Term
| Geology is the scientific study of the Earth's _________ |
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Definition
| Processes, Materials, Origin, History |
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Term
| The Earth has evolved slowly and gradually by small-scale processes still operating today, over a long period of time. This is a fundamental geologic concept called _____ |
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Definition
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Term
| Metamorphism is the process__________ |
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Definition
| Where one rock type is converted to another by the effects of pressure, temperature, and chemical reactions |
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Term
| What is the approximate absolute age that life first appeared on Earth? |
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Definition
| 3.5 - 3.8 Billion Years Ago |
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Term
| The three main groups of sedimentary rocks are |
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Definition
| Clastic (detrital), chemical, biochemical |
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Term
| The youngest period in the Paleozoic Era is the: |
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Definition
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Term
| The mass extinction that destroyed the dinosaurs occurred at the end of the ______ period. |
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Definition
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Term
| Which plutonic body is the largest? |
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Definition
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Term
| An area of Cretaceous and Tertiary igneous rocks and associate ore deposits trends diagonally across much of Colorado from the southwest to northeast. It is called: |
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Definition
| The Colorado Mineral Belt |
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Term
| Which of the following is NOT an Earth System? Atmosphere, hydrosphere, planetosphere, lithosphere |
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Definition
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Term
| What are the two types of weathering? |
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Definition
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Term
| Is the earth a static system? |
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Definition
| No. It has been continuously evolving over the past 4.6 billion years. |
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Term
| There was an earthquake felt in Grand Junction on January 23, 2013. Where was this earthquake centered? |
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Definition
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Term
| The earthquake on january 23 was attributed to _____ |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| Using the order of deposition of rock layers (i.e. older layers on the bottom, younger layers on the top) to determine a relative age of rocks. |
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Term
| Life (bacteria) first appeared at the beginning of the _______ |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| What are the three basic rock types? |
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Definition
| Igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary |
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Term
| Metamorphism occurs at temperatures > |
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Definition
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Term
| What are the three eras that comprise the Phanerozoic Eon? |
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Definition
| Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic |
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Term
| Humans evolved during the: |
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Definition
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Term
| Minerals are made up of rocks. True or False? |
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Definition
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Term
| Silicon, aluminum, and iron are three of the four most common elements in the Earth's crust. Which element is the most common? |
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Definition
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Term
| Minerals are always only composed of one element. True or false? |
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Definition
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Term
| The crystal structure of a mineral is due to: |
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Definition
| The three dimensional arrangement of atoms |
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Term
| Hardness of a mineral is measured by: |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| What minerals or rocks are mined in Colorado? |
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Definition
| GOLD, URANIUM, MOLYBDENUM, AGGREGATES, silver, zinc, dimension stone, agate, amazonite. |
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Term
| Much of Colorado's historic uranium mining occured in the: |
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Definition
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Term
| River valleys, lakes, and tidal flats are examples of ________ |
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Definition
| Depositional environments |
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Term
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Definition
| Magma that cools and hardens either in the subsurface or on the surface of the Earth. |
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Term
| When magma cools and hardens inside the Earth's crust, the rock is called __________ and when it cools and hardens on the surface of the Earth, the rock is called _________. |
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Definition
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Term
| Pegmatitic texture is when the crystals are: |
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Definition
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Term
| Cross-stratification, mudcracks, and trace fossils are examples of _________. |
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Definition
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Term
| Metamorphism can be a continuation of diagenesis. True or False? |
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Definition
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Term
| An aphanitic texture indicates the magma cooled: |
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Definition
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Term
| A mafic rock is composed of: |
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Definition
| mostly dark colored minerals |
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Term
| The granitic igneous dikes exposed in Colorado National Monument are: |
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Definition
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Term
| If a rock is felsic, it is: |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| a tabular body that cross-cuts layers of sedimentary rock. |
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Term
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Definition
| Along faults, in accumulations of sediments called placer deposits, and with other diagnostic mineral such as iron ores. |
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Term
| Elements such as berylium and cadmium are important _________ |
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Definition
| because they are used in electronics such as computers and batteries. |
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Term
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Definition
| via cementation during diagenesis |
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Term
| What is the difference between weathering and erosion? |
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Definition
| Weathering is the destruction of older rock and erosion is the transport of weathering products. |
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Term
| Physical weathering produces: |
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Definition
| Rock fragments and mineral grains. |
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Term
| The process that occurs between the time sediments are buried to the time of uplift by which sediments become sedimentary rocks is called. |
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Definition
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Term
| Which statement concerning the Geologic Time Scale is True? |
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Definition
| The division of the geologic time scale are based on stages in the evolution of life on earth. |
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Term
| When an igneous rock is dated by the potassium-argon method, the number that is obtained indicates: |
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Definition
| when the magma cooled and solidified into rock |
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Term
| The earth's crust is the outermost part of the: |
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Definition
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Term
| A convergent boundary is where plates move: |
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Definition
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Term
| Divergent boundaries create: |
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Definition
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Term
| The two types of crust are: |
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Definition
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Term
| The Himalayas are an example of: |
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Definition
| a continental - continental convergent boundary |
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Term
| A Himalayan - style orogeny during the Pennsylvanian / Permian periods (Stage 3) formed a large mountain belt along the east coast of present day United States called the: |
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Definition
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Term
| The San Andres Fault is an example of: |
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Definition
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Term
| Plate tectonics triggers which major geologic process? |
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Definition
| Mountain belts are created, Regional metamorphism, the rock cycle, ocean basins are created |
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Term
| The sum of all the physical forces that produce crustal deformation is called: |
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Definition
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Term
| The three types of stress are: |
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Definition
| Compression, Shear, Tension |
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Term
| The three types of strain are: |
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Definition
| Elastic, plastic, brittle |
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Term
| A fault is an example of which type of strain? |
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Definition
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Term
| In a normal fault, the hanging wall moves ________ relative to the foot wall. |
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Definition
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Term
| Normal faults are produced by which type of stress? |
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Definition
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Term
| The top fault block along a fault is called the: |
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Definition
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Term
| Offset along a fault is called: |
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Definition
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Term
| A downthrown block bounded on both sides by normal faults is called a: |
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Definition
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Term
| Age dating based on the position of layers of rock (i.e., older and younger) is called: |
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Definition
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Term
| Subsidence that occurs because bedrock is dissolved to form caves and sinkholes is called: |
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Definition
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Term
| At the end of the Paleozoic Era, a small orogeny occurred in what is now Colorado. This orogeny formed the: |
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Definition
| Ancestral Rocky Mountains |
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Term
| Age dating that gives you the actual age through sophisticated analytical techniques is called: |
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Definition
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Term
| In a sequence of sedimentary rocks or lava flows, the oldest layer is on the bottom and the youngest layer is on the top. This is a major geologic concept called the Principle of: |
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Definition
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Term
| During the Permian Period, two basins formed in present day Colorado. They were called: |
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Definition
| The Paradox and the Eagle Basin |
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Term
| ^238 U has a half life of 4.5 billion years. The daughter product is ^234 Th. A granite pluton is found to have a parent/daughter ratio of 3 (75%) to 1 (25%). How old is the Pluton? |
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Definition
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Term
| The time required for half of the parent atoms to decay to more stable daughter atoms is called: |
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Definition
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Term
| The use of fossils to estimate relative ages of sedimentary rocks is called: |
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Definition
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Term
| The supercontinent named ________ was rifted apart when the proto-atlantic ocean began to form. |
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Definition
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Term
| During the early Paleozoic, thick sequences of sedimentary rocks were deposited in which type of depositional environments? |
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Definition
| Mostly oceans and some continental settings |
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Term
| The maroon bells are made of permian rocks called the: |
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Definition
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Term
| The Ancestral Rocky Mountains formed as Laurentia and Gondwana converged to form supercontinent: |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the absolute age of the metamorphic rocks exposed in the Colorado National Monument and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison? |
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Definition
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Term
| An undulated mound or sharp ridge of till on the side or the end of a glacier is called: |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| The difference in stress that separates the Sevier orogeny from the Laramide orogeny was caused by: |
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Definition
| A shift in the subduction zone on the west coast from directly west of Colorado to the Southwest. |
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Term
| Stage two volcanism in the San Juan Mountains is associated with: |
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Definition
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Term
| The first phase of volcanism in the San Juan produced no lava flows. True or False? |
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Definition
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Term
| The Cretaceous sea extended from the north to the Gulf of Mexico. This occurrence and its timing is evidenced by: |
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Definition
| The appearance of fossils from the Gulf of Mexico in the Mancos Shale. |
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Term
| The mountain building event during the Late Cretaceous Period to the Eocene Epoch (70-50 Ma) is called: |
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Definition
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Term
| Early Cretaceous rocks preserve: |
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Definition
| Storm deposits, dinosaurs, coastal deposits, and deep sea deposits. |
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Term
| The mass extinction that destroyed the dinosaurs occurred at the end of the ______ Period. |
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Definition
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Term
| The event that caused the mass extinction at the K-T boundary was a: |
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Definition
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Term
| An area of Cretaceous and Tertiary igneous rocks and associated ore deposits trends diagonally across much of Colorado from Southwest to northeast. It is called: |
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Definition
| The Colorado Mineral Belt |
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Term
| The rock that forms the hard, resistant cap on the Grand Mesa is composed of: |
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Definition
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Term
| The San Juan Tuff in the San Juan Mountains consists of: |
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Definition
| Pyroclastics, lava flows, and volcanic breccias |
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Term
| Most of the Tertiary volcanoes in the San Juan Mountains had very explosive eruptions because the magma: |
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Definition
| was enriched in silicon and aluminum and had high concentrations of dissolved gas |
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Term
| The West Elk Mountains contain many mushroom-shaped, intrusive: |
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Definition
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Term
| The oil shale in Colorado comes from the: |
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Definition
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Term
| The two stages of development of Grand Mesa are: |
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Definition
| Basaltic lava fills Miocene valleys and then erosion around the lava cap leaves a mountain where there was once a valley (inverted topography) |
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Term
| The Colorado National Monument monocline, the Grand Hogbacks, and similar reverse fault cored monoclines on the Colorado Plateau were uplifted during the ______ orogeny. |
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Definition
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Term
| Grand Mesa is an extinct volcano. True or False? |
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Definition
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Term
| Ways to differentiate between different lava flows include: |
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Definition
| Sedimentation between flows and textural differences between flows |
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Term
| Grand Mesa's geologic history is mostly: |
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Definition
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Term
| There are a lot of Precambrian rocks exposed at the top of the Grand Mesa. True or False? |
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Definition
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Term
| Where did all the basalt on Grand Mesa come from? |
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Definition
| An intraplate mantle hotspot called the Aspen Anomaly |
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Term
| The eruptions on Grand Mesa were: |
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Definition
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Term
| The Cretaceous strata in Grand Junction include: |
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Definition
| The Mancos Shale and the Mount Garfield / Iles Formation |
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Term
| The Cretaceous strata in Grand Junction represent what depositional environment? |
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Definition
| Marginal marine and deep ocean |
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Term
| The Green River Formation represents what depositional environment? |
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Definition
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Term
| The San Juan volcanic rocks are primarily _______ igneous rocks. |
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Definition
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Term
| The volcanic rocks on Grand Mesa are primarily _______ igneous rocks. |
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Definition
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Term
| The last glacial maximum was: |
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Definition
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Term
| Evidence that the meteorite impact at Chicxalub caused the K-T extinction includes: |
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Definition
| An iridium spike in the global rock record that is 66 Ma |
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Term
| Earth orbital cycles that affect the periodicity of glacial and interglacial cycles are called: |
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Definition
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Term
| What is commonly hypothesized to be the source of magma for the San Juan volcanics in Colorado? |
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Definition
| Low-angle subduction of the Farallon Plate on the west coast of North America |
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Term
| The picture of Box Canyon shows a(n): |
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Definition
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Term
| The vertical strata in the bottom half of the box canyon photo are what formation? |
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Definition
| The precambrian Uncompahgre Group |
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Term
| The Cambrian explosion refers to the: |
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Definition
| Widespread diversification of multicellular life at the beginning of the Cambrian Period |
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Term
| Metamorphism is produced by: |
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Definition
| Increasing temperature, increasing pressure, circulating fluids |
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Term
| An unconformity separating igneous and/or metamorphic rocks below from sedimentary rocks above is called: |
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Definition
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Term
| These two elements dominate the Earth's crustal (outermost) rocks: |
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Definition
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Term
| New oceanic crust is created here: |
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Definition
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Term
| A very low-angle (not quite horizontal) reverse fault is called: |
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Definition
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Term
| The tenet that rocks are deposited with the oldest strata on the bottom and the younger strata on top is called: |
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Definition
| The principle of superposition |
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Term
| What geologic process always occurs as a result of an orogeny? |
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Definition
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Term
| Reverse faults are produced by which type of stress? |
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Definition
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Term
| The formation that underlies the Eagle Collapse Center near Eagle, CO is called the: |
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Definition
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Term
| The Eagle Valley Evaporite is important for us today here in Colorado because it is a thick formation composed of __________, used as a building material. |
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Definition
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Term
| Phase one of Colorado's geologic history began during the: |
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Definition
| Late Precambrian (Archean) |
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Term
| Crustal basement rocks in Colorado (i.e., Black Canyon Complex) were created during the: |
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Definition
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Term
| In present day Colorado, what event happened during the Pennsylvanian to the late Jurassic Periods? |
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Definition
| Ancestral Rocky Mountains were uplifted and subsequently eroded. |
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Term
| The supercontinent that began to rift during the Mesozoic is called: |
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Definition
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Term
| In Colorado during the late Jurassic to the Late Cretaceous (middle Mesozoic), a mountain building event occurred called the: |
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Definition
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Term
| During the Middle Cretaceous, Colorado was inundated with: |
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Definition
| The Western Interior Seaway |
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Term
| The Laramide Orogeny produced the: |
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Definition
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Term
| The last time the area now known as Colorado was flooded by OCEAN water: |
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Definition
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Term
| This 5,000-foot thick, Cretaceous rock unit underlies the Grand Valley |
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Definition
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Term
| The Black Canyon of the Gunnison and Glenwood Canyon share this feature: |
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Definition
| They are examples of river incision (erosion) and stream antecedence |
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Term
| Volcanic activity in the San Juan Mountains occurred during the _______ Epoch: |
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Definition
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Term
| The river that once flowed on the top of Grand Mesa was the _______ River. |
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Definition
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Term
| The lava flows on Grand Mesa likely represent: |
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Definition
| A Miocene paleo valley system |
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Term
| Glacial deposits on Grand Mesa formed during the Bull Lake and Pinedale glaciations are called the: |
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Definition
| Grand Mesa Formation and Land's End Formations |
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Term
| The "Great Unconformity" in the Colorado National Monument is between the Precambrian Black Canyon Complex and the overlying Triassic: |
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Definition
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Term
| The Morrison Formation contains three members whose depositional environments are: |
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Definition
| Fluvial (rivers) and hypersaline lakes |
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