Soil Erosion
What is a sediment delivery ratio? Discuss how this can be calculated.
From the studies we looked at what were some of the main conclusions related to where sediment is deposited in watersheds.
What are some models used to estimate erosion and what factors do they contain?
How does sediment move in streams?
What environmental effects does sediment have on streams?

Mass Wasting
What are the two types of weathering? What are the subcategories under each? How do they work?
What is strain? What are the four responses a material can have to strain?
Define the following: Liquid limit, plastic limit, plasticity index, shrinkage limit,
Define shearing strength and shearing stress.
Define the components of the Coulomb equation.
What is the factor of safety? If FS <1 is the slope stable or not? How does the Coulomb equation relate to the factor of safety?
We talked about several factors that influence whether failure will occur. What are those?
What are some factors that increase the shear stress? What are some factors which decrease the shear strength?
Know some of the parts to the landslide feature diagram.
What are the types of landslides? What are their recognition features?
What are the activity types and failure styles a mass wasting failure can exhibit?
Discuss in technical terms some of the effects water has in preventing or promoting landslides.
What are the differences among landslide hazard, landslide susceptibility, landslide inventory and landslide risk maps?
What are the differences among the inferential, statistical and probabilistic approaches to making landslide -related maps?
What are some monitoring measures to detect potential movement? How do they work?
What are three factors that monitoring activities try to detect?
There are three basic approaches to slope stabilization. What are they? For each category list two methods used to produce the desired effect.
What are some methods for subsurface drainage. Include where they are suitable for use and describe how they work.

Subsidence
What are the types of subsidence and how does each work?
How do we measure subsidence?
Why is it harder to measure subsidence in the Gulf area than in some inland locations?
What are some of the environmental/social problems caused by subsidence?
What is the physical mechanism for subsidence related to fluid withdrawal?
Why is there often a time lag between pumping and actual subsidence?
Why do subsidence -related fissures form?
What is karst?
How are sinkholes classified?

Coal Mining
What is coal? What are macerals?
What are the two main varieties of coal? What are the subdivisions of these?
What are the processes of coalification?
Where are the major coal-producing regions in the US and what type of coal do they have?
What are the main forms of underground mining?
Why is selenium a problem in coal? Where are the problem areas?
Mercury in coal is a particular problem. In what regions is mercury the largest problem, what can be done about it? How does the Clean Air Mercury rule work?
How does acid deposition form? What are its' effects?
What is OSM, AMRA, SMRCA, AMLI
What technologies are we using today to increase the efficiency of combustion?
How does fluidized bed combustion work?
What is coalbed methane? How much of it is available? What are some of the drawbacks to its use?
What is coal gasification? What are the benefits of this technology?
What are coal combustion products? What do we do with them?
What are the potential disposal methods for excess carbon? How do they work?

Nuclear Waste
What is alpha and beta decay?
What geologic settings is uranium found in? How does it concentrate?
How is uranium mined? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the various methods?
Why are we concerned with radioactive waste? What are the health problems? Which type of radiation is most problematic?
What are the roles of the following agencies relative to the nuclear business? NRC, EPA, DOE, individual states? What is OCWRM?
What does the nuclear waste policy act and its' amendment do?
Define the types of nuclear waste.
What options (feasible) exist for disposing of high level and transuranic waste?
What types of factors must be considered when designating a site as a long-term geologic repository?
What and where is WIPP? What is the geology of WIPP? How will this geology ensure the safety of the hazardous material? What objections have been voiced to the site?
What and where is Yucca Mountain? What is the geology? How will this geology ensure the safety of the hazardous material? What objections have been voiced to the site?

Radon
What is radon and how is it formed?
Explain the high areas on the radon potential map in terms of the underlying geology.
Discuss the ways that radon can get into homes.
List the factors that increase the potential for an area to have higher than normal radon levels.
What methods are available to decrease the amount of radon in buildings?
Explain the EPA proposed regulations on radon in water and discuss why they approached the problem in this manner.