Review Sheet

Physical Geology Test 2

This is a help for you to study for the test. This is not necessarily all that the test will cover. This is the bulk of the material covered. If it was in lecture or is in your book it is fair game for questions on the test.

Weathering and Soils

Terms:

Disintegration, decomposition, spheroidal weathering, exfoliation, soil, regolith, humus, loam, hardpan, caliche, bauxite, pedon.

Concepts:

  1. Weathering of rock.
  2. Chemical vs. physical weathering.
  3. Types of physical weathering, frost action, abrasion, pressure release, etc.
  4. Types of chemical weathering, oxidation, hydrolysis, dissolution, etc.
  5. Rate of weathering of materials.
  6. Soil profile, O, A, E, B, C horizons
  7. Residual vs. transported soils.
  8. Soil and climate, pedalfer, pedocal, laterites.
  9. Controls of soil formation.

Sedimentary Rocks

Terms:

Sediment, Clast, Detrital, Fissility, Carbonate

Concepts:

  1. How do roundness and sorting relate to sediment transport?
  2. What is Wentworth's Clastic Scale?
  3. How do rocks become lithified? Compaction, Cementation, Crystallization
  4. What are the types of Sedimentary Rocks? Clastic, Biochemical, Biogenic, Chemical.
  5. What are the various types of sandstones? Quartz sandstone, Arkose, Graywacke.
  6. What are the various ways limestone can form? Fossiliferous Limestone, Coquina, Chalk, Oolitic Limestone, Micrite.
  7. How can dolostone form? Primary, Secondary - Diagenetic alteration.
  8. What are the various Evaporite Sedimentary Rocks? Rock Salt, Rock Gypsum, Limestone.
  9. What are the various stages of coal formation? Peat - Lignite - Bituminous coal - Anthracite coal
  10. What are the various Sedimentary Structures? Bedding, Laminations, Stratification, Cross-bedding, Graded bedding, Mud cracks, Ripple marks - asymmetrical, symmetrical, fossils.
  11. What do Sedimentary Rocks tell the Geologist?
  12. What are the various depositional environments for Sedimentary Rocks? Continental - Glacial, Alluvial fan, Fluvial, Lacustrine, Eolian, Desert; Shoreline - Delta, Beach, Barrier Island, Lagoon, Tidal Flat; Marine - Shallow marine, Reef, Deep marine, Turbidity current.

Metamorphic Rocks

Terms:

Aureole, Zeolite, Greenschist, Foliation, Hornfels, Amphibolite, Migmatite, Blueschist, Granulite, Cleavage, Schistosity, Gneissic banding,

Concepts:

  1. What are the various agents of change in metamorphism? Heat, Pressure, Chemical Activity.
  2. What are the metamorphic processes? Recrystallization, New minerals, Mineral orientation, Mineral segregation.
  3. What are the types of pressure in metamorphism? Directed, Confining.
  4. What are the types of foliation?
  5. What are the types of Metamorphism? Contact, Regional.
  6. Metasomatism is what? What are Hydrothermal processes?
  7. What is metamorphic facies? What are the various facies?
  8. What are the various index minerals for metamorphic rocks?

Mass Wastage

Terms:

Mass wastage, Slide, Rotational Slump, Flow, Slump, Landslide, Slip, Solifluction, Avalanche, Fall, Creep,

Concepts:

  1. What are the controlling factors of mass wastage?
  2. What are the various types of mass wastage?
  3. How can you prevent mass wastage? What are some of the preventive measures?
  4. How does water play a part in mass wastage?

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