"Big Picture" Concepts From
Midterms 1-3 (Questions based on many of these concepts will
appear on
the final)
What is the difference
between
laminar and turbulent flow? Between tranquil and rapid flow?
Why do sedimentologists care
about these numbers?
Do bedforms form any clear
progressions? If so, what?
What factors influence
ripple
morphology?
Why might some
sedimentologists
consider Walther's law the most important stratigraphic
principle?
Which terrestrial
environments
can
generally be observed in the sedimentary record?
Describe or sketch facies models
associated with one or more of these environment?
What is progradation? How
does it
influence the age relationships between facies within a delta?
What processes can transport
sediment
from continental shelf environments to the abyssal plains?
How does the relative
importance
of storms versus tides influence the types of bedforms and
sedimentary
structures found in
sediments of
the marginal marine environments?
What are the most abundant
sedimentary environments on the planet?
What controls the
distribution of
sediments in the deep sea?
Describe the controls on
shallow
water
carbonate precipitation.
How can orthochems tells us
about
the history of a carbonate rock?
Contrast ancient carbonate
sequences with modern analogs?
Describe the growth patterns
of
carbonate
platforms and reef complexes.
Describe the modern
environments
in
which evaporites form?
Do evaporites form in the
same
way
in all of these environments (See the textbook for details here)?
Describe the nature of
contacts
in
the stratigraphic record? What can we learn from them?
What types of grain size
trends
are
associated with transgression and regression?
Discusss the differences
between
the
various types of unconformities.
What processes drive the
development of sequence boundaries and the depostion of strata in
sequences?
What are the advantages and
weaknesses of the sequence stratigraphic approach?
Discuss how nested cyclicity
relates to the sequence stratigraphic approach?
How can climate events leave
a
biostratigraphic
imprint?
What are the dangers of
placing
stratigraphic
boundaries at "natural breaks" in the biostratigraphic record?
How does a biologist's
definition
of a species differ from a paleontologist's taxon?
Discuss some of the
potential
problems
with classical biostratigraphy.
Why does Shaw's method work?
How can various aspects of
the
electromagnetic spectrum be used to generate stratigraphic data?
Logging data is most
powerful
when used
in what way?
Which isotopic systems are
best
matched to different dating problems?
How can paleomagnetics,
oxygen
isotopes, and radiometric dating be used in concert?
Back
to
the
Online Sedimentology and Stratigraphy Study Questions
Back to the Sedimentology and Stratigraphy Homepage