1. The table below lists topics by exam.
The "Last Topics" column lists material presented after Exam
3.
Note that the final exam is
cumulative.
2.
After attending
lecture, attempt to answer as many of the questions as
possible.
Use
the textbook as an
additional
resource.
3.
Note
that the goal is to understand the concepts behind the study
questions
- writing down the answers may
just
be the first step to this understanding.
4.
If a
question is particularly difficult for you, think about how
other
elements in the lecture might relate to that
concept.
For example, when considering how one facies model might
differ
from another, recall the transport
processes that operate in each
environment,
the types of sedimentary structures you might expect to find
in them
and how the composition of rocks
in those environments will differ.
5.
If
you have questions with a concept, ask the instructor, or TA
during
office hours.
About the Final
Exam:
1. The final exam is cumulative.
2. About
70%
of
the material on the final will be taken from lectures given
after Exam
3 ("Seismic Stratigraphy" through
"Future of Sedimentology").
Please
use the most recent set of review questions
below
as an aid in preparing
for this part
of the exam.
3. About
30%
of
the material on the final focuses on the "big picture concepts"
listed
on the Final Exam Study Sheet.
These concepts were all introduced during
earlier parts of the course ("Introduction" through "Radiometric Dating") and
were covered by the
midterms.
You've learned a lot about the Stratigraphy!
Good luck with your studying!
What are the principle fields of Sedimentary Geology? How do
these
subfields differ?
What questions are of
interest to
softrock geologists?
What do these fields
teach us
about the world around us?
What scales of processes
are
important in Sedimentary Geology?
What are some examples
of processes important in Sedimentary Geology?
back to topics
Weathering rates and processes
What are the principle mechanisms of weathering?
How might these
processes have
changed through time?
How does weathering
influence
crustal composition?
What factors influence
rates of
weathering?
What role does
weathering play in
the rock cycle?
What are some of the
products of
weathering processes?
Fluid flow and sediment transport
What is the difference
between laminar and turbulent flow? Between tranquil and
rapid
flow?
Explain the meaning of
the various terms in the Reynolds, Froude, and Rouse number
Why do sedimentologists
care
about these numbers?
What type of particle
motion is
described by the impact law? By Stokes law? How are they
related?
Describe the ways that
particles can be transported by (1) fluids, (2) dry mass
wasting, (3)
wet mass wasting.
What is normal grading? In
which
type(s) of flow processes is it seen?
What is reverse grading?
In which
type(s) of flow processes is it seen?
back to topics
Describe three different
scales with which sediment grainsize can be compared?
What are the pros and cons
of the
various ways of presenting grain size data?
Discuss the three measures
of
central tendency discussed in class?
What is skewness?
What can the relationship
between
the various measures of central tendency tell us about skewness?
Describe how to calculate
grainsize statistics using the graphical method and the method
of
moments.
Particle shape and sediment fabric
Discuss the relationships
between form (shape) roundness (angularity), and surface
texture?
What can we learn about sedimentary rocks from these
concepts?
What determines the degree
of
sorting in a sedimentary rock?
What factors control
sediment
fabric?
What can we learn from
sediment fabric?
What is imbrication?
What processes can
form sedimentary structures? What can we learn from them?
What are the principle
classes of sedimentary structures? How does each form?
How can sedimentologist
infer
paleocurrent direction?
What controls the size
of bedforms in sedimentary environments?
Do bedforms form any clear
progressions? If so, what?
What factors influence
ripple morphology?
Sedimentary rocks consist of what three general classes
of
material?
Discuss the components
of Gilbert's classification scheme as presented in Figure 5.5
from
Boggs?
How does it differ from that
of Folk
or Robinson as presented in Figure 5.4 from Boggs?
What terms are used to
describe sedimentary rocks on the basis of their formation
process,
or the location in which
they
formed?
What are the three
stages of
diagenesis discussed in class? What processes are
associated with
each of them?
Walther's law and the facies concept
What
are the basic stratigraphic principles or laws?
What are facies and what is Walther's law?
Why might some
sedimentologists
consider Walther's law the most important stratigraphic
principle?
What processes control
the vertical succession of facies?
Fluvial and Lacustrine environments
Which
terrestrial environments can generally be observed in the
sedimentary record?
Describe the sedimentary structures present in these
environments?
How does the position of
these
environments relate to their distance above base level?
Describe or sketch
facies models
associated with these environments?
Eolian and Deltaic environments
Describe the
types
of sedimentologic features you would expect to see in an eolian
deposit?
What are some of the
subenvironments found in a delta?
Discuss the
classification of
deltas by Galloway. What processes define the geomorphology of
deltas?
What is progradation?
How does it
influence the age relationships between facies within a delta?
Describe the properties
of an
idealized deltaic facies model.
Clastic Tidal and Beach Environments
What
are the types of tidal forcing patterns? Why do they
differ?
What sedimentary
structures and
fabrics are common in tidal environments?
Describe the components of
a simple tidal facies model?
How are beach environments
classified? How does this relate to the deltaic classification
scheme
we studied?
What subenvironments are
found in
barrier island and beach environments?
Why are these environments
economically important?
What types of barrier
island
facies models would be generated in response to transgression,
regression?
What is the relationship
between
bedding planes and time lines in the inlet facies model?
Marginal Marine Environments
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?
How do linear sand ridges
differ
from tidal ribbons, tidal sand ridges, and tidal sand waves?
How do these features
form?
Describe facies models for
the the shelf, slope, and rise?
Why are deposits from
these
regions economically important?
What are the most abundant
sedimentary environments on the planet?
How are modern sediments
extracted from the deep sea?
What are turbidites? Why do
they
matter? How can they be identified?
What types of structures and
features can be found in the deep sea?
What are the principle
sediment
types found in the deep sea?
What controls the
distribution of
sediments in the deep sea?
back to topics
Describe the controls on shallow water carbonate precipitation.
What role does biology have
in
carbonate deposition - describe the classes of mediated
precipitation discussed in
class?
Discuss the various
carbonate
classification schemes describe in class. What are their relative
strengths and weaknesses?
What types of allochems and
orthochems combine to produce carbonate rocks?
How can orthochems tells us
about
the history of a carbonate rock?
In what ways can lime mud
form?
What factors influence the
stability of carbonate minerals?
In what ways can carbonate
rocks be influenced by diagenesis and alteration?
Shallow Water Carbonate
environments
What are the principle types
of
tidal carbonate environments?
How does the biogenic
carbonate
produced in various subenvironments differ?
What types of barriers can
protect tidal carbonate flats?
Discuss the differences
between
subtidal and tidal carbonate facies.
What is a shallowing upward
sequence?
How do carbonate
environments
respond to eustacy?
Contrast ancient carbonate
sequences with modern analogs?
Describe the growth patterns
of
carbonate platforms and reef complexes.
How does carbonate rock
classification
relate to paleoenvironmental interpretation?
What hypotheses have
been
proposed for lime mud production in shallow water carbonate
systems?
What hypotheses have
been
proposed for cyclicity in shallow water carbonate systems?
Describe facies models for
carbonate systems responding to different types of forcing.
Evaporitic Environments
What evaporitic minerals are common in marine and non-marine
evaporitic
environments.
What two evaporitic minerals
differ
only by their water of hydration?
How does this influence evaporitic
strata?
What is "chicken wire" fabric? How
does
it form?
How might thinly laminated
evaporites
form?
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)?
What types of sedimentary
structures
are associated with evaporitic environments?
Discuss the models for evaporite
production that have been proposed? Are they all equally
plausible?
Stratigraphic Principles and
Units
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?
What are the factors that
influence the symmetry of sea level cycles?
What is the nature of the
stratigraphic record according to Derek Ager?
Define the terms that
stratigraphers use to discuss strata and their temporal
relationships.
How do time units, time-rock
units, and rock units relate?
Discuss the differences
between
the various types of unconformities.
Sketch out the development of a lacuna in a passive marine
setting
in response to a major eustatic cycle.
Lithostratigraphy: The Nature of the
Stratigraphic Record
Discuss the nature of the
stratigraphic record with respect to completeness and time.
What is “catastrophic
uniformitarianism”?
What are some biases that
may influence Derek Ager's views on the stratigraphic record?
What are some of the methods
that
can be used to correlate sections?
What are some factors that
can
bias or make correlation of sections difficult?
How does lithostratigraphy
relate
to chronostratigraphy?
Describe some environments in which diacronous facies may be
laid down?
Describe the development of
the
sequence stratigraphic concept.
What processes drive the
development of sequence boundaries and the deposition 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?
What factors make a fossil
biostratigraphically useful?
What factors can limit the
usefulness of fossils as time markers?
Do fossils provide
estimates of
absolute or relative time?
Describe the various types
of
zonation schemes in use. How do they differ?
What are their strengths and
weaknesses?
Discuss some of the
potential
problems with classical biostratigraphy.
Do FAD's and LAD's represent
minimum or maximum estimates of the true depth of occurrence?
What alternatives for
estimation
of age using biostratigraphic data have been proposed?
Describe how Shaw's method
is
used?
What can be learned using
Shaw's
method?
Why does Shaw's method work?
How can various aspects of the electromagnetic spectrum be used to generate stratigraphic data?
Magneto- and Chemostratigraphy
What does the Earth's magnetic field have to do with stratigraphy?What is an element, atom, isotope?
Plate Tectonics and Sedimentation
Sea Level Change and Sedimentation
Sequence Stratigraphy - Theory
Sequence Stratigraphy -
Application
We discussed three applications of sequence stratigraphy in
detail in
class. These were the "Jurassic Tank" experiments of
Paola et al, Holland's
revision
of the Ordovician Cincinnati Arch Stratigraphy, and the
Tornqvist paper
on the nature of
sequence boundaries. Here
are
some study questions related to those papers.
Sedimentary Resources
What are the
principle
classes of organic rich sediments or sedimentary derived resources
that
we discussed in class?
In which environments would
you
expect to find these resources forming?
What are the connections
between
ocean circulation, bottom water oxygen content and sediment
organic
carbon
content?
Applied Sedimentology (Future of Sedimentary Resources)
Discuss some of the ways in which sedimentary resources are used by our society?