G6 Final Exam Study Guide F24-1 PDF

Basin & Range Province: What type of rock is “tufa” and how is it formed? What is the name of the large super volcano in California that is near Mammoth Lakes, California? When it last erupted, how high was the eruptive column of ash and how far east from California was the ash...

Basin & Range Province: What type of rock is “tufa” and how is it formed? What is the name of the large super volcano in California that is near Mammoth Lakes, California? When it last erupted, how high was the eruptive column of ash and how far east from California was the ash deposited? What evidence is there that this super volcano still has magma in it? The forest near Horseshoe Lake, experienced a major die-off (areas where the trees all died). What caused the die-off? Why can’t people soak in the hot springs at Hot Creek anymore? What is the name of the Ice-Age lake that once occupied Death Valley? What is the evidence that there was once a lake in Death Valley? Ancient lakes are lakes that existed during the last ice age, but do not exist today. How do we know where these ancient lakes once existed? Why are there more lakes during an ice age? Mono Lake, a lake that exists today, is a remnant of a much larger ancient lake named Lake ___________. California Deserts What is a desert? Name the 3 California Deserts and know their approximate locations. What is the orthographic effect and how does it produce desert environments? What is a rain shadow? How do rain shadows form? Why is the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada drier and less forested than the western side of the mountain range? What are alluvial fans and how do they form? What is a bajada and how does it form? What is desert pavement and how does it form? What is an inselberg and how do inselbergs form? People sometimes compare inselbergs to icebergs. Why? (What do inselbergs and icebergs have in common?) What causes flash flooding? Where was borax first discovered? What are some of the uses for Borax? Where is the lowest elevation in the United States? Which national park contains inselbergs and Joshua trees? What is cryptobiotic soil? Describe why cyrptobiotic soil is an important desert feature. Earthquakes: Most earthquakes result from movement along faults. What is a fault? Know the difference between and define the different types of faults: normal, reverse, thrust, strike slip. Be able to determine whether a strike-slip fault is classified as right lateral or left lateral. Be able to determine the hanging wall, head wall, and footwall of a fault. Be able to use ability to identify the hanging wall of a fault to determine if the fault is a normal or reverse fault. Dip slip faults (those with vertical movement) are classified by the movement of the hanging wall. For  a normal fault, which direction has the hanging wall moved up or down? For a reverse fault, which direction has the hanging wall moved up or down? How about for a thrust fault? What does the Richter Scale measure? What does the Mercalli scale measure? How is local magnitude/Richter scale magnitude different from Moment magnitude? Is one more accurate? Explain. What are seismic waves? What are P, S, Raleigh, and Love or Long waves? Which of these are body waves? Which are surface waves? Extra Credit: Describe the type of movement each type of seismic wave has. What is the difference between a body and a surface wave? Which are more destructive? How could an earthquake with a low magnitude cause more damage than an earthquake with a high magnitude? What type of fault is the San Andreas Fault? Is the San Andreas a right lateral or left lateral fault? Why is the San Andreas referred to as a system or fault zone? What is stick-slip behavior on faults? What are pressure ridges? What is fault creep? Is fault creep a good or bad thing or both? Explain your answer. The Transverse Ranges, L.A. Basin and Offshore Islands How are the Transverse Ranges related to the Big Bend in the San Andreas Fault? Know the names of the major Transverse Ranges What are anticlines and synclines? How do they form? Draw a picture of each. Where are many of the thrust faults in Southern California located? Base of the Transverse Ranges— result of the compression that formed the mountains. What is a basin? Why do the Santa Monica Mountains have volcanics in them? Where did the volcanics come from? What is basement rock? How old is the basement rock in the San Gabriel and San Bernadino Mountains? What kinds of rocks make up the San Gabriel Mountains? Channel Islands: o Of the offshore islands, which ones are the Channel Islands? (Hint: They are the islands that are included in Channel Islands Nationanl Park.) o Why are the Channel Islands are considered to be an extension of the Transverse Ranges? o What are pygmy mammoths? ▪ Where did the pygmy mammoths live and how did they get there? ▪ How did the pygmy mammoths develop to be smaller than other mammoths? ▪ What other kinds of fossils have been found on the Channel Islands? o Which of the offshore islands is used by the US military? o Which of the islands is a tourist and recreation destination? o Which island is made of Catalina schist? The Peninsular Ranges The Peninsular Ranges are _______________ trending (oriented) ranges that are located south of the ________________ Ranges and extend down to the tip of _________ California. During the Paleozoic time period, what was the area that now occupies the Peninsular Ranges like?  How did things change during the Mesozoic? During what time period did the Peninsular Ranges form? What are the Peninsular Ranges composed of? How are the Peninsular Ranges like the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range? When did most of the magma that became the Peninsular Ranges Batholith (PRB) form? How many years ago and in what geologic era (Paleozoic, Mesozoic, or Cenozoic)? What caused the PRB to form? (How did it form?) Describe the process of subduction that created the batholith. How did the magma that formed the PRB form? (How does magma form as a result of subduction?) What other western North American batholiths are related to the PRB? See map in the powerpoint slides. What are the 3 regions of the PRB? o How is the western region of the PRB different from the eastern region? What are Pre-batholith rocks? o Were these rocks formed before or after the PRB? What kind of rocks make up the pre batholithic rocks of the Peninsular Ranges? o The pre-batholithic rocks are metamorphic rocks. What specific types of metamorphic rocks? What is a pegmatite? How do pegmatites form? o What common minerals are found in pegmatites? o In what type of rocks do pegmatites form? o What Southern California city is known for gemstones mined from pegmatites? o What type of gemstone is mined from some Peninsular Ranges pegmatites? Pegmatites in the Peninsular Ranges are famous for producing the “watermelon” variety of a gemstone. What is the name of the gemstone?