Final Exam 2007
Some Questions and Answers

Final Exam 2005
Some Questions and Answers

Some questions and responses regarding the Final Exam. Some extraneous dialogue was removed, student handles and names were changed, spelling (or lack of) left intact.

lkjhgfdsa: mr. mitchell!!!
lkjhgfdsa returned at 9:19:45 PM.
eescilsm: hi there
lkjhgfdsa: finally
lkjhgfdsa: ok
lkjhgfdsa: question
eescilsm: finally?
lkjhgfdsa: is there a diagram of storm surges online
eescilsm: lots of them
lkjhgfdsa: becuz i cant find it in my notes, and i dont think the one in the book is the right one
eescilsm: did you google it?
lkjhgfdsa: yeah
lkjhgfdsa: but i dont think its what i need
eescilsm: what did you find?
lkjhgfdsa: ummmm......
lkjhgfdsa: http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=s torm+surge+diagram
eescilsm: try http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&q=storm+s urge+&btnG=Search
lkjhgfdsa: is something like this what you mean? http://dmc.engr.wisc.edu/courses/hazards/BB02_ gif/BB020503.gif
eescilsm: yes, or even better, because it refers to the hurricane that blasted CT: http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/mandias/38hurricane/storm _surge_maps.html
lkjhgfdsa: cool, thanks
lkjhgfdsa: another question....
lkjhgfdsa: how do sand dunes move?
eescilsm: wind bounces sands up the windward side and it slides down the leeward side
lkjhgfdsa: okay, thats what i had but i wasnt sure
lkjhgfdsa: okay we were debating this in study hall today, and i said the swamp is where trees are allowed to grow...that's right isn't it?
eescilsm: do you have your wetland noteguide?
lkjhgfdsa: ummm.....possibly
lkjhgfdsa: i cant find it
eescilsm: hold on
eescilsm: http://www.oocities.org/CapeCanaveral/7639/land/sw mpwlk2.htm
lkjhgfdsa: I was right!!
lkjhgfdsa: thanks
eescilsm: you were right
eescilsm: by the way - who areyou?
lkjhgfdsa: lkjh
eescilsm: hi lkjh !!
eescilsm: yell hi to your mom for me
lkjhgfdsa: i will
lkjhgfdsa: she says hi
lkjhgfdsa: umm..another question....
eescilsm: hmm?
lkjhgfdsa: is a drainage basin the same thing as a watershed?
eescilsm: exactly
lkjhgfdsa: okay just checking
lkjhgfdsa: .....how would you define a suspension?
lkjhgfdsa: i know it is like something like milk
eescilsm: its when you get kicked out of school
lkjhgfdsa: haha
lkjhgfdsa: the other kind of suspension
eescilsm: hold on
eescilsm: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define:suspensi on&spell=1
lkjhgfdsa: thank you
eescilsm: isn't google amazing?
lkjhgfdsa: yup
eescilsm: and we're still number 1 for http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=environme ntal+earth+science
lkjhgfdsa: impressive
eescilsm: yea - that and 2 dollars will get me a cup of coffee
lkjhgfdsa: haha
lkjhgfdsa: ...what is the lake lifecycle??
eescilsm: birth, live die?
eescilsm: can you tell me what forms lakes, and how they get filled in?
eescilsm: and other problems they might have along the way such as eutrophication?
lkjhgfdsa: well, lakes are formed when rivers are blocked, and then they are filled in by encroachment, eutrophication is too many nutrients'
eescilsm: the word encroachment usually refers to wetlands
lkjhgfdsa: o
lkjhgfdsa: oops
lkjhgfdsa: what would be the equivallent for lakes?
eescilsm: sedimentation
eescilsm: erosion of the blockage
lkjhgfdsa: riight
lkjhgfdsa: is basalt the rock in the ocean?
eescilsm: the crust of the earth under the oceans, yes
eescilsm: but its also found elsewhere
lkjhgfdsa: okay, and the continent is granitic?
eescilsm: pretty much
eescilsm: except where its basaltic
lkjhgfdsa: right
lkjhgfdsa: gotcha
lkjhgfdsa: what are the types of volcanoes/
lkjhgfdsa: ?
eescilsm: the key information is what types form at the different plate boundaries
lkjhgfdsa: oh
lkjhgfdsa: like converging, diverging,...
lkjhgfdsa: ?
eescilsm: composite form where the magma has to come up through a lot of granitc rock such as at converging boundaries
lkjhgfdsa: okaay
eescilsm: shield volcanos form from the hot, therefore runny lava from magma that did not have to melt through too much crust
eescilsm: like in hawaii, iceland
lkjhgfdsa: okay
lkjhgfdsa: on a scale form one to ten how hard is this test?
lkjhgfdsa: one being easy
lkjhgfdsa: ten being extremly hard
eescilsm: i'd say it was a little easier than the midterm
lkjhgfdsa: is it more of the big ideas rather than the specific information/
lkjhgfdsa: ?
eescilsm: both
lkjhgfdsa: okay
lkjhgfdsa: could you explain what the ENSo cycle is again?
eescilsm: umm - hold on
lkjhgfdsa: i know that it is weather extremes
lkjhgfdsa: but i dont get what happen during it
eescilsm: i'm looking for a web site i used to use to introduce it
lkjhgfdsa: okay
eescilsm: its not there anymore - do you have the materials/sites we used in class? (NOTE:   http://meteora.ucsd.edu/~pierce/elnino/whatis.html IS NOT TOO TECHNICAL)
lkjhgfdsa: um....yeah i think
lkjhgfdsa: i have the papers on le nino and la nina
lkjhgfdsa: is that what you mean
eescilsm: yep
lkjhgfdsa: possibly this one http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_ monitoring/ensostuff/ensofaq.html
eescilsm: do you know what the normal patterns of ocean currents, temperatures, sea level and weather in the equatorial pacific are?
lkjhgfdsa: uhhh.....
lkjhgfdsa: you can take that as a no
eescilsm: what are the currents near the equator?
lkjhgfdsa: um, do you mean their names or what they are like?
eescilsm: both
lkjhgfdsa: i'm looking....
lkjhgfdsa: Gulf (Warm), N. Equatorial (Warm?), Peru (Cold)....
lkjhgfdsa: Canary (Cold)
eescilsm: yep - most specifically - do you see that the north and the south equatorial currents bring water to the western side of the pacific ocean?
lkjhgfdsa: uhhh...yeah
eescilsm: that creates a large area in the west pacific with higher sea level and warmer temps than in the eastern side
lkjhgfdsa: ohhhhhh
lkjhgfdsa: got it
eescilsm: that is the normal situation - the normal weather that results from that pile of warm water is that generally there is more precipitation in the west, less in the astern pacific areas
lkjhgfdsa: okay
lkjhgfdsa: tahnk you
lkjhgfdsa: thank*
eescilsm: we are no where near done
eescilsm: now we get to el nino
lkjhgfdsa: ugh
eescilsm: for reasons unknown, every once in a while the winds that cause the n/s equatorial currents weaken, the currents slow, and the warm water moves east
lkjhgfdsa: okay
eescilsm: which changes the weather around the world
lkjhgfdsa: got it
eescilsm: what the weather affects are depends on where in the world you are and how stong the el nino is
lkjhgfdsa: o
lkjhgfdsa: what are we in now?
eescilsm: umm
eescilsm: according to http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monito ring/enso_advisory/ we are in a neutral year
lkjhgfdsa: okay
eescilsm: so can you tell me generally what the effects are?
eescilsm: by the way - check out http://meteora.ucsd.edu/%7Epierce/elnino/whatis.html
lkjhgfdsa: um...tropical rainfall, wet winters....i dont know
eescilsm: over around the west pacific, with less warm water, will their weather be wetter or drier?
lkjhgfdsa: drier...i think...maybe
eescilsm: good
lkjhgfdsa: yay
eescilsm: and here on the eastern side with warmer than normal water?
lkjhgfdsa: wetter
lkjhgfdsa: right?
eescilsm: right
lkjhgfdsa: okay, well thank you, i have to go now
eescilsm: any last questions?
lkjhgfdsa: nope
lkjhgfdsa: thanks
eescilsm: okay, goodnight!
eescilsm: you're welcome
lkjhgfdsa signed off at 10:34:18 PM.

tyuiop: how many questions
eescilsm: on the exam?
tyuiop: yea
eescilsm: i'll have to fire up my laptop to see - give me about 10 min
tyuiop: ahh ok
tyuiop: the ocean floor has iron on the bottom of it right
tyuiop: well it did
tyuiop: ?
eescilsm: the iron we now mine started as deposits on the ocen floor back when the first photosynthetic life forms evolved
tyuiop: what is high temp vein
tyuiop: and contact metamorphic deposits
tyuiop: ?
eescilsm: your text has a good section on them
tyuiop: it does i never heard of tha tin my life lol
tyuiop: but w/e how is the laptop going
tyuiop: cuz i gtg soon
eescilsm: theres about 70 m/c, t/f corrections, and several pages of diagrams with explanations to write
tyuiop: okay
tyuiop: sounds good c ya tommorow bright and early on my birthday
eescilsm: happy birthday - who are you?
tyuiop: trew
eescilsm: hi trewe!
tyuiop: hi
eescilsm: now my laptop is telling me it has to check drive C: grrrr
tyuiop: oh
tyuiop: well i gtg
tyuiop: thanx
eescilsm: you're welcome
eescilsm: bye
tyuiop signed off at 9:31:05 PM.

Final Exam 2000
Some Questions and Answers

im chat June 12, 2000 21:30 EST 
qwertyuiop36: okay, sorry to bother you, but the 0 A B
C levels of soil are humus and duff-layer 0, then decomposed stuff that can stil lbe
"verified" and B is clay and stuff that is products of weathering and C is old
stuff that can be told what was 
qwertyuiop36: is that right? 
eescilsm: close: O is duff
(which can be identified) AND humus (which is too rotted to identify, then 
qwertyuiop36: okay 
eescilsm: then the A horizon is leached minerals - meaning they have lost their
soluble elements. The A horizon also contains some organic material that washed down from
above 
qwertyuiop36: okay 
eescilsm: the B horizon is products of weathering like clay, hematite, limonite 
qwertyuiop36: okay, so igot that one mostly right. 
eescilsm: the C is parent material - minerals that have not broken down much eescilsm: how that?
qwertyuiop36: thank you very much 
qwertyuiop36: thats great thanx a bunch mr. mitchell
eescilsm: write back if you need to, also, check out
http://www.oocities.org/CapeCanaveral/7639/land/fnlhelp.htm 
eescilsm: bye 
qwertyuiop36: buhbye thanx :-) 

Mon June 12, 2000  21:14 EST
--- Rdfghjkl (name changed for privacy) wwrrote:
> Hey Mr Mitchell,
>    I've got a few quick questions for you.
> 
> 1) What's the difference between terminal and ground
> morraine?
> 

A terminal moraine is a pile where the glacier front advanced to and stayed for a while.

 Ground moraine is spread all over the ground as the glacier front retreated, or as the stagnant glacier melted. Long Island is a big terminal moraine and ground moraine covers most of CT. 


> 2)  What was isosticy and how does that expand the
> base of mountains?
> 
Isostacy is how the roots of mountains rise up as the weight of the mountains over them is removed by erosion. Its like a float on a lake with a lot of people on it - as people fall off, the float rises up out of the water.


> 3)  What where the eight abundant elements?
> 
Oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, magnesium, sodium, calcium, potassium is the list we used.


> 4)  What 's the difference between clastic and
> non-clastic sedimentary rocks?
Clastics are made of pieces of rock cemented together. Nonclastic do not have the pieces, just the crystals of minerals that grew straight from the water.


> 
> Other than that I think I'm all set for tomorrow,
> later.
> 
> -RQ
> 

Good Luck!

Date: Thu, 8 Jun 2000 15:21:31 -0700 (PDT)
From: Tony Mitchell
Subject: Re: exam
To: Dgfertregfr Trgsdrgerthty (name changed for privacy)

Dgfert -

I 'll try to help after each section of your questions below

--- Dgfertregfr Trgsdrgerthty wrote:

> hi, this is Dgfertregfr Trgsdrgerthty in case you couldn't tell
> from my address. I have
> a couple questions...first off...i lost my notes on
> rip currents and
> lonshore currents. I kinda rememebr the longshore
> currents but not the rip
> currents...could u explain them?

rip currents happen where longshore currents go out to sea - the longshore currents usually go "along the
shore", but if they run into another one, or the land diverts them out to sea, they can carry you away from
shore. If caught in one, swin parallel to the shore until out of the current, then swim back.

 > And also the arctic
> ocean currents
> thing...is that gonna be on teh test cause i don't
> rememebr that at all, all
> i remember is that is was really hard to understand.

key points: the fresher, colder waters from the rivers keep the warmer, saltier waters from the Atlantic away
from the surface so the ice doesn't melt. The water eventually cools and sinks to the bottom then flows
out along the bottom of the Atlantic and right around the world. If anything messes up this system it could
change currents and climate all over the planet.

> And also, i didn't
> start studying the section on weathering and
> glaciers and all that
> stuff...to save time, could u possibly tell me if
> there is something i
> should focus on studying??(i know u probably can't
> cause that wouls kinda be
> unfair but oh well)thanks

focus on the questions you had trouble with on the tests - if you do not have good notes on them, use the
noteguides and handouts. Also, you may want to look at the learning objectives at:

http://www.oocities.org/CapeCanaveral/7639/landobj.htm

for more info - just don't let it overwhelm you.

If you need more help, please write back.

-- Mr. M.

An aol IM chat at 7:05 pm June 8, 2000

asdfghjk22: hi mr. mitchell this is asdf - i have question
eescilsm: go ahead
Asdfghjk22: what r some products of weathering?
eescilsm: soil, clay, bauxite, uranium ore, (do you have the handout?)
Asdfghjk22: no
eescilsm: just a sec - I'll see if its online
Asdfghjk22: thanks
eescilsm: its not online - are you sure you don't have it? It was mostly about clays and the things like bricks, ceramics and tiles that we make from them
Asdfghjk22: i do i just checked thank you
eescilsm: you do have it?
Asdfghjk22: yes thank you
Asdfghjk22: bye

>