1|Page
ASBOG FG Exam Questions and
Answers 100% Pass
Foot wall and hanging wall - ✔✔Foot wall - block that underlies a non-vertical fault.
Hanging wall - block that overlies a non-vertical fault.
Regressive sequence - ✔✔Regression is the withdrawal of the sea from land. A
regressive sequence is represented by limestone overlain by shale overlain by
sandstone.
Order of deposition of evaporites - ✔✔Order of deposition:
calcium carbonate - calcite
calcium sulfate - gypsum or anhydrite
sodium chloride - halite
magnesium sulfates and chlorates
sodium bromide and potassium chloride
What are the processes included in diagenesis? - ✔✔Compaction, cementation,
reworking, authigenesis, replacement by secondary minerals, crystallization of
secondary minerals, leaching, hydration, bacterial action, formation of concretions.
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
,2|Page
Bowen's Reaction Series - ✔✔Sequence of minerals that form in the process of fractional
crystallization of a magma.
Transgressive sequence - ✔✔Transgression is the advance of the sea onto land. A
transgressive sequence is represented by sandstone overlain by shale overlain by
limestone.
What types of geomorphic features are diagnostic of faulting? - ✔✔Sag ponds, offset
ridges, fault scarps, triangular facets, aligned springs, offset streams, scarplets.
What types of features are indicative of faulting but often are not extensive enough to
be mapped? - ✔✔Slickensides, grooving, drag, gouge, mylonite.
What would cause a repetition or omission of units in cross section? - ✔✔Faulting - in
general, a reverse fault will cause repetition of beds and normal faults will cause
apparently missing beds.
What should be included on a complete geologic map? - ✔✔Scale, north arrow, geologic
symbols, and explanation. The explanation must include all symbols originally on the
map or added (incl. contacts, structure symbols, streams, cross sections) and a
stratigraphic column depicting all units shown on the map and placing them from the
oldest units at the bottom to the youngest at the top. Include lithology, thickness, and
names of the units if available.
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
,3|Page
What type of V will a vertical bed display on a map? - ✔✔A vertical bed will have no V.
A vertical bed crosses all variations of topography with a straight line. This is also true
of any vertical structural feature such as a fault.
Casing - ✔✔A heavy metal pipe lowered into a borehole and cemented in place to
prevent cave-in, loss of drilling fluid, and unwanted fluids from entering the borehole.
Law of Superposition - ✔✔The Law of Superposition states that the oldest layer is on
the bottom and the youngest layer is on top, assuming no overturning. If the beds are
overturned or vertical, stratigraphic succession cannot be determined unless absolute
ages of units are known.
How are cross-cutting relationships used to determine relative ages? - ✔✔If cross-
cutting relationships exist, the feature that is cut is older than the feature that cuts
across it. Rocks may be cut by intrusion, faulting, unconformities, or replacement
minerals.
Type locality - ✔✔Where a geologic feature (such as a fossil species or geologic
formation) was first recognized and describes. Contains the type section.
Rule of V's - ✔✔The outcrop of a formation as it crosses a valley forms a V shape (as
viewed on a map). The V points in the direction that the formation underlies the valley.
Law of Initial Horizontality - ✔✔The sequence of layers was deposited horizontally or
nearly so. The oldest layer is therefore on the bottom and the youngest layer is on top.
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
, 4|Page
Similarities and differences of reverse faults and normal faults - ✔✔Normal fault:
hanging wall has moved down relative to foot wall.
Reverse fault: hanging wall has moved up relative to foot wall.
Both: dip-slip faults with a dip between 45 and 90 degrees.
Unconformity - ✔✔A gap in the geologic record, marked by an interruption in the
depositional sequence that implies uplift and erosion have removed part of the geologic
record or that non-deposition has occurred.
Type section - ✔✔The originally described stratigraphic unit to which other parts of the
unit elsewhere may be compared. It is preferable to describe the location where the unit
attains its maximum thickness and where the top and bottom of the unit are exposed.
Tangent equation - ✔✔tan(θ) = Opposite / Adjacent
What is the net slip and where is it measured? - ✔✔Net slip is the distance between two
formerly adjacent points on either side of a fault, measured on the fault surface (in the
plane of the fault).
Sine equation - ✔✔sinθ = opposite/hypotenuse
Index fossil - ✔✔An index fossil identifies and dates the strata in which it is found. It
combines a wide geographic range with a narrow stratigraphic occurrence.
General form of the thickness equation and why you wouldn't want to use it -
✔✔thickness (t) = outcrop width perpendicular to strike (w) sin[dip(δ), slope(σ)]
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
ASBOG FG Exam Questions and
Answers 100% Pass
Foot wall and hanging wall - ✔✔Foot wall - block that underlies a non-vertical fault.
Hanging wall - block that overlies a non-vertical fault.
Regressive sequence - ✔✔Regression is the withdrawal of the sea from land. A
regressive sequence is represented by limestone overlain by shale overlain by
sandstone.
Order of deposition of evaporites - ✔✔Order of deposition:
calcium carbonate - calcite
calcium sulfate - gypsum or anhydrite
sodium chloride - halite
magnesium sulfates and chlorates
sodium bromide and potassium chloride
What are the processes included in diagenesis? - ✔✔Compaction, cementation,
reworking, authigenesis, replacement by secondary minerals, crystallization of
secondary minerals, leaching, hydration, bacterial action, formation of concretions.
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
,2|Page
Bowen's Reaction Series - ✔✔Sequence of minerals that form in the process of fractional
crystallization of a magma.
Transgressive sequence - ✔✔Transgression is the advance of the sea onto land. A
transgressive sequence is represented by sandstone overlain by shale overlain by
limestone.
What types of geomorphic features are diagnostic of faulting? - ✔✔Sag ponds, offset
ridges, fault scarps, triangular facets, aligned springs, offset streams, scarplets.
What types of features are indicative of faulting but often are not extensive enough to
be mapped? - ✔✔Slickensides, grooving, drag, gouge, mylonite.
What would cause a repetition or omission of units in cross section? - ✔✔Faulting - in
general, a reverse fault will cause repetition of beds and normal faults will cause
apparently missing beds.
What should be included on a complete geologic map? - ✔✔Scale, north arrow, geologic
symbols, and explanation. The explanation must include all symbols originally on the
map or added (incl. contacts, structure symbols, streams, cross sections) and a
stratigraphic column depicting all units shown on the map and placing them from the
oldest units at the bottom to the youngest at the top. Include lithology, thickness, and
names of the units if available.
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
,3|Page
What type of V will a vertical bed display on a map? - ✔✔A vertical bed will have no V.
A vertical bed crosses all variations of topography with a straight line. This is also true
of any vertical structural feature such as a fault.
Casing - ✔✔A heavy metal pipe lowered into a borehole and cemented in place to
prevent cave-in, loss of drilling fluid, and unwanted fluids from entering the borehole.
Law of Superposition - ✔✔The Law of Superposition states that the oldest layer is on
the bottom and the youngest layer is on top, assuming no overturning. If the beds are
overturned or vertical, stratigraphic succession cannot be determined unless absolute
ages of units are known.
How are cross-cutting relationships used to determine relative ages? - ✔✔If cross-
cutting relationships exist, the feature that is cut is older than the feature that cuts
across it. Rocks may be cut by intrusion, faulting, unconformities, or replacement
minerals.
Type locality - ✔✔Where a geologic feature (such as a fossil species or geologic
formation) was first recognized and describes. Contains the type section.
Rule of V's - ✔✔The outcrop of a formation as it crosses a valley forms a V shape (as
viewed on a map). The V points in the direction that the formation underlies the valley.
Law of Initial Horizontality - ✔✔The sequence of layers was deposited horizontally or
nearly so. The oldest layer is therefore on the bottom and the youngest layer is on top.
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
, 4|Page
Similarities and differences of reverse faults and normal faults - ✔✔Normal fault:
hanging wall has moved down relative to foot wall.
Reverse fault: hanging wall has moved up relative to foot wall.
Both: dip-slip faults with a dip between 45 and 90 degrees.
Unconformity - ✔✔A gap in the geologic record, marked by an interruption in the
depositional sequence that implies uplift and erosion have removed part of the geologic
record or that non-deposition has occurred.
Type section - ✔✔The originally described stratigraphic unit to which other parts of the
unit elsewhere may be compared. It is preferable to describe the location where the unit
attains its maximum thickness and where the top and bottom of the unit are exposed.
Tangent equation - ✔✔tan(θ) = Opposite / Adjacent
What is the net slip and where is it measured? - ✔✔Net slip is the distance between two
formerly adjacent points on either side of a fault, measured on the fault surface (in the
plane of the fault).
Sine equation - ✔✔sinθ = opposite/hypotenuse
Index fossil - ✔✔An index fossil identifies and dates the strata in which it is found. It
combines a wide geographic range with a narrow stratigraphic occurrence.
General form of the thickness equation and why you wouldn't want to use it -
✔✔thickness (t) = outcrop width perpendicular to strike (w) sin[dip(δ), slope(σ)]
Katelyn Whitman© 2025, All Rights Reserved.
