Study guides · Stuff Every Geology Scout Should Know
Practice facts for the Geology merit badge. Not an official Scouting America credential. Grab a snack: this guide is the friendly version, with the answers explained and a groan-worthy joke waiting at the end of most cards.
Knowing Geology Scout saves you money, time and the occasional embarrassment.
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Short answer: Earth, its rocks, and how they change
Geology is a natural science about Earth, its rocks, and the processes that change them over time.
Groan of the day: Geology rocks, but it is not a music genre.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: A naturally occurring substance with a definite chemical makeup
Minerals are natural elements or compounds with a definite homogeneous chemical composition and ordered atomic arrangement.
Groan of the day: Minerals have a crystal clear identity.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: By scratching it on a porcelain plate
Streak is found by scratching the sample on a porcelain plate and noting the powder color.
Groan of the day: That test really leaves a mark.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Resistance to scratching or indentation
Hardness is the resistance of a mineral to scratching or indentation.
Groan of the day: Hardness is a tough subject.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Breakage along closely spaced parallel planes
Cleavage is breakage along closely spaced parallel planes, unlike uneven fracture.
Groan of the day: Cleavage splits opinions, and minerals.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: The quality of light reflected from a mineral's surface
Luster is the quality of light reflected from a mineral surface, such as metallic or pearly.
Groan of the day: This property has a certain shine.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Comparing the weight of a volume of mineral
Specific gravity is the weight of a specific volume of a mineral.
Groan of the day: This test carries some weight.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: A naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals
A rock is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloids.
Groan of the day: Rocks are made of the real deal.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic
Geologists group rocks as igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.
Groan of the day: Three types rock the rock cycle.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: From melted rock that solidifies
Igneous rock forms when rock solidifies or crystallizes from melt such as magma or lava.
Groan of the day: Igneous rocks know how to chill.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: By weathering, redepositing, and lithifying material
Rocks can be weathered and eroded, then redeposited and lithified into sedimentary rock.
Groan of the day: Sedimentary rocks settle down.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Heat and pressure changing its minerals
Heat and pressure change mineral content and create a characteristic fabric in metamorphic rock.
Groan of the day: Metamorphic rocks handle the pressure.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Relationships among the three rock types
The rock cycle illustrates relationships among igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks.
Groan of the day: The rock cycle keeps things rolling.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: In undisturbed layers, a layer is younger than the one below
In an undisturbed sedimentary sequence, each layer is younger than the one beneath and older than the one above.
Groan of the day: Superposition stacks up nicely.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Sediments settle in horizontal beds
The principle states that sediment deposition occurs as essentially horizontal beds.
Groan of the day: This principle is on the level.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: The fault is younger than the rocks it cuts
Faults are younger than the rocks they cut, so a fault cutting a layer formed after that layer.
Groan of the day: This fault cuts to the chase.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Present geological processes worked much the same way in the past
Uniformitarianism says processes observed today have worked in much the same way over geological time.
Groan of the day: The present is the key to the past.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: The inclusions are older than the rock containing them
Inclusions or clasts found in a formation must be older than the formation that contains them.
Groan of the day: These clasts are old-timers.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Giving relative ages to rock formations using fossils
Fossils in sedimentary rocks help give relative ages to the formations where they appear.
Groan of the day: Fossils help rocks tell their age.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Absolute ages of rocks
Isotope ratios let geologists assign absolute ages to rock units.
Groan of the day: These dates are absolutely reliable.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Geologically young materials containing organic carbon
Radiocarbon dating is used for geologically young materials that contain organic carbon.
Groan of the day: Carbon dating is a young person's game.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: The crust and rigid uppermost mantle
The lithosphere includes the crust and the rigid uppermost portion of the upper mantle.
Groan of the day: The lithosphere is a solid layer.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: A plastically deforming solid upper mantle
Tectonic plates move across the plastically deforming, solid upper mantle called the asthenosphere.
Groan of the day: The asthenosphere goes with the flow.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Two plates move apart
Mid-ocean ridges are divergent boundaries where two plates move apart.
Groan of the day: Divergent plates need some space.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: One plate subducts under another
Arcs of volcanoes and earthquakes form at convergent boundaries where one plate subducts under another.
Groan of the day: Convergent plates come together.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Plates slide horizontally past each other
Transform boundaries are where plates slide horizontally past each other.
Groan of the day: Transform boundaries slide into action.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: A mechanism for continents moving over time
Plate tectonics gave a mechanism for Wegener's theory of continental drift.
Groan of the day: Continents drift with a good reason.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Using arrival times of seismic waves
Seismologists use seismic wave arrival times to image the interior of the Earth.
Groan of the day: Seismic waves give Earth a checkup.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: It is liquid
Shear waves cannot propagate through the liquid outer core, showing it is liquid.
Groan of the day: The outer core is a liquid asset.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: About 4.5 billion years
Today the Earth is known to be approximately 4.5 billion years old.
Groan of the day: Earth is old enough to know better.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: A fold where rock units buckle downward
Synforms buckle downward, and if the tops of rock units remain pointing up, they are called synclines.
Groan of the day: Synclines dip in the middle.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: A fold where material in the center buckles upward
Antiforms buckle upward, and with tops pointing up they are called anticlines.
Groan of the day: Anticlines are upbeat folds.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Extension, where rock units get longer and thinner
Extension causes rock units to lengthen and thin, mainly through normal faulting.
Groan of the day: Normal faults are stretching the truth.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: A fault where deeper rock moves on top of shallower rock
In the shallow crust under compression, thrust faults form and deeper rock moves on top of shallower rock.
Groan of the day: Thrust faults push the point.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Plotting orientations of geological structures
A stereonet is a stereographic projection used to plot orientations of features like folds and faults.
Groan of the day: Stereonets help structures get oriented.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Economic minerals extracted profitably for practical uses
Economic geology deals with economic minerals extracted profitably for practical uses.
Groan of the day: Economic geology is a valuable subject.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Geological factors are addressed in design and construction
Engineering geology applies geological principles so geological factors affecting engineering works are properly addressed.
Groan of the day: Engineering geology builds on solid ground.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: It helps locate groundwater supplies
Hydrogeology is used to locate groundwater, which is especially important in arid regions.
Groan of the day: Hydrogeology finds water where it hides.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Reconstructing past climate
Ice cores and sediment cores are used for paleoclimate reconstructions of past temperature, precipitation, and sea level.
Groan of the day: Cores give climate a history lesson.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: To enact safe building codes and warning systems
Geologists study hazards to support safe building codes and warning systems that prevent loss of property and life.
Groan of the day: Hazard study is a safe bet.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Permission from the land manager
Make sure you have permission from the land manager before taking samples for collections.
Groan of the day: Good collecting starts with good permission.
Sources: Scouting America: Geology
Short answer: Most National and State Parks
Collecting is prohibited in most National and State Parks, so check rules before you collect.
Groan of the day: Parks protect their rocks, so leave them be.
Sources: Scouting America: Geology
Short answer: Buying from commercial rock and mineral shops
Consider purchasing from commercial rock and mineral shops or home garden stores instead of collecting in protected places.
Groan of the day: Shopping for rocks is a solid plan.
Sources: Scouting America: Geology
Short answer: They limit impacted disturbances
Pictures or sketches may suffice for a collection and limit impacted disturbances.
Groan of the day: A sketch can capture a rock without taking it.
Sources: Scouting America: Geology
Short answer: Leave No Trace Seven Principles and the Outdoor Code
Scouts must follow the Leave No Trace Seven Principles and the Outdoor Code on field trips and when collecting specimens.
Groan of the day: Leave No Trace keeps field trips clean.
Sources: Scouting America: Geology
Short answer: Subsurface exploration to locate oil or gas
Reflection seismic is one method used in subsurface exploration to locate oil or gas.
Groan of the day: Seismic reflection echoes underground secrets.
Sources: Scouting America: Geology
Short answer: Studying underground rock layers
Core samples and cutting samples are used in subsurface exploration to locate oil or gas.
Groan of the day: Core samples get to the bottom of things.
Sources: Scouting America: Geology
Short answer: Helping identify it, though impurities can change it
Color is mostly diagnostic, but impurities can change a mineral's color.
Groan of the day: Color gives minerals away sometimes.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: Fizzing when hydrochloric acid is dripped on it
Effervescence involves dripping hydrochloric acid on the mineral to test for fizzing.
Groan of the day: This test is a real fizzer.
Sources: Geology
Short answer: To help identify and understand the rock
Geologists evaluate minerals and physical properties such as texture and fabric to study all three rock types.
Groan of the day: Texture gives rocks character.
Sources: Geology
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Earth, its rocks, and how they change. Geology is a natural science about Earth, its rocks, and the processes that change them over time.
By weathering, redepositing, and lithifying material. Rocks can be weathered and eroded, then redeposited and lithified into sedimentary rock.
Geologically young materials containing organic carbon. Radiocarbon dating is used for geologically young materials that contain organic carbon.
A fold where rock units buckle downward. Synforms buckle downward, and if the tops of rock units remain pointing up, they are called synclines.
Permission from the land manager. Make sure you have permission from the land manager before taking samples for collections.
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