Geology reading assignment and questions to answer
The Restless Earth; A Geologic Primer:
http://www.burkemuseum.org/static/geo_history_wa/T…
Questions:
1. What are the basic layers of the earth?
2. Differentiate between the crust, the mantle, the lithosphere, and the asthenosphere.
3. Why is convection important?
4. What is plate tectonics?
5. What are the 3 types of tectonic boundaries and their basic characteristics?
6. What is a hotspot and an example of one?
7. What was Pangaea?
Structure of the Earth
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/geophys…
Questions:
1. Differentiate between oceanic and continental crust.
The Rock Cycle
http://imnh.isu.edu/digitalatlas/geo/basics/diagra…
http://www.classzone.com/books/earth_science/terc/…
Questions:
1. What are the 3 rock types and their characteristics?How are they formed?What are the most common of each rock type?
2. What is erosion, deposition, compaction, and lithification?
3. What is magma?
4. What is a mineral versus a rock?
5. Why is uplift important?
Urbanization Impacts on the Hydrologic Cycle
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/nps/watercyclefacts.pdf
Questions:
1. What is impervious cover and why is it an issue?
2. What are the basic effects of urbanization on the hydrologic cycle?
3. What is a hydrograph and how do they depict information?
4. What might a community do to reduce the impacts of urbanization (this is not in the article)?
The Aral Sea Disaster
http://www.columbia.edu/~tmt2120/introduction.htm (Read all 4 pages)
Questions:
1. What is the basic cause of the Aral Sea environmental disaster?Be specific.
2. What are the impacts of this disaster?Several are mentioned.
3. What should be done to help relieve some of the hydrologic pressures on the Aral Sea?
4. What is being done to remediate the situation?
5. What is the future of the Aral Sea?
The Hydrological Cycle
https://www.visionlearning.com/en/library/Earth-Sc…
The Rising Costs of Natural Hazards
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/RisingCo… (read all pages)
Questions:
1. What are the main reasons for rising costs of natural disasters?
2. What are several ways mankind has increased flooding impacts?
3. What is remote sensing and how has it affected natural hazard impacts?
4. How has climate change impacted these costs?
Plate Tectonics
https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/understanding.ht…
Questions:
1. What is a plate?
2. How and why do plates move?
3. What happens at plate boundaries?
4. Why do the continents rise above the ocean floor?
Extreme global warming:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/10111…
Questions:
1. What is the Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO)
2. What possible cause for the MECO is mentioned in the article?
Global temperature conundrum: Cooling or warming climate?
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/14081…
Questions:
1. What is the Holocene Temperature Conundrum?
2. Were any possible causes for the Conundrum mentioned in the article?
Video:National Geographic Colliding Continents (Please note that this is a 50 minute video)
Questions:
1. What is the planet Thea?
2. How were the early crust and oceans formed?
2. What is a craton?
4. How were fossils helpful in the formulation of the Theory of Continental Drift?
5. Where is new crust created and destroyed?
6. What was Vaalbarra?What is Pangaea Ultima?
7. Where were the rocks that form the top of the Alps formed?
8. What are the Mediterranean Mountains?
Fossil Fuel Formation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvH-h7TzSsE
Questions:
1. What is a fossil fuel?What is our most abundant fossil fuel?
2. What are the four requirements for the formation of fossil fuels?
Dinosaur Extinction:
http://www.history.com/topics/why-did-the-dinosaur…
http://news.berkeley.edu/2015/10/01/asteroid-impac…
Questions:
1.What is the K-T event?
2.To what does Chicxulub refer?
3.What other theories other than an asteroid impact are there for dinosaur extinction?
4.What are the Deccan Traps and why are they possibly important?
5.What is the significance of iridium as related to this extinction?