Field Assignment Part 2Christopher Sager

Geology 1December 2011

Faults• Faults are fractures in the crust along

with appreciable displacement has taken place.

• Faults are categorized in three different ways, dip-slip faults, strike-slip faults and oblique slip faults.

• Dip-slip faults are where the relative movement (or slip) on the fault plane is approximately vertical.

• Strike-slip faults are faults where the slip is approximately horizontal.

• Oblique-slip faults have non-zero components of both strike and dip slip.

Dip-slip fault in Sequoia National Park

Weathering• Weathering is the physical breakdown and chemical

alteration at or near earths surface. The two types of weathering are mechanical and chemical weathering.

• Mechanical weathering is when physical forces break rock into smaller pieces without changing its chemical composition .

• Chemical weathering is when chemicals transform rock into one or more new compounds.

• Plant roots wedging their way down into rocks is a good example of mechanical weathering and water is a good example of chemical weathering

Mechanical Weathering

Chemical Weathering

Mass Wasting and Erosion

• Mass wasting is the transfer of rock and soil downslope under the influence of gravity.

• Erosion is the physical removal of material by mobile agents such as water, wind or ice.

An example of mass wasting is this apparent aftermath of a rockslide.

Melting snow flows down hill and as it falls off the asphalt it picks up and carries sediment down hill with it, this is an example of

erosion.

Sedimentary Environments

• There are three different sedimentary environments. They are continental, marine and transitional.

• Continental environments are dominated by the erosion and deposition associated with streams.

• Marine environment deposits are controlled by multiple factors (depth, distance from shore, etc.).

• Transitional environments are where Continental and Marine meet. They can be affected by tide, streams and deltas.

Continental Sedimentary Environment

Transitional Sedimentary Environment

Marine Sedimentary Environment

Practical Use of Geology

• My practical use of geology example would be the Terminus Dam. The Terminus dam is a dam on the Kaweah river, which forms Lake Kaweah. Built in 1962 by the Army Corps. Of Engineers to help store water and give a steady supply for year round irrigation for the immense farmland of the nearby central valley of California.

Terminus Dam

References• Tarbucks, E., & Lutgens, F. (2011) Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology. New

Jersey. Pearson Education• http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/smithsonian/terminus-

reservoir/sec1.htm