Alejandro HW 4 Geology

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Rowan University *

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Geology

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Apr 3, 2024

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Name: Alejandro Espinoza _ 1 GEOL 01.101 | Physical Geology | Rowan University Let’s take a virtual field trip! Our home state of New Jersey has a fascinating geologic history and some really cool rocks and landforms. Rich Volkert and Ron Witte of the NJGS will guide us on a journey through more than 1 billion years of tectonic activity, deformation, weathering, erosion and deposition, and economic exploitation. https://www.njgeology.org/enviroed/freedwn/HighlandsVFT.pdf The document above is 100 pages long. Please save a tree and DO NOT print the whole thing out, but feel free to download it and save to your computer, flashdrive, or cloud file system of choice. Answer the following questions based on your understanding from class, your textbook, labs, and your “field” experience. There is no need to consult outside sources for this assignment. The questions will point you to both the explanatory text and to the field locations that exemplify each topic. Enjoy your trip! 1. First thing’s first. Take a look at the Index Maps and read the Introduction and Highlands Origin sections on pages 2-9. A) Where are the Highlands in relation to Rowan? B) What physiographic province are we in here in Glassboro? C) Why do you think the Highlands are called that? D) What makes the Highlands region of NJ unique? E) Where else in North America do we find rocks that are similar to the ones we find in the NJ Highlands? a) In New Jersey, the highlands are north and in Pennsylvania lie west of Rowan. b) Coastal Plain c) Because it is mountainous. d) It is the oldest part of New Jersey. e) In Virginia and Vermont 2. Next, go to the last page and take a look at the chart that illustrates geologic time. What are the four Eras geologists use to describe the periods of Earth’s past? List them below, along with their time spans, in order from youngest to oldest. In the third column, list 1-2 life forms that appeared during each era. Finally, in column 4, write down 1 geologic process or event that occurred during each era that affected the rocks we see in the Highlands today. Era Years ago (Ma) Evolution of Life Geologic Events Proterozoic era (precambrian) 1,000 Ma First soft-bodied invertebrates and colonial algae. Collision between north and south American plates formed mountains and produces supercontinent Rodinia. Paleozoic Era 550-365 Ma All phyla exist today Large erosional gap

Name: Alejandro Espinoza _ 2 are developed - great mass extinction forming limestone and dolomite deposits. Further collisions make more mountains, Mesozoic Era 230-67 Ma Dinosaurs - meteor extinction leading to flowering plants. Pangea breakup has begun. Developed Atlantic Ocean basin. Cenozoic Era 67-2 Ma Mammals and birds - humans Lots of weathering and erosion. Glaciation wears down hills and slopes from highlands. 3. What is the age of the oldest rocks in the Highlands? What is the age of the youngest rocks? Why are there no rocks of Mesozoic age that appear in the Highlands? The oldest rocks are 1,300 Ma years old and the youngest rocks are 960 Ma years old.Existential stresses from rifting resulted in the down-dropping of crustal blocks in the highland faults. 4. Look at the picture on p. 40. Diabase is an igneous rock texturally between gabbro and basalt. How do we know that the lighter rocks around the dike are older? What would the dark-colored feature be called if it were horizontal rather than vertical? Because when a dike cuts through rock that is an indication that magma has crept up and solidified forming the dike.If the intrusion was horizontal it would be called a sill. 5. The picture on p. 43 shows two different rock types. Explain what the contact between them is called and what it means. The contact between these rocks is known as an unconformity. It represents an erosional gap of more than 500Ma. The sandstone dips down a little to the right, indicative of it being older than

Name: Alejandro Espinoza _ 3 the gneiss. 6. Based on your reading on pp. 10-11, what are the four main types of rocks found in the Highlands? Which are the two most common types, and what are their approximate ages? The four main types of rocks in the highland are quartzite, marble, granite, and gneiss.One of the most common types is granite that makes up 50% of the highlands with Byram granite being an ample amount of the granite. Another common rock is Gneiss making up 45% of the highlands. 7. What minerals make up the igneous rocks in question 6? [see pp. 54-56] The minerals that make up the Igneous rock in the previous question are as stated: Pyroxene, feldspar, quartz, biotite, and hornblende. 8. What is the banding called in the metamorphic rocks in question 6? What causes this? [see pp. 53,57-61] The banding is called foliation. 9. Based on your reading on pp. 12-13, what is the most seismically active fault in NJ? When did this fault first form? [see pp. 62-65] The Ramapo fault is the most seisemically active fault in the region. This fault first formed during the late Proterozoic and Mesozoic eras.

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