2018 SPRING– GEOL201 – Exam II review guide Page | 1

GEOL 201 - Exam I review guide

DATE: 5-7 April 2018 (Thursday-Saturday)

TIME: Opens at 8:00 AM Thursday. Closes at 5:00 PM Saturday

Just as a reminder: The exam will be taken online, through the link provided in Blackboard, at one
of Ball State’s secure computer testing labs. Due to some recent changes to the availability, I am
posting the available lab facilities and their hours below. (Updated as of 28 March.)

2018 Spring Testing Labs (The labs below are dedicated testing labs – check the link below for others).

Robert Bell (RB) 134 Lab Hours

Fall & Spring Lab Hours
Monday - Thursday 8 am - midnight
Friday 8 am - 5 pm
Saturday 11 am - 5 pm
Sunday Noon - midnight

Student Center (SC) 119

Fall & Spring Lab Hours
Monday - Thursday 9 am - 8 pm
Friday 9am - 4pm

You may check on lab availability by following the link below.

http://cms.bsu.edu/about/administrativeoffices/labs/computerbasedtesting

The following link is to testing lab policies.

http://cms.bsu.edu/about/administrativeoffices/labs/computerbasedtesting/cbtlabpolicies

As a reminder, no notes, text books, or anything other than your knowledge is allowed.
2018 SPRING– GEOL201 – Exam II review guide Page | 2

Study hints:

The exam will be mixture of multiple choice, diagram based questions, short answer and short (a few
sentences) written questions. The questions will be drawn from Chapters 4, 5,7-9 (The Hadean,
Archeamn, and Proterozoic Eons; Origin, Evolution and Extinction of life; Sedimentary rocks) in
your text book, the lectures covering these chapters (posted on Blackboard), and the laboratory
materials covering Sedimentary rocks and Microfossils.

As far as study strategies, I always recommend finding a group to work with. Oftentimes it creates a
more pleasant study environment, and typically everyone has slightly different areas of strengths and
weaknesses. Both the lecture book and lab book are good sources of questions related to important
terminology as well as diagrams / visual aids. Important terminology is often bolded or otherwise
highlighted in the text book and in the lectures. Another way to identify important points that end up
on exams is to see what points are mentioned in the lectures and in class more than once, or
diagrams that are used several times.

As a reminder, the Ball State University Learning Center has tutors available to help with general
study skills such as note taking, time management, reading comprehension and more! Check out
their offices in North Quad, Rm. 350 or the website at www.bsu.edu/learningcenter

The following pages cover some possible questions or concepts that you may encounter on the
exam. These may include short answer / short written responses, multiple choice, or diagrams.
Note that is a guide – the format of the questions may be different than presented here. Be
prepared for multiple choice, short sentence answers, or diagram based questions.
2018 SPRING– GEOL201 – Exam II review guide Page | 3

Sedimentary rocks in detail

What is the most stable mineral during weathering? Why might it be so stable?

What sort of products might feldspar weather into?

Describe the physical properties used to classify terrigenous/detrital/clastic sedimentary rocks.

How do they relate to the processes affecting sedimentation?

How do observations of angularity, sphericity, and sorting help us decipher the length of transport a
sediment experienced before lithifying into a sedimentary rock?

What are the differences between Quartz arenite, Arkose, and Graywacke sandstones?

What characterizes biogenic/biochemical sedimentary rocks?

What is the difference between Fossilififerous limestone, Micrite, and Chalk?

What is chert? What material is it made of?

What is coal composed of, and what kind of environment does is preserve a record of?

In general, how do chemical sedimentary rocks form?

What are evaporites, and what sort of environment do they form in? What minerals are commonly
found in evaporite deposits?

How can sedimentary rocks help us identify the environment that the rock formed in? Can you
name a few examples of a specific rock type that helps define a paleoenvironment?

What are fossils? What can we learn about a sedimentary environment from fossils?

Microfossils

What is a microfossil? What sort of biological material can become microfossils?

What are the three domains of life, and what sort of cell makes up each?

Know the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

Be familiar with the shell material (where applicable) and geologic range of the following microfossil
groups: Foraminifera, Radiolaria, Diatoms, Cocolithophores, Conodonts
2018 SPRING– GEOL201 – Exam II review guide Page | 4

The Hadean and Achaean Eons

How much of Earth Time is represented by the Precambrian?

What defines the Hadean Eon?

How old is the oldest rock on Earth? What about on the Moon? Why is there a difference between
the two?

How do astronomers think the Moon formed?

What were the sources of heat that kept early Earth molten? Which of these heat sources was most
important for later differentiation of Earth’s crust?

The Earth’s earliest crust likely formed by cooling a magma ocean. What minerals were common in
this early crust, and what rock type likely represented this early crust?

What events define the time boundaries for the Archean Eon?

What is a Craton? How stable are they in modern Earth?

Did large continents dominate the Archean Earth?

Describe the two main rock type groups observed in the Archean. Could they have formed by plate
tectonics?

What is the geological evidence for high heat flux from Earth during the Hadean and Archean?

The Proterozoic Eon

What defines the boundaries of the Proterozoic Eon?

The Proterozoic is divided into periods, but only two of them are formally defined. Which are they,
and what events characterizes them?

What were the broad differences between Archean and Proterozoic plate tectonics?

Why is water so important to plate tectonics on Earth? What rock type forms as a result of water-
related processes in plate tectonics?

Which supercontinent was formed during the late Proterozoic Eon?

What sedimentary rock is indicative of the weathering of granite rich continental rust?
2018 SPRING– GEOL201 – Exam II review guide Page | 5

What is Banded iron Formation (BIF) and what does it indicate about Earth’s atmosphere?

Why are redbeds and paleosols important to understanding Earth’s oxygenation?

What was “Snowball Earth?” What is the main hypothesis about its cause?

What is the alternative hypothesis for “Snowball Earth?”

How can Earth leave a Snowball Earth glaciation?

Why is a Snowball Earth event highly unlikely in the modern Earth System?

Life Origin, Evolution, and Extinction

What does the term taxon mean? What about clade?

How is evolution defined?

How did Buffon define the Species Concept?

What are the ranks in Linnaean Hierarchy? What are the two lowest ranks?

What concept, developed by Hutton and Lyell, helped Charles Darwin when he developed his ideas
of evolution?

How does Darwin’s idea of Natural Selection work?

Darwin relied on several lines of evidence to support his model for evolution. Be familiar with the
following concepts: Homologous Structures, Analogous Structures, Vestigial Structures,
Biogeography, and organism variations

What biological chemical serves as the carrier of hereditary traits in modern organisms?

What is a mutation? Why is this concept important to natural selection?

What is meant by the term speciation?

What does the science of Cladistics study?

What does Extinction refer to?

What is a mass extinction? How many mass extinction events are noted in the Phanerozoic fossil
record? Be able to name them.