Earth Science Today
Russ Colson
Minnesota State University
Moorhead
Historical Geology:
Topic 1: Geological time and life of the past,
reading stories in rocks and fossils.
After reading the notes for this topic, you should be able to answer
the following questions:
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What stories do each of the different types of rocks (igneous, metamorphic,
and sedimentary) tell and how can you read those stories?
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What can we learn from fossils?
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What does "The Present is the Key to the Past" mean?
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How can we study environment and environmental change in the ancient
past?
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How can we tell if an ancient environment was stable or unstable?
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How can we tell if a place used to be ocean or land?
Topic 2: Stratigraphy, plate tectonics, and
geological change
After reading the notes for this topic, you should be able to answer
the following questions:
-
Why are rocks in layers?
-
How can you tell if an ancient ocean was advancing over the land, or
retreating?
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How can you read sequences of events in layers of rock?
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How does plate tectonics unify our understanding of geological processes
and change on Earth?
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How do mountains form?
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What are the geological periods of time?
-
How do we determine the age of a rock? What does "age" mean for
a rock?
Example Test Questions (est2c.html)
Discussion Topic and suggestions (est2d.html)
Home Page (est.htm)
Previous Page (est.htm)