Learning Objectives/Practice Questions for Exam #1 on May 15

Remember that your responsibilities for the exam include lecture material that is addressed in the following questions from Chapters 1, 2, and 3 (see your course outline), the portions of your text covering these topics, video #2 and #3, and WWW Assignment #1

  1. Tenable  societal values might be assessed on the basis of sustainability. How are we doing in terms of sustaining biological diversity on Earth? Are human activities impacting the numbers of species on Earth in any noteworthy way?
  2. A systems approach seems most appropriate for the study of the Ocean Systems. What scientific disciplines are central to the study of the oceans and why is it most appropriate to integrate these diverse fields of study to understand the Ocean System?
  3. Know about the SI system of measures and some simple conversions to and from the "English" system.
  4. What are low intermediate and high latitudes. Why is latitudinal position important? What are the references for the lat/long system. Are flat maps good representations of spatial location? Why or why not?
  5.  What is the significance of the scientific method as far as a lay person is concerned? Why does our government spend so much money on teaching science and funding scientific research?
  6. What is the general distribution of all H2O on the Earth's surface? Where is most H2O located and what is it's physical state (solid, liquid, gas)? Is this unusual compared to other planets?
  7. Which elements of the periodic table are especially abundant in the Earth's atmosphere and hydrosphere (the elements that comprise: water, carbon dioxide, nitrogen gas) and why are they so abundant on Earth? How did these  materials find their way to the outer-most portions of the Earth system?
  8. My principle argument for an evolutionary (rather than creation) origin of life (and other complex systems on Earth) is TIME. What is the special kind of time that belongs to Geologists? What's so special about it and why is it a reasonable argument for the first statement in this question?
  9. Composition (what something is made of, chemically) and temperature determine density. Hot air rises relative to cool air; cold air sinks relative to room temperature air. What is more dense: (1) ocean crust (basalt) or continental crust (granite)? (2) Young (at ocean spreading centers) ocean crust or old (well away from spreading centers) ocean crust?
  10. Of the Earth's surface layers; atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and asthenosphere, which layers are fluid, that is able to flow like water or soft french gruyere cheese? Which layers are rigid and brittle and unable to flow and fracture like chalk?
  11. Distinguish between the Continental Drift and Sea Floor Spreading theories in terms of the data (observations, information) upon which each theory is based. Give a simple explanation of the mechanisms of Sea Floor Spreading. How does this elegant theory explain the relatively young age of ocean crust (no older than 200 millions of years) relative to very old continental crust (billions of years old in places)?
  12. The reversal of Earth's magnetic field polarity (a compass currently points North, but in the past it has pointed South also!) and magnetization of lava rocks formed at the ocean spreading centers provides "cutting" evidence for the sea floor spreading hypothesis. This information was critical for the formulation of the Vine/Matthews hypothesis. Explain the origin of magnetic stripes on the sea floor and the significance of these features in demonstrating the sea floor spreading model (the Vine/Matthews hypothesis).
  13. What are the different types of Plate Boundaries? Why does most geological activity occur along plate boundaries? What types of geological processes, resulting in natural disaster, occur at plate boundaries?
  14. Do the margins of Continental land areas always coincide with lithospheric plate boundaries? What are the largest 8 crustal plates?
  15. Describe how and under what circumstances earthquakes (or seismic) events take place. What are the different types of earthquake faults? What is the relative motion of blocks of rocks along these faults?
  16. What's a focus? What's an epicenter? In what type of earth materials (physical properties) can earthquakes occur?
  17. Where do most earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur?
  18. What is the fundamental influence on the elevation of areas of the Earth's surface? What are the two fundamental elevations on the Earth's surface and what do these fundamental elevations relate to? What does Archmedes principle and isostacy have to do with these questions?
  19. Describe the bathymetric features associated with plate boundaries: 1) divergent plate boundaries, 2) convergent plate boundaries, 3) transform plate boundaries. Are "fracture zones" plate boundaries? How are they related to plate boundaries?
  20. Describe some other major features of the sea floor that are not related to plate boundaries? What are "hot spots"?
  21. What are the deepest areas of the ocean basins?
  22. What geological hazards occur on the land areas adjacent to these ocean deeps? Why are they geological hazards?
  23. Where do most earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur? What is the relationship between plate tectonic setting and the depth to earthquake focus?
  24. Describe the volcanic activity that occurs on the Earth's surface. Where does it occur (mostly)? what is the source of magma? how do these magmas differ? what is the result, in terms of the types of eruptions, of volcanism in the different plate tectonic settings?
  25. What is the origin of magma (molten rock) in convergent plate boundary volcanoes? How does this magma differ from magma at divergent plate boundaries and in the middle of ocean plates?
  26. What's the difference between convergent and divergent plate boundary volcanism? Which type poses the most significant hazard to human activities?