Knowledge Survey Questions - Physical Geology

Bloom's Taxonomy Level - 1

  • What variables are important to soil formation?
  • What factors determine the location of deserts?

Bloom's Taxonomy Level - 2

  • Explain the effect of water on the eruption style of a volcano?
  • Explain the formation of an angular unconformity.

Bloom's Taxonomy Level - 3

  • Given a geologic cross-section of a region, determine the sequence of events and history of the region.
  • If you were buying a house, what would you look for to evaluate the risk of damage by mass wasting?

Bloom's Taxonomy Level - 4

  • The outer part of the earth consists of asthenosphere, lithosphere, crust, and mantle. Compare the compositions and properties of these different regions.
  • What are the likely effects that construction of a new dam will have on a river? Specifically, how will it affect the sediment budget?
  • Compare the character of erosional, depositional, drowned, and uplifted coastlines.
  • What is the relationship between tectonic setting and earthquake magnitude, depth, and motion?
  • Explain how two adjacent regions can experience different sea level changes (in one region sea level rises and it falls in the other) at the same time.
  • What if the plate tectonics were suddenly to stop. How might the earth look in one year? A thousand years? A million years? One hundred million years?

Bloom's Taxonomy Level - 5

  • What would the earth be like without an "internal heat engine?"
  • Formulate a plan for assessing the potential hazards of a volcano to a nearby population.
  • Synthesize the evidence from volcanism, seismicity, and topography into a tectonic model for a region.

Bloom's Taxonomy Level - 6

  • Evaluate the types of criteria that might be used to locate the site for a new landfill. Are all criteria the same? Explain?