Geologic Mapping C

[Adi1008]

Geologic Mapping C: Teams will demonstrate understanding in the construction and use of topographic maps, geologic maps, and cross sections, and their use in forming interpretations regarding subsurface structures and past depositional environments.

Geologic Mapping Wiki

Geologic Mapping Test Exchange 2020

Past Threads: 2012 (NY Trial), 2013 (NY Trial), 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020

Past Question Marathons: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020

[freed2003]

Anyone know the name of the lines where there’s like 3 classes of them? I’m not sure how to explain
edit: I'm think of dip isogens lol

[nisha01]

What are like good resources for us for this event? we looked at a lot of websites and articles about plate movement, history but everything feels very generic, are there any recommendations for books or articles that is specific for science Olympiad?

[Giantpants]

What are like good resources for us for this event? we looked at a lot of websites and articles about plate movement, history but everything feels very generic, are there any recommendations for books or articles that is specific for science Olympiad?

Hi! I've written some Geologic Mapping tests for some competition this year (BEARSO, SOLVI, BirdSO coming up lol) and did it for two years in high school, so I like to think I have a pretty decent idea of what people like to put on tests. You're definitely right, a lot of the general earth science stuff that appears on tests tends to be kind of generic and overused, so it can be easy for test writers to fall into asking slews of plate tectonics questions, which, if done right, I suppooooooooose can be an alright test on it's own... However, as I'm sure you know, this is really only a small portion of the event!!

The actual scope of Geologic Mapping is far greater! In years past, I feel like a lot of the Geologic Mapping tests I took relied heavily on recall to ask questions (e.g. what land form is this, what depositional environment is this, etc.) but since online testing has forced us as test writers to try to shift to more application based questions (which are hard to write LOL hence why I said "try" for myself) I think tests have become a bit better at differentiating teams who are truly skilled at the event.

However, the first step to being able to apply what you know is of course having the knowledge. So what are some good resources for Geologic Mapping? I'll go over some things I found which were helpful in me studying (and some stuff I still use when writing tests lol)

If you're looking for book recommendations, I personally recommend Structural Geology of Rocks and Regions by George H. Davis and Stephen J. Reynolds. It does a good job of introducing the reader to some of the fundamental stuff in structural geology, such as strike and dip, stress, strain, faulting, reading geologic maps, and using this knowledge in the field. And I'll be honest, there has definitely been a good bit of inspiration for my tests from this book.

As for internet resources, if you search up topics, finding college course notes or lectures on geology is usually a win, they tend to have lots of valuable information and can at the very least give you a solid base of knowledge. For example, searching up "fold geometry geology" and clicking around on some links will get you a ton of information about the structure of folds, the deformation which produces them, even some of the material mechanics behind them, like what you'd find in the textbook I mentioned! They're also something I generally like to include on tests since deformation and folds are mentioned explicitly on the rules, and there's always a breadth of information on them for both competitors and test writers to ask.

Geologic Mapping's specific "focus" this year (and last) is depositional environments and what we can learn about the present from them. There's a lot ways this can be asked, but I guess the logical place to start would be familiarizing yourself with them all, their identifying features, and interpreting their histories. There's a lot of ground to cover here (HAH PUN GET IT?) but looking at marine transgressions, regressions, parasequences, and the sequences presented by different rock orders in different depositional environments.

Another thing I feel like gets overlooked a lot is actual geologic mapping. Geologic maps are available in abundance online, and even looking at a few, trying to interpret the morphology of the beddings and the landforms, identifying features, and getting better at reading them is sure to net you a few questions at some point. I usually like to include a few of these questions on my tests, such as analyzing risks or potential causes of current morphology. It's application that anyone can practice by simply familiarizing themselves with geologic maps and the general knowledge of deformation and folds we see in the earlier part of the rules.

Those are some of the major topics I like to focus on when writing tests, and researching them can be as simple as doing reading on pages you find right on Google or as in depth as sifting through papers to find stuff that could make its way onto a harder test, but as long as it's related to the rules and focuses on the topics that might be on tests it's always worthwhile. There's tons of information out there for easy access, and if you're interested in specific links, I'd be happy to give you a few of my favorites. However, I think you might learn more from doing the searching yourself, so I hope you are able to now based on the loose framework of the event I gave you!

If you would like some practice tests to look at, feel free to look on my userpage and click on "Event Write-Up" for BEARSO or SOLVI, those forum posts have links to my tests for anyone to see, and of course there are lots of other public test sets out there in places like the test exchange.

Hopefully this helps you a little! I'll be happy to do my best to answer anymore questions you have.

Edit: The reason this is all so casual is because you have two binders (one for each person because miniSO) so there is absolutely no shortage of space to put resources! So legitimately add anything you feel might be remotely helpful.

[nisha01]

Hey! Thank you so much for your response! It is extremely detailed and I really appreciate it! Personally, we are not entirely sure how much we would be using books for this event, and would definitely benefit a lot more than online resources/videos that we can use. I would definitely read the book that you had mentioned, since I personally am a fan of geology, but the team in our school has about a week or so left before competition, and any internet link/ bullet point of main topics or applications problem topics that will mainly benefit them in regards to science Olympiad. Again, thanks a lot for all your response and I hope you can help me with this as well!

[freed2003]

Hey! Thank you so much for your response! It is extremely detailed and I really appreciate it! Personally, we are not entirely sure how much we would be using books for this event, and would definitely benefit a lot more than online resources/videos that we can use. I would definitely read the book that you had mentioned, since I personally am a fan of geology, but the team in our school has about a week or so left before competition, and any internet link/ bullet point of main topics or applications problem topics that will mainly benefit them in regards to science Olympiad. Again, thanks a lot for all your response and I hope you can help me with this as well!

https://www.tulane.edu/~sanelson/eens1110/index.html

These notes give a good introduction to most of the geology on the tests. As for the math, I feel like Unome's test on the test exchange has some good math problems for the first 10 or so questions. To learn how to do the apparent dip questions blake splitter has a good video here: https://youtu.be/-TPje1Ef-x4. There's also another big class of problems where you have to calculate the apparent thickness which is a lot more intuitive to people I think so any video you find online can do. To learn how to read and use stereonets I used this person's youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/jjhgeo. Also just do a bunch of tests and make sure you understand the answers and questions.
This is really just the basic rundown of the event cause you said you guys don't have much time left, it should cover an ok amount of what's on the tests.

[nisha01]

Thank you so much for all this information!

[MacintoshJosh]

There was a question on a recent test that read: What is the apparent dip for a true dip of 48 degrees, a cross section taken at 37 degrees, and a bed oriented 25 degrees all measured using azimuthal north?
I understand the first two angles given, but does anyone know what the 'bed oriented 25 degrees' part means?

[nisha01]

Hello! Sorry for the late response but I do have a question, for apparent dips or strenonets, the problems can onlt be done using protractors, or paper with the diagrams for streronets, since we are having an online test, how would application problems for this work? I am not sure if teams will be able to print everything out during the test so I am curious on this, please let me know!

[l0lit]

There was a question on a recent test that read: What is the apparent dip for a true dip of 48 degrees, a cross section taken at 37 degrees, and a bed oriented 25 degrees all measured using azimuthal north?
I understand the first two angles given, but does anyone know what the 'bed oriented 25 degrees' part means?

That probably means strike. You can also tell that to find apparent dip, you'll need true dip and the angle between the direction of apparent dip (trend) and strike. Since it trends at 37 degrees, you can assume it gives you the strike it needs.