Name ________________

Geology 210 Preparation Questions

I will handout in class and list on the course web page a few questions for each lecture. These will serve as preparation for each class and be drawn from lectures labs and links. Please come to class with written answers to these questions, I may collect these on occasion as a quiz.

For 30 August 2002 (Friday)

Read Dingman (2001) - Chapter 3; read also introductory chapter of Fetter.

1. What energy source drives the hydrologic cycle?

2. What determines the global distribution of precipitation?

3. The ocean loses more water through evaporation than it gains by precipitation, how is this imbalance accounted for?

4. What is a monsoon and how does it work?

 For 2 September 2002 (Monday)

Due 2 September, Exercises 1 and 2 (significant figures and hydrocycle spreadsheet)*.

(note the group that will go in the field Thursday need to place their exercises in my box)

1. How is stream gaging accomplished? Describe how a gaging station works.

2. What is a stream hydrograph?

3. Outline the storage equation, how can it be applied?

4. What is the relationship between surface water and the water table in a humid area? in an arid area?

6 September 2002 (Friday)

1. What is baseflow recession and how can it be used in a predictive sense?

2. What is porosity? and what types of porosity are there?

3. What relationship does porosity have with packing? with grain size?

4. How are specfic yield and specific retention related?

For 9 September (Monday)

1. What are typical values of porosity for sand and gravels? for clays?

2. How are hydraulic conductivity and porosity related?

3. Based on the well data and seepage meter data we collected in the field on Monday and Thursday how could we determine hydraulic conductivity of the materials in the streambed?

For 13 September (Friday) - OARDC trip

1. What is a perched aquifer?

2. What are the forces causing water to infiltrate - what are the forces keeping water from infiltrating?

3. Write out a brief geologic history of the Wooster buried valley aquifer.

4. Look on the web to see if you can find a site or two that discuss the design of putting greens. What factors need to be considered when designing a green (you don't need to golf to answer this).

 For 16 September (Monday)

1 - How does the Holmesville moraine figure into the geologic evolution of the Wooster buried valley aquifer?

For 18 September (Wednesday)

1. What are equipotential lines?

2. Is a stream an equipotential line or a flow line?

3. What is storativity and how does it differ for the confined and unconfined case?

For 23 September (Monday)

1. According to Toth what are the causes of a perennial body of impounded water (for example - a lake?

2. Contrast the characterisitics of the local, intermediate and regional flow systems (also see discussion in your book).

3. Read the brochure on the Coshocton station - how do thier famous lysimeters work?

For 30 September (Monday)

1. Read the Wooster Water Quality Report and come up with three questions for Ken Kinney.

2. Fill out a release form for the trip.

3. We will need surveying equipment and water level tapes for a field exercise after meeting with Ken.

For 4 October (Friday)

1. Continuing with the Toth reading - you come up with a question for the class to answer. The question may be a concept within the reading that is unclear or a general question concerning groundwater flow in the subsurface.

2. List some of the assumptions the Toth's theoretical analysis includes?

For 7 October (Monday)

1. What is a potentiometric profile?

2. What is the utility of a potentiometric profile?

3. What does a variation in the spacing of equipotential lines indicate about the aquifer?

For 11 October (Friday)

1. Let's get some practice drawing potentiometric profiles.

Draw sufficient flowlines on the figures below to illustrate the regional flow patterns (two figures on the front and one on the back).

For 18 October (Friday)

1. On Friday will will be working on a well in the South wellfield (a clean one) and another in the Killbuck Marsh performing slug tests with Terry Lahm. What is a slug test and what can it tell us about an aquifer?

2. Come up with two questions that you may have about slug testing.

3. The south wellfield well will test is observation well number 5. On the back of this sheet is the drillers log. Sketch a cross section using the other logs (attached) and show approximately where #5 would fit into your SW to NE cross - section.

For 21 October (Monday)

1. Look at the log slug tested well. Assume the well is producing from the lower interval at 60' and the a well drilled next to this site and screened at 40' has a higher SWL than the original well. In which direction is the vertical flow?

2. Take a look at the sediments in the core taken on Thursday from the Killbuck Marsh. How could you test to see if the sands below the peat are in a recharge or discharge area?

For 25 October (Friday)

See the Science reading handed out in class.

1. What are tracer techniques and what are they good for?

2. What did you find most interesting about this article?

For 1 November (Friday)

1. View the video Cadillac Desert: An American Nile and The Mercy of Nature.

What surprised you upon viewing this video (answering nothing is not an option)?

For 4 November (Monday) - Read the Price Chapter 11 handed out in class.

1. Make sure you know the basics, what is an atom, ion, isotope - write out the definitions to be sure you know.

2. What is pH? What kind of scale is it based on?

3. Give some examples how natural groundwater can be of poor quality.

4. Describe one way that isotopes can be used in groundwater investigations.

For 4 November (Monday) Read the Price Handout and Page 374-382 in text

1. What is a stiff diagram and what can it tell us?

2. What can tritium reveal about groundwater?

3. How are groundwaters dated?

 For 22 November (Friday) - Read Bioattenuation handout.

Friday you will enjoy a lecture by me during the first half of the class and any discussion of the geochemistry portion of the class. We will then hear from Teresa Johnson (Biology) regarding her research with microorgnaisms nad bioattenuation. You are all required to come up with questions for her to ask her about her work. The class will be held in Scovel 116.

We will also have a quiz on Friday at the beginning of class.

Below are discussion questions on the reading (handed out in class).

1 - What is bioattenuation (definition).

2 - What does the term "product" refer to in the hydrogeology literature?

3 - What are the recommendations for future work outlined in the Salanitro paper?

4 - Teresa wil lbe talking about atrazine - what is it and what is it used for - see the web (and see handout).

For 25 November (Monday)

1. What is the Haber-Bosch process?

2. What is cultural eutrophication?

3. What is the Colorado River Compact? (look at web pages linked to our syllabus or do a web search).

4. We will talk about drought on Monday visit the series of web pages that NOAA has on drought http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/drought.htm. Click here for the link.

5. What is drought?

6. How can the geologic record help us understand or even predict future drought? See the NOAA pages on Paeloperspective of drought. ( click here) http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/drought/drght_home.html

For 2 December (Monday) - I will collect these as a quiz!

Ouline one of the drought case studies that you found most interesting. Discuss using any sources that you can find on the web or elsewhere. Keep your discussion to a page with cited references. Have a good Thanksgiving.

List of Cases:

1 - Anasazi

2 - The Dust Bowl

3 - The Maya

4 - Akadian Empire

5 - other?