Dynamic Planet B/C

[driedmango]

I took it just now; 137/240 (plus or minus 5 I'd say, depending on grading proclivities) in just under 70 minutes, but alone with no notesheets. Apparently good enough for second place (gg Mason's super-high score), though doubtless teams have improved since then. A very difficult test indeed (usually I can solo Dynamic tests in under 40 minutes, so this one was surprisingly long).

Oh wow, that score is amazing considering you soloed without notes. My partner and I only got 169.5 (I think?) and that was with cheatsheets and splitting the test. I don't think I could've done that well alone without resources

[Abekitt]

Any chance anybody has some tests I could practice with? Ran out. Also in general I feel like my dynamic score is not up to par to what it should be and it is holding the team back. So I want to improve as much as possible for state. Any books you guys recommend to read, or any things to looks and such? I'll admit my knowledge of this stuff is at a basic level so I want to improve as much as possible.

[Skink]

Since you're in Illinois, you probably don't need more than an introductory text and/or Wikipedia. The State ES is very clear (and this has been his mission for years) that he's more interested in application of skills to answer geological problems over recall of minutiae. As I expressed a page or two ago, I'm really fond of Plate Tectonics: Continental Drift and Mountain Building, overkill though it may be.

[driedmango]

Any chance anybody has some tests I could practice with? Ran out. Also in general I feel like my dynamic score is not up to par to what it should be and it is holding the team back. So I want to improve as much as possible for state. Any books you guys recommend to read, or any things to looks and such? I'll admit my knowledge of this stuff is at a basic level so I want to improve as much as possible.

This is one textbook that I really like (written by Fred Vine so cool! haha): Global Tectonics. This Cliffsnotes geology page is has more basic information, but it's really comprehensive (has stuff on mass wasting, earthquakes, volcanoes...) and helpful for reviewing. Also Tulane is awesome and put all of their physical geology lecture notes online (here!). Might be overkill but better safe than sorry right?

Good luck at states! Illinois is gonna be competitive this year.

[Abekitt]

Thanks guys! You guys are insane (in a good way) for being able to read those things. I hope to improve, geology isn't the peak of my interest as I love chemistry and math but people have taken Chem Lab already (although not that well) so I took over this and I hope to improve. Geology is hard and rather boring to me so it's going to be a grind.

[Unome]

Any recommendations on notable orogenies to research? I have the four Appalachian ones, plus seven or eight from the Western US, and I don't really have the time to cover every orogeny in existence (state is in two weeks and I have four other events).

[driedmango]

Any recommendations on notable orogenies to research? I have the four Appalachian ones, plus seven or eight from the Western US, and I don't really have the time to cover every orogeny in existence (state is in two weeks and I have four other events).

Seems like you already have a pretty comprehensive list. The only ones I've actually seen come up on tests are the appalachian orogenies. Maybe look at the Himalayan orogen? That one seems significant, although I've never been tested on it before.

[appleshake123]

Any recommendations on notable orogenies to research? I have the four Appalachian ones, plus seven or eight from the Western US, and I don't really have the time to cover every orogeny in existence (state is in two weeks and I have four other events).

Seems like you already have a pretty comprehensive list. The only ones I've actually seen come up on tests are the appalachian orogenies. Maybe look at the Himalayan orogen? That one seems significant, although I've never been tested on it before.

I've only seen Appalachians and Rockys for in-depth orogenies. The cascade ranges are also pretty common.Here is wikipedia for some orogenies of NA Otherwise, knowing how non-North American structures formed, but not the specific orogenies should suffice for those.

[freed2003]

How come as rocks go deeper into the EArth's there is a tiny increase in rock strength before the brittle-ductile transition zone? Wouldn't the pressure just make the strength go down.

[Unome]

How come as rocks go deeper into the EArth's there is a tiny increase in rock strength before the brittle-ductile transition zone? Wouldn't the pressure just make the strength go down.

I'm pretty sure the pressure makes the strength go up (until the rock starts deforming after the transition zone) because the density increases; not certain though.