Geology Honor - advanced

Nature Study

Requirements

  1. Have the Geology Honor.

    Answer: Yes. Complete Geology (EN-047) before the advanced one. The basic Honor covers 5 common minerals, rock formation (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic), and the rock cycle; the advanced one goes deeper into earthquakes, continental drift, fossils, and geochronology. — EN-047 (Geology) has ~10 requirements on mineral identification, Mohs hardness, and rock types. EN-048 advances to geophysics and tectonics. UNASP-EC and Andrews University have university collections for study. CPRM (Brazil) maintains a geological map and educational charts in the public domain.

  2. Provide the following information:
    • In what way do earthquakes reveal what the interior of the earth is like? Name and explain the characteristics of the different types of waves that cause earthquakes.
    • The effects of a very large amount of water (such as the Flood in Noah's time) in a few months, compared to the effects of a small amount of water over thousands and millions of years.
    • Why is there evidence of glaciers in temperate climate zones, where there are no glaciers today?
    • How do creationists who believe in a universal flood and a relatively young age of the earth, since creation, understand and use the geological time scale?
    • What is the theory of continental drift (plate tectonics) and how can creationists fit such geological activity into the time since creation?

    Answer: From the creationist perspective (SAD), the geological record shows evidence of large-scale events: 1) Earthquakes and the interior of the Earth - the P seismic waves (longitudinal, passing through solid and liquid) and S waves (transverse, passing only through solid) change speed when passing through different layers, revealing crust, mantle, and core (the liquid part). 2) The Flood (Genesis 6-8) - a worldwide flood deposits enormous volumes of sediment rapidly and on a large scale, explaining extensive, well-defined layers, fossils buried suddenly, and formations that stretch across continents. 3) Ancient glaciers - glacial marks (striations, moraines) indicate a period of glaciation after the Flood (the ice age), caused by the warmed oceans and an atmosphere laden with volcanic ash. 4) Creationist view of the layers - instead of slow millions of years, many layers formed rapidly during and right after the Flood (catastrophic plate tectonics), with the geological column representing the order of burial, not long ages. — Andrew Snelling (Geoscience Research Institute) proposes 'catastrophic tectonics' — the plates moved in months during the Flood. Geological layers were deposited by the waters of the Flood (~2300 BC). A post-Flood ice age explains ancient glaciers in zones that are now temperate (Northern Europe).

  3. In what place in the world could you most likely see:
    • Large glaciers
    • Active volcanoes
    • Sand dunes
    • Diamond mineralization
    • Ocean trenches

    Answer: 1) Large glaciers: Antarctica, Greenland, and the Andes mountain range. 2) Active volcanoes: in the Pacific Ring of Fire (Japan, Indonesia, Chile). 3) Sand dunes: the Sahara Desert (Africa) and the Lençóis Maranhenses (Brazil). 4) Diamond mineralization: South Africa and Brazil (the Diamantina/MG region). 5) Ocean trenches: the Mariana Trench (Pacific) and the Puerto Rico Trench (Atlantic). — Antarctica holds 90% of the world's ice. The Ring of Fire concentrates 75% of the world's active volcanoes. The Lençóis Maranhenses (a National Park since 1981) has 270 km² of dunes. The De Beers mine (South Africa) is the largest producer of diamonds. The Mariana Trench reaches 11,034 m deep — the largest depression in the Earth's crust.

  4. Write a paper of at least 500 words about an interesting geological feature that you have observed on a recent trip. If possible, describe the rock (color, grain size, texture, structure). If it is a lithological profile, draw it to scale.

    Answer: Grain size: fine (<1mm), medium (1-5mm), coarse (>5mm). Common textures: phaneritic (visible crystals), aphanitic (microcrystals), porphyritic (a mixture). Structure: massive, foliated, stratified. Sugarloaf and Corcovado are Precambrian gneisses/granites. GPS coordinates make re-identification easier.