What's going to be covered on the first exam?

Chapters 1 through 4 in the textbook, and anything else that we may cover in class this Thursday. The notes for each week, accessible by clicking on the "notes" link in the online syllabus, provide an outline for all the topics discussed in class and in the assigned readings. We are running about a week behind schedule, so you are responsible primarily for the material up through the discussion of volcanoes and igneous activity. You should also be familiar with the contents of the CD-ROM that came packaged with the textbook, including the introduction, the section on earth materials up through igneous rocks, and the section on internal processes that pertains to igneous activity. Use of the CD-ROM won't guarantee that you've covered all of the material you're responsible for, but it provides a quick, easily understood overview and has review questions that test you on your knowledge of a lot of the basic issues.

In all cases, when studying, make sure you understand the main concepts before you start memorizing details. Before memorizing names of minerals or mineral groups, for example, be sure you understand the defining characteristics of a mineral, the way mineral crystals typically are combined to form rocks, the relationship between structure at the atomic level and physical properties of the mineral at scales visible to the naked eye, and the range of chemical compositions associated with the major groups of rock-forming minerals. Once you understand how these ideas fit together, the names of the major groups of rock-forming minerals will be easier to remember. For the dominant group of rock-forming minerals (the silicates) you should first understand the basic building block (the silica tetrahedron), the ways in which silica tetrahedra may be linked together, and the range of structural and compositional types among the silicates. If you understand these main features, you can then make better sense of Bowen's reaction series and the connection between the mineral structure, degree of coordination among silica tetrahedra and the crystallization temperature. This in turn helps you to understand the distinctions between basaltic, mafic or ferromagnesian rocks and granitic, felsic or aluminosilicate igneous rocks. These distinctions are also central to understanding the physical properties of different magma types and the different styles of eruption and types of volcanic landforms that form from them, and we find that each is also associated with some kinds of plate- tectonic environments and not others.

If you don't understand the main concepts in each chapter well enough to explain them to someone else, memorizing details may not help much. Focus on understanding principles and basic processes first, then fill in more of the details.