Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Geology

Climograma

Un Climograma é un gráfico no que representamos simultaneamente os valores da temperatura media mensual, mediante unha liña, e os de precipitación media mensual, mediante barras verticais, dos doce meses do ano. No eixe vertical esquerdo situaremos as frecuencias de temperatura en oC (Graos Centígrados), tendo en conta se hai temperaturas inferiores a 0oC, pois nese caso haberá que deixar un espazo para representalas. As temperaturas medias mensuais están unidas por unha liña vermella 1.No eixe vertical dereito representaremos as precipitacións (en mm), tendo en conta as proporcións que debemos utilizar en función do total, sabendo que será necesario indicar o dobre do valor empregado no eixe vertical esquerdo. A diferenza... Continue reading "Climograma and Pollution: Environmental Impact in Spain" »

Abnormally Pressured Shallow Formations

Abnormally pressured shallow formations can result from upward fluid migration due to:

• Leaky fault
• Leaky cement or casing
• Improperly abandoned underground blowout

Steps Not Included in Well Drilling

Steps in well drilling do not include: building drilling equipment.

Drilling Rig Power System Selection

To select the power system of a drilling rig, one needs to consider the weight of the drill string.

Formation Fracture vs. Pore Pressure

Is formation fracture pressure always higher than formation pore pressure? Yes.

Causes Excluded from Abnormal Pore Pressure

Causes of abnormal pore pressure do not include: drilling.

When Not to Use Oil-Based Drilling Fluids

We would not use oil-based drilling fluids to increase safety,... Continue reading "Essential Principles of Petroleum Well Drilling" »

Celestial Mechanics & Timekeeping

Time Definitions and Earth's Motion

• Solar Day: The time from one local noon to the next; Earth rotates slightly more than 360° relative to the Sun.
• Sidereal Day: The time for a distant star to appear in the same position in the sky; approximately 4 minutes shorter than a solar day.
• Earth's Precession: A slow wobble in Earth's rotational axis, completing a cycle approximately every 26,000 years.

Moon Phases, Tides, and Orbit

• First Quarter Moon: Rises around noon, sets around midnight.
• Third Quarter Moon: Rises around midnight, sets around noon.
• Spring Tides: Occur during full and new moons, resulting in the highest tidal range.
• Neap Tides: Occur during first and third quarter moons, resulting in the lowest tidal

The English Vowel System

In phonetics, "vowel" refers to a vowel sound or a letter representing it in writing. Vowels are speech sounds produced without obstructing airflow from the lungs, allowing breath to pass freely through the mouth. Vowels are always voiced (vocal cords vibrate).

The English alphabet has six vowel letters: a, e, i, o, u, y (or five if Y is considered a consonant). Y can represent a consonant/semivowel (yes, yard) or a vowel (mystery, try, play). All vowel sounds together form the vowel system.

Essential Elements in Vowel Sound Classification

• Tongue Position: Front, back, and central vowels.
• Tongue Height: Close and open vowels.
• Lip Position: Rounded and unrounded vowels.
• Spread vowels.
• Close and open lip-rounding.

The Received... Continue reading "Understanding the English Vowel System: A Comprehensive Analysis" »

Carbon Cycle

CO2 is produced by combustion of biomass and fossilized organic matter.

Animals such as reef-building corals and molluscs have hard parts composed of CaCO3 and can become fossilized in limestone.

Carbon Return to Atmosphere

Processes by which carbon returns to the atmosphere include:

• Combustion
• Oxidation
• Respiration
• Volcanic eruption
• Decomposition
• Release from the Ocean

Carbon Reservoirs and Sinks

Major reservoirs and sinks for carbon include: coal, soil, gas/oil, limestone, and the atmosphere.

Carbon dioxide is converted by autotrophs into carbohydrates via photosynthesis and returned to the atmosphere as CO2 through respiration (these are carbon fluxes).

Carbon in Aquatic Ecosystems

In aquatic ecosystems, carbon exists as dissolved CO2 and... Continue reading "Carbon Cycle and Climate Change Explained" »

White dwarfs are the stars near the lower left that are small in radius and appear white in color because of their high temperatures. A main-sequence star’s mass determines both its luminosity and its surface temperature. More massive stars live much longer lives because they fuse hydrogen at a much greater rate. Giants and supergiants are stars that are nearing the ends of their lives. White dwarf stars are the cooling embers of stars that have exhausted their nuclear fusion fuel. Stars are born in cold, dense clouds of gas whose pressure cannot resist gravitational contraction. A molecular cloud fragment heats up as gravity makes it contract, producing a protostar at its center. Conservation of angular momentum ensures that protostars rotate... Continue reading "The Life Cycle of Stars" »

Consonants. In phonetic materials, the noun "consonant" has the following meanings: a consonant sound; a letter representing a consonant sound in writing. Consonants are speech sounds produced by creating an obstruction (completely or partially) in the mouth for the air flow from the lungs, or the mouth passage is so narrow that the air is expelled with audible friction. There are 20 consonant letters in the English alphabet. They represent 24 consonant sounds.

Consonants are generally classified according to three basic dimensions:

1. The state of the glottis. This refers to whether or not the vocal cords vibrate in the production of the sound. If the vocal cords vibrate, the resulting sound will be voiced; if they don’t vibrate, the sound will