EAR 311

Specimen 2 hours

Section A compulsory numerical problem Section B essay answer ONE question only Section C short answer, answer ALL questions

40% 40% 20%

Section C the answers are intended to be no more than 3-4 sentences long plus or minus a diagram.

Approved calculators are permitted and graph paper will be provided. Credit will be given for appropriate annotated diagrams.

Useful formulae are provided at the end of the paper.

Section A Compulsory

40% of total

1. You are provided with the results (arrival times for the first breaks) of a reversed seismic refraction survey on the attached sheet (Table 1). Please ensure that if you use the sheet that you put your student number on it and attach it to the main answer book.

Plot the data in an appropriate manner with axes titles etc

(30%)

Give a brief written interpretation of the data

(10%)

Fully interpret the data using a suitable numerical approach

(50%)

Comment on the results of your interpretation and explain how the interpretation could be extended to cover the whole length of the survey (10%)

Section B Answer ONE question only

40% of total

2. Given an account of gravity interpretation approaches. Your answer should include comment on qualitative/descriptive analysis of map patterns, the direct methods and forward and inverse modelling.

3. Describe how heat calculations may be used to convert the global rate of production of oceanic crust into an estimate of the average spatial density of hydrothermal vents associated with seafloor spreading axes.

4. Give an account of how magnetic anomalies arise and how they can be measured during a (terrestrial) field survey. Briefly discuss the interpretation of such anomalies.

Section C - Answer All questions

20% of total

5. Explain the difference between induced and remanent magnetizations and their relationship to the geomagnetic field acting on a rock during its history.

6. Provide a sketch that illustrates a natural remanent magnetization (NRM comprising a primary magnetization and a present-day field secondary overprint.

7. Explain the criteria you would consider for choosing SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) data for monitoring an active volcano?

8. A cuboidal-shaped igneous sill that is 1250 m long, 1100 m wide and 50 m thick is emplaced into the crust. It consists of dolerite with a specific heat capacity of 840 J kg-1 C-1 and a density of 2700 kg m-3. Use the equation below to calculate the heat energy released (in Joules) in conductively cooling the sill from a solidus temperature of 1000C to an ambient temperature of 100C. Equation for conductive cooling:

Q = cp m T
where:

Q = heat energy transferred (J)

cp = specific heat capacity (J kg-1 C-1) and m = mass (kg)

Useful Formulae in Seismic Refraction

x 1 1 2z 2 2 v2 v1 v2

The abbreviations are as follows:

t is the time

v is the velocity
z ti v1v2
2 2 2 v2 v1

x is the offset distance ag is the delay time at the geophone

of interest

ag v1v2 v v
2 2 2 1

z is the depth.
The subscripts are:

f and r are forward and reverse rec is the reciprocal i intercept

Candidate Number __________________________________

Seismic refraction arrival times for Q1 Section A

Geophone Distance (m) 0 3 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 57 60

Forward Time (ms)

0.00 2.50 4.17 8.30 10.18 12.89 13.17 16.11 18.90 19.63 20.60 22.40 23.90 24.43 25.39

Reverse Time (ms)

25.39 24.36 23.67 22.25 20.68 19.94 16.77 16.26 15.60 12.89 10.41 8.33 4.17 2.50 0.00