General Geology Discussion Questions

Note: Answers to “short-answer” questions should be no longer than a few sentences.
Unlike other assignments, there are 12 questions. Yes, please answer all 12!

Note 2: As per instructions (“How to Turn In Assignments”)– make sure that you copy this assignment into a MICROSOFT WORD DOCUMENT, and place your answers below each question…. save it on your computer, and then UPLOAD the assignment using the “SUBMIT ASSIGNMENT” button!

1) Let’s say that this year your local creek (e.g. Boulder Creek in Boulder,CO) undergoes a “500 year flood” event. Does this mean that your community would be safe from a similar event for the next 500 years? Explain why or why not.

2) There are the three kinds of material transport in a stream. One is called “bed load”. What are the other two?

3) Read all about deltas and all about alluvial fans.
What is the primary factor that causes a river or stream to deposit sediment as it goes from steep gradient to shallow gradient?
(Hint: What is the primary factor that helps a river/stream keep sediment in transport?)

4) A river can erode down to its ______________-level.
Fill in the blank

5) With time, why do you think meander loops tend to intensify (i.e. get more curved)?

6) Salt water and fresh water are (of course) quite different.

Where would we find the most fresh-water, in the sum total of all earth’s ground water or the sum total of all earth’s rivers and streams?

7) Is it possible for a rock to have high porosity but at the same time be quite impermeable? Yes/No, and then EXPLAIN.

8) What type of rock is commonly associated with sink-holes and Karst Topography?
A) Sandstone; B) Shale; C) Granite; D) Limestone

9) In your text, you will find a figure that shows the eruptive history of a typical geyser. What is the effect of rapid decompression on a fluid that is near, but not quite at, its boiling point?

10) Name the two places on earth today where one can find large continental glaciers, also known as continental ice sheets.

11) Find a map of “end moraines” from the last glacial maximum, in North America. (Try google search, but you can also use the diagram in Glacier Chapter—captioned “End moraines in the Contiguous US and Canada…”
OR http://www.backyardnature.net/g/ice-ages.htm)
Answer the following question: Did the Pleistocene ice sheets travel further to the south in western North America or in eastern North America?

12) Check out the following (scientifically accurate) representation of glacial movement:

http://phet.colorado.edu/simulations/sims.php?sim=Glaciers

The above simulation requires JAVA “plug-in” software. If you do not have this on your computer– go to a library or computer lab.
Or, consider the question as specific to VALLEY GLACIERS, and provide your best answer.

With the simulation, you can play around with the effects of changing mean annual temperature and snowfall. And, turn up the speed.
Example– if you choose a high annual temperature and very low snowfall, the glacier is going to recede quickly.

Here’s the question— Does the glacial ice (in the simulation, marked by little black dots) actually go back uphill during glacial recession? Or does the ice continue it’s motion down-hill?

EXPLAIN your answer. (Explanation will be worth most of the credit here!)