Geologic Mapping
Kenston Invitational 2024
School: __________________________ Team Number: ___________
Participant Name(s): ________________________________________________
You will have 50 minutes to take this test and it is worth a total of points.
You are to write your answers directly on this document.
You are allowed to take apart the exam during the test. However, make
sure to put the pages back in their correct order when handing in the exam.
ALL questions are worth ONE point unless otherwise stated.
Ties will be broken by comparing the answers to questions 14-24, in order.
Any remaining ties will be broken by comparing questions one at a time
beginning with question 1.
1) An oblique normal fault has a strike-slip distance of 5 meters, a dip-slip distance of 3
meters, and a vertical inclination of 23°. Calculate the vertical throw of the fault displacement
in meters (5 points).
2) Using the same numbers from the question above, what would be the horizontal throw of
the fault with a stratigraphic heave of 4.5 meters? (5 points)
3) What is a connate fluid?
4) This structural feature is characterized by repeated well behaved folded beds with straight
limbs and sharp hinges.
5) This is a relatively narrow tabular discordant body, often nearly vertical that cuts across
strata.
6) What is the name given to a compass-clinometer, and what is this device used to measure? (1
point each)
7) Which of the following are planar (as opposed to linear) geologic features? You will receive
1 point for each correct answer, but LOSE 2 POINTS for each incorrect choice.
A) Cuestas D) Dikes G) Faults
B) Fractures E) Igneous Dikes H) Metamorphic foliation
C) Sedimentary Bedding F) Sills I) Cleavage-Bedding Intersections
8) A dome-shaped intrusion is known as a(n)...
9) On a topographic map, lines that indicate water depth are termed…
10) Precipitate form from chemical reactions where calcium and silica settle out of solution.
Name the TWO rocks typically formed by this process. (1 point each)
11) What erosional pattern would be responsible for the wearing down of permafrost due to
moving water?
12) In studies of the surface of the earth, a reverse fault having a dip between 10 and 45
degrees is known as a:
13) Fold pairs, as viewed from above, that are Z-shaped, are known by what term?
Questions 14-24 refer to the figure above.
14) Which is the oldest layer?
15) Which is the youngest layer?
16) Where is a fault?
17) What type of fault is it?
18) Where is an angular unconformity?
19) What type of geological unconformity is occurring at P?
20) What is evidence for erosion?
21) Which event is older, A or S?
22) What would A be referred to as?
23) List the stratigraphic sequences in order of their relative ages using the letters on the
image above (1 point each).
24) The geologic principles used to determine the answer to the question above are attributed
to whom?
Match questions #25-32 to the corresponding map projection.
A B C
D E F
G H
25) Gall-Peters Projection
26) Goode Homolosine Projection
27) Loximuthal Projection
28) Mercator Projection
29) Mollweide Projection
30) Robinson Projection
31) Sinusoidal Projection
32) Stereographic Projection
33) Rake is measured by placing a protractor flat on the planar surface with the flat edge
horizontal and measuring the angle of lineation in what direction from the horizontal?
34) The term ‘hade’ is a less commonly used term that refers to the deviation of a plane from
vertical. How would you calculate hade?
35) What are the three types of foliation? (1 point each)
36) In what direction, with relation to shear, do the layers form in foliation?
37) Why are some metamorphic rocks non-foliated?
38) What type of folding is present in the image below:
For #39-42 match the following types of detrital rocks to their description (1 point each):
39) soft, formed from mud or clay and can be split into slabs A) Breccia
40) very well sorted with very small particles; B) Conglomerate
deposited in quiet water
C) Mudstones
41) large rounded chunks surrounded by smaller sediment;
deposited some distance from the source rock D) Sandstone
42) gritty, with low clay mineral content E) Siltstone
43) forms from cemented gravel-sized fragments of rock; but F) Shale
are angular in shape
44) formed by relatively well-sorted, well-rounded particles;
deposited in many environments
Various outcrop patterns are shown below. Study each of the outcrop patterns carefully and
answer the corresponding questions (#45-50). The first question for each outcrop pattern
asks which way a particular unit dips; upstream, downstream, parallel to the stream
gradient, horizontal, or vertical. If a bed dips downstream, indicate whether the bed dips
gently or steeply.
45) Which way does Pah unit dip?
46) How do you know?
47) Which way does Msw unit dip?
48) How do you know?
49) Which way does pϵ q unit dip?
50) How do you know?
51) Determine the azimuthal (0-365) strike and dip from the following stereonets (2 points
each):
s
A) ______________ B) ______________ C) _____________ D) _______________
52) What are the red dots on each stereonet called?
53) What are the curved lines connecting the north and south poles called?
54) What is the actual circular edge of the stereonet called?
The diagrams below are incomplete block diagrams of geological structures. Complete the
blank face of each diagram (including labels) and answer all questions.
55) Complete the blank faces on the diagram (2 points)
56) Number the layers, from oldest to youngest.
57) Name the structure.
58) Complete the blank faces on the diagram (2 points).
59) Number the layers, from oldest to youngest.
60) Draw the axial plane.
61) Name the structure.
Name the depositional environment that must have existed given each of the following
clues, and define it as either continental, marine, or transitional (1 point each).
62) Cross-beds, ripple marks, and mudcracks are visible. You find coal and numerous fossilized
plants.
63) You find many fossils of marine animals, including fish, coral, and mollusks. The rock is
primarily limestone, shale, and sandstone.
64) The rock is primarily fine to medium-grained sandstone. It is well-sorted, and some cross-
beds are visible. You find many shell fossils.
65) There are many thin beds of chert, chalk, limestone, and mudstone. You find some
microscopic fossils of plankton.
For the following questions, use the geologic map of Acadia National Park provided at the
end of the packet (Note: this is only one quarter of a full 7.5 minute quadrangle of Seal
Harbor, ME.)
66) What is the contour interval of this map? (1 point)
67) Locate Thunder Hole on the map. Suppose you wanted to walk straight along the coast to
Newport Cove. What would your azimuthal being be? Quadrant bearing? (2 points)
68) Suppose you want to get from the top of Mount Desert (Point A) to the top of Dorr
Mountain (Point B), walking in a completely straight line from one to the other. Create a
topographic profile of your path, making sure to define the axes. (Note: the peak of Dorr
Mountain is 1265 ft.) (3 points)
69) Suppose you decide to take the Dorr Mtn South Ridge Trail all the way to where it meets
the Tarn Trail, marked as point C. What is the approximate dip of this trail? (2 points)
70) Seismologists first established the physical character of Earth’s outer core based on the
fact that:
A) S waves do not pass through liquid substances.
B) P and S waves are reflected from solids at different angles.
C) P waves do not pass through high-temperature materials.
D) P and S waves are refracted differently from irregular surfaces.
71) The broad shape and gentle slope of Hawaiian volcanoes are, to a great extent, a result of
the erupted magma’s…
A) high gas content.
B) mafic composition.
C) low iron content.
D) felsic composition.
72) A geologic process that occurs because of glacial advance is…
A) Marine regression
B) Tectonic plate compression
C) Marine transgression
D) Continental transgression
73) Which of the following is a projection that accurately represents the size of landmasses
and oceans, but distorts their shape, scale, or angle?
A) Conformal projection
B) Equal area projection
C) Equidistant projection
D) True direction projection
74) Which of the following two types of faults are formed from extensional forces?
A) Listric
B) Reverse
C) Thrust
D) Dip-Slip
E) Normal
75) Which of the following is a name for a short paraconformity in the geologic record?
A) Diastem
B) Misaligned Unconformity
C) Skewed Stratum
D) Outcrop
E) Strata Gap
76) Based on the banding, what class of rock is this?
A) Sedimentary
B) Igneous
C) Metamorphic
D) It’s not a rock, it’s a mineral
77) On a geologic map, what does the term “isopach” typically represent?
A) Thickness variations of a rock unit
B) Magnetic anomalies
C) Radiometric age dates
D) Paleomagnetic declination
78) On a geologic legend, what might the symbol “ΔV” represent?
A) Volcanic vent
B) Thrust fault
C) Folded sedimentary rocks
D) Glacial moraine
79) Deltas build seaward. This process is known as…
A) retrograde.
B) transgression.
C) regression.
D) prograde.
80) As deltas build, bottomsets are deposited, then covered by foresets as the delta front
moves past, then by topsets as that spot has become filled with sediment to the surface. So,
by Walther’s Law, deltaic sediments come in stacks that…
A) shift upward.
B) regress.
C) migrate laterally.
D) coarsen upwards.
