Dynamic Planet B/C

[JoeyC]

Does anyone know where to get good resources for learning about plate tectonics? It's a somewhat vague topic as it serves no real purpose in the world; there are no high paying applications for it . I've made notes, and am a veteran of this event, but I'm still flailing because I can't find any good resources; my local library has next to nothing ( no college level ) and Khan Academy has one puny section on it. I know that the best way to prepare for an event is to master its subject and have knowledge that rivals a college students on given subject, but that is hard to do if you can't find a good way to gather data to learn from. There are scattered articles here and there, but are there any good college level resources out there?

[geniusjohn5]

Regionals is tomorrow for me, and I only studied a little bit. Does anybody have any good cramming tips and strategies? (Btw, I studied thoroughly for all my other events so I'm mostly gonna study just Dynamic Planet today lol)

[Unome]

Regionals is tomorrow for me, and I only studied a little bit. Does anybody have any good cramming tips and strategies? (Btw, I studied thoroughly for all my other events so I'm mostly gonna study just Dynamic Planet today lol)

Google everything on the rules and read up quickly. Getting a good overview of all the material is the most important thing to do with this little time.

Does anyone know where to get good resources for learning about plate tectonics? It's a somewhat vague topic as it serves no real purpose in the world; there are no high paying applications for it . I've made notes, and am a veteran of this event, but I'm still flailing because I can't find any good resources; my local library has next to nothing ( no college level ) and Khan Academy has one puny section on it. I know that the best way to prepare for an event is to master its subject and have knowledge that rivals a college students on given subject, but that is hard to do if you can't find a good way to gather data to learn from. There are scattered articles here and there, but are there any good college level resources out there?

I've found that Wikipedia and college geology courses are the best resources for this event.

[knottingpurple]

Does anyone know where to get good resources for learning about plate tectonics? It's a somewhat vague topic as it serves no real purpose in the world; there are no high paying applications for it . I've made notes, and am a veteran of this event, but I'm still flailing because I can't find any good resources; my local library has next to nothing ( no college level ) and Khan Academy has one puny section on it. I know that the best way to prepare for an event is to master its subject and have knowledge that rivals a college students on given subject, but that is hard to do if you can't find a good way to gather data to learn from. There are scattered articles here and there, but are there any good college level resources out there?

I know my local college's science library has plenty of geology books, is going to a college rather than a public library an option for you?

[Nerd95]

Thank you pettywap and knottingpurple! I admittedly have been stalking the DP forums hahah what fun (read: I'm crying) and noticed someone else posted a question similar to mine. Seeing how no one responded, I was hopping if I prodded some more, a knowledgeable one would enlighten us all. Is there a specific time frame I should focus on for that topic (like mesozoic etc)? Also I have searched for ocean currents before but can't find any info on prehistoric currents and change over time...

(Thank you once again!!)

They usually don't test on a specific time period, rather they focus on the mechanics of what has happened in the past and why. I have never seen any thing about prehistoric currents so I wouldn't worry too much abut that. Though if you do come across something let me know.

Hi all -- I'm an event supervisor, and I've written a couple of Dynamic Planet tests for invitationals and an upcoming state tournament, and I do include "geologic timeline" questions on my exam. The questions are often something like, "Given this timeline, fill in the missing periods." Or, "where on this timeline did Pangea break apart?"

Now, you might ask: "Why would you include these questions?" It's because I believe one of the most fundamental things to the study of geology -- of any kind -- is an understanding of the geologic timeline. If you don't have a sense of time, or a sense of the massive scale of Earth history, coming to terms with exactly how plate tectonics works (or mass extinctions happen, or species evolve) is really difficult. It underpins everything.

So be sure to know your geologic timeline! It's important. And, if you go study geology in college, you'll be glad you've learned it already.

[Nerd95]

Thank you pettywap and knottingpurple! I admittedly have been stalking the DP forums hahah what fun (read: I'm crying) and noticed someone else posted a question similar to mine. Seeing how no one responded, I was hopping if I prodded some more, a knowledgeable one would enlighten us all. Is there a specific time frame I should focus on for that topic (like mesozoic etc)? Also I have searched for ocean currents before but can't find any info on prehistoric currents and change over time...

(Thank you once again!!)

Also, re ocean currents: You're not going to find much about Proterozoic ocean currents. The records for ocean currents are often stored in sedimentary layers, and it's pretty rare that we'll have any undeformed sedimentary layers from a very long time ago, just given the way plate tectonics works.

The study of old oceans and climate relies heavily on isotopes (like carbon and oxygen), which is out of scope for this event but super interesting if you're interested!

[Celiepk]

Does anyone know if we will need to make formulas with isostasy to calculate density/weight etc of continental crusts or anything of the sort? also, if anyone has info on "f. Continental drift's role on opening and closure of ocean gateways and land-bridges, with specific reference to ocean circulation changes, climate changes, and biotic migrations." i would be so grateful. regionals are coming up so literally any advice soon would be super awesome

[OrigamiPlanet]

Does anyone know if we will need to make formulas with isostasy to calculate density/weight etc of continental crusts or anything of the sort? also, if anyone has info on "f. Continental drift's role on opening and closure of ocean gateways and land-bridges, with specific reference to ocean circulation changes, climate changes, and biotic migrations." i would be so grateful. regionals are coming up so literally any advice soon would be super awesome

You will most definitely need to know how to calculate the sort of isostasy; those are usually your math related portions of the test, otherwise it will most likely be plate tectonic movement. You'll want to know what ocean gateways and land-bridges are, and then know maybe the history of the two. One especially good one to know is the isthmus of Panama and how that affected the Americas and the animals inhabiting it. That's really all I have for you, if there is anything you want me to clarify further, tell me.

[knottingpurple]

Does anyone know if we will need to make formulas with isostasy to calculate density/weight etc of continental crusts or anything of the sort? also, if anyone has info on "f. Continental drift's role on opening and closure of ocean gateways and land-bridges, with specific reference to ocean circulation changes, climate changes, and biotic migrations." i would be so grateful. regionals are coming up so literally any advice soon would be super awesome

Calculating the height of different crustal features based on the density and thickness of different layers, and vice versa, using principles of isostasy, is quite a standard type of problem which I would definitely recommend practicing (there's a really complicated version of such a problem in last year's MIT DP test, which you can find publicly on their website).

The other part of your post is a question everyone's been asking for 2 years, so...

[Nerd95]

Does anyone know if we will need to make formulas with isostasy to calculate density/weight etc of continental crusts or anything of the sort? also, if anyone has info on "f. Continental drift's role on opening and closure of ocean gateways and land-bridges, with specific reference to ocean circulation changes, climate changes, and biotic migrations." i would be so grateful. regionals are coming up so literally any advice soon would be super awesome

Calculating the height of different crustal features based on the density and thickness of different layers, and vice versa, using principles of isostasy, is quite a standard type of problem which I would definitely recommend practicing (there's a really complicated version of such a problem in last year's MIT DP test, which you can find publicly on their website).

The other part of your post is a question everyone's been asking for 2 years, so...

I find this reading to be quite good to address the second question. It's a bit technical but a really solid overview of plate tectonics and climate. Lots of good details from Earth history in there! Enjoy!

Find it here: https://www.geo.umass.edu/climate/paper ... limate.pdf