Text: Marshak, S., 2004. Essentials of Geology 1st or 2nd edition. W. W. Norton pub.

The best way to study for an exam is to study continuously throughout the semester by re-writing the notes you take in class. While you are re-writing them, you can use the textbook to fill in any gaps in your notes. By gaps, I mean concepts you did not understand, or maybe could not take notes on because the professor was going too fast. (If you have questions on the material after doing that, then by all means, come in and ask me or e-mail your question to me: gleasong@cortland.edu.)

To study for this exam, you must go over your lecture notes.

The test will be based on both lecture notes and on the textbook.
This study guide is designed to point out aspects of the readings in the textbook that will help you understand your lecture notes.

Chap 1: The Earth in Context 

Pages: In the 1st edition: 1-20, 24-35, skim 21-24. In the 2nd edition: 1-20, 23-34, skim 20-23 

Figures: 1.4, 1.7, 1.12, 1.21 (1st ed.);
1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.21, 1.22 (2nd ed.)

Terms: (see page 34 in 1st ed. for the pages these can be found on; page 33 in the 2nd ed.) asthenosphere, big bang theory, continental crust, convection, core, crust, density, Doppler effect, expanding Universe theory, glass, inner core, lithosphere, lower mantle, mantle, melt, metal, meteor, mineral, Moho, oceanic crust, outer core, planetesimals, red shift, rock, topography, transition zone, upper mantle, wavelength

Questions: 

 Describe how the Doppler effect works.

 What does the red shift of the galaxies tell us about their motion with respect to the Earth?

Briefly describe the steps in the formation of the Universe.

Why are all the planets in the solar system orbiting the Sun in the same direction and in the same plane? 

What is the Nebula Theory of planet formation?

Contrast continental and oceanic crust in terms of thickness, composition, and density.

What is the Moho? What is the Gutenburg Discontiniuty?

Contrast the lithosphere and asthenosphere.  How are the criteria for defining lithosphere and asthenosphere different from the criteria used to recognize the crust, mantle and core?

 

Chap 3: Patterns in Nature: Minerals

Pages: 80-93, 96-97 (1st ed); 78-91, 94 (2nd ed.)

Figures: 3.3, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.17, 3.18, 3.20, 3.21, 3.22 (1st ed.);
3.3, 3.7, 3.8, 3.10., 3.11, 3.18, 3.19, 3.20, 3.21, 3.22 (2nd ed.)

Terms: chemical bond, cleavage, conchoidal fracture, covalent bond, crystal, double-chain silicate structure, framework silicate structure, feldspars, ionic bond, independant silicate structure, mineral, rock, sheet silicate structure, silicon-oxygen tetrahedron, silicate minerals, single-chain silicate structure

Questions:  

What is the definition of a mineral?

Why is glass NOT a mineral?

Is ice a mineral?

Salt is a mineral, but sugar is not.  Why not? Is pepper a mineral? 

Describe how mineral crystals can form. 

On what basis are silicate minerals further divided into distinct groups?

What are the four most common elements in the Earth (by weight)?

What is the building block of silicate minerals? What is its charge?

How does the atomic structure of sheet silicate minerals (biotite or muscovite) explain the single cleavage set in these minerals?

Chap 2: The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics

Pages: 36-79 (1st ed.); 35-77 (2nd ed.)

Figures: 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 2.10, 2.11, 2.13, 2.16, 2.17, 2.19, 2.21, 2.24, 2.26, 2.32, 2.33, 2.35, 2.40, 2.41, 2.43, 2.44, 2.47, 2.48, 2.51 (1st ed.); 
2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.9, 2.10., 2.12, 2.16, 2.17, 2.19, 2.21, 2.24, 2.26, 2.32, 2.33, 2.34, 2.39, 2.40, 2.42, 2.47 (2nd ed.)

Terms: asthenosphere, bathymetry, continental drift hypothesis, convergent plate boundary, divergent plate boundary, fracture zone, Harry Hess, hot spot, lithosphere, magma, magnetic anomalies, mantle plume, mid ocean ridge (MOR), McKenzie & Parker, Morgan, ocean trench, paleomagnetism, pillow basalts, plate tectonics theory, sea-floor spreading, subduction, subduction zone, transform plate boundary, Vine-Matthews-Morley hypothesis, volcanic arc, Wadati-Benioff zone, Alfred Wegener, J. Tuzo Wilson

Questions:  

What was Wegner's hypothesis of continental drift?

What are the lines of evidence Wegener used to support his hypothesis? 

What evidence did geologists use to disprove Wegener's hypothesis?

Explain how the angle of inclination of the Earth's magnetic field varies with latitude.  How is this information used to determine the past latitude of a  continent?

How did the observations of heat flow and seismicity support Hess's hypothesis of sea-floor spreading?

Describe the pattern of magnetic anomalies across a mid-ocan ridge.  Explain how this pattern forms.

In one sentence, what is the basic idea of Plate Tectonics?

Describe each of the three types of plate boundaries.

What is a subduction zone?

Give an example (exact geographic location) of each type of plate boundary. For example the San Andreas fault is a transform boundary.

What happens to the mantle beneath mid-ocan ridges (or spreading centers)?

Draw a cross-section of a typical oceanic convergent plate boundary (a subduction zone) and label the following: trench, volcanic arc, Benioff-Wadati zone, lithosphere, asthenosphere.

Chap 4: Up from the Inferno: Magma and Igneous rocks

Figures:  4.2, 4.3, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4.8, 4.9, 4.10, 4.13, 4.16 (1st ed.); 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.5,  4.7, 4.9, 4.10, 4.11, 4.13, 4.14, 4.15, 4.16 (2nd ed.)

Terms: andesite, basalt, batholith, Bowen's reaction series, contact, country rock, decompression melting, differentiation, dike, extrusive rock, felsic rock, granite, geotherm, heat-transfer melting, igneous rock, intermediate rock, inrusive rock, lava, lava flow, mafic rock, magma, melt, partial melting, porphyritic, rhyolite, silicic rocks, sill, ultramafic rock, viscosity, volatiles, volcanic neck, xenolith

Questions: 

How is the process of freezing magma similar to that of freezing water?  How is it different?

Describe three processes that are responsible for the formation of magmas. 

What are there so many different compositions of magma? 

What factors control the viscosity of melt? 

How does grain size reflect the cooling rate of a magma?

Chap 5: A Surface Veneer: Sediments and Sedimentary Rocks

 Pages: 124-130, 134-154 (1st ed); 121-127, 131-152 (2nd ed)

Figures:  5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.12, 5.13, 5.14, 5.15, 5.175.19, 5.21, 5.23, 5.29 (1st ed);
5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.9, 5.14., 5.15, 5.16, 5.17, 5.18, 5.19, 5.24 (2nd ed)

Terms: bed, biochemical (or biogenic) sedimentary rocks, cementation, chemical sedimentary rocks, chemical weathering, clastic sedimentary rocks, clasts, coal, compaction, deposition, dissolution (aka solution), exfoliation, frost wedging, hydrolysis, joints, lithification, mud cracks, oxidation reaction, physical weathering, ripple marks, root wedging, salt wedging, sediment, sedimentary environment, sedimentary rock, sedimentary structures, sorting, weathering

Questions:

How does physical weathering differ from chemical weathering? 

Feldspar minerals are very common in igneous rocks, but not usually found in sedimentary rocks. Describe the weathering process that converts the feldspar to clay minerals. 

Describe how a sedimentary rock is formed from its unweathered parent rock. 

How are clastic and chemical sedimentary rocks different?

Describe how grain size and sorting of sediments change as sediments move dowmstream. 

What kind of conditions are needed for the formation of chemical sedimentary rocks?

Name some examples of biochemical sedimentary rocks.

Chap 6: Change in the Solid State: Metamorphic Rocks

Pages: 155-174 (1st ed); 153-173 (2nd ed)

Figures: 6.1, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.7, 6.8, 6.10, 6.15, 6.17, 6.19. 6.20 (1st ed);
6.1, 6.2, 6.4, 6.6, 6.8, 6.9, 6.16., 6.17, 6.19 (2nd ed)

Terms:  differential stress, foliation, gneiss, marble, contact metamorphism (thermal metamorphism), regional metamorphism, metamorphism, metamorphic rock, "parent rock", phyllite, protolith, quartzite, recrystallization, schist, slate

Questions: 

How are metamorphic rocks different from igneous rocks?

What two features are used to classify metamorphic rocks?

How does heat change a rock?

How does hot groundwater moving through a rock change it?

How does pressure change a rock?

How does differential stress (i.e., different pressures in different directions) affect the texture of a rock?

Arrange the following metamorphic rocks in order from lowest grade to higest grade:
        gneiss, phyllite, schist, and slate

Interlude B: The Rock Cycle

Figures: B.1, B.2

Questions: 

Be able to describe the processes any rock goes through to become another type of rock.  For example:

Describe how a sedimentary rock can move through the rock cycle and become a metamorphic rock. What happens to the mineral grains in the sedimentary rock as it undergoes contact (thermal) metamorphism? As it undergoes regional metamorphism?

Happy studying!

Useful links:

Syllabus Fall 2008

Physical Geology web page