GEOL 1312 -- Principles of Earth Science II Study Guide Midterm Exam 1 The midterm exam will be comprehensive and multiple-choice. This review sheet is a guideline only – there may be a few questions on the exam not specifically addressed here but covered in class, the assigned reading, or the homework. Things to help you study: Class notes Homework assignments Assigned reading Animations posted on the web This Study Guide Atoms, Elements, and Minerals  General definitions  Components of an atom: neutrons, protons, electrons  Ions, compounds  Major elements in the crust  Physical properties of minerals: hardness, cleavage, streak, etc…  Crystals: definition, shapes  Mineral classes: silicates, carbonates. The Rock Cycle  General definition  Processes that relate different rock types Igneous Rocks  General definitions, vocabulary  Sources of igneous rocks  Intrusive vs. extrusive igneous rocks, properties Metamorphic Rocks  General definitions, vocabulary  Ways that rocks transform into a metamorphic state  Types of metamorphism: contact, burial, regional dynamothermal, hydrothermal Sedimentary Rocks:  General definitions, vocabulary Types and compositions: clastic, organic, chemical, bioclastic rocks  Clastic sedimentary rock formation process: weathering, transport, sedimentation, lithification  Shape and sort: what they tell us about sedimentary rocks  Lithification processes  Types of clastic rocks (conglomerate, sandstone, shale), how we classify them (size). Sedimentary Structures:  General definitions, vocabulary  Types: ripple marks, bedding, cross-bedding, mud cracks Fossils  General definitions, vocabulary  Types of fossils  What we use fossils for Weathering & Erosion  General definitions, vocabulary  Mechanical weathering: frost wedging, pressure-release fracturing, thermal expansion & fracturing, abrasion, organic activity  Chemical weathering: dissolution, oxidation, hydrolysis  Primary “agents” of erosion: wind, water, gravity, ice Determining Geologic Ages:  Relative ages: Principles of Original Horizontality, Superposition, Cross-cutting Relationships, Faunal Succession  Types of unconformities  Correlation  Absolute ages: radioactive dating methods, what a half-life is, how to calculate the age of a sample given its half-life and the amount of decay Mass Extinctions & Geologic Time  What they are  What causes them  When the major ones were.  Geologic time: be familiar with major divisions and the important things that occurred during them: Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic,