Mid-Term Exam

click here to download the exam

DUE: TUESDAY, MARCH 5, 11:59 pm

General Guidance: The exam questions below cover the material we will discuss in class. Be thorough, it may take one or two paragraphs to completely answer the question. It is best to work on the questions as we cover the material; you should feel free to bring the questions up in class for discussion.

• Please turn in your answers via e-mail or Brightspace.
• Please answer the questions using complete sentences, and be sure to use proper spelling and grammar (worth 10%). The answers must be typed.
• If you have any questions, e-mail me at mike_phillips@ivcc.edu.
• note: Answers that are copied from the book or notes or another student (verbatim or superficially rephrased) or generated by AI will not be accepted. While you should use all the resources available and you may work with other students, the work you submit must be your own work in your own words.
• Informal citations are required.
  • If you are using information from the textbook; indicate the page number
  • If you are using information from your class notes; indicate so
  • If you are using other sources, you should indicate the source
  • Format examples: "According to [source], [followed by the information]" OR "[information] [followed by source in parentheses]"

1. In historical geology, we often say, 'The present is the key to the past." Explain why this is important to historical geology. (5 pts.)
2. Explain which types of plants and animals are more likely to become fossils and why. (5 pts.)
3. Explain what the environment of deposition is. (5 pts.)
4. Explain how you could interpret the environment of deposition and paleoecology of a rock layer. (10 pts.)
   • What can you tell about the past by looking at a rock?
   • What would you look for and what would it tell you about the ancient environment.
5. Explain why, of the three rock types, only sedimentary rocks get their own chapter in the textbook. (5 pts.)
6. Correlate the sedimentary rocks in the three columns below. Describe at least two types of evidence you used to support your correlation. (10 pts.)

7. Using the rocks in column A above, describe what happened to sea level and explain how you know. (10 pts.)
8. Describe the sediments (or sedimentary rocks) that would be found from the shore to the edge of the continental shelf in a tropical environment. You should draw a cross section to illustrate this. (10 pts.)
9. Describe the rocks and structures you would find in a failed rift. A rift is a place where two continents are pulling apart. Rifts commonly open a little bit and then stop creating a "failed rift". What types of rocks would be present? What kinds of geologic structures (folds, faults, etc.) would you find? You should draw a cross section to illustrate this. (Hint: Think about what happens when two plates pull apart. A "failed rift" starts to pull apart and then stops. So, what does a young rift look like before an ocean basin forms, and what happens to it after the rifting stops?) (10 pts.)
10. An ophiolite is made of a piece of the ocean floor on a continent.
    • Explain how you can tell it was part of the ocean floor. (Hint: Describe the types of rocks that make up the ocean floor and crust, and how they are structured, you may wish to use a drawing.) (10 pts.)
    • Explain how the ophiolite ended up on top of a continent. (5 pts.)
11. Describe the geologic history of the area shown here: click here to view the whole map or use the map on p. 232-234 of the lab manual. You should start with the Precambrian and address each period up to the present. You should include the environment of deposition as well as any other geologic events such as igneous intrusions, volcanic eruptions, folding, and faulting. If the rocks indicate a tectonic event (like rifting or subduction) has occurred, you should indicate that as well. (10 pts.)
    • A high-resolution image of the stratigraphic column may be found here.
    • The whole map may be found here.
12. Accreted terranes are often found along continental margins, explain how a geologist would be able to identify an accreted terrane. How would you know it didn't belong to the rest of the continent? (5 pts.)

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