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In any quiz or exam in this course,
you might be asked a question on mineralogy or geology basics (from our first reading).
Here is the list of Geology Basics that everyone in a Geo-200-level course should know:
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The Earth is divided into three chemical layers: crust, mantle, core
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The lithosphere = the crust and the uppermost (rigid) part of the mantle.
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Tectonic plates are made of lithosphere, not crust.
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There are three types of plate boundaries: divergent, convergent, transform.
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Plate tectonics is driven by mantle convection, slab pull, and ridge push.
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Earth’s magnetic field is generated in the outer core.
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Earth generates magma via three mechanisms: decompression, addition of volatiles, addition of heat.
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Earth’s ocean crust is basaltic, with a density of ~3 g/cm3.
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Earth’s mantle is solid -- not fluid -- even though it sometimes flows like a silly-puddy.
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Minerals are inorganic solids defined by their orderly internal crystal structure.
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Minerals form by incremental growth of a crystalline lattice.
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Earth’s internal heat comes from two sources: the primordial heat of formation, and the decay of radioactive elements.
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Plutonic igneous rocks have coarser grains than volcanic rocks because they cool slower.
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The explosiveness of a volcano is controlled by the silica and volatile content of the magma.
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Metamorphism is caused by heating and compression.
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The elastic rebound theory explains the origins of earthquakes.
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A hypothesis is an untested idea; a theory is a hypothesis that has withstood many scientific tests.
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Joints are cracks in rock; faults are cracks in rock that show displacement.
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Isostasy is gravitational equilibrium of Earth’s crust: the crust rises if something is lifted off of it, and sinks if something is stacked on top of it.
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Most of the Earth’s solid mass is made of Si, O, Fe, and Mg.
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Chemical and physical weathering of bedrock gradually turns it into soil
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Circulation of ocean and atmosphere is driven by solar radiation.
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Density of seawater is controlled by temperature and salt content.
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The average depth of Earth’s oceans is about 4,000 meters.
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The amount of water vapor in the air is controlled by air temperature: warmer = wetter.
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The most important source of energy for life on Earth is solar radiation.
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Local climate often controls what kind of rock is deposited: limestone in warm water, tillite in cold water, coal in tropical climates, diamictite in glacial, and evaporites in arid.
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The rate at which water can be pumped out of a groundwater well is controlled by the permeability of the rock or sediment unit that contains the water.
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Seawater’s most common dissolved ions are Na, Cl, Mg, SO4 (sulfate)
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Earth’s seasons are caused by Earth’s tilted axis.
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The size of particles in a sedimentary rock is controlled by the energy in the depositional system.
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Decomposition of organic material in a typical land environment releases CO2.
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Earth’s equator is hotter than the poles because solar radiation strikes the equator more directly.
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Volcanoes are the geologic process most responsible for releasing CO2 into the atmosphere. (This is part of the natural cycle, though. The human-released CO2 is not taken out by Earth’s standard CO2-absorption processes; hence, the problem.)
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A positive feedback loop amplifies perturbations and destabilizes the system.
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The two most important greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere are water vapor and CO2.
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Earth’s atmosphere is dominated by nitrogen and oxygen.
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Wind is driven by variations in air pressure.
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Ozone reduces the amount of solar UV light hitting Earth’s surface.
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Petroleum forms when marine organics are buried, and subjected to heat and pressure.
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Earth is 4.5 billion years old.
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Earth’s oceans formed via volcanic outgassing.
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The earliest (controversial) evidence for life is 3.5 billion years ago.
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The Moon formed when a Mars-sized body hit Earth, early in its history, causing a spray of Earth material into Earth orbit.
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The earliest evidence of photosynthesis are fossilized cyanobacteria, about 3.5 billion years old.
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Cyanobacteria pumped oxygen into Earth’s atmosphere, oxygenating it.
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The Doushantou Fossils are the earliest widely-accepted animal fossils.
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The last known supercontinent was Pangaea.
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Land plants evolved during the Silurian.
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Vertebrates colonized land during the Devonian.
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A meteor impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs.
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The Mesozoic was significantly hotter than today.
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The oldest Homo sapien fossils are dated at 200,000 years
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During photosynthesis, plants take up CO2 and release O2.
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One of the most promising hypotheses for the origin of life on Earth is that organic compounds were synthesized from inorganic compounds in an aqueous environment.
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Index fossils are useful for dating strata, as long as they are widespread and had rapid evolution.
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The three major evolutionary faunas are the Cambrian, the Paleozoic, and the modern.
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The Principle of Superposition states that the layers on the bottom are the oldest.
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Evolution is driven by reproductive isolation.
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Homo sapiens evolved in Africa, and migrated to the rest of the world.
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