Don Barrie, Geoscience Educator

Homework Assignment #1 GEOLOGY 100

Part 1 (due several days before exam via email; consult syllabus for due date): Use your lecture notes, handouts, textbook, and online chapter study guides to answer the Part 1 Review Questions below. 

Please follow these guidelines in preparing your Part 1 review question responses:

Type out complete responses to each question.

Copy the questions and your responses, paste them into the body of an email, and send them to dsbarrie@yahoo.com (do not attach as a separate file) by 11:59 pm on the assignment due date for your section (see syllabus).  Include plenty of space between your answers.

Include the following information in the subject line of your email: last name, class, day(s) your class meets, homework set #  (e.g., Barrie GEOL 100 MW, Hmk 1)

 Part 2 (due at beginning of class on exam day, via hardcopy): Earthworks workbook scenarios #1, #2, #3.

Part 1 Review Questions

1. Discuss four important characteristics of a scientific theory. 
2. What distinguishes science from other fields of knowledge? 
3. What are Earth's principal compositional layers? 
4. How do these layers differ in terms of chemical composition and density? 
5. How do continental and oceanic crust differ in terms of density and composition? 
6. What elements is each Earth layer enriched in?  
7. Summarize the theory of plate tectonics. 
8. Distinguish between the lithosphere and asthenosphere. 
9. Describe the relative motion of two plates at various types of plate boundaries, including subduction zones, collision zones, transform boundaries, and divergent boundaries. 
10. Summarize, in detail, the evidence that supports the theory of plate tectonics. 
11. What processes are thought to drive plate motions? 
12. What defining characteristics do all minerals possess? 
13. Explain how the basic chemical building block of the silicate minerals—the silicate tetrahedron--is put together.  What is the chemical formula for this structure?  Why is the large negative of this structure important?  
14. List the silicate structure (e.g., isolated tetrahedra, single chains, double chains, sheets, 3-D framework, etc.) of each of these minerals: olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, biotite/muscovite, quartz, plagioclase feldspar (plag), potassium feldspar (K-spar). 
15. Understand the difference between the ferromagnesian and non-ferromagnesian silicate minerals in terms of composition. 
16. Describe some important mineral properties used to identify common minerals in hand specimen.    
17. What is the order of crystallization (in terms of temperature) of various minerals from a mafic magma as predicted by Bowen's Reaction Series? 
18. Explain the different ways that magmas can change composition. 
19. Distinguish between felsic, intermediate, and mafic magmas/igneous rocks in terms of silica content, potassium (K) and sodium (Na) content, calcium (Ca) content, and iron (Fe)/Magnesium (Mg) content.  No need to list actual percentates, just relative proportions (i.e., high, medium, or low).
20. What, besides temperature, affects melting and crystallization? 
21. What are the intrusive/extrusive equivalents for igneous rocks of felsic, intermediate, and mafic composition?  
22. Know the factors that control the eruptive style of a volcano.
23. What is the basic textural difference between plutonic and volcanic rocks in terms of crystal size?  What does this difference tell us about cooling history?
24. Discuss the differences between the various volcano types, including shield volcanoes, cinder cones, and stratovolcanoes. 
25. Which type of volcano is most common at subduction zones?  Which type is most explosive?  Which types are associated with mafic magma?  Which type is associated with intermediate magma? 
26. Distinguish the two main types of weathering, and list several examples each of mechanical and chemical weathering processes. 
27. Explain how the susceptibility of common silicate minerals to chemical weathering relates to Bowen’s Reaction Series. 
28. Explain how mechanical and chemical weathering act together (i.e., reinforce each other) to disintegrate and decompose a rock mass. 
29. Which type of weathering predominates in arid environments? In humid environments?  

Important Vocabulary (no need to define these terms; just be familiar with them)