Back to EAS 193 Home | Ammon's Home | Department of Geosciences
Prepared by: Charles J. Ammon
|
Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences |
Potential Essay Questions 01 |
All answers must be in your own words - don't just memorize course notes! I reserve an option to modify the wording of these questions on the exam (i.e. improve grammar, clarity, etc.). I encourage you to use cartoons and diagrams to help you illustrate the ideas &endash; but you should practice drawing them before you have to perform in an exam situation. I recommend that you prepare detailed answers in your notes, the final is open book and some of these questions may appear again. You must come to class or to see me for an example of an "A" quality essay response.
These are from the class notes and discussions
What are some things you should do before an earthquake? What should you do during an earthquake if you are in a vehicle, in a building, or outside?
Describe and discuss the scientific problem-solving method. Give a thorough example of using the same ideas to solve a common nonscientific problem (for example, supposed your "walkman" stopped working, how would you determine what was wrong?).
Given a sequence of items such as playing cards or other objects, compose a set of hypotheses to explain the "pattern" in the sequence. For each hypothesis, clearly identify the predictions for the next item and which additional items would support or nullify the hypothesis.
List the basic groupings of fallible or "bad" arguments and provide at least one specific example from each category. Then list the traits of sound critical evaluation.
Describe the principle of universality and it's role in science; outline the development of the principle using examples from the history of science.
Describe the intensity of shaking produced by earthquakes, how we measure it, and the factors that can influence the shaking intensity level. Be prepared to intelligently discuss the selection of a site for a "critical structure" (power plant, hospital, highway, etc.) given a map delineating the near-surface rock and soil distribution and earthquake or fault locations.
What should you do during an earthquake if you are in a vehicle, in a building, or outside? What are some things you should do before an earthquake?
Describe the Elastic Rebound Model of earthquake occurrence. Be sure to mention stress, strain, periodicity, the relative time between earthquakes compared with earthquake duration, the problems associated with the simple model, and how it compares with observed earth-quake cycles.
Describe the construction of magnetic time scales and how they are used to estimate the age of the ocean. Be sure to mention the nature of Earth's magnetic field and the affects magnetic fields have on rocks.
Briefly describe the plate tectonic hypothesis and illustrate the basic structure of a plate. Then discuss the nature of earthquake activity and the style of faulting you expect to find at the three types of plate boundaries.
Describe seismic recording systems (use analogies and examples of thetypes of instruments and the differences between them).
Describe the propagation of seismic waves in Earth - be sure to mention reflection, refraction, dispersion, and the influence of Earth's velocity structure and the outer core on wave propagation.
Describe Earth's structure (in detail) - include the velocity variations and what they represent. Synthesize the results from different sections of the notes.
Discuss the different measures of earthquake size (maximum intensity, magnitude scales, fault rupture area, etc.).
Discuss the different effects that earthquakes have on Earth's surface, human-made structures, tec. and describe how these effects result in hazard to human life.
In your own words, describe the events in geologic history that contributed to the present earthquake activity near New Madrid, Missouri. What is particularly disconcerting about intraple earthquakes?
These are based on our discussions of the book Naked Earth
Discuss the methods humans have used to investigate Earth structure (those described in the introduction and first three chapters of Naked Earth).
Discuss the relationship between science and technology and United States science and the military and cold war.
Describe some perceptions of science which are often portrayed in our culture? I encourage you to look for examples from Films, Television, Literature, etc.
Discuss the nature of mantle convection - be sure to mention the dual behavior of mantle rocks, solid on short time scales and fluid on long time scales. What drive convection? What roles do plumes play in convection? What are the effects of plumes on the lithosphere and Earth's surface?
Describe scientists' efforts to estimate the temperature in the outer core. Is the answer clear? Why is the answer important for understanding the way Earth "works".
Throughout her book, Shawna Vogel describes a number of scientific difference of opinions, debates, arguments, etc.. Using her examples, contrast the real nature of collaborative research at the frontier of scientific knowledge with the sterile view many people hold regarding science as a rigid logical method to solve problems?
Discuss the impact of volcanoes on climate, use examples to illustrate your points. Speculate on the impact of an enormous and sulphur-rich eruption might have on modern society.
Describe supercontinent "cycles" and discuss the evidence in support of the existence of the process of super-continent construction and possible explanations for the forces that may produce the cycles. Describe the impact of the supercontinent cycles on the observed geologic structures and the evolution of life.
Concisely summarize the connections of the deep Earth processes on near-suface geology, the evolution of life on Earth, and the impact on human societies (i.e. summarize the main theme of the book in a one-page summary).