Textbook:
Read chapter’s 1, 3, and 4 to answer the guided questions! Make sure to use the textbook as a source.
Physical Geology 101: Homework # 1 and Study Guide
for Test # 1, Chapters 1, 3, 4
Make sure to be able to write out detailed short answers for the following questions:
Chapter 1
1. Briefly describe the steps in the formation of the Universe and the origin of the
Solar System (using the nebular hypothesis).
2. Differentiate between a hypothesis and a theory. Know the Scientific Method
steps.
3. Define a mineral; what is the difference between a mineral and glass, and a rock?
Chapter 3
4. Know the types of chemical bonds.
5. Define a mineral; what is the difference between a mineral and a glass?
6. Diamond is a polymorph of graphite. What is a polymorph, and explain how a
piece of graphite could be turned into a diamond by geologic processes.
Chapter 4
7. What are the main causes of melting inside the Earth? Know how to explain each
in detail.
8. Describe the process of decompression melting.
9. List the four major magma compositions in order of decreasing silica content.
10. What is partial melting compared to the complete melting of a rock? Why is it that
rocks do not usually experience complete melting inside the Earth? When rocks
partially melt underground, briefly describe what happens to the rocks as it
partially melts and what happens to the magma that is formed.
11. Does the lava that erupts from volcanoes here on Earth ever come from the outer
core? Explain your answer.
12. If temperature inside the Earth is steady and is not the main reason for the
creation of magma, what does change inside the Earth to cause rocks to partially
melt?
13. Briefly describe the following types of igneous intrusive/plutonic structures:
pluton, batholith, sill (flat-lying sheet), and dike. Know how to recognize in a
figure.