Geology Project 3 & 4

Project 3

For project 3, please provide short answers for the following:

· Describe the main processes of mechanical weathering, and the types of materials that are produced when mechanical weathering predominates

· Describe the main processes of chemical weathering, and the products of chemical weathering of minerals such as feldspar, ferromagnesian silicates, and calcite

· Explain the type of weathering processes that are likely to have taken place to produce a sand sized sediment deposit

· Discuss the relationships between weathering and soil formation and the origins of soil horizons

· Explain the geological carbon cycle, and how variations in rates of weathering can lead to climate change

· Describe the differences between cobbles, pebbles, sand, silt, and clay

· Explain the relationship between clast size and the extent to which clasts can be transported by moving water or by wind

· Apply your understanding of the features of sedimentary rocks, including grain characteristics, sedimentary structures, and fossils, to the interpretation of past depositional environments and climates

· Explain the importance of and differences between groups, formations, and members

project 4

For project 4, please provide short answers for the following:

· Summarize the factors that influence the nature of metamorphic rocks

· Describe the mechanisms for the formation of foliation in metamorphic rocks

· Classify metamorphic rocks on the basis of their texture and mineral content,

· Describe the various settings in which metamorphic rocks are formed and explain the links between plate tectonics and metamorphism

· Summarize the important processes of regional metamorphism

· Summarize the important processes of contact metamorphism and metasomatism

· Explain the difference between relative and absolute age-dating techniques

· Summarize the history of the geological time scale and the relationships between eons, eras, periods, and epochs

· Describe the types of unconformities

· Describe some applications and limitations of isotopic techniques for geological dating