different eons, eras, periods, and epochs. Hierarchy of time divisions in the geologic column Eons youngest C T C P M J T P C Pennsylvanian Mississippian Eras Periods Q Epochs see below

66

Physical Geology 101

D S O C

P A H oldest What is the collective name for the 3 oldest eons? ___________________________ When did the Cenozoic Era begin? _______________ (after extinction of dinosaurs) List the 7 epochs from oldest to youngest: _____________, _____________, _____________, _____________, _____________, _____________, _____________,

Modern human beings first appeared during the _________________ Epoch, about ______ million years ago. The current epoch is called the _________________ Epoch, which began when the last ice age ended ______________ years ago.

Absolute Age Until now we have only considered the relative age of rocks (i.e. stratigraphy). We will now look at how we determine the ACTUAL age of rocks, called the absolute age. Estimates of Absolute Age Early attempts at estimating absolute ages in the 18th and 19th centuries included measuring how long it must have taken to make the sea salty and how long it must have taken for the Earth to cool from an initially molten state to its current configuration. What ages for the Earth did scientists calculate using these methods? Salinity of the ocean: ______________________ Time to cool the Earth: ________________________ Ocean salinity was not a good method to gauge the age of the Earth because ocean salinity has oscillated repeatedly over the past ___________________ of years. What was Lord Kelvin unable consider when calculating the cooling time of the Earth? (because it hadnt been discovered yet!) ______________________

67

Physical Geology 101

Reliable methods for measuring absolute age MUST involve a natural process that is dependent on time and meets the following criteria: it must leave a continuous record without any gaps it must be irreversible it must not be influenced by chemical reactions or temperature

Radioactivity When was radioactivity discovered? ______________ What is radioactivity? ___________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________

Some elements have several isotopes. This just means that the atoms have the same number of _____________ but different numbers of ______________. So isotopes represent the same elementthey have the same atomic number, but the mass numbers are different. Most isotopes are stable. But some isotopes are prone to spontaneous change in their nuclei and are said to be unstable. Examples: The 3 types of radioactive changes that can happen in the atoms of these isotopes are: 1) ________________ - involves the release of an -particle What is an -particle?: _____________________________ As a result, the atomic number changes by _________ and the mass number changes by __________. 2) ________________ - involves the release of a -particle as a neutron turns into a proton. What is a -particle?: ______________________ As a result, the atomic number changes by _________ and the mass number remains unchanged. 3) ________________- involves a nucleus absorbing an electron, causing a proton to turn into a neutron. As a result, the atomic number changes by _________. These processes in isotopes are called radioactive decay, and the isotope is said to be radioactive. An isotope that undergoes radioactive decay is called a ______________ isotope. The isotope that forms as a result of this process is called a ______________ isotope.

What other two things are emitted from an atom during any type of radioactive decay? ____________________ and ____________________

68

Physical Geology 101

We can very precisely measure how rapidly a parent isotope decays into a daughter isotope. This is called the decay rate, and it is _________________ through time.

Do all parent isotopes decay into daughter isotopes at the same time?

YES

or

NO

At any point during a decay process, there will always be a bunch of parent isotopes left over, and a bunch of daughter isotopes that formed from parent isotopes that already decayed. Most rocks contain some amount of parent isotopes, and some amount of daughter isotopes. These relative amounts can be measured in the rocks. The relative amounts of parent and daughter isotopes then tell us how old the rock is. The reason is that during radioactive decay, the number of parent isotopes is always _______________, whereas the number of daughter isotopes is always __________________. By measuring the relative amounts of parent and daughter isotopes, you can calculate how long it took to produce this ratio as long as you know the decay rate. Analogy: if you know how long it takes a dripping tap to fill a glass of water, and how full the glass is at any point in time, you can calculate how long the tap has been dripping water into the glass. What is meant by the half-life of an isotope? __________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________

By looking at the ratio of parent to daughter isotopes in a rock, we can figure out ________________________ must have passed to make so many daughter isotopes. This tells us how old the rock is.

Do geologic processes alter the rate of decay? (e.g., is the decay rate different in magma than in sedimentary, or igneous, or metamorphic rocks?) YES or NO

Calculating the Absolute Ages of Rocks Use of radioactive isotopes to determine rock age is called _____________________. The study of absolute rock ages is called _____________________. In sedimentary rocks, do the radiometric ages of the grains represent the age of the original rock that got eroded to form sediment, or is it the age of deposition of the sedimentary rock that formed from this sediment? ROCK THAT GOT ERODED or SEDIMENT DEPOSITION AGE

The oldest material found on Earth was a grain of the mineral _____________. How old is it? ____________________ Where was it found? ___________________

69

Physical Geology 101

QUESTION: We consider a good estimate of the age of the Earth to be the age of the moon rocks that have been returned to Earth and dated. How old are they? __________________________________

70

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 11

Crustal Deformation
Introduction Although the Earth is 4.6 billion years old, most of the oldest rocks on Earth have long since vanished, so we see more younger rocks than older rocks. So the older rocks must have been removed by processes like weathering, erosion, and the effects of plate tectonics. Some rocks were deeply buried and turned into metamorphic rocks. Where do we see deeply formed metamorphic rocks that now form mountain ranges? ___________________ All over the world, rocks that were once perfectly flat lying are often inclined at a range of angles or are warped. They are also often intensely fractured and may contain abrupt breaks called ______________ across which one block of rock slides past another block. These different types of features are called deformation features. We need to know how to describe them, how they formed, and what they can tell us about the geologic history of a region. The field of geology that considers deformation of rocks is called __________________. It is vital for understanding what happens to rocks in response to the huge forces that occur inside the Earth's crust as a result of plate tectonics.

Rock Deformation When we looked at metamorphic rocks, we learned why a foliation develops in a rock. Foliation is produced by forces pushing against rocks, but the force cannot be the same from all directions. To produce a foliation, we need to have forces being different from different directions- this is called a ______________________. This gets produced by the interactions and motions of the tectonic plates. These motions produce stresses that we call tectonic stresses, which are different from different directions, resulting in differential stress. As a result, rocks get deformed.

Rock deformation refers to all the different ways that rocks respond to squeezing, stretching, or any other kind of tectonic force. This deformation may involve: 1. Buckling and bending of rocks, which we call _________________; or 2. Cracking and breaking of rocks, which we call ___________________. Examples: _______________ and ________________. Rocks may also change their shape or volume in response to differential stresses.

Pressure, Stress, and Strain

71

Physical Geology 101

Stress and pressure are both a measure of forces being applied to rocks inside the Earth. So how are stress and pressure different from each other? Pressure: ___________________________________________ (also called ______________) Stress: __________________________________________________ How is stress defined in terms of force? ___________________________________ Whenever a stress is applied to a rock, something happens inside the rock. It starts to deform, and the rock is said to have undergone ______________. Definition of strain: _____________________________________________ The reason for this is that rocks are not infinitely strong. If you push on it hard enough, something happens inside the rock, either at the grain scale or the atomic level, to produce strain. So rocks have a limit to their strength. Definition of rock strength: _____________________________________________ The tectonic stresses produced inside the crust are big enough to deform rocks. But they are applied to rocks over such a long period of time that we rarely see deformation happening in rocks. What we see today happened a long time ago. If a uniform pressure is applied to a rock (in other words one that is the same from all directions), the only strain that the rock can undergo is a decrease in volume, but no change in shape. Example of a typical source of uniform pressure in the Earth: ______________________________ What would happen to a cube of rock under the influence of a uniform pressure? _____________________________________________________ In order for a rock to change its shape as it deforms, a differential stress must be applied to the rock. The three types of differential stress are: 7) ___________________ - pushes on rock and causes it to shorten or compress. 8) ___________________ - pulls on rock and causes it to stretch or extend. 9) ___________________ - slides the rock in opposite directions from each side and causes it to change its shape (like shearing a deck of playing cards).

Types of Deformation The way in which a rock responds to stress is not always the same. Some rocks deform by bending whereas others responded by breaking. What was different about these rocks that caused the deformational style to be so different?

First, let us define what the different types of deformation behavior are. There are essentially three:

1. _________________ deformation - if you apply force to a rubber ball and then remove it again, it deforms while the force is applied, but goes back to its original shape after the force is removed. This

72

Physical Geology 101

is called elastic deformation. Rocks can also behave elastically. They start to deform as stresses are applied, but return to their original shape if the stress is removed. So is elastic deformation PERMANENT or RECOVERABLE?

2. _________________ deformation - this is what happens to rocks when they can no longer behave elastically. They fracture. Examples of fractures: _______________ and _______________

3. _________________ deformation - some rocks deform by flowing or bending instead of fracturing. This is called ductile deformation, or ____________________ which is how _____________ develop.

Controls on Deformation Whether a rock is brittle or ductile depends on the conditions under which deformation occurs. A certain type of rock may be brittle under one set of conditions but ductile under another set of conditions (i.e., temperature, pressure, rock type, and strain rate). Temperature - as temperature increases, do rocks become: LESS BRITTLE or MORE BRITTLE ?

So they stop fracturing and instead start to flow. They become ductile. Where in the Earth are rocks the most brittle? __________________________ Rocks get more ductile with depth due to the ___________________________. Pressure - greater pressures cause rocks to be more ______________, which adds to the temperature effect deeper and deeper into the Earth. Rock type - the composition of the rock is important because different materials behave differently at a particular temperature and pressure. For example, feldspar behaves in a ductile manner at higher pressures and temperatures than is needed for quartz. So is feldspar more ductile than quartz deeper down in the Earth or higher up? DEEPER or SHALLOWER ? Strain rate - the rate of deformation has a great impact on the type of deformation that occurs in rocks. Does brittle deformation occur for fast or slow strain rates? FAST or SLOW ?

The same material will deform differently depending on strain rate. In the Earth's crust, high strain rates, like ____________________ and blasting with explosives causes brittle deformation, or fracturing. Low strain rates, such as are produced by tectonic forces, are more likely to cause ductile deformation.

Brittle Structures

73

Physical Geology 101

Brittle structures are fractures, such as joints and faults, which are produced because of tectonic stresses. The intrusion of magma into rocks can also create brittle fractures such as dikes and sills.

Joints Joints are fractures that form very close to the Earth's surface, and indicate that the rock has been stretched by tensional stresses. When the rocks are stretched far enough, the elastic limit is exceeded and the rocks fracture. The two sides of the joint simply pull apart from each other. Joints can be found in most rocks. They generally open by no more than ________________________. They often form dense networks that leave rocks intensely fractured. Joints are useful because they can tell us about the stresses that produced them. Joints form ____________________ to the direction of maximum tensional stresses. When a number of joints form parallel to each other, they produce a ______________. A special type of joint called a ______________________ forms as lava cools and contracts to form an igneous rock. These joints arrange themselves into polygonal shapes, forming long columns of rock.

FINAL QUESTION: What rock type commonly forms these joints as lava cools? ____________________

Brittle Structures Faults Whereas joints form by fracturing a rock in such a way that the two sides of the joint just move apart from each other, with faults the two sides of the fracture start to slide past each other. This may result in a lot of energy can be released, as an ______________. What is the most common type of location where faults occur? ______________________________________ The only reason that tectonic plates are able to move past each other is because of the faults between the plates. Examples of faults at tectonic plate boundaries: 1. The _______________________ fault separates the North American and Pacific plates in California.

2. The _______________________ region has faults along the boundary of the North American and Juan de Fuca plates. An example of a recent earthquake in this region was the M6.8 __________________ earthquake on 2/28/01.

74

Physical Geology 101

3. The _______________________ region, where many countries are prone to earthquakes (e.g., Japan, Taiwan, Phillipines).

Faults can occur a long way from the plate boundaries, producing a second class of earthquakes in regions referred to as _________________________. Some of these may be ancient faults that are no longer active, but many are still active today. Where was the largest earthquake in the recorded history of the continental United States in the winter of 1811-1812? _____________________________________ There were 3 large earthquakes all above a magnitude 7, the largest an 8.1. The faults that produced these earthquakes are nowhere near a plate boundary. What causes the two sides of a fault to slide past each other? ____________________ This stress comes from the motion of the tectonic plates and either pulls or pushes on the faults, causing them to slip. Any fault that is inclined with respect to horizontal has the rocks on one side of the fault sitting on top of rocks on the other side of the fault.

In this case, each side of the fault has its own name: The rocks on top of the fault define the _____________________ (HW) The rocks underneath the fault define the ___________________ (FW). You can remember this by imagining being able to walk through a tunnel inside the Earth that cuts through the fault zone. You would be standing on top of the fault plane with your foot on the footwall, and you would be able to hang a lantern on the hanging wall above your head. The break between the HW and the FW, where the fault actually slips, is called the _________________. Faults can vary in orientation from almost horizontal to vertical. We measure their orientation using: _____________ Definition: __________________________________________ and _____________ Definition: __________________________________________. Faults that are vertical planes have a dip of ____. As the inclination of the plane decreases, the dip value decreases towards ____________. Make a sketch of these dips:

75

Physical Geology 101

Faults come in a range of sizes. The smallest faults may only be a few meters long, with only a very small amount of sliding along them. In general, faults are several to tens of kilometers long with 10s of meters to many km of total accumulated sliding. There are also places where a large region of the crust is broken up by many faults that form in a long line. This long line of faults is called a ____________________. Example: ____________________________

Types of Faults We can identify different types of faults based on how one side of the fault moves relative to the other side. The four types of faults are: 1. ______________ faults - these form as a result of the crust being stretched by tensional stresses. So the crust undergoes _________________. The hanging wall always moves: UP or DOWN relative to the footwall.

The motion is always parallel to the dip of the fault plane, so this up/down motion is often called dipslip motion. Where a normal fault pierces the surface of the Earth, fault motion may produce a sudden slope called a ___________________. What is the typical dip of a normal fault plane? ________ Where are normal faults common in the USA? ______________________ and ______________________ The highest mountain in Idaho, Borah Peak, formed because of the footwall of the Lost River fault moving upwards. This fault was the site of the Borah Peak earthquake in 1983 - one of the strongest earthquakes in recorded history in the continental USA. What was its magnitude? ___________ Sometimes, normal faults form in pairs with each fault either dipping towards the other, or away from the other. If the two faults dip towards each other, the block between them moves down forming a valley called a ____________ (also called a rift valley). If the two faults dip away from each other, the middle block moves up, forming a type of mountain called a __________________.

2. _________________ faults - these form when the crust is being squeezed by compressional tectonic stresses. So the crust undergoes __________________. The hanging wall side always moves: UP or DOWN ?

relative to the footwall, which is opposite to normal faults. It is still dip-slip motion though because it involves up and down motions. What is the typical dip of a reverse fault plane? _________ What do we call a reverse fault that dips at less than 45? ____________________

76

Physical Geology 101

Reverse faults may eventually form mountains as the hanging wall uplifts. Examples: ______________________ and __________________________

3. _________________ faults - these faults are usually vertical with one side sliding past the other side because of tectonic shear stresses. This type of motion is called ____________________. They often form where one tectonic plate is sliding past the other one. e.g., ______________________ has allowed the North American and Pacific plates to slide past each other for the past 29 million years. What types of offset features indicate the presence of a strike-slip fault? _________________________________________________________________ The sense of motion along a strike-slip fault may be one of two possibilities. If you stand on one side of a strike-slip fault and watch how the other side is moving with respect to you, the other side will move either to the left or to the right. If the motion is to the left, it is a ___________________ fault. If the motion is to the right, it is a _____________________ fault. This technique works no matter which side of the fault you are standing on when you look at the other side. Example: the San Andreas fault is a LEFT-LATERAL or RIGHT-LATERAL ?

strike-slip fault that moves at a rate of about _______________ per year.

4. _________________ faults - the sliding on these faults is some combination of strike-slip sliding and dip-slip sliding. So one side of the fault moves obliquely with respect to the other side.

Folding Rocks get folded when strain rates are: VERY LOW or VERY HIGH ?

Also, the temperatures and pressures are high enough to cause the rocks to behave in a ______________ manner.

Rocks can get folded into a gentle warping over 100s of km or they may get tightly kinked at the centimeter or meter scale. What type of stresses in the crust cause folding? ____________________________

Types of Folds In rocks that get folded, the parts that warp upwards in the middle are called _________________ and the downward warps are called __________________.

77

Physical Geology 101

Anti means "against" and syn means "with", so anticlines work against gravity (rocks move upwards) whereas synclines work with gravity. Folds rarely occur in isolation. Instead we get an anticline next to a syncline, which is next to another anticline and another syncline, etc.

Fold Geometry Folds consist of two sides that have the beds dipping in opposite directions to each other (away from each other in an anticline, and towards each other in a syncline). Each side of the fold is called a _________________. Every fold has 2 fold limbs with one always being shared with the fold right next to it. If you fly over a region of folding like in the Appalachian Mountains, you often see very interesting patterns of rocks at the Earths surface. What types of patterns are usually seen? ____________________________ This happens because tectonic forces in the Earth sometimes cause folds to be tilted over, parallel to their lengths, so they become inclined downwards into the Earth. Such folds are said to be ________________ folds.

QUESTION: What do we call an isolated, single-limbed fold that forms above a buried fault? ____________________________

78

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 12

Earthquakes
How many people have been killed by earthquakes in the last 4,000 years? ____________ How many people have been killed by earthquakes in the past century? ____________ What two recent earthquakes resulted in a combined ~360,000 fatalities? LOCATION 1. _______________________ 2. _______________________ YEAR _________ (M 7.6; 86,000 fatalities) _________ (M 9.0; 283,000 fatalities)

Faults and Earthquakes Earthquakes occur along faults because tectonic stresses are constantly trying to push the two sides of a fault past each other. Which types of faults are associated with the following types of tectonic stresses? Tensional stresses: Compressional stresses: Shear stresses: ___________________ ___________________ ___________________

Tectonic stresses are always present in the crust, but any one fault doesnt produce earthquakes every day. This is because tectonic stresses need to overcome the strength of a fault. What is it that gives faults their strength? ___________________________ When the frictional strength of the fault is exceeded, the fault jumps forward (slips or ruptures) suddenly, producing an earthquake. How much slip generally occurs on a fault during a single earthquake? ____________ What is the largest amount of motion ever recorded at the Earths surface during an earthquake, and where did it occur? Amount of slip: ____________ Location: _________________________ Is an earthquake produced every single time a fault slips? YES or NO?

Some faults slip continuously in response to tectonic stresses, although very, very slowly. This process is called ________________. Why do these creeping faults slip continuously instead of producing earthquakes? __________________________________________

Theory of Earthquakes

79

Physical Geology 101

The reason that faults fail abruptly when the friction is overcome is because the rocks build up a lot of energy by getting deformed before an earthquake. The rocks get pulled in opposite directions on either side of the fault, but they are locked together by the friction along the fault. What type of energy builds up in the rocks? __________________________ In the crust, tectonic stresses are always present. So the energy stored in the rocks is violently released as fault slips and causes an earthquake. We feel this release of energy in the form of shaking of the ground. This theory for how earthquakes form is called the ____________________________. After the stored energy is released, the fault stops slipping and things quiet down as the stresses build up towards the next earthquake. Often, the shaking created by a large earthquake along a fault upsets the balance on nearby faults which then undergo smaller fault rupture events. This produces a number of smaller earthquakes called __________________, which can continue for months after the main earthquake.

Earthquake Locations and Frequency If we look at a map of the world distribution of earthquakes, we can see that they appear to cluster greatly into zones of high earthquake activity. These zones indicate the ________________________________. The tectonic plates are only able to slide past each other because of the faults in between them. What percentage of all earthquakes occurs along the plate boundaries? ___________ There are three main types of faults (normal, reverse, and strike-slip), and all three can cause earthquakes. So some earthquakes occur where the plates slide past each other, others where plates collide, and others still where plates move apart. About ____% of all earthquakes occur around the edges of the Pacific Ocean, in a belt called the ___________________________. About ____% of all earthquakes occur far from plate boundaries in the continental interiors, where some of the largest earthquakes ever recorded happened.

Examples of large continental interior earthquakes in the United States: LOCATION 1. _______________________ 2. _______________________ YEAR ___________ ___________ MAGNITUDE _____________ _____________

What is the most prominent earthquake-producing plate boundary fault in the lower 48 states of the US? _________________________________ (in California). What two historical large magnitude earthquakes occurred along this fault? EARTHQUAKE NAME YEAR MAGNITUDE

80

Physical Geology 101

1. _______________________ 2. _______________________

___________ ___________

_____________ _____________

What other plate boundary area in the lower 48 states produced earthquakes? ________________________________ What was the largest earthquake ever to be associated with the plate boundary along the Pacific Northwest? YEAR: __________ Magnitude: _________

The eight largest earthquakes ever to hit the United States all occurred in the state of _______________. The largest earthquake ever recorded in the United States (and the second largest ever in the world) was the ______________________________earthquake in the year _________. What was its magnitude? _________. The largest earthquake ever recorded was in ____________ in the year _________. What was its magnitude? _________.

Recording Earthquakes Every year, there are more than ______________ earthquakes around the world that are strong enough to be felt. How many earthquakes are recorded by instruments every year? _________________ The study of earthquakes is a field of geology called __________________. The instrument used to record the occurrence of an earthquake is called either a _____________________ or a ________________________. Old seismographs consisted of a pen attached to a free-swinging pendulum. If an earthquake occurred, the ground would move back and forth, and the pen would record a series of jagged strokes on a rotating drum of paper. The paper record of the earthquake shaking is called a __________________. Seismographs today are a lot more sophisticated, with electronic sensors recording the ground shaking, and reporting it directly to a computer screen.

Earthquake Depth During an earthquake, the ground shakes because of the release of elastic energy when the fault slips. How is this energy transmitted through rocks? ________________________.

81

Physical Geology 101

This effect is similar to energy passing across the surface of the ocean as water waves. It is only because rocks can behave in an elastic manner that they are able to transmit elastic waves without fracturing into pieces. The elastic waves get emitted from the exact location on the fault where the slip first starts. This is called the ____________________ or ______________________ of the earthquake, which is usually many kilometers below the surface of the Earth. The point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus of the earthquake is called the ________________ of the earthquake, which can be plotted on a map. The depth of the focus of an earthquake is called the ________________________ and may be anywhere from ________________ deep to ____________ deep.

Seismic Waves There are a number of different types of seismic waves, which are divided into two categories: 1. ____________________ : these are the waves that radiate away from the focus. 2. ____________________ : these are produced when body waves intersect the Earth's surface and cause a vibration along the surface.

What are the two types of body waves?: 1. _______________ (also called _______________) 2. _______________ (also called ________________ or _______________) P-waves move through rock as a series of pulses of compression and expansion. What direction do these pulses move? ____________________________________ So a single particle in the rock just moves back and forth, back and forth, as the energy wave passes through. What other type of wave propagates in this way? _____________________ As P-waves pass through the rock, there is no actual transport of the rock. It just gets a little disturbed while the energy waves passes through it. We usually feel the P-wave arriving as a sudden vertical jolt. It travels through rock at about 4 mi/sec. Are P-waves are the fastest or slowest traveling waves? FASTEST or SLOWEST ? So in which order does it arrive at any location after an earthquake? ___________ Which types of media can P-waves travel through? Solids Liquids Gases YES or NO ? YES or NO ? YES or NO ?

S-waves propagate like a snake as a back and forth motion of particles. What direction is this back and forth motion? _______________________________

82

Physical Geology 101

They are the ____________ fastest waves (~2 mi/sec) so we feel them only after the P-wave has passed by. Which types of media can S-waves travel through? Solids Liquids Gases

YES or NO ? YES or NO ? YES or NO ?

Surface waves travel along or near the surface of the Earth, like water waves. Body waves can produce sharp jolts and extreme shaking, but surface waves produce a gentle rolling motion, like being on a boat on the ocean. Surface waves are the slowest moving waves, and there are two types 1. _________________________ 2. _________________________ Love waves involve a back and forth horizontal motion, like an S-wave, and can be very damaging to buildings. What is the order in which a Love wave is recorded by a seismograph? _____________ Rayleigh waves cause particles in the rock to trace out an elliptical rolling motion, like the waves on the ocean.

FINAL QUESTION: Rayleigh waves are the last seismic waves to be felt because they are the: ____________________________ Locating Earthquakes Seismic waves generated during an earthquake include body waves that radiate away from the ____________ (aka _________________) and surface waves that radiate away from the ______________ where the body waves first reach the surface. These waves are eventually felt at various distances from the earthquake. The further away from the earthquake you are, the longer it takes for the waves to reach you. It is possible to figure out exactly how far away you are from an earthquake based on the arriving seismic waves. We can do this by looking at the __________________ record of the earthquake. What is the first recorded wave arrival? ___________________ What is the second recorded wave arrival? ___________________ What are the last wave arrivals to get recorded? ___________________ What do we call the difference in the arrival time between the first two wave types? _______________________

83

Physical Geology 101

As the distance away from the earthquake increases, what happens to this time interval between the P and S-waves? Is it LONGER or SHORTER ? So if you measure the P-S time interval, you know how far away from the earthquake you are. But this method doesnt tell which direction the waves came from (i.e. the direction to the earthquake epicenter). The direction to the earthquake can only be determined using a number of seismograph station records of the quake. How many seismograph stations are needed to locate an epicenter? _________ For each station, the distance from the earthquake is calculated based on the P-S time interval. Then, a pencil compass is used to draw a circle around each seismograph location on a map, with a radius equal to the distance to the earthquake. What is it about the three circles around the three different seismograph stations that indicate the location of the epicenter? _____________________________________________ Measuring Earthquakes Magnitude The magnitude of an earthquake refers to: ___________________________________ ____________________________________________. What is the most well known magnitude scale? __________________________ What two characteristics of the seismic waves are used to calculate this magnitude? 1. ___________________________ 2. ___________________________ The scale starts at 0 and increases logarithmically. In other words, an increase of 1 unit on the magnitude scale corresponds to a _____ times larger wave amplitude. BUT, an increase of 1 Richter magnitude corresponds to ________ times more energy release during the earthquake. So it would take 30 M6 earthquakes to release as much energy as a single M7 earthquake. Most earthquakes have a magnitude that is less than _________, so we don't feel them. Only seismographs can feel them. The problem with the Richter magnitude scale is that it cannot accurately measure the really big earthquakes because the seismograph readings go off the scale. What magnitude scale do we use for the really big earthquakes? ______________________________ It is also logarithmic, just like the Richter scale, but it is measured differently. It considers characteristics of the actual physical motion along the fault.

84

Physical Geology 101

What two aspects of the fault motion are considered for the moment magnitude scale? 1. ___________________________ 2. ___________________________ The largest earthquake ever recorded was a subduction zone earthquake off the coast of ______________ in South America in 1960 had a moment magnitude of _________. The 1964 Alaska earthquake had a magnitude of _________. It released about ______ times more energy than the 1994 M6.7 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles. Even though very large earthquakes don't happen very often, they can release as much energy as many thousands of smaller earthquakes.

Earthquake Intensity The trouble with using magnitude to determine the size of an earthquake is that it doesn't tell us much about how potentially damaging an earthquake can be. For example, magnitude doesnt change no matter how far away from the earthquake you are. But the amount of ground shaking and damage caused by an earthquake always ______________ as you go further and further away from the epicenter. The severity of earthquake damage also varies with __________________________. e.g., the 1994 Northridge earthquake was a M6.7 and did a huge amount of damage. The 2001 Nisqually earthquake near Seattle was bigger- a M6.8 - yet it didn't do nearly as much damage. What is the reason for this? _____________________________________________ To account for these discrepancies between the magnitude of an earthquake and the amount of damage that is done, we often use a different scale for measuring earthquakes, called the __________________ of the earthquake. This scale is a direct measure of the amount of ___________________ caused locally by the earthquake. What intensity scale is commonly used? ____________________________________ (varies from I to XII) The largest intensities occur near the _________________ of the earthquake, but typically decrease away from this point. What major earthquake in 1812 in the central US caused shaking that was felt as far away as Boston? ______________________________

Earthquake Hazards Although we are most familiar with earthquake damage resulting from strong ground motions that cause buildings and other structures to collapse, there are a number of potential hazards associated with earthquakes (fill in the following list).

85

Physical Geology 101

1. ______________________ (e.g. rolling surface waves) This phenomenon is greatly controlled by the nature of the underlying rocks and sediments. Why is this? ____________________________________________________________________ Example: ______________________________ (Oakland, CA, 1989) M6.9 2. ______________________ Why is this a significant hazard? _____________________________________________ 3. ______________________ Where do these form? _________________________________________ 4. ______________________ - can be massive, or lots of smaller slides. Where is this hazard going to be greatest? ________________________ Example: ____________________________ (1970) caused 25,000 deaths Example 2: ___________________________ (1959, M7.3) slide blocked a river. Example 3: ___________________________ (1964, M9.2) neighborhood of Turnagain Heights in Anchorage slid into the sea.

5. ______________________ - causes buildings to topple over Definition: ________________________________________ 6. ______________________ (from broken gas mains) Example: _____________________________________ 7. ______________________ (sudden shift of the ocean floor causes a giant wave) Example: __________________ was hit after a 1946 Alaska earthquake. What major M9.0 Pacific Northwest earthquake was known to have occurred only because of the resultant tsunami that hit the coast of Japan? _________________________ The worst natural disaster of the modern age resulted from the M9.1 Sumatra earthquake in Indonesia in 2004 that caused a tsunami that ultimately killed __________________ people.

FINAL QUESTIONS: What type of map indicates the distribution of regions at risk from earthquakes? ____________________________

86

Physical Geology 101

87

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 13

Earth's Interior

Layers in the Earth We learned earlier in this course that the interior of the Earth consists of several layers, with each layer having different properties to the others. The thin brittle layer around the outside is called the ______________. Below this is the _____________, which extends half-way to the center of the Earth. The upper part of the mantle is brittle, like the crust. Because of their similar behavioral characteristics, they are typically grouped together, referred to as the ______________. Below the lower portion of the mantle is the _________________, which is liquid. The center of the Earth is made up of the _______________, which is solid.

So how do we know about these different layers and their properties? One of the first lines of evidence that the interior of the Earth is different to the rocks at the surface was through calculations of the gravitational attraction between the Earth and the Moon, which can be used to estimate the relative densities of the two bodies.
3 It was calculated that the Earth must have an average density of about _______ g/cm . 3 What is the typical density of rocks near the Earths surface? ____________ g/cm .

What do these differences in density tell us about the density of Earths interior? ___________________________________________________ But it doesn't tell us how we know there are distinct layers of different density. That's because we only managed to discover this by analyzing the behavior of seismic waves generated by _____________________. The study of seismic waves to discover information about the interior of the Earth is a branch of geology called _____________________.

Seismic Waves and the Earth's Interior Seismic waves radiate out in all directions away from the focus of an earthquake. We can represent the motion of these waves away from the focus using arrows that we call ___________________. They show the directions the waves are moving. Each of the different types of seismic waves moves at a different speed. This speed is controlled by the properties of the rock that the wave is moving through. Waves move faster through rocks that are ________________ and _______________.

88

Physical Geology 101

Based on how fast seismic waves take to travel through the Earth, we have figured out that seismic wave velocities generally _________________ as the waves travel deeper and deeper into the Earth. So this tells us that the rocks must be getting denser and denser with increasing depth.

Bending the Waves When any kind of wave moves from a material of one density into one of a different density, the wave ray becomes bent. So the wave travel direction changes slightly. This effect is called __________________________. As P-waves travel through the Earth, they are refracted several times. We can tell this by looking at the locations where the waves reappear at the Earths surface at different times after an earthquake. Based on how fast waves travel, and how long they took to move through the Earth, they could not have traveled along a straight line from the earthquake focus. This happens because of the changes in rock density in the different layers, which causes the wave ray paths to be curved through the Earth. By examining the differences in time it takes P-waves from the same earthquake to reach different seismograph stations all around the world, it is possible to figure out the refracted paths the waves took through the Earth, and therefore the locations of the layer boundaries that separate rocks with different densities.

Bouncing the Waves As waves hit a boundary between two layers with different density, some of the energy gets reflected back up again, just like light being reflected off a mirror. What is this phenomenon called? ________________________ If we know how fast a wave travels, and how long it takes to move down to the boundary and back up again to a seismograph, what can we calculate? ____________________________________________ This gives us some idea about how we figure out where these different layer boundaries are inside the Earth, and how we know for sure that the inside of the Earth is indeed layered.

Properties of the Earth's Interior Layers The Core There are several boundaries inside the Earth where sudden changes occur in seismic wave velocities, indicating sudden changes in the nature of the Earths interior. What happens to seismic waves at a depth of 2900 km in the Earth? P-waves: _____________________________________________ S-waves: _____________________________________________ What boundary occurs at this depth? ______________________________________

89

Physical Geology 101

P-waves can travel through liquid, solid or gas. S-waves can only travel through solid. We see that Swaves stop dead at the core-mantle boundary. So what does this tell us about the outer core? _______________________________ Because S-waves stop at the outer core boundary, locations on the other side of the Earth from an earthquake NEVER receive any S-waves! Only P-waves. This will happen at any location that is more than ______ degrees of arc away from the earthquake focus. What do we call this region where no S-waves are recorded? _______________________________________ P-waves get refracted as they pass from the mantle into the liquid outer core. This produces a region of the Earths surface where no P-waves can be recorded from an earthquake, because the waves get bent away from these areas. What do we call this region where no P-waves are recorded? _______________________________________ This shadow zone occurs at any location on Earth that is between ______ and ______ degrees of arc away from the earthquake focus. So can seismographs located in the overlap of the P-wave shadow zone and the S-wave shadow zone ever know for sure that an earthquake occurred? YES or NO ? BUT, every now and again, a stray P-wave gets recorded inside the P-wave shadow zone. Why does this happen? _____________________________________________ How do we know the inner core is denser than the outer core? __________________________________ What is the inner core made out of? ______________________

The Mantle Seismic wave velocities increase suddenly at a depth of about 30 km. What two layers are separated by this boundary? ______________________________ This boundary is called the Mohorovicic discontinuity, or more commonly the ___________________. Its depth is actually variable, ranging from 20-90 km below the continents with an average of ___________. Beneath the sea floor, it is 5-10 km deep because oceanic crust is much thinner than continental crust. At the Moho, there is a change from silica-rich rocks in the crust to mafic rocks in the mantle. A common rock type in the mantle is _________________. There are other layer boundaries inside the mantle. At a depth of between 100 and 350 km, seismic velocities suddenly decrease. This portion of the Earths interior is called the ___________________________.

90

Physical Geology 101

At this depth, rocks are not very elastic- they flow plastically like salt-water taffy. As a result, seismic waves have trouble moving through them. There may even be some melting going on at this depth. The low-velocity zone marks the boundary between the upper, rigid ______________________ and the underlying _______________________. What important geologic process is able to occur on Earth because of the existence of the low-velocity zone? ____________________________

The Crust The crust is the most complex of the Earth's layers because it is so variable. The types of rocks change frequently, with a combination of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rock types. The two types of crust are: ___________________ - thicker (average of 35 km) and ___________________ - thinner (5-10 km; average of 8 km) Continental crust gets thinner where the crust is being stretched by tensional tectonic forces, such as in central Nevada (~ 20km thick). Where is continental crust thickest? (~ 90 km thick) ____________________________

What principle allows continental crust to be thickest here? ____________________ (i.e., same principle that causes tall icebergs to also extend deepest underwater)

What rock types makes up most of the ocean crust? ____________ and ___________.

Earth's Magnetic Field Is Earths magnetic field produced by magnetic minerals (e.g. magnetite) inside the Earth? YES or NO? All magnetic minerals lose their magnetic properties at a certain temperature, called the _________________ of the mineral. In fact, the Earth has a magnetic field because: __________________________________________ As the liquid moves around, it generates an _______________ field which in turn generates a _______________ field. This means that the Earth essentially behaves like a giant _________________. QUESTION: What other planet has a magnetic field and so also must have a liquid interior? ____________________________

91

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 14

Ocean Basins
Background The majority of the planet is covered by ocean- about _____%. So the majority of the Earths crust is ____________________. This crust is hidden from view beneath the water so it is not as easily studied as continental crust. It is also not as variable as continental crust, which contains a mix of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks. Oceanic crust is predominantly made of _______________ and ________________. This makes the oceanic crust denser than continental crust. It is also thinner, so because of isostacy the continents stand higher than the oceanic crust, which forms deep basins filled with water. The four major ocean basins are the Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic, and Indian Oceans. The largest is the ___________ Ocean, which contains ____% of all the water on Earth. Smaller bodies of water called seas may be connected to the oceans, or may be unconnected. Some bodies of water on the continents called seas are actually large lakes because they do not have oceanic crust beneath them (e.g., ________________).

The Ocean Floor For much of human history, it was assumed that the ocean floor was a vast, featureless plain. This assumption mostly resulted from the fact that the ocean floor couldnt be observed directly. Is the seafloor really featureless? YES or NO ?

We can now image the ocean floor using modern techniques such as: _____________________ and _____________________.

The ocean floor contains numerous linear features that attest to the tectonic events that formed the oceanic crust. Much of the sea floor is also covered by sediments that have either been eroded off of the continents, or formed from the precipitation of __________ from sea water, or from shells of marine organisms. The three main components seen along a transect of a typical ocean basin from one continent across the ocean to the next continent are as follows: 1) ____________________________ (closest to the continents) 2) ____________________________ (further away from the continents) 3) ____________________________ (furthest from the continents)

Continental Margins

92

Physical Geology 101

The edges of the sea floor are actually marked by submerged parts of continental crust, where it turns into oceanic crust. These regions are called continental margins. What are the three components of continental margins (moving away from the shoreline)? 1) ____________________________ (very slight slope towards the open ocean) 2) ____________________________ (slight increase in the slope) 3) ____________________________ (decreased slope towards the deep ocean) Where does the change from continental crust to oceanic crust usually occur? _____________________________________________________ The continental shelf can vary from ________________________________ in width, although the depth of the water at their edges, where they turn into a continental slope, is pretty consistent at about _____________ water depth. Off the east coast of the United States, the continental shelf is ____________________ wide, but off the west coast, it is ___________________ wide. So the water gets very deep much quicker off the west coast. Sometimes, the continental slope and shelf may be cut into by deep submarine canyons. These are often off the coast at the mouths of big rivers. What is the average angle of the continental slope? ________ How steep can the continental slope get? ______________ The continental rise may or may not be present- off the east coast of the U.S. there is one, but off the west coast, the continental slope continues straight down into a deep ocean trench. More than ____% of all sediments on the sea floor are on the ____________________, and may be mostly land-derived sediment that rushed down the continental slope in the form of submarine landslides called __________________________.

What are the two types of continental margins? 1) ______________________ and 2) _____________________

An active continental margin essentially represents a tectonic plate boundary right off the coastline. Example: _____________________ (a subduction zone) Which plates?: _____________________ and _________________________ Active continental margins are very geologically active, with phenomena such as: __________________ and __________________. Passive continental margins are far from tectonic plate boundaries. Example: ____________________________________

93

Physical Geology 101

Passive continental margins have wide continental slopes and rises, and are rarely associated with earthquake activity.

Deep Ocean Basins What is the average depth of the ocean? __________________ Sunlight can only penetrate to a depth of about ______________ so the majority of the ocean is very dark and cold- only slightly warmer than freezing. The pressure in the ocean can reach as high as 1000 times atmospheric pressure. So we can only explore the ocean depths in highly advanced submersibles. What are the three main components of deep ocean basins? 1) ____________________________ 2) ____________________________ 3) ____________________________ 1) The abyssal plains are found beyond the continental slope and rise of a continental margin. They are the flattest places on Earth because the ruggedness of the sea floor has been buried by sediments deposited on the ocean bottom, mostly by turbidity currents. Sediment also forms by settling out of ocean water far from land. This type of sediment is called _____________________. There are two types pelagic sediment: _______________________ and ________________________

2) The ocean trenches are the deepest parts of the oceans, but only make up about ______% of the total ocean floor. They represent the locations along active continental margins where oceanic crust is subducted beneath an adjacent tectonic plate. They are most common around the margins of the Pacific Ocean basin but also occur in the Caribbean, southern Atlantic, and Indonesia. Trenches are usually a few hundreds of kilometers wide, thousands of kilometers long, and are often very linear. Where is the deepest point in the ocean? ____________________________ How deep is it? ______________________ The steepest continental slopes are adjacent to trenches, sloping at about 25.

3) The mid-ocean ridges are submarine volcanic mountain chains that rise up to 2.5 km above the surrounding plains. Example: ____________________________ Most mid-ocean ridges are connected to the others and extend a total of 43,000 miles around the Earth, making them the longest mountain chain on the planet.

94

Physical Geology 101

The mid-Atlantic ridge is more than 2000 km wide. Like all ocean ridges, it is composed of basalt and gabbro. Most ocean ridges are completely submerged, but in some places they protrude above sea level. Where does this happen? ______________________ What actually happens at ocean ridges? ___________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ Ocean ridges are sites of active volcanism, where new lava is constantly being extruded onto the sea floor, often forming bulbous or pod-like features in the lava called: _________________________ These pillow lavas erupt out of fissures, indicating that magma moves upwards from the magma chamber to the ocean floor along dikes. As a result of this consistent process at mid-ocean ridges, ocean crust has a characteristic form that can be broken down into a number of layers as follows: Top layer: Layer 2: Layer 3: Layer 4: Underlying mantle: ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________

Mid-ocean ridges do not all spread apart at the same rates. We typically differentiate slow spreading ridges like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from fast spreading ridges like the East Pacific Rise. What is the dominant difference between these two types? Slow spreading ridge: Fast spreading ridge: ______________________________ ______________________________

Because ocean ridges represent locations where two tectonic plates are moving apart from each other, there are tensional stresses present, and this often results in the development of _____________________ (which cause earthquakes) and deep valleys called submarine rift valleys. They are up to 2 km deep and several kilometers wide. If we look at the map of the ocean floor, we can also see many fractures in the sea floor that cut across the trends of the ocean ridges. These fractures cause offsets along the ocean ridges, and form because different parts of the ocean ridges pull apart at different rates. Blocks of ocean crust slide past each other along these fractures. This makes them types of strike-slip faults that are called ________________________.

Origin and Evolution of an Ocean Basin New seafloor along a mid-ocean spreading ridge must begin with the breakup of a continent through the process of continental rifting. Example of where this has recently begun: ______________________________

95

Physical Geology 101

Eventually the rift valley fills with water and the new ocean basin widens through time through the process of _______________________ along the submerged rift zone. Ocean crust that spreads away from the mid-ocean ridge eventually gets consumed along a subduction zone. The angle of subduction may be shallow or steep depending on how dense the subducting ocean crust is. Ultimately, an entire ocean plate may get swallowed up along a subduction zone. What ocean plate used to exist off the west coast of N. America? __________________ What do we call the remnants of this plate off the coast of the Pacific Northwest? ____________________________

QUESTION: Because of this recycling of ocean plates, how young is the oldest ocean crust today? ____________________________

96

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 15

Mountain Ranges and the Construction of Continents


Mountain Building Although the Earth is 4.6 billion years old, we see that many mountain ranges on Earth are far younger, having formed within the last _______________________ years. These young mountain ranges typically occur near to active plate tectonic boundaries, particularly _________________________ (i.e., at ________________________). What is the collective term used to describe all the processes responsible for the creation of mountains? ___________________. When this happens, a region is said to have undergone an ________________. Because of the great forces associated with tectonic plates colliding, one of the most important factors in orogenesis is __________________________. This stress causes mountain ranges to be extremely internally deformed, meaning the rocks are intensely _______________ and _______________. Subduction zones are also commonly associated with volcanoes, so many mountain ranges also have a core of ______________________. The mountains themselves are often constructed out of the products of volcanic eruptions, such as _____________. As a result of the large amount of deformation of the mountains, the deep roots of the mountains typically contain a lot of ______________________. What are some examples of young and active mountain ranges along convergent plate boundaries? (1) ____________________ (includes the __________ and ________________) (2) ____________________ (3) Also the island nations of Japan, Phillipines, and Indonesia.

What are two examples of ancient mountain ranges that indicate the locations of ancient convergent plate boundaries? (1) ____________________ (2) ____________________

Subduction Zones The two types of convergent plate boundaries where subduction actively occurs are: ______________________ and _______________________

What are the four typical component parts of any subduction zone? (1) _________________ (2) _________________ (3) _________________ (4) _________________ (where the subduction begins) (the region between the trench and the volcanoes) (the line of volcanoes) (the side of the volcanic arc opposite the trench)

97

Physical Geology 101

Where an ocean plate subducts beneath an ocean plate, the line of volcanoes on the upper plate is called an _________________ (e.g., _________________). Where subduction occurs beneath a continental plate, the line of volcanoes on the continent is just called a ______________.(e.g., SW Alaska; _______________; _____________). This type of plate boundary is often called an __________________________________.

Andean-type Margins All Andean-type margins start off as a _______________________. The continental shelves or platforms of these margins contain sedimentary rocks such as: __________________ __________________ __________________ Eventually, the oceanic crust along the passive margin gets compressed and starts to subduct beneath the continent. As the plate subducts, seafloor sediments are scraped off of the ocean plate, forming a zone of crumpled seafloor sediments next to the trench called an ____________________. What occurs in-between the accretionary wedge and the volcanic arc? ________________ Sediments accumulate in this basin after being eroded off of the higher areas to either side of it, and are deposited under marine conditions. Melting and magma production during subduction causes magma to rise up into the overriding plate and collect in magma chambers. If this magma cools and crystallizes inside the crust, it forms a body of igneous rock called a ______________. The collection of many plutons right next to each other is called a __________________. Uplift and erosion of batholiths is responsible for many mountains and high areas in the western United States, including: __________________________ and __________________________

Accretionary wedge and forearc basin sediments may get deformed and uplifted to the point that they form mountain ranges that rise above the ocean. Examples: ________________________ (Pacific Northwest) ________________________ The subduction zone that created the Sierra Nevada and the California Coast Range was related to the subduction of the ancient Farallon plate beneath North America. This subduction zone finally disappeared about 30 million years ago to be replaced by the San Andreas fault. What part of this ancient subduction zone is represented by the central valley of California? __________________________________

98

Physical Geology 101

Continental Collisions What type of convergent plate boundary where mountains develop does not involve one of the plates being completely subducted? ___________________________ Such continental collision zones cause crustal rocks to be compressed, resulting in the development of folding and a type of low-angle reverse fault called a thrust fault. What do we call such zones of deformation? __________________________ The ancient join between the two continents is called a ___________________. Example of where this occurred: _______________________ The Himalayas formed due the collision of India with Asia. How long ago did this collision start? __________________________ Originally, India's northern margin was a passive margin, containing a platform of marine sediments. As India began colliding with Asia, the marine sediments of this passive margin became deformed and got uplifted to form the mountains, which therefore contain a lot of deformed marine sedimentary rocks. Because continental India was not able to subduct very far below Asia due to the low density of continental rocks, the Himalayas got pushed over a broad area, forming a high region adjacent to the mountains called the _________________________. Since the collision began 45 million years ago, India has pushed about 1200 miles into Asia. Not only did this collision form the Himalayas, but it also resulted in adjacent parts of Asia being squeezed out to the side along major fault systems. This process is referred to as _________________________. India is currently still pushing into Asia at a rate of a few centimeters per year, so the mountains of the Himalayas are still getting a little higher each year.

Fault-Block Mountains Until now, we have looked at the formation of mountains due to compression at convergent plate boundaries. However, mountains can also form where the crust is undergoing extension, or stretching. What type of faulting is produced by extension? ______________________ As the footwall side of a normal fault lifts up, mountains are eventually produced. Mountains produced in this way are called _________________________. Examples: _________________________ and _______________________ Prolonged extension of the western USA over the past 20 million years has occurred above a region of hot mantle upwelling, forming thousands of normal faults and associated mountain ranges in places like Nevada and Utah. This region of extension is known as the _____________________________.

History of the Appalachians In an earlier lecture, we learned that the mountain ranges of the Appalachians in North America match up with a mountain range in northern Eurasia called the:

99

Physical Geology 101

_________________________ The reason these mountains match up was because North America, Eurasia and Africa used to be joined together before 750 million years ago as a supercontinent called: _________________________ This supercontinent preceded Pangea, which came much later in Earth's history. Around 750 million years ago, Rodinia began breaking apart, just like what happened to Pangea much later, and North America began rifting away from Eurasia and Africa to form an ancestral North Atlantic ocean basin. When this occurred, a fragment of North America was rifted away from the rest of the continent. By 600 million years ago, a subduction zone developed along the edge of this continental fragment, forming a volcanic arc. Another subduction zone formed off the west coast of Africa, forming an island arc. These two subduction zones slowly caused the ancestral North Atlantic ocean to start closing again. The ancient fragment of North America collided with North America again between 450 and 500 million years ago, forming a suture zone with deformation and metamorphism. What parts of the Appalachians provide evidence of this orogeny? ________________________ and ________________________ The plutons that formed in the volcanic arc of the continental fragment formed the core of this mountain range and can be seen at the surface today because of 500 million years of erosion. Around 400 million years ago, the island arc between Africa and North America collided with North America, forming another mountain range. What part of the Appalachians represents the remnant of this island arc? ________________________ and ________________________ The final orogeny occurred between 250 and 300 million years ago, when Africa finally collided with North America, forming part of the supercontinent of Pangea. This collision further deformed the existing mountains and began crumpling up the crustal rocks west of those mountains that originally formed off the passive margin of North America. This crumpling formed a fold-and-thrust belt that is today called the: _______________________________ Very soon after this collision, rifting began east of the mountains and the North Atlantic began forming again as Pangea broke apart. As a result, a small fragment that used to be part of Africa was left behind pasted to the eastern edge of North America. Constructing a Continent The plastering of crustal fragments and island arcs onto the edge of an existing continent, such as occurred in the Appalachians, has helped construct all of the Earth's continents. Each fragment that gets attached to the continent is called a _________________. Before it collides with the continent, the fragment is called a ____________________. The process by which microcontinents are added to the edges of continents is called: __________________

100

Physical Geology 101

Microcontinents may be made up of a number of different fragments of crust, such as: (1) _____________________________ (e.g., modern day Madagascar) (2) ____________________ (e.g., Japan, Phillipines, Aleutian Islands of Alaska) (3) _________________________ (e.g., Hawaiian Island-Emperor seamount chain) (4) _________________________ (e.g., Ontong-Java plateau). Much of our knowledge of accretion has come from studies of the ___________________. Much of the western edge of North America formed due to the repeated accretion of microcontinents. As a result, there are numerous terranes along the west side of the continent. What plate was subducting off the west coast of North America that may have brought these microcontinents into contact with N. America? ______________________ Where do we think some of these microcontinents came from based on studies of their rock types and fossils? __________________________ Based on the ages of different parts of North America, we can see that the continent has been getting progressively larger through time by the process of accretion. Similar processes shaped the other continents. We only understand the evolution of the continents because of what we have learned about modern day plate tectonics.

QUESTION: What geologic principle are we applying when we use our knowledge of modern plate tectonics to explain the terranes that have built up the North American continent? _________________________________________

101

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 16

Erosion and Mass Wasting


Erosion Where are two U.S. examples of where shoreline wave erosion is a major concern? 1. _____________________________ 2. _____________________________ Where is shoreline erosion also a problem at a large lake? ___________________ Weathering involves the breakdown of rock to form loose particles called regolith. Any process that involves the movement of this regolith from one location to another, and the abrasion of rocks hit by the regolith as it gets transported, is termed erosion. What 3 natural elements cause erosion? 1. _________________ 2. _________________ 3. _________________

What are the two characteristics of a flowing medium that play an important role in how effectively material gets transported? 1. _________________ and 2. _________________

The resultant types of fluid motion are called ______________ and _______________.

Describe laminar flow: _____________________________ Is the flow speed high or low? ___________________________ Describe turbulent flow: ___________________________________ Is the flow speed high or low? ___________________________ Is turbulent flow more common in fluids with low or high viscosity? _________________ So which is more turbulent: water flow or wind gusts? ___________________ When pieces of regolith get lifted up off the ground and then bounce it along in small hops and jumps, we call this process ___________________.

Mass Wasting What fourth effect may cause a type of erosion called mass wasting? ___________________ What happens during mass wasting? _______________________________________________ The common term used to describe mass wasting is ___________________.

102

Physical Geology 101

What main factors influence the motion of regolith down a slope? 1. ___________________________________________ 2. ___________________________________________ 3. ___________________________________________ 4. ___________________________________________ 5. ___________________________________________ The susceptibility of loose material to move down a slope is affected by the way the grains of the material are packed together as well as the stickiness of the grains, which is called either the: _____________________ or the _____________________ This stickiness of the grains determines a type of material strength called the: _________________________ What is the definition of this type of strength? _________________________________________ The steepest angle that a slope can maintain without material tumbling down is called the: _____________________________ What is the range for this angle in most types of regolith? _____________________ The steepness of piles of ____________ that collect at the bottom of a steep slope is controlled by the angle of repose of the material.

Upsetting the angle of repose: What activity by humans can induce landslide activity? ___________________________ Removal of vegetation may induce landslides because roots bind regolith particles together, keeping them stable. Vegetation can be removed by humans or naturally by ______________. How does the addition of water destabilize sediment on a hill? _________________________________ This is why landslides are common after ____________________. What other natural phenomena can induce landslide activity? _____________________ (causes collapse of river embankments) _____________________ (e.g. Yungay, Peru, 1970: 25,000 deaths)

Types of Mass Wasting The three criteria used for classifying the different types of landslides are: 1. _________________________________ (rapid or slow) 2. _________________________________ (falling, sliding, or flowing) 3. _________________________________ (rock, soil, or debris)

103

Physical Geology 101

We can define two categories of mass wasting / landslides: ____________________: falling, sliding, or slumping of otherwise coherent bodies of rock due to sudden failure on a steep slope or cliff. ____________________: fluid-like downslope movement of loose regolith.

What are the different types of mass wasting in each category? SLIDES AND FALLS ________________ ________________ ________________ SEDIMENT FLOWS _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ Slides and Falls What is a fall? ____________________________________________________ Example of where this is a problem: ____________________

What is a slide? ___________________________________________________ What is a slump? ___________________________________________________ Example of where slumping is common: ______________________

Sediment Flows A sediment flow that is water-saturated is called a ____________________. A sediment flow that is air-saturated is called a ____________________. Water-saturated flows can occur very slowly in areas that typically receive lots of rainfall, and may form bulging lobes of migrating regolith on slopes. This process is called _____________________. What is the difference in the sediment size between a mudflow and a debris flow? Mudflow: ________________________________________ Debris flow: ______________________________________ How fast can a mudflow flow? ________________ Examples of locations rapidly overwhelmed by mudflows: (1) ___________________ in 1985 (lahar induced by a volcanic eruption)

104

Physical Geology 101

(2) ___________________ in 2006 (caused by heavy rainfall)

When a thin layer of water-saturated surface material (e.g. soil) flows down a slope over a period of days, months, or years, stabilized by a covering of grass, the flow is called an: _________________________ A dangerous variety of granular flow in which blocks of regolith race down a slope at speeds of 100s of mph, is called a ______________________. e.g., Peru, 1970 (triggered by an earthquake) - 25,000 deaths in the city of Yungay. A slow type of granular flow can cause the imperceptible down-slope motion of an entire hillside. Objects on the surface eventually lean over. e.g. telephone poles, lampposts, fences, trees.

QUESTION: What is this slow slope motion called? __________________

105

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 17

Running Water
Hydrosphere How much of the Earths surface is covered by water? ________ Earth's water is collectively called the _________________ and is stored in a number of so-called _________________ as follows: 1. ____________________ 4. ____________________ 7. ____________________ Most of the worlds water is in the oceans (i.e. most water is salty). How much? ________ The second largest accumulation of water, about 2.1%, is stored in ________________ In other words, about 74% of the worlds fresh water supply is ________________ Out of all the liquid fresh water we have, about 99% of it is stored ________________ Although very little of the Earth's water flows through rivers, running water is the most important geologic process for modifying the Earth's land surface. Huge volumes of water move through Earth's rivers each year. The constant shifting or recycling of water from the oceans, to the atmosphere, to the continents, and back to the oceans is called the ______________________. On a local scale there may be sudden fluctuations, such as floods or droughts. Individual reservoirs may also have prolonged changes due to global climate changes. The processes by which water travels between the reservoirs include: ___________________: water changes from a liquid to a gas, driven by the Sun's energy ___________________: water taken up by plant roots then moves into the atmosphere ___________________: atmospheric water vapor changes into a solid or liquid ___________________: condensed water that falls to the ground (rain, snow or hail) ___________________: water that is transported across the land surface (e.g. in rivers) ___________________: water that seeps into the ground 2. ____________________ 5. ____________________ 3. ____________________ 6. ____________________

The amount of time that water molecules spend in any reservoir is called the: _________________________ What is the residence time in the following reservoirs? Oceans and ice sheets: Groundwater: Rivers: ____________________ ____________________ ____________________

106

Physical Geology 101

Atmosphere: Living organisms:

____________________ ____________________

Rivers and Channel Flow When water falls onto the land, it will either be absorbed into the soil, which is a process called ___________________, or it will flow down-slope. How much water is absorbed into the soil depends on the soils ___________________. Which of the following soils are good at absorbing water? 1) loosely packed, dry soils 2) tightly packed or wet soils 3) hard, dry baked soil and rock surfaces YES / NO YES / NO YES / NO

Water that does not infiltrate flows down-slope over the surface as ________________. Initially, the water forms a thin film or sheet of water across the surface, called _____________________ or _____________________. This may result in a type of erosion called __________________, which removes crucial topsoil in agricultural areas. After travelling a short distance, sheet flow becomes more confined into discrete channels, and is then called __________________. Any body of water that flows in a channel is called a stream or a river. These channels can vary from the tiniest trickle to the largest rivers like the Amazon in South America, which is longer than the width of the USA, up to 1.5 mi wide and up to 300 ft deep. What are the six main controls on the nature of channel flow? 1) __________________ = vertical drop/horizontal distance (variable along stream). Where is the channel gradient usually the greatest? ______________________________

2) __________________________ = width x depth

3) __________________ - distance traveled divided by time taken (m/s). Slower along the bed and banks due to friction. Varies with channel shape. What are the two types of flow? __________________ and _________________
3 4) __________________ - amount of water per unit time (m /s). Varies with the amount of precipitation.

What river has the worlds highest discharge? __________________ 5) __________________ - boulders and gravel increase the frictional resistance to flow, but clay creates a smooth surface for water to flow over.

107

Physical Geology 101

6) __________________ - amount of sediment carried by the water. What are the 3 types of stream load? 1. ___________________________ 2. ___________________________ 3. ___________________________

Channel Types Stream channels are variable in terms of their width, depth, and surface appearance. Some channels appear straight, but dont stay straight for very long. Even when the channel appears straight, the path of the deepest and fastest flow may wind its way back and forth across the channel. This is called a _____________ channel. It snakes its way towards the ocean along the steepest gradient. There are two different types of stream channels: meandering and braided.

Meandering Channels When the gradient is low, the channel tends to become so sinuous that it develops a series of looping curves, called ________________, thus forming a meandering channel. Meanders have a steep bank on the outer part of a bend, called a ________________, but have a gently sloping surface on the inside of a bend, called _________________. As the river meanders downstream, point bars and cut banks alternate from one side of the channel to the other. The water is deepest and the velocity is greatest on the outside of the bend but on the inside of the bend, water velocity is very low. What process dominates on the outside/inside of the bend? Inside (point bar) Outside (cut bank) EROSION or DEPOSITION EROSION or DEPOSITION

So what side of the meander should you not build a house? ___________________ Erosion of the cut bank causes the channel to migrate laterally into the bank, perpendicular to the flow direction. The channel meanders thus get wider and point bars grow outwards across the old path of the channel through a process called: ________________________ Sometimes, the meanders get so pronounced that two cut banks in adjacent meanders cut through to each other. This allows the river to cut off the meander, straightening the river course. The cut off meander will eventually form a horseshoe shaped lake called an ________________________.

Braided Channels A braided channel forms when a channel is unable to carry the large load of sediment it has eroded, so it deposits it within the stream channel as a number of almond shaped mounds of sand or gravel called ____________.

108

Physical Geology 101

Bars form temporary islands in the channel that migrate through time as the channel redistributes the sediment. When the water level is high, the bars get covered over by the water, but they reappear when the water level drops. Then the water flows around the bars, repeatedly dividing and rejoining. What word describes this type of flow pattern? ______________________ In what type of environment are braided streams most common? _________________________________________

Stream Deposits Sediment deposited by rivers or streams is called __________________. The material gets deposited when the stream's energy decreases and it loses its ability to carry the sediment load. This may happen when the stream enters a standing body of water such as a lake or the ocean. Sediment also gets deposited along the channel margins and at the edges of mountain ranges. What are the four main types of stream deposits? 1. ________________________ 3. ________________________ 2. ________________________ 4. ________________________

Floodplains What is a floodplain? ___________________________________________________ Most of the time, a river is confined to a channel, but during a flood, the river overflows its banks and covers the floodplain. As the water overflows the river bank, the velocity decreases and the water loses its ability to carry sediment. The coarser sediment then gets deposited along the top of the river bank, forming a mound called a _____________________. Over the river banks, the finer sediment settles out of the water forming a broad flat area of fertile land that is good for agriculture. This sediment gets replenished during every flood, building up layers of sediment through a process called ______________________.

Deltas When rivers flow into a standing body of water like the ocean, the sediment gets deposited at the river mouth as a delta. It gets its name from the Greek letter delta, , which is a common shape of the deposited sediment when viewed from above. Much of the delta may be above sea level. The main river channel often divides up into a number of smaller channels called _______________________ that flow across the delta surface. The three typical styles of deltas are:

109

Physical Geology 101

1) _______________________: distributaries build out into the sea, forming long finger-like channels. Also called a _________________ delta. e.g. _____________________ 2) _______________________: waves push the sediment back across the shoreline, forming a classic delta shape. e.g. ___________________ 3) _______________________: elongate sand bodies line up with the direction of the tides. e.g. ___________________________________

Alluvial Fans Alluvial fans form where mountain streams that flow rapidly through confined channels suddenly exit the mountains and spew into a valley. The river loses its ability to carry sediment and dumps it at the edge of the mountains as a _________________ deposit. Sometimes a number of alluvial fans along the edge of a mountain range will coalesce to form an almost continuous line of fans along range front called a __________________.

FINAL QUESTION: Alluvial fans are common in desert environments, such as: ________________________

River Drainage Rivers rarely reach the ocean without ever encountering other rivers along the way. Smaller rivers that flow into a larger river are called ___________________. The entire region that is drained by a river and all the rivers that flow into it is called a: _______________________. How big are drainage basins? __________________________________________ e.g. the Mississippi drainage basin covers over _____ % of the continental USA! A drainage basin is separated from the one next to it by a high standing area called a: _____________________________ Any water on one side of the divide flows into one drainage basin and water on the other side of the divide flows into the adjacent drainage basin.

110

Physical Geology 101

Continents usually have high mountain ranges that act as divides between drainage basins that drain into completely different oceans. This type of drainage divide is called a __________________________ Examples: ____________________ and _____________________

Drainage Patterns Not all river networks in drainage basins look the same when looked at from high above. The pattern that a river network makes when viewed from above is controlled greatly by __________________________________________. These different patterns are called drainage patterns. The 5 main types of drainage patterns are: 1) ______________________ 2) ______________________ 3) ______________________ 4) ______________________ 5) ______________________ 1. What pattern does dendritic drainage resemble? _____________________________ This drainage pattern forms on gently sloping surfaces that are equally resistant to erosion everywhere. What kinds of rocks commonly show dendritic drainage? ________________________________________________________________ 2. Rectangular drainage is characterized by tributaries joining larger streams at almost right angles (90). Rivers may also show sudden right-angle bends. Why does rectangular drainage develop? ______________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 3. Trellis drainage forms where rivers flow along a number of straight valleys that are separated by parallel ridges or mountains. Short streams flow down the mountains into the main rivers in the more easily eroded valleys, forming a pattern resembling a trellis. Example of a location where this occurs: _______________________ 4. Radial drainage forms when rivers flow in all directions away from a central high area such as a _________________.

111

Physical Geology 101

5. Deranged drainage refers to areas that have not yet developed a good drainage pattern. Flow directions are irregular and there may be many swampy areas. What is typical of the geologic history of areas that show deranged drainage? ______________________________________________________ U.S. examples: _________________________________________

Lakes A lake is a standing body of water exposed to the atmosphere and having little to no gradient (i.e., it sits on a flat surface). The study of lakes is called _________________. Areas having poor drainage, such as marshes and swamps, are called _____________. Lakes are important to humans by providing fresh water for consumption and agriculture, and by acting as a resource for food.

The following geologic processes can result in the formation of lakes: __________________________________ (e.g., ______________________) __________________________________ (e.g., ______________________) __________________________________ (e.g., ______________________) __________________________________ (e.g., ______________________) __________________________________ (e.g., ______________________) __________________________________ (e.g., ______________________)

Lakes are short-lived features in geologic terms. Lakes eventually disappear because of evaporation, sedimentation (silting up), changes in climate, or human meddling. What lake in Africa is drying up at an alarming rate? ______________________ What lake in Kazakhstan is drying up at an alarming rate? ______________________

Base Level

112

Physical Geology 101

What is base level? _____________________________________________________ What is the lowest elevation that any river can erode down to? ___________________ What is the name given to this lowest possible base level? ______________________ As a river flows down its channel, it is constantly attempting to erode the land down to base level. What is the name given to base levels along a river course? _____________________ Examples of these local base levels: ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________

A river flowing into a lake cannot erode deeper than the lake because it would then have to flow uphill into the lake. Eventually, the outflow channel from the lake may erode away the local base level and the lake will vanish. Where do waterfalls form? _______________________________________________ The top of the waterfall is a local base level. The channel below the waterfall undercuts the resistant rock, causing the waterfall to retreat upstream. Eventually, the waterfall will completely erode away. Example of a retreating waterfall: ______________________________ What are possible causes of a change in base level? 1) ______________________________________ 2) ______________________________________ How far did sea level drop during the Pleistocene ice age? ___________________ This caused the ultimate base level to drop, so rivers started eroding into the exposed continental shelf that used to be underwater. At the end of the Pleistocene, sea levels rose again and flooded these river valleys, returning base level to normal. Example of a river this happened to: ______________________________ Dams create local base levels that can impact on the natural processes of erosion and deposition along a river channel. Upstream from the dam, the river can no longer erode downwards so it deposits sediment instead, which can result in the dam silting up. This is a huge problem in dams built in mountainous areas.

113

Physical Geology 101

Stream Profiles

A cross sectional profile of a streams elevation along its length is called a: _____________________________ This profile starts at the ___________ of the river at the highest elevation at ends where the river enters the ocean or a lake at its _____________. Irregularities in the stream profile are produced by lakes and waterfalls, which form local base levels. Over time, the stream will attempt to remove these irregularities. The overall result is to produce a smooth, concave longitudinal profile, in which case we call the stream a _______________________.

Erosional Processes in River Valleys What erosional processes actively change a river valley? 1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ ____________________ 4. ____________________ 3.

5. ____________________

(1) Downcutting occurs when a river possesses more energy than it needs to just carry the sediment load, so it eroded downwards into its bed. As a result of this downward erosion, rivers typically form with _____________________. If downcutting is the only process happening, the river forms a deep, steep-sided channel. There are two types: Wide valley type: ____________________ Example: ___________________

Narrow valley type: ____________________ Example: ___________________ When a river's base level drops, it may cause sudden downcutting that leaves steep sided walls along the river with a flat top representing the old river floodplain. This can happen multiple times, leaving a step-like valley with steep walls called _____________________. Sudden downcutting by a meandering stream due to a base level drop may result in looping gorges called __________________________ bounded by steep valley walls, with a flat top representing the old floodplain.
114

Physical Geology 101

Example: _____________________________ (2) Usually, the sides of the valley also get eroded by lateral erosion as the river erodes its banks as the river meanders back and forth across it. The results of this process is a _______________________________________________. (3 and 4) Mass wasting and sheet erosion move material into the river from the adjacent slopes, to then be carried away. (5) As well as becoming deeper and wider, the head (source) of a river valley may extend upstream over time, eroding back into the drainage divide by _______________. Eventually, a river may erode back all the way into another river channel, diverting its water in a process called ______________________ or ______________________. This causes one river to have a sudden increase in discharge, and the other has a decrease. So both rivers must readjust to these changes.

Floods A flood occurs when a river's discharge exceeds the channel's ability to carry it, so the river overflows its banks. This process is natural and has been occurring throughout geologic history. What is the average annual dollar cost of flood damage in the U.S.? _______________ e.g. the Mississippi River flooded in _______ and again in _______, inundating agricultural lands and urban areas in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri. If we plot a graph of the frequency of a flood with its corresponding discharge, we can see how often floods of a certain size occur. The average time between any 2 floods with the same discharge is called the _________________________. Smaller floods have SMALLER or LARGER recurrence intervals? The longer we go without one, the greater the probability that one is going to happen.

FINAL QUESTION: If the recurrence interval is 100 years, what is the chance every year that a "100-year flood" will occur?

115

Physical Geology 101

__________________

116

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 18

Groundwater
Water Table Water that infiltrates into sediment and rocks at the surface becomes groundwater. It is all the water stored below the Earth's surface in spaces within bedrock or regolith. e.g. ______________ in sediments _________________________ in bedrock Groundwater accounts for _____% of all liquid fresh water and can be found everywhere, even in the driest deserts. What is the typical depth above which most groundwater occurs? _____________ How deep can water nonetheless be found in the crust? _________________________ At great depths, most water gets taken up in crystal lattices of minerals. The study of groundwater is called ______________________. To access groundwater, we must dig deep holes. These fill with water at the bottom to become a ________. Initially, we dig through dry sediment. The pores in the sediment are filled with air, and maybe a small amount of moisture. What are the three names used to describe sediment with no water in the pores? 1. ___________________________ 2. ___________________________ 3. ___________________________ As we dig deeper, we hit sediment that has all the pores filled with water. This zone is called the: ____________________________ or the _____________________________. The boundary between air-saturated sediment and water-saturated sediment is called the _____________________. Any well that penetrates this boundary will fill up with water to this level. The water table is not flat but undulates in the same manner as the overlying hills and valleys. So it is _____________ under the hills and _____________ under the valleys. The natural flow tendency of groundwater is: _________________________________ In such cases, rivers get fed new water ______________________. During times of drought, the water table drops which is why wells dry up. A rivers flow decreases or it dries up because there is no longer a source of water from below when the water table falls to a level just below the bottom of the river valley. Survivor question (Outwit, Outplay, Outlast!): if you get lost in a desert, where would you dig for water? ______________________________________

117

Physical Geology 101

Groundwater Transport Water that infiltrates the ground moves down towards the water table under the influence of gravity. This process is called _____________________. What comes first when rain hits the surface: INFILTRATION or PERCOLATION?

Below the water table, groundwater is constantly on the move, just like channel flow at the surface. What are the water flow rates for: groundwater: ________________________ rivers: _______________________ Groundwater does not flow in open channels but must move through a network of pores and spaces in the rock. The rate that the water moves is dependent on the _______________________ and ______________________ of the rock.

Porosity and Permeability Porosity is a measure of the ratio of open space to solid in a sediment or rock. In other words, it is the ________________________________________________________. So porosity measures the amount of water that a rock or sediment is able to hold. What two factors control the porosity of a sediment? 1) _______________________ 2) _______________________

Permeability is a measure of _____________________________________________. Generally, rocks with high porosities also have high permeabilities, but this is not always the case. What controls the permeability of sediment? ___________________________________ What are the narrow pathways between the pores called? ___________________

Recharge and Discharge Recharge refers to the addition of water to the water table by ___________________ that infiltrates at the surface and percolates down through the unsaturated zone. Discharge is where groundwater leaves the saturated zone and becomes surface water. Where does groundwater discharge? _____________________ _____________________ _____________________ ______________________ _____________________

What is an example of an artificial discharge site? __________________________ Groundwater moves from points of recharge to points of discharge. This may cause the water to flow upwards, defying gravity. This is because gravity is only one factor that drives flow. The other is pressure. Lithostatic pressure is greater under the hills than under the valleys so the water moves from

118

Physical Geology 101

the high pressure zones to the low pressure zones along a path called the __________________________. Analogy: ______________________________ (can squeeze water out the top)

Rock Dissolution by Groundwater Dissolution of limestone by groundwater occurs along fractures and bedding planes in the rock, forming extensive underground openings such as _____________ and __________________ (a system of connected caves). Underground caves in limestone may result in a sudden collapse of the roof, producing _________________ at the surface. This may happen numerous times across a region, causing numerous circular, often water-filled basins. The general appearance of the land containing lots of interconnected sinkholes is called: _______________________________ Often in such regions, surface rivers disappear suddenly into the ground and are called ___________________________. They usually reappear somewhere else as springs. Tall spires of limestone may also occur at the surface in karst topography. These erosional remnants are called _____________________ (e.g. Guilin, China).

Groundwater Aquifers Groundwater is one of our main resources of fresh water to support the consumption needs of society and for agricultural irrigation. Any type of rock with a high porosity and permeability that is saturated with water below the water table forms a groundwater resource called an ____________________. What sediment or rocks make good aquifers? 1. __________________________ 3. __________________________ 2. __________________________ 4. __________________________

What is the largest aquifer in the United States? _____________________________________ If an aquifer is in direct contact with the unsaturated zone near the surface, it is called an ___________________________. A well dug into such an aquifer will always fill up to the level of the water table. In some cases, however, an aquifer may be trapped underground by an overlying impermeable rock layer called an _____________________ (or an aquitard). These types of aquifers are called ______________________________. Any water sitting on top of the aquiclude forms a __________________________________. The water in a confined aquifer may be under very high pressures because of the weight of the rocks above. If a well is dug into the confined aquifer, the water will rise up inside the well to a level called the _______________________________________.

119

Physical Geology 101

If the Earths surface is below the artesian pressure surface of the confined aquifer then the water just rises up and gushes out onto the surface without any pumping necessary. What do we call this type of well? ___________________________

Overpumping If a well is being pumped, the water table drops in a conical shaped region around the well because water is being pumped out faster than groundwater is able to flow to replenish the water table at the well. What do we call this region of lowered water table around the well? ________________________________ This can be a major problem in agricultural pumping wells, and may cause the entire water table to drop across a wide region. It may take _______________ of years to replenish the groundwater in such cases. Overpumping can cause the pore spaces in the rock to start to collapse because there is no longer a water pressure inside the pores holding them open. This effect is called: ________________________________ An aquifer can never recover from compaction. Its porosity and permeability is permanently reduced. Compaction and overpumping may also cause the land surface to drop down, a process called ____________________. This may result in surface flooding and tilting of structures. Example of where 30 ft of subsidence occurred in 50 yrs: _____________________________ Another problem caused by overpumping in coastal regions is when the groundwater beneath a well taps into saltwater from beneath the ocean floor. This process renders the well useless and is called: _________________________. Groundwater Contamination One of the biggest problems facing us today in terms of the management of our aquifers is when the aquifers get contaminated by potentially dangerous toxic chemicals, or contaminants. Potential sources of these contaminants include:

untreated sewage from urban areas and farm animals agricultural pesticides and fertilizers landfills mining and industrial waste nuclear waste leaking gas storage tanks at gas stations

The study of how contaminants spread through the groundwater system is a major focus of hydrogeologists and environmental scientists. Under a site of contamination, the contaminants spread out along the direction of groundwater flow, forming an ever-growing cloud of contaminants called a ___________________. Many geologists end up with careers in contaminant remediation, which essentially means trying to clear up the huge mess made by mankind.

120

Physical Geology 101

QUESTION: Where is concern over nuclear contaminants a major issue due to the development of a nuclear waste disposal site? ______________________________

121

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 19

Ice and Glaciers


Glaciers What is the definition of a glacier? ___________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________

Types of Glaciers The ice in glaciers can be variable in temperature. At low and middle latitudes, the ice temperature may be close to melting point. What do we call these types of glaciers? _________________________ The high ice temperature results in an excess of ____________________ In the polar regions and at high altitudes, where mean annual temperatures are below freezing, the ice temperature is always low, with very little melting. What do we call these types of glaciers? _________________________

Both categories of glacier can vary in shape and size, so we classify glaciers into two main varieties based on their visible characteristics. These are: 1. _______________________ and 2. ________________________

Valley (or Alpine) glaciers resembles rivers in that larger glaciers may have smaller glaciers flowing into them called _______________________________. How big can valley glaciers get? Length: ____________ Width: ____________ Thickness: ____________ What type of glacier is produced when a valley glacier exits a valley and spreads out over a wide plain? ____________________________ What is another name for continental glaciers? ________________ (must be at least 50,000 km in size). If they are smaller than this, we call them _________________. Where are ice caps typically found? ___________________________________ How thick can ice sheets get? __________________ Where are the only two places on Earth where we see ice sheets today? _______________________ and _______________________
2

In what direction do ice sheets flow? _____________________________________ What is the main control on the motion of ice sheets? __________________________

122

Physical Geology 101

Evolution of Glaciers Glacier size changes in response to changes in temperature and precipitation. The amount of snow that gets added to a glacier is called ____________________. Most of this snow falls at the ____________ of the glacier (the highest part), which is also therefore referred to as the _____________________________. Any loss in ice and snow is an overall process called ___________________. This may occur by melting in the summer or when ice turns into vapor by ___________________. Most ablation occurs at the downward end of the glacier, or the ______________________. This part of the glacier is referred to as the _____________________________. If the glacier flows over water, blocks of ice may fall off to form _________________. The difference between accumulation and ablation determines whether the glacier has enough ice to advance or if it must recede. The difference between the two is called the ________________________. If the two are equal, the glacier is stagnant (doesnt advance or recede). How fast do glaciers move under the influence of gravity? _______________________ Ice at the terminus of a glacier probably took hundreds of years to reach that point since falling as snow at the head of the glacier. If a glacier suddenly jumps forward at rates of up to 10s of meters per day, the event is called a __________________. The movement of a glacier is measured by placing a line of markers across the surface of the glacial ice. As time passes, the markers start to move as the ice moves. Where is the motion of the glacier the fastest? ____________________________________________ What are the two types of motion of the ice within a glacier? _______________________ and ________________________.

Internal flow occurs because the weight of overlying ice causes ice crystals deep in the glacier to slide over each other along crystal planes oriented parallel to the motion direction. This process is called ______________ (a type of plastic flow motion). At the surface of the glacier, ice behaves in a very brittle manner, and breaks easily. So if the glacier bends to move down a steeper slope, the ice fractures at the surface to form deep fissures called __________________. Basal sliding occurs when the ice moves by sliding along its base. This occurs when meltwater lubricates the bottom of the glacier, and may account for _____% of the overall movement of temperate glaciers. Polar glaciers only move by internal flow.

Erosion by Glaciers

123

Physical Geology 101

Glaciers are capable of carrying huge amounts of sediment and may result in highly eroded landscapes. The three principal erosional processes are: __________________ where a glacier pushes unconsolidated sediments ahead of it like a giant snow plow. __________________ this is where ice gets into cracks in rock below the glacier, causing chunks of rock to be ripped off as the glacier moves forward. Feature that is produced: _______________________. Make a sketch: *(indicate which way the steep side faces relative to the ice flow direction)

__________________ this is the erosion caused by the frictional force of the ice moving over bedrock, like sandpaper. The rock surface gets smoothed, producing a highly polished surface called a _______________________. Grooves scratched into this surface by rock fragments at the base of the glacier are called _____________________. Abrasion can also pulverize rock into a fine dust called ________________.

Glaciers may pick up sediment through these erosional processes, or material may be blown onto the glaciers, or may fall on top through mass wasting processes along the glacial valley walls. What is the shape of a valley before it gets eroded by glaciers? _________________ What types of valleys are produced by glacier erosion? _____________________ These valleys usually have steep eroded walls and flat bottoms. If it gets filled with sea water after sea level rises, it is called a _____________, and can be over 1 km deep.

There are many types of erosional features produced by valley glaciers: _____________________ where a glacier sliced off the end of a ridge along the sides of a Ushaped valley. ______________ a bowl-shaped depression eroded into the side of a mountain at the head of a glacier. After the ice melts, the cirque may contain a small lake called a ___________. Small lakes further down the valley from the cirque are called ______________________________. ______________ narrow ridge of rock that separates two cirques or valleys. ______________ steep-walled, pyramid-like mountain peak that may be surrounded by cirques eroding back into it. Example: __________________________ ____________________ these form along a U-shaped valley where a tributary glacier joined the more deeply eroded main valley. When the ice melts, the tributary valley is left hanging high above the floor of the main valley.

124

Physical Geology 101

Deposition by Glaciers Any material deposited directly by glaciers can be referred to as _______________ (also called ___________). It has no internal layering- everything just gets dumped in a big heap of poorly sorted sediment. Sometimes, glaciers carry huge boulders of rock to locations far away from their origin. The boulder is different to all the surrounding rocks, and is called an ______________. The sediment that is transported on top of a glacier is called ________________. The five types are: 1) ________________________ - moraine along the edges of the glacier 2) ________________________- moraine in the middle of the glacier How can you tell from looking at a glacier how many tributary glaciers joined together to form it? __________________________________________ 3) ___________________ or ___________- moraine at the end of the glacier 4) ____________________- moraine along the base of the glacier 5) ____________________- many end moraines left behind as a glacier retreats Ice sheets may form a type of till deposit along their bases consisting of rounded hills like inverted teaspoons, and are called ________________. They can be up to 50m high and 1 km long. One side is steep, and faces towards the direction the ice came ____________. This is opposite to the steep side of a roche moutonne (which is erosional, not depositional). Make a sketch:

Some glacial drift deposits are stratified, and usually form in the flat-lying region in front of the glacier called an _______________________where meltwater flows away from the glacier in the form of braided streams. Blocks of ice that fall off the front of the glacier leave depressions in the outwash plain after the ice melts or retreats. If filled with water, they form __________________. Outwash plains may also contain long, sinuous ridges of till called ______________. These are stream deposits that formed underneath an ice sheet by meltwater flowing through ice tunnels up to 500 km long. Finally, depressions on a glacier surface sometimes get filled with sediment. When the ice melts, the sediment is left behind in the form of rounded hills on the outwash plain called _____________.

125

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 20

Deserts and Wind


Wind One of the major means of erosion, transport, and deposition of sediment is by wind. It may be an important factor in any location where there is material light enough to blow around. Locations: 1. ____________________ 2. ____________________ 3. ____________________ 4. ____________________ 5. _____________________________ Transport of Sediment by Wind Any process that involves wind is called an _________________ process. Wind is a turbulent fluid and therefore has many of the same transportation characteristics as water flowing in channels. How dense is air compared to water? ___________________________________________ How does this affect the size of the sediment that air can carry? ______________________________________________________ Wind can suspend clay and silt size particles; very strong winds may be able to suspend small grains of sand. Similar to rivers, the wind-transported sediment load can occur as: 1) ____________________ and 2) ____________________. What two processes move the bed load? 1) __________________ - grains hop and bounce along in small jumps, like in water 2) ___________________ - grains of sand are rolled across the ground by the wind Saltating grains are rarely lifted higher than about 1 meter. As individual grains hit the ground again, they dislodge new grains and cause them to saltate too. How high can suspended sediment be carried? ________________________ How far can suspended sediment be carried? _________________________ Examples of where sediment transport by wind has been significant: 1) ___________________________________ 2) ___________________________________ 3) ___________________________________

126

Physical Geology 101

Erosion by Wind Wind can erode in two ways: __________________ and ___________________.

Abrasion is due to saltating grains of sand impacting against a surface and causing small fragments to chip off, whether it be the surface of another sand grain, a rock face, or some other surface. Abrasion modifies the existing landscape. Individual sand grains become pitted, meaning that they have small pits or gouges in them due to collisions with other grains. Rock surfaces may become smoothed by abrasion, exhibiting a polished appearance. As a rock fragment or stone gets abraded by the wind, the side facing the wind becomes polished and faceted like a gemstone. These rock fragments are called ______________________. If the stone rolls over at some point, or the wind direction changes, a new side faces the wind and a new facet develops. The end result is a stone with several smooth, flat edges at various angles to each other. In some deserts, long, elongate ridges of rock form aligned with the prevailing wind direction. They resemble an upturned ship hull and are called _____________________.

Deflation is the removal of fine sediment by wind. It is most common where there is little vegetation or where the surface sediment is not bound together. This may cause depressions or hollows to develop, called _______________________________ or ________________________. They may be small: a few meters across and less than 1m deep, or they may be many kilometers across and several 10s of meters deep. Example of a very large deflation basin: ________________________________ (Sahara) Removal of fine sediment by deflation may also leave behind a surface of boulders, cobbles and pebbles called a __________________________, which protects underlying fine sediment from further removal by wind.

Deposition by Wind Sediment carried by wind can be carried great distances before being deposited. It can then form a variety of landforms, the most important ones being ________________ and ___________________. Loess is a thick and uniform deposit of wind transported silt, sometimes containing small amounts of clay and fine sand. The mineral grains can consist of quartz, feldspar, mica, and calcite. Loess is derived from deserts, river floodplains, and recently glaciated surfaces. How much of the Earth is covered by loess? ____________ How much of the U.S.A. is covered by loess? ____________

Development of Dunes A dune is a mound or ridge of sand deposited by wind. Dunes form when wind blows around an obstacle and deposits sand around it, which accumulates and builds up into a mound. As the mound gets bigger, it acts as a barrier to the wind, causing it to slow down and deposit even more sand.

127

Physical Geology 101

In profile, a dune is asymmetrical. The side facing the wind has a shallow slope and is called the _________________ slope. Sand grains constantly saltate up this slope and then cascade over the top of the dune and down the steeper slope, which slopes in the direction of the prevailing wind and is called the _________________ slope or the __________________. What is the angle of repose of the steep slope? ________________ If this angle is exceeded, sand tumbles to the base of the slope to re-attain the angle of repose. In this way, dune sand is constant moving forwards, and the entire dune migrates in the direction of the prevailing wind. The cascading sediment forms a sedimentary structure within each bed of sediment called ____________________. Each cross-bed represents the position of the slip face in the past, before the dune migrated forwards. This is why ancient sand dunes that are preserved in sandstone can be used to determine ancient prevailing wind directions (called _____________________). The cross-beds are always inclined downwards in the direction the wind was blowing.

Dune Types What 4 factors control the shape of a sand dune? ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________ ___________________________

The five dune types are: ______________________ these are crescent shaped dunes, like giant croissants, with the tips, called ______________, pointing in the direction the wind is blowing. They form on flat, dry surfaces where there is little vegetation, a limited sand supply, and almost constant wind, and are usually <30 m high. How rapidly do they move or migrate? ____________________________

______________________ also called ____________________. They form long, parallel ridges aligned with the prevailing wind direction in regions of moderate sand supply. They usually form where wind blows from two different directions, converging to form a prevailing wind. They can be up to 100m high and >100 km long. Where are they found? _____________________ and _____________________

______________________ these form ridges aligned perpendicular to the prevailing wind direction in areas where sand supply is high and vegetation is sparse. They are up to 200m high. From the air, they resemble ocean waves and so are referred to as sand seas. Where sand supply diminishes, transverse dunes become isolated and develop scalloped crests that somewhat resemble barchan dunes. Such transverse dunes are called ____________________ dunes.

______________________ these are common in coastal areas where there is ample sand supply and vegetation. They are crescent shaped, like barchan dunes, but their horns point in the direction the wind blows from. They can be distinguished from barchan dunes because the

128

Physical Geology 101

shallow windward slope is on the inside of the crescent, and the horns and edges may be stabilized by vegetation. Where does the sand come from that forms the dune? ______________________________________________________ ______________________ these form in deserts where wind directions are variable. From above, they resemble a star, with several ridges of sand radiating away from a central point. They may be up to 100m high. Do star dunes move around? YES or NO

Deserts How much of the Earth is desert? _________________ Warm air at the equator, produced by the suns rays hitting Earth with the greatest intensity, rises and cools, producing rain. This is why equatorial regions are warm and wet. The dry air left behind then moves northwards or southwards, getting cooler and more dense, causing it to sink. As it sinks, it gets warmer and is perfect for the creation of a desert environment. So what is the latitude of most of the worlds deserts? ________________

Types of Deserts We can classify 5 different types of deserts: _____________________ the largest deserts, between 20-30 latitude. Examples: ________________, _________________ and ______________________

_____________________ areas so far from the ocean that air loses all its moisture before reaching them. Example: ____________________

_____________________ mountains block the flow of warm, moist air causing it to rise and produce rain on the windward side but dry desert conditions on the leeward side of the mountains. Examples: ____________________, ____________________ and ______________________

_____________________ where cold ocean currents cool the air and lowers rainfall along the coasts. Examples: ___________________ and ____________________

_____________________ the polar regions are considered to be deserts because cold descending air causes the small amount of precipitation to be in the form of snow, which accumulates to form the ice caps. Example: _____________________

Desert Landforms

129

Physical Geology 101

There are several types of landforms specific to deserts: ____________________ - temporary lakes after rainstorms

_______________ - dry lakebed of a playa lake, also called a ________________

________________________ and bajadas

____________________ - steep-sided erosional remnant sticking above the desert plain ____________________ - flat-topped erosional remnant with steep sides. A resistant layer produces the flat top. ____________________ - a more eroded mesa that has become taller than it is wide

QUESTION: What do we call an eroded butte that is much taller than it is wide? ______________________________

130

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 21

Shorelines
Ocean Currents The oceans are in constant motion on the global scale, with water migrating around the continents and across the ocean basins as ocean currents. The ocean currents are slow, broad drifts of water. What are they driven by? ____________________________________________ As the winds move across the surface of the ocean, friction between the air and the water drags the water forward. How deep do ocean currents reach in the ocean? ____________ The ocean currents have a noticeable effect on global and local climate. One reason is the small range of temperature extremes in the oceans (-2C to 36C; range of ____C) compared to the continents (88C to 58C; range of _____C). The ocean moderates temperatures, which is why coastal regions are often preferred settlement locations. Most of the world's population actually lives within ___________ of the ocean. Even in mid-winter, temperatures may be a lot milder close to the oceans (e.g. Seattle; Portland). In the southern hemisphere, cold ocean currents flow north from the southern polar regions along the western sides of the continents. This results in low rainfall and more deserts. Example: ________________________ Current: ______________________ Warm ocean currents flow south away from the equator and result in high rainfall and lush vegetation along the eastern sides of the continents. Example: ________________________ Current: _______________________ What warm current flows northeast across the Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Mexico, warming locations like Iceland and Great Britain? __________________________ Shorelines A shoreline is a boundary between land and sea. It extends from _______________________ up to ________________________________________________________. Tides, waves, and nearshore currents constantly modify existing shoreline features. So it is a high energy environment where erosion takes place and sediment is transported and deposited.

Tides

131

Physical Geology 101

Tides are regular cycles of upward and downward motion of the ocean surface due to the gravitational effects of the ___________ and to a lesser extent the ___________. The gravitational attraction of the moon causes ocean water to form an upward bulge in the location on Earth facing the moon. To maintain a balance, a similar bulge forms on the exact opposite side of the Earth. These are called _______________________. The Sun has about half as much impact as the Moon even though it is _____________ times as big. This is because the Sun is _________ times further away than the moon. The Sun's contribution to a tidal bulge adds to the Moon's when all three celestial bodies (Earth-SunMoon) are lined up, producing a type of tide called a _______________________. The tidal effect of the Sun is least when the Earth-Sun-Moon are mutually perpendicular, forming an L shape, and producing a type of tide called a ________________________. The height of the tides varies during a ________________ cycle as the Moon revolves once around the Earth. The motion of the Moon combined with the rotation of the Earth causes high tides to be later on each consecutive day. How much later? __________________ Because the Earth is rotating while the positions of the ocean tidal bulges stay in the same place relative to the moon, coastal locations on Earth typically move across both tidal bulges in any 24 hour period. This produces two high tides and two low tides each day along any shoreline. As the tide starts to come in, the incoming tide is called a ____________________ whereas when the tide goes out, the retreating tide is called an ____________________. What do we call the height difference between high and low tides? _______________________ Narrow inlets, bays and river estuaries may experience very large tidal ranges, with a rapidly moving wall of water advancing as the tide comes in, called a _____________________. Example: _____________________________ (has a tidal range of __________ meters!)

Waves Like ocean currents, waves are also generated by winds. Depending on the distance, strength, and duration of a wind system, waves may be as small as a ripple on the surface of the water or may be huge towering storm waves. A wave represents the passage of energy through the water. The water itself does not get carried along in the direction of the wave. What is the shape of the path of motion of the water? ________________________ Thats why boats just bob up and down in place when a wave passes by. The energy of the wave is in motion, not the medium that the wave is traveling through- in this case, water. Components of a wave: High point: _________________ Low point: _________________

132

Physical Geology 101

Distance between high point and low point: _______________________ Distance between two adjacent high points or low points: _____________________ The maximum depth that a wave reaches and is able to cause erosion is called the: ______________________ This depth is approximately equal to __________________________________ of the wave. Waves can only cause erosion very close to the shoreline. Away from the shore, waves are small with rounded crests, and are called __________________. As soon as the water depth decreases to less than one-half of the wavelength, close to the shoreline, the sea floor interferes with the motion and shape of the wave. The wave slows down, causing waves to get bunched up which decreases the wavelength. The waves then get much higher and the front steepens. The top of a wave moves forward faster than the base, causing the wave to break and pound against the shore. This region is called the _____________________. The remainder of the waves energy is used up as the water rushes up the sloping beach as _________________. The water returns to the ocean down the beach slope under the influence of gravity.

Beaches A beach consists of unconsolidated sandy sediment (i.e., it hasn't turned into rock yet). What is the extent of a beach? ___________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

What are the two components of a typical beach? _____________________ (between the high tide mark and the landward edge) _____________________ (between the low and high tide marks)

The backshore is usually dry, only being covered by water during storms or very high tides. Platforms of sand deposited by waves on the backshore are called _______________. The foreshore is exposed at low tide but completely covered at high tide. The sloping region that faces the sea and is exposed to wave swash is called the ___________________. The zone between the low tide mark and the point offshore where waves first begin to break is called the ____________________. The width of this zone changes as the wavelength of waves changes because wavelength controls the depth to the wave base, which in turn controls how far offshore waves start to break. The nearshore zone is also characterized by two dominant types of currents along the shoreline. Humans constantly build structures as close to the beach as possible to enjoy the benefits of easy accessibility, but this can be particularly problematic in regions prone to _____________________.

133

Physical Geology 101

The low pressure of a hurricane causes the ocean to swell and rise up, causing a ____________________ along the coastline. As a result, places can be flooded by sea water for ____________________________ inland.

Nearshore Currents Two types of currents that occur in the nearshore zone are: 1) __________________________ 2) __________________________ Rip currents are rapidly moving currents that flow perpendicular to the shore directly out to sea through the surf zone through an underwater trough. They are very hazardous to swimmers. Longshore currents result from waves hitting the shore at an angle to the shoreline. The wave direction results from the direction the wind is blowing. One part of a wave hits its wave base before the part in deeper water. Because one part of the wave gets slowed down while the deeper water part is still moving forward rapidly, the wave tends to curve to become more parallel with the coastline. This curving effect is called _________________________. Because the waves hit the shore at an angle, the overall effect is to produce a current that along the shore that _____________________________________ and transports and deposits sediments along the coastline.

QUESTION: What is this type of current called that moves parallel to the shoreline? _______________________________________

Deposition Along Shorelines Waves that strike a shoreline obliquely set in motion a longshore current parallel to the shoreline. The longshore current transports eroded sediment along the coastline. The transportation of this sediment occurs by waves washing up the beach obliquely then returning directly to the sea. The swash and sediment therefore zig-zags along the beach in a process called ________________________. Even large pebbles can get moved by several hundred meters a day by longshore drift. What are the three categories of depositional features produced by the deposition of sediment carried by longshore currents? 1. _____________________ 2. _____________________ 3. _____________________

134

Physical Geology 101

Beaches What are the main components of beach sand? ______________________ ______________________ ______________________

Beaches are constantly changing, with sediment being added and removed. In calm weather, beaches receive more sediment that they lose and get wider. During storms, beaches may lose a lot of sediment to erosion so they get thinner. Beaches may be long and continuous of they may occur as small, isolated beaches between rocky outcroppings, in which case they are called ________________________. What can be built along a shoreline to catch the sand being carried away by longshore drift and protect the beach from being eroded away? ____________________ Similar barriers built across the entrances to bays and harbors are ___________________.

Spits Longshore drift carries sediment along the coastline until it reaches some sort of obstruction. For example, where a river flows into the ocean, a spit may form as ______________________________ ________________________________________ You can tell the direction of the longshore current by looking at a spit because: _____________________________________________________________________ If the spit completely covers the river mouth, it is called a ______________________. During periods of heavy river discharge or at high tide, the river may be open to the ocean through the spit, but is closed to the ocean at low tide or during low discharge periods. Sometimes, an island just offshore can get connected to the mainland by an arm of sediment deposited by longshore drift and the effects of wave refraction around the island. The link to the island is then called a ________________.

Barrier Islands Barrier islands are long lines of sandy offshore islands, parallel to the coastline but separated from the shoreline by a lagoon or bay that is several km or 10s of km wide. Example barrier island locations: ________________________ and _________________________ Barrier islands are usually no more than __________ wide and _____________ long. Barrier islands form as a result of longshore drift. They probably start out as spits that get reworked by the action of waves. Usually a chain of barrier islands forms along the coastline. The highest points on these islands are sand dunes. The side of the barrier island facing the ocean is __________________. The side of the barrier island facing away from the ocean is __________________. Barrier islands also tend to move around as sediment gets redistributed. Because sea level is currently rising due to global warming, wave action is pushing barrier islands closer to the continents.

135

Physical Geology 101

Example: _________________________________ (moved ________m landward in 70 yrs) Another example of migrating barrier islands on the east coast: _________________________ This is a problem for communities that have developed on barrier islands because their homes are sitting on sand that is eventually going to be reclaimed by the sea.

Erosion Along Shorelines What are the three processes by which sea cliffs get eroded by the ocean? 1) _________________________ (the force of the waves pounding against the cliff) 2) _________________________ (sand and pebbles grind away at the rocks) 3) _________________________ (chemical reactions by seawater erode the cliffs)

Constant hydraulic action by waves pounding against a shoreline may cause beaches to be absent or poorly developed, with ___________________ typically developing.

Wave-Cut Platforms Erosion of sea cliffs causes them to retreat in towards land. As the cliff retreats, it leaves behind a flat or gently sloping surface underneath shallow water. This is called a ____________________________. Material that is eroded off of the cliff is transported across the platform and deposited at its edge, forming a _____________________________. The main cause of sea cliff retreat is hydraulic action and abrasion at the base of the cliff, causing the front edge to collapse into the waves. The rate at which the sea cliff retreats varies with the rock type and the frequency of storms, which is when erosion is most effective. What rock type is most prone to erosion? _____________________________ Example: _____________________________ are retreating at ~______m per century. Sometimes, wave-cut platforms are lifted out of the water by tectonic forces and become flat areas immediately along the shoreline, called _________________________. This also happens when sea level drops relative to the land (e.g. during ice ages). In general, erosion of sea cliffs is not uniform along the coastline because some rocks may be more resistant to erosion than others. As a result, promontories may be left behind jutting out into the ocean. These are called ____________________ and are separated from each other by ____________________ which may contain pocket beaches. Wave refraction around headlands causes waves to attack at both sides of the headland. This may result in the development of _________________ along the sides of the headland. If two caves on opposite sides of a headland join together, this forms a __________________ through the headland. If the roof then collapses, this leaves behind an island at the end of the old headland and is called a ____________________.

136

Physical Geology 101

Because wave action is concentrated on the headlands, they are more susceptible to erosion, whereas the embayments between them are more susceptible to deposition. This causes the headlands to be eroded back, while pocket beaches in the embayments build outwards. The overall effect is to ___________________________________________.

Types of Coastlines The dominant processes along coastlines are either erosion or deposition, and some coastlines may be dominated by one of these processes. Depositional coastlines have plenty of sediment supply and form wide, sandy beaches, deltas, and barrier islands. Example: ________________________________________ Erosional coastlines are steep and irregular with few well developed beaches, and lots of sea cliffs, wave-cut platforms, and sea stacks. Example: ________________________________________ We can also consider coastlines in relationship to changes that are occurring in sea level with respect to the land (e.g., due to ice ages, global warming, tectonic uplift, etc). The two types of coasts are ____________________ and _____________________.

Submergent Coasts If sea level rises with respect to the land or the land subsides, coastal regions get flooded and are called submergent or _________________ coastlines. When sea level dropped by 130 m during the last ice age, rivers along the east coast of North America eroded new canyons into the exposed shelf. When sea level rose again after the ice age, the canyons got submerged, forming an irregular coastline. The drowned river valleys formed large channels where they enter the ocean, called ________________. These are the seaward ends of river valleys where freshwater and seawater start to mix. Example: ________________________________ Coastline flooding due to rising sea levels is dependent on the __________________________________ ___________________________________________. Coastlines that are ______________ are more prone to flooding than where the coastal gradient is steep. Example of a flat coastline prone to flooding: ____________________

Emergent Coasts Emergent coasts form where the land has risen with respect to sea level, due either to a drop in sea level during ice ages or uplift of the land. Uplift of the land can be produced by tectonic forces or due to the land bouncing back up after an ice age because the weight of the glaciers was removed. This effect is called ___________________________.

137

Physical Geology 101

It is still occurring today in places that were once heavily glaciated such as NE Canada and Scandinavia. Such coastlines tend to be very irregular because they were heavily eroded during glaciation. Uplift by tectonic forces tends to produce smoother coastlines because the smooth seafloor topography is getting exposed (e.g., west coasts of North and South America). Emergent coastlines commonly develop _______________________. Tectonic uplift may occur in steps, separated by periods of no uplift during which time new wave-cut platforms form. Then, when uplift continues, the new wave-cut platform also becomes a marine terrace. This forms a stair-step effect with multiple marine terraces. QUESTION: How high above sea level are the highest marine terraces along the coast of California? _________________________

138

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 22

Climate Change
Weather and Climate Weather is not the same as climate. The weather refers to __________________________________ ___________________________________. This involves changes in: _______________________ _______________________ _______________________

_______________________

_______________________

Fluctuations in weather on the scale of hours, days, weeks, months, and years are totally natural. What well-known natural influences on global weather, affecting global temperatures and rainfall and causing billions of dollars in damage, are due to ocean current variations in the Pacific? ____________________ and ____________________

Over what time scale does this occur? _________________________ What is climate? _____________________________________________________________________ For example, the climate in equatorial areas is typically ____________________. The climate in areas between 20-30 latitude is typically ________________________, producing deserts. The regional climate of these areas may have a natural variability over the years, but there may also be major changes in climate over longer periods of time. For example, the climate may get much cooler, such as during an ice age, or it may get much hotter through a process called _____________________. Example of a region where climate has changed greatly in the past 30,000 years: _________________________ (used to have lush forests and high rainfall) Long term climate changes may result in a region turning to desert. This process is called: ______________________________ Ice Ages One of the obvious lines of evidence of global climate changes is the occurrence of ice ages in Earth's past. The ice ages point to the global climate having been much cooler, so that the entire planet was affected. Ice ages have occurred at least 5 times in Earth's history and may last around a million years. Examples of major ice ages: ______________________________ (~300 million years ago) Karoo Ice Age ______________________________ (<1.6 million years ago) Pleistocene Ice Age What is the evidence for an ice age 300 million years ago? ______________________ (glacial rocks)

139

Physical Geology 101

Over the past few million years, there have been numerous cycles of heating and cooling in global climate. How much do global mean temperatures need to drop for an ice age to occur? __________________________ During the past 1.6 million years- the Pleistocene and Holocene epochs, there have been global lows in temperatures on average every __________________ years. How many cycles of ice ages occurred during the last ice age? ______________ What name is the last ice age known by? ____________________________ Less extreme variations in global temperatures occurred in cycles of about ___________________ years during the ice age. When did the most recent ice age end? _______________ years ago. A period of warming in between ice ages is called an _________________________. The warmest point in the current interglacial period was between 7,000 and 6,000 years ago. Since then, it has been getting steadily WARMER or COOLER ? There have been short-term variations such as between 1300 and the mid-1800s, when glaciers around the world were advancing. This ~500 year period of cooling is referred to as the ___________________. Right now, we seem to be on a warming trend within a longer time-scale cooling trend.

What regions were covered by ice sheets during the last ice age? ___________________, __________________, and _______________________ During an ice age, ice sheets expand in size but we never have the entire planet being covered in ice. Only the coldest regions in the northern and southern hemispheres were ice-covered. How thick were the Pleistocene ice sheets? _________________ How much of the Earth's surface did they cover? ___________ How much of the Earth's surface do ice sheets cover today? ____________ Changes in the size of ice sheets affect the climate in regions that are not covered in ice. As the ice sheets expand, warm and moist regions get shifted towards the equator. So the warm, moist Mediterranean climate got shifted southwards during the last ice age, into northern Africa. Thats why the Sahara Desert region used to be much wetter.

Evidence for Ice Ages The study of ancient climates is called _________________________. There are several lines of GEOLOGICAL evidence for determining past climates: ________________________ - fossilized plants and animals can be related to specific types of climate that such species would have inhabited.

140

Physical Geology 101

Example: _______________________________ ________________________ - sedimentary rocks can often be linked to specific depositional environments, such as varve clays from glacial lake beds and tillite. ________________________ - ancient soils, also called __________________, have minerals in them that tell us of the chemical conditions in ancient air and water that can be related back to the temperature conditions. _____________________________ - we can study the isotope ratios of elements like oxygen in ancient sediment layers, corals, and ice cores drilled from deep in ice sheets to tell us about the composition of the ancient atmosphere. ________________________ - the distribution of recessional moraines can tell us about the extent of old ice sheets. (Example: ___________________________). Grooves on glacial pavements can tell us the directions that glaciers were moving towards. ________________________ - there were large lakes that formed far from the glaciers during the last ice age because of lower temperatures and less evaporation. Example: ________________________________ ________________________ formed along the edges of the ice sheets, dammed by glaciers. Example: _______________________________ This glacial lake broke through its ice dam many times, causing huge floods that washed over N. Idaho and E. Washington, forming the ____________________. The surface was stripped bare of topsoil, basalt was heavily eroded. As the lake drained, _____________________, up to 10m high, formed along the old lake bed. ________________________ - sea level was up to __________ lower during the last ice age because of all the water taken up by glaciers. This caused major changes in stream channels, and provided land bridges connecting areas of land that today are separated by water. This allowed many species of animals to migrate into new areas.

Lowered sea level allowed many species of animals to migrate into new areas. A migration of humans into ____________________ from _____________ was possible during the last ice age because a land bridge extended across the Bering Strait between the two continents at that time.

Causes of Global Climate Change What four types of geologic events may cause changes in global climate? 1. _____________________ 2. _____________________ - time scale over which climate is affected: ____________________ 3. _____________________ 4. _____________________ Global climate changes that resulted from the Chicxulub meteorite impact on the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, 65 million years ago resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs.

141

Physical Geology 101

When we look at the variations in global temperatures, there is an obvious cyclicity that suggests some natural control on global climate variability over long time scales. This is related to changes in the Earth's rotation and revolution about the sun over long periods of time. First of all, the Earth does not have a perfectly circular and unchanging orbit about the Sun. Its orbit is slightly elliptical, and changes shape over a time scale of about _________________. This phenomenon is called ___________________. Also, the inclination of the Earth's tilt, currently 23.5 from vertical, oscillates back and forth between 21.5 and 24.5, varying by about 1.5 every _________________. The direction the rotation axis faces also wobbles about over a time scale of ________________. This phenomenon is called ___________________.

These three effects cause changes of up to 10% in how much of the Sun's energy strikes the Earth at a particular location. The changes are mathematically regular, and are known as: ______________________________________. Which phenomenon is responsible for global climate changes on the: 20,000 to 40,000 year time scale: 100,000 year time scale: PRECESSION or or ECCENTRICITY ?

PRECESSION

ECCENTRICITY ?

Anthropogenic Influences on Climate Since the Industrial Revolution, human activities (also called ___________________________________) have resulted in a sharp increase in the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere. These are the substances that tend to cause an increases in temperatures at the surface because they absorb heat. Examples: ____________________, _____________________, ____________________________

The burning of fossil fuels like coal and petroleum has been a major cause of these increases. There are naturally occurring greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as water vapor and naturally occurring carbon dioxide and methane. These gases help keep the Earth's surface warm and habitable. But anthropogenic greenhouse gases appear to be upsetting the balance. In the past 100 years, global temperatures have risen by an average of _____F (_____C). Changes of just a few degrees are enough to cause major climate changes, so this is an alarming trend. For example, melting of glaciers would cause the Earth's ocean levels to rise by several meters or 10s of meters. Flooding of coastal areas would be devastating, and low-lying regions like Florida, Netherlands, Bangladesh, and the South Pacific islands could be eradicated.

QUESTION: What is the projected temperature increase by 2100 if current trends continue? _______________

142

Physical Geology 101

143

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 23

Earth's Resources
Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources Earth's resources refers to anything we use or extract from the Earth to benefit society, whether it be in the products we make, the energy we generate, or food we grow. List some of Earth's resources: ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________ ________________

We can divide all these resources into two categories: ______________________ and _______________________

What makes a resource renewable? ___________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Example 1: _________________: harnessing its energy does not deplete the source of this energy, so it is a renewable resource. Example 2: _______________________: they are cultivated each season, but they are replaced by a new crop the next year.

What makes a resource nonrenewable? _______________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Example 1: _________________: gets lowered by overpumping. The water will probably be replenished eventually by infiltration and groundwater flow, but over 100s/1000s of years, which may not be in time to save an agricultural region from failure. Example 2: _________________: removal by over-cultivation or accelerated erosion due to the influences of humans. Although soil will eventually be regenerated by the process of weathering of solid rock, this occurs over a long period time- 10s of 1000s of years. Example 3: ______________________: mined for human consumption (e.g., coal, oil, copper, iron, gold, and phosphates/fertilizer). Once removed from the Earth, they are gone for good. It may take _______________________ years to develop new economic mineral deposits. Although much of the resources of the Earth extracted for human use are comprised of metallic and nonmetallic minerals, we will focus here on the energy resources needed to meet humankinds everincreasing energy demands as the population increases. What was the population of the Earth in 2003: ______________________

Fossil Fuels

144

Physical Geology 101

Both renewable and nonrenewable resources are used for energy consumption. Renewable energy resources include: _________________, ______________, and __________________

However, the majority of our energy production (______%) comes from nonrenewable resources such as: _____________, _____________, ________________, and ___________________. Any energy resource that forms from organic matter such as decaying plants and animals is called a _____________________. Name four: 1) _____________ 2) _____________ 3) _____________ 4) _____________ The type of fossil fuel that develops depends on the type of organic matter and the changes that the organic matter undergoes after it has been buried in the ground.

Peat and Coal Organic matter that accumulates on land comes from ____________, ___________, and ____________. These plants are rich in organic matter that stays solid after burial. If there is a lot of water present (e.g., ____________ and ____________), the remains of these plants accumulate to form ____________. Peat is a biogenic sediment consisting of a loose aggregate of plant remains with a carbon content of about 60%. For this reason, when peat is dried, it burns well and is a good source of energy. This is why peat has been harvested for 1000s of years to provide energy for heating and cooking. As peat gets buried by sedimentary processes, it starts to convert to _____________, which burns far more efficiently than peat. This process of turning peat into coal is called: __________________________ There are several ranks of coal quality depending on how high the pressures and temperatures were during the coalification. Rank the types of coal from lowest to highest rank: 1) ____________________________ 2) ____________________________ 3) ____________________________ 4) ____________________________ Coal occurs in layers called _______________ that are usually sandwiched within sedimentary rocks. Anthracite is more likely to occur within metamorphosed sedimentary rock, such as within a slate. Coal seams are usually no more than a few meters thick, although they may sometimes reach up to 30m thick. Because peat and coal form from land plants, the oldest coal is limited to the time when plants first began appearing on Earth, which was about 450 million years ago, in the ________________________ Period. The largest peat swamps developed in the northern hemisphere continents during the __________________ and __________________ Periods, 360 to 245 million years ago. The second largest peat swamps in geologic history formed during the ________________ period, while the dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Today, peat swamps are forming in places such as the Okeefenokee Swamp in Florida.

145

Physical Geology 101

Petroleum A major source of energy is of course petroleum, also called oil. Oil is only found in sedimentary rocks that formed in a _______________ environment. It forms from marine organic material, such as microscopic phytoplankton (a floating plant in the oceans), and marine bacteria. These organisms get trapped in marine sediments which turn into shale during burial and diagenesis. During diagenesis, the organic compounds go through a process called _________________ which causes them to be converted into __________ and ___________________, which are both types of __________________ compounds. They can occur in solid, liquid or gaseous states. Liquid petroleum removed directly from under the ground is called _________________. It needs to be refined to separate the various petrochemicals that we use in society, such as ___________________. List other petroleum products derived from hydrocarbons: ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ The rock in which the petroleum forms (e.g., a marine shale) is called a _____________________. As it turns out, most oil is not found in the source rocks where it formed. Instead, oil tends to migrate into other rocks, usually because it is squeezed out of the source rocks by high pressures during burial. The oil migrates upwards where it may form an ______________ at the surface (e.g., La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles), although it usually collects within rocks that have a high porosity (lots of holes called pores). These rocks that collect the oil are called _________________________. Rock type examples: _________________ and ____________________. It is also common that oil migrating upwards towards the surface encounters a very low permeability unit (such as a shale layer) that traps the oil underground. This sealing layer is called a _________________ and we say it has formed a _______________________. This is what geologists attempt to locate when looking for oil. Today, more than _____% of all the world's oil reserves are in the ____________________. Most of the gigantic oil reserves in the world have probably already been discovered.

Tar Sands and Oil Shales Oil that is so viscous that it cannot flow easily is called ___________. Tar may collect in the pores of sandstones to form a _______________, which can be processed to produce energy (e.g., Alberta, Canada). If burial temperatures and pressures during diagenesis were not high enough to allow maturation, sediments may contain a wax-like substance called ________________ instead of oil or natural gas. This is usually found in shale, which we then call an __________________, which can be mined and heated for energy production, although this is an expensive and environmentally unfriendly process. Where can we find about two-thirds of all the world's oil shales?

146

Physical Geology 101

_____________________

______________________

_____________________

Unless we turn our focus on harnessing alternative energy sources, we may have to overlook environmental concerns and rely on the most abundant reserve we have to meet future energy needs using fossil fuels. What is our most abundant type of fossil fuel reserve? _____________

Alternative Energy Sources The Earth's energy is derived from three primary sources: _____________________ _____________________ _____________________

This amounts to a flow of energy across Earth's surface of about 174,000 trillion watts. The needs of all people on the planet amount to about 10 trillion watts. So we're not about to run out of energy. We need to learn to use these alternative energy resources instead of relying upon nonrenewable fossil fuels. List the alternative energy sources: __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________

__________________

__________________

As long as the Sun, Earth and Moon maintain their orbits, and the interior of the Earth is generating radioactive heat, all of these energy resources are essentially renewable.

Solar, Wind and Water Power Solar energy is derived by directly using the energy of the Sun. Solar energy is used for heating purposes, such as supporting greenhouses, and can be used for generating electricity using ____________________________, like you see on the roofs of houses. Photovoltaic technology is expensive and inefficient, however, so it is unlikely to become a major source of energy production for society's needs. Wind energy is harnessed using _________________, which have long been used as a source of small amounts of energy, such as in the earliest grain mills. Today, wind energy can only be harnessed in locations where there is a constant source of wind. Example of a windmill farm location: ____________________________ Even where such winds exist, we would still only be able to generate about _____% of our energy needs, so wind power is unlikely to become globally significant.

The three forms of energy that can be harnessed from moving water are:

147

Physical Geology 101

(1) ____________________ from the oceans offers great potential, but we have not yet perfected a mechanism of harnessing that energy. (2) ____________________ Where is a good location to build a tidal power station? __________________________ There are two high tides a day, so if a tidal dam traps the water at high tide, it can be released at low tide to drive a turbine and generate electricity. Tidal energy can only effectively be harnessed where there is a __________________________. Is tidal power likely to meet the energy needs of society? YES or NO

(3) __________________: currently our greatest source of water-generated power. This source of power necessitates the construction of dams across rivers. Water flowing through turbines in the dam generates electricity. Where in Idaho is hydroelectric power a main source of electricity? ________________ Is hydroelectric power likely to meet the energy needs of society? YES or NO

Geothermal Power Energy derived from Earth's internal heat constitutes geothermal energy. Many countries use geothermal energy to heat houses, produce hot water, and generate electricity. Examples: __________________, _________________, and ___________________ Steam from underground reservoirs of hot water (called ______________________________) is used to power turbines and generate electricity.

Nuclear Power Changing the atoms of an element into different types of atoms by the loss or gain of subatomic particles is a _________________________. Controlled reactions can be used to harness nuclear energy. The two types of nuclear reactions are: 1. Splitting a large atom into smaller atoms: _________________, or 2. Combining two smaller atoms to form a larger atom: ________________. A naturally occurring type of a fission reaction is ______________________________ What type of nuclear reactions are produced in nuclear power plants? FISSION or FUSION

These power plants utilize the radioactive element U-235 and causes it to collide with a neutron. This produces lighter element atoms, heat, and additional neutrons which in turn collide with more atoms, producing a type of reaction called a chain reaction.

148

Physical Geology 101

We utilize the heat produced in these reactions to generate steam, which is used to power turbines and generate electricity. About ______% of the world's energy is produced in this way. It is far more efficient than fossil fuels. For example, 1 gram (a few grains) of U-235 produces the same amount of energy as ________ barrels of oil! This is why nuclear energy is essentially an inexhaustible resource and may be our main source of electricity in the future- we need so little to generate so much power.

QUESTION: What's the downside of using nuclear fission for energy production? _____________________________

149

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 24

Geologic Hazards
What is a Hazard? There are numerous geologic hazards that can disrupt the lives of individuals or entire cities or countries. Examples: volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, hundred year floods. What do we mean when we say hazard? _________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

What do we mean when we say risk? ____________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

Is a hazard always a risk?

YES

or

NO

For example, is a tsunami necessarily a risk? A tsunami that hits a heavily populated region is a definite risk. But a tsunami that hits an uninhabited island in the middle of an ocean is not a risk. There are many types of natural hazards. Examples: (1) ____________________ (3) ____________________ (5) ____________________ (2) ____________________ (4) ____________________ (6) ____________________

List examples of hazards that are specifically geologic hazards: 1) ______________________________________ 2) ______________________________________ 3) ______________________________________ 4) ______________________________________ 5) ______________________________________ 6) ______________________________________ 7) ______________________________________ 8) ______________________________________ 9) ______________________________________ 10) ______________________________________ 11) ______________________________________ 12) ______________________________________ When determining how a hazard may potentially impact on a society, we must always weigh hazard against risk.

150

Physical Geology 101

First, we have to ascertain the nature of the hazard itself. For example, geologic hazards may either hit suddenly and without warning, or they may occur very slowly and can be observable and somewhat predictable. The two categories of geologic hazards are: ______________________________ and ____________________________

Examples: __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________ __________________

_________________ _________________ _________________

Rapidly occurring hazards take us completely by surprise and the lack of preparation can be devastating. Slower geologic hazards can usually be observed as they slowly happen and we can attempt to mitigate them in some way.

Vulnerability What is the annual cost of damage by natural disasters worldwide? _______________________ What is the daily damage cost of windstorms, floods and earthquakes? ______________________ There are many factors that determine who bears the brunt of all this damage, in addition to proximity to the hazard itself. These factors include: ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________

For example, the same amount of ground shaking in two different locations may produce vastly different consequences if the building codes are very different. e.g. earthquake damage from the 1999 M7.4 Izmit earthquake in ________________ far surpassed that from the 1989 M7.0 Loma Prieta earthquake near ______________________ because building codes are much tighter in California. Example of where poverty has caused increased risk of death due to flooding: ______________________ Example of where a good education about tsunami hazards has decreased the risk of fatalities: ______________________

151

Physical Geology 101

Example of where the lack of education about volcanic eruption hazards increased the risk of fatalities: ______________________

Hazard and Risk Assessment In order to do a geologic hazard assessment, we must address issues such as: determining the history of a type of hazardous event in a region determining the severity of physical phenomena (e.g. __________________________) determining the frequency with which damaging events would occur (e.g. ____________________ __________________________) determining what the event would be like if it occurred today relaying this information in a manner that can be understood by decision makers

The last of these can be particularly crucial. Geologists must have good written and oral communication skills to convey information to political leaders, emergency personnel, city planners, etc. This may require geologists to relay information in the form of _____________________, showing the distribution of a hazard across a region. Examples: ________________________ ________________________ ________________________ ________________________

A risk assessment considers potential economic losses, deaths, injuries, and loss of services or infrastructure. At the core of a risk assessment is establishing the _____________________ that a hazard of a certain magnitude will occur within a certain time frame. What are the two ways that risk can be evaluated? __________________________or _______________________________

Hazard Prediction What is meant by "prediction" in the context of a geologic hazard? ____________________________________________________________________________________ For some hazards, these predictions may be particularly vague. Other predictions may be more specific, such as the prediction of an impending volcanic eruption. What types of precursors to a volcanic eruption allow geologists to issue an early warning of an impending eruption? ______________________________ and _______________________________

Evacuations before the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Phillipines saved many lives as a result of the predictions and early warnings by volcanologists. What are potential geologic hazards in Moscow, Idaho, and what is the overall risk? HAZARDS: _________________________ _________________________

152

Physical Geology 101

_________________________ _________________________ OVERALL RISK: ___________ (high or low?)

153

Physical Geology 101

Chapter 25

Planetary Geology
The Solar System Revisited We will now apply all the information we have learned about the geology of the earth to other planetary bodies to see how similar, or different, they are to our planet. There are a total of _____ planets that comprise our solar system. Once the most distant planet from the Sun, Pluto is now relegated to the status _________________, and is 40 times further from the Sun than Earth, which we represent by the abbreviation 40 AU. An AU is an __________________________________(1 AU is the distance from the Earth to the Sun). At a distance of 30-50 AU is a wide ring of small icy bodies outside of the region of named planets. This part of the solar system is called the _____________________________. Even further out from here is the _________________________: an enormous collection of icy bodies that is the source of many comets. Other comets come from the Kuiper Belt. What Kuiper Belt object discovered in 2002 is over 1000 km in diameter? ____________________ Since then, several other distant solar system bodies have been discovered inside the Kuiper Belt, including one object discovered in 2005 and determined in April 2006 to be larger than Pluto. This object is now officially a dwarf planet named __________________. In 2004, a body was discovered orbiting the Sun outside the Kuiper Belt but inside the Oort Cloud, at about 90 AU. This body is slightly smaller than Pluto and is the most distant known body that orbits the Sun (once every 10,500 years). Its name is ____________________. More Kuiper Belt objects may be discovered in future that rival Pluto in size and may even be considered for designation as dwarf planets. All of the planets revolve around the Sun in the same direction. If we were to look down on the solar system from above its north pole, all the planets would be moving in a ___________________________ direction in approximately circular orbits around the Sun. The planets are all aligned within a flat imaginary plane, called the ________________________________. In contrast, _____________ has a highly elliptical orbit inclined at 17 to this plane, causing it to sometimes pass inside Neptune's orbit. When viewed from above, six of the planets rotate in a ____________________________ manner around their rotational axes. So, like Earth, on most planets, the Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. What two planets rotate in a clockwise manner? ___________________ and ____________________ One of the planets has somehow managed to roll over on its side with respect to the plane of the ecliptic. The northern hemisphere always faces the Sun and the southern hemisphere always faces away from it. What planet is this? _____________________ Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter is a huge belt of rocks and debris called the ____________________. They owe their existence to Jupiter's large size and strong gravitational field which prevented early solar system planetesimals in this region from ever coalescing into a planet.

154

Physical Geology 101

The composition and evolutionary history of the planets are a consequence of their distance from the Sun. The innermost planets are called the ____________________________. List the terrestrial planets (in order from the Sun): _______________ ________________ ________________ ________________

The terrestrial planets are all composed of rocks with metallic and nonmetallic elements. So they also have high densities. The rocks and metallic elements that constitute the terrestrial planets must have condensed at high temperatures, which would be expected closer to the center of the collapsing disk during the formation of the solar system. That's why the terrestrial planets are closest to the Sun. The planets further away from the Sun are called the _________________________. List the Jovian planets (in order away from the Sun): _______________ ________________ ________________ ________________

The Jovian planets all have low densities because they are mostly made of the gases _________________ and __________________, with frozen compounds like ammonia and methane, surrounding small rocky cores. These predominantly gaseous bodies must have condensed at much lower temperatures, which would be expected around the outer portions of the collapsing disk of the primordial solar system. Because they are so large and gaseous, the Jovian planets are also referred to as the _______________________. During the early development of the solar system, collisions between planetesimals were common. That's why we see so many ________________ on the surfaces of the planets and moons. A large collision between a planetesimal and Venus may be the reason for its clockwise rotation. Similar collisions may be responsible for Uranus lying on its side and for Pluto revolving so far off the plane of the ecliptic and making fun of the rest of the solar system.

Meteorites Space debris that enters the Earth's atmosphere are called _______________. They usually vaporize in the upper atmosphere due to frictional heating, producing so-called shooting stars. If they collide with the Earths surface they are called __________________. Meteorites don't have to be very big to cause a lot of damage. Small meteorites hit Earth every day (10-50 of them), and have the potential to cause damage, injuries, or death. Larger meteorites, perhaps a few 100s of meters across, can create enormous craters, like Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona, which resulted from an asteroid hitting the Earth _________________ years ago. Even larger meteorites can irrevocably alter the evolution of the planet, such as the 10 km big ______________________ meteorite impact that ultimately caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Where did this impact occur? ______________________________. When did it occur? _____________________ years ago. What two geologic time periods have their boundary at this point in geologic time? ____________________ and ____________________ (the K-T Boundary)

155

Physical Geology 101

What element, known to be common in meteorites, is enriched in clay layers that formed at the K-T boundary? ___________________ Despite being a potential threat, meteorites have helped us learn a lot about the earliest times of the solar system because many of these meteorites are actually bits of debris that formed when the solar system first began to form. The solar system cleared out most of this debris through collisions early in its history, so there is less meteorite activity today than there would have been early in Earth's history.

Meteorites are classified into 3 categories based on their compositions: TYPE _________________ meteorites _________________ meteorites _________________ meteorites ABUNDANCE 93% 6% 1%

Most meteorites are stony meteorites, which are composed of iron and magnesium silicate minerals that formed during the very beginning of the solar system's history. What are the three types of stony meteorites? 1. ________________________________ (like mantle or crustal material) 2. ________________________________ (rare primordial solar nebula material) 3. ________________________________(like Earth basalts- but come from the Moon or Mars) Iron meteorites are composed of iron and nickel alloys so they are often considered to be an analog for the Earths core. They likely represent the cores of asteroids that were broken apart by collisions with other asteroids. Stony-iron meteorites are composed of almost an equal ratio of Fe/Ni alloys and silicate minerals.

Planets and Moons Terrestrial Planets The terrestrial planets had similar beginnings to Earth. The mass, density, and composition of each planet suggests that each developed an ___________________ surrounded by a _______________________ and ______________. Atmospheres developed through the outgassing of light gases from the planetary interiors during periods of volcanism.

Mercury: is about 40% the size of Earth and has changed little since it first formed. About 80% of its mass is due to a large metallic core. A slight magnetic field indicates that the core must be ________________ _______________. The surface is heavily cratered and many craters appear to be filled with undisturbed lava flows. Because of its small gravity, all the gases escaped into space so Mercury has no atmosphere.

156

Physical Geology 101

Does Mercury have any current tectonic activity?

YES or NO

Venus: is about _______% the size of Earth but otherwise is very different. Its surface temperature is ________C (Earth is about 25C!). The atmosphere contains 96% CO2. Venus has a core, mantle, and crust. There is no evidence of active volcanism, although volcanic lava domes and old lava flows are visible. Does Venus have any current tectonic activity? Has Venus been tectonically active in the past? YES or NO YES or NO

Mars: about ______% the size of Earth; has a core, mantle and crust. The atmosphere is thin, with 95% CO2. The southern hemisphere is heavily cratered, including the largest impact crater in the solar system, called _________________________, which has a crater 2,000 km wide. The northern hemisphere is a flat, smooth plain, and is believed to represent an ____________________ _____________________, with evidence of ancient erosional shorelines. The largest volcano in the solar system is on Mars: __________________________________ It is 27 km high, 3 times higher than Mt. Everest. It is so large because Mars has no plate tectonics, so the hotspot that formed it stayed in the same place below the Martian crust. Does Mars show evidence of tectonic activity? YES or NO

Evidence: Mars has numerous faults, as well as the largest rift valley in the solar system, called ______________________. It is 250 km wide, 7 km deep, and 4,000 km long. It would stretch from San Francisco to New York. Recent images have provided strong evidence that ______________ has flowed across the Martian surface in the past as giant rivers. Could liquid water exist on the surface of Mars today? YES or NO Despite the extreme cold, there is evidence of recent water or ice flows out of rock faces- perhaps surface seeps that come from vast groundwater aquifers.

Jovian Planets The Jovian planets were imaged by the Voyager spacecraft missions. Jupiter is 11 times bigger than Earth, Saturn is 9.5 times bigger, and Uranus and Neptune are both about 4 times bigger. All are predominantly gaseous, with rocky cores, and all have ring systems around them. Jupiter has at least 28 moons, including the most volcanically active body in the solar system, called ________. There are only 3 other volcanically active bodies: Earth, Neptunes moon _______________, and Saturns moon _________________ (which erupts water ice). Another of Saturns moons, ___________________ is larger than planet Mercury and is the only moon in the solar system with an atmosphere (mostly nitrogen, like Earth). It is also the only moon (other than our own) on

157

Physical Geology 101

which we have landed a human-made spacecraft (the Huygens probe, during the Cassini mission). Titan has a surface covered in pools of liquid hydrocarbons and shows evidence of frozen methane sand dunes. Jupiter also has a moon which has the greatest potential of all the other bodies in the solar system of harboring life due to a vast water ocean below an ice crust. Its name is ___________________.

The Earth-Moon System The Moon is about ______% the size of Earth, and, like Earth, has a metallic core, and a silicate mantle and crust. We know the innermost part of the mantle is partially molten because it doesn't transmit S-waves generated by small moonquakes deep in the mantle. The surface is mostly composed of the igneous rock ________________, which is mostly feldspar. The other rock type present is ________________ which forms the low-lying dark plains, called ______________ (singular: mare) which cover about 17% of the surface. They probably formed from partial melting of a silicate mantle, possibly during meteorite impacts.

How did Earths moon form? _____________________________________________________________ This happened about 4.6 to 4.4 billion years ago. A large portion of Earth's hot early mantle material was ripped away and coalesced and differentiated to form the Moon, which remained in orbit around the Earth.

QUESTIONS: Whats your favorite celestial body?! _________________________

158

Anda mungkin juga menyukai