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Past exam of the year 2 of the earth sciences (geology) course of the University of Oxford 2022 Paper 1 2 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Use the same conditional optimal normal-fault dip relation as in question 1, with :The second panel of the original Mohr circle figure has and ; its tangent from the origin has slope . Resolving the stresses onto a plane places its stress point at that tangency. The diagram assumes negligible cohesion, a vertical maximum principal stress and an optimally oriented new or equivalently oriented sliding plane. Without those assumptions, a dip and a statement that sliding began do not uniquely determine the coefficient of friction.
Past exam of the year 2 of the earth sciences (geology) course of the University of Oxford 2022 Paper 1 2 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
For an Andersonian faulting regime appropriate to the stated normal fault, take vertical, north–south along strike, and east–west. Thus the minimum horizontal compression is normal to the fault’s north–south strike. In an east–up cross-section, draw vertically and horizontally, with perpendicular to the page. These are plausible regional principal stress directions, rather than measured directions uniquely recoverable from one photograph.
Past exam of the year 2 of the earth sciences (geology) course of the University of Oxford 2022 Paper 1 12 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Allopatric speciation is the predominant classical model and is generally regarded as especially important in animals. Geographic separation directly reduces gene flow, making it easier for divergent adaptation and incompatibilities to accumulate. The exact frequency across all organisms and historical events is not directly observable; a universal numerical fraction is not established by this statement.
Evidence combines the geographic arrangement of close relatives, phylogenetic trees, genetic divergence and independently reconstructed barrier histories. Sister lineages on opposite sides of barriers, island radiations founded by colonization, and differentiated biological populations that remain reproductively isolated after contact are mutually reinforcing observations. They are stronger when separation is independently dated and the origin of reproductive barriers is distinguished from later range changes.
A concrete primary example is the comparison of 15 trans-isthmian snapping-shrimp pairs using allozymes and mitochondrial COI. Concordant genetic differences support separation of lineages by the developing Isthmus of Panama, but divergence varied substantially between pairs. This cautions against assigning every pair to one simultaneous final closure event.[ref]
New dates and new rates for divergence across the Isthmus of Panama by Nancy Knowlton and others. Abstract: 15 Alpheus pairs, concordant markers, variable divergence and different cessation times of gene flow
The inference is not exclusive. The island-palm study of Howea forsteriana and Howea belmoreana used sister relationships, island history, soil association and flowering-time differences to support a sympatric origin.[ref]
Sympatric speciation in palms on an oceanic island by Vincent Savolainen and others. Abstract: endemic sister taxa, dated island history and flowering-time disjunction correlated with soil preference
Such cases show that sympatric speciation is possible. Conversely, sister-species allopatry by itself cannot prove historical allopatry, because extinction and range shifts can change their present distributions. The case for the common mode rests on combined historical evidence and the widespread effect of barriers on gene flow. Past exam of the year 2 of the earth sciences (geology) course of the University of Oxford 2022 Paper 1 12 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
- Habitat isolation: potential mates occupy different habitats or hosts and seldom encounter each other at mating sites.
- Temporal isolation: breeding seasons, flowering times or daily mating periods differ, reducing opportunities for mating or pollen transfer.
- Behavioral isolation: courtship signals, calls or chemical mating signals elicit responses mainly from the same species, preventing cross-group mating.
- Mechanical isolation: incompatible mating structures or flower–pollinator fit prevent successful transfer of gametes.
- Gametic incompatibility: gametes meet but cannot recognize, fuse or complete fertilization successfully.
The first four primarily reduce mating or gamete transfer; the last can occur after mating while still preceding fertilization. These differ from postzygotic isolation, such as hybrid inviability or hybrid sterility, which acts after the zygote has formed. Distinguishing these stages prevents “premating” from being used as a synonym for every prezygotic barrier.
Past exam of the year 2 of the earth sciences (geology) course of the University of Oxford 2022 Paper 1 12 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
In allopatric speciation, geographically separated biological populations experience sufficiently reduced gene flow for divergence to accumulate through natural selection, genetic drift and other evolutionary processes. A barrier can split a former biological population, or a colonizing biological population can become isolated. The eventual species distinction requires persistent reproductive isolation, not merely physical separation at one instant.
In sympatric speciation, reproductive divergence originates without the initial geographic separation required by the allopatric model, at the spatial scale relevant to mating and dispersal. Divergent ecological selection and assortative mating, or some forms of polyploidy, can reduce gene exchange despite geographic overlap. Present-day sympatry alone does not establish this history: previously isolated species can meet through secondary contact. The difference concerns the geography of the origin of isolation, not whether the resulting species currently occupy different places.
Past exam of the year 2 of the earth sciences (geology) course of the University of Oxford 2022 Paper 1 11 c Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
One fossil-record study is Selectivity of end-Cretaceous marine bivalve extinctions by David Jablonski and others, which compared survival of marine bivalve genera across the end-Cretaceous mass extinction against their pre-event attributes. Geographically widespread genera had lower extinction intensity than narrowly distributed ones. In the same analysis, body size, burrowing versus exposed life position, and shelf bathymetric position were not significant selectors; the apparent feeding-mode contrast was concentrated in particular groups rather than establishing a universal feeding rule.[ref]
Selectivity of end-Cretaceous marine bivalve extinctions by David Jablonski and others. Science 268, pp. 389–391, abstract: tested traits, range result and qualifications to the feeding-mode result
The logic of the test is to define the pre-event genera at risk, classify their geographic ranges using pre-event occurrences, then compare the fractions becoming extinct. Using pre-event rather than surviving ranges avoids measuring the predictor after the outcome. A two-by-two contingency table gives an elementary broad/narrow-range comparison; a logistic regression can instead retain a continuous range measure and include correlated covariates. These are explanations of the inferential design, not a claim that this paper used that exact regression specification.
A persuasive interpretation must address unequal rock exposure, collecting intensity, taxonomic revision, incomplete occurrence records and the difference between local loss and global extinction. The important result is selective survival in a real fossil dataset and the failure of several plausible alternative predictors in that setting. It is observational evidence: geographic range can correlate with unmeasured ecological properties, so the association alone does not prove a unique kill mechanism.
Past exam of the year 2 of the earth sciences (geology) course of the University of Oxford 2022 Paper 1 11 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Four documented examples, each tied to its actual context, are:
- Geographic range: widespread marine bivalve genera survived the end-Cretaceous event better than geographically restricted genera. Spatial spread can reduce exposure to some geographically heterogeneous stresses, although this does not guarantee survival of a global perturbation.[ref]Selectivity of end-Cretaceous marine bivalve extinctions by David Jablonski and others. Abstract: lower extinction intensity in geographically widespread genera
- Body size: large-bodied mammals were disproportionately lost during the late Quaternary. The global analysis documents size selectivity across continents and trophic groups; this is not evidence that large body size always raises extinction risk in every geological interval.[ref]Body size downgrading of mammals over the late Quaternary by Felisa Smith and others. Abstract: size-selective losses over the studied late-Quaternary intervals
- Physiological buffering and respiratory capacity: poor capacity to tolerate elevated carbon dioxide and associated oxygen stress has been linked to higher vulnerability among end-Permian marine groups. This is a paleophysiological interpretation informed by living relatives and fossil traits, rather than a direct measurement of a fossil animal’s tolerance.[ref]Paleophysiology and end-Permian mass extinction by Andrew H. Knoll and others. Abstract and section Extinction in the oceans: hypercapnia vulnerability and physiological selectivity
- Sexual dimorphism as a proxy for male reproductive investment: greater male–female carapace differences in fossil cytheroid ostracods were associated with higher estimated extinction rates. The measured fossil trait is dimorphism; interpreting it as investment requires the biological correspondence observed in living relatives.[ref]High male sexual investment as a driver of extinction in fossil ostracods by Maria João Fernandes Martins and others. Abstract: dimorphic fossil carapaces and association with estimated extinction rates
These examples demonstrate event- and group-dependent selectivity. They do not define one universal vulnerability ranking: the bivalve study, for instance, did not find body-size selectivity at the same end-Cretaceous genus-level event.
Past exam of the year 2 of the earth sciences (geology) course of the University of Oxford 2022 Paper 1 11 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Extinction selectivity is systematic variation in the probability or rate of extinction among lineages with different traits, rather than trait-independent loss. Traits may be biological, ecological or geographical: for example, survival may differ between narrow-ranging and widespread taxa within the same extinction interval.
A test needs an explicit denominator of taxa at risk, a defined taxonomic level and time window, and a specified trait measurement. Regional disappearance is not automatically global extinction. Nor is an association necessarily a causal mechanism: traits covary with habitat, abundance and preservation, and their effects can change between background intervals and mass extinctions.
Past exam of the year 2 of the earth sciences (geology) course of the University of Oxford 2022 Paper 1 1 e Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
The along-strike rupture time is , where is rupture velocity. Taking a representative crustal gives about s for a km unilateral finite-source rupture. A different assumed rupture velocity changes this estimate. The local slip rise time at one patch is not specified and need not equal the whole-fault rupture time.
For comparable distance and ground conditions, the eastern observer lies in the forward rupture directivity direction. Radiation from successive patches arrives closer together, producing a shorter, more concentrated and generally larger-amplitude ground-velocity pulse. The western observer receives the contributions spread over a longer interval, generally with less concentrated shaking. This concerns pulse duration and amplitude; it does not imply an equally large permanent displacement at the eastern site.[ref]
What is Directivity by United States Geological Survey. Explanation of constructive interference and the relation of rupture speed to S-wave speed
For distant observers approximately along strike, an elementary seismic travel time construction giveswhere is the shear-wave velocity. With and , these propagation contributions are about and s, respectively; finite local rise time broadens them. Double-couple radiation pattern, receiver geometry and local site response can change the observed amplitudes, so location east or west alone is not an unconditional intensity prediction.
Past exam of the year 2 of the earth sciences (geology) course of the University of Oxford 2022 Paper 1 1 d Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Assuming pure dip-slip faulting, use an east–west striking, north-dipping normal fault, with the northern hanging wall moving down dip. In a right-hand-rule strike convention this is strike , dip , rake . The auxiliary nodal plane strikes east–west and dips south. The focal mechanism has a predominantly vertical P axis and a predominantly north–south horizontal T axis; the steep central direction is dilatational.
Original lower-hemisphere normal-fault focal mechanism: black compression, white dilatation, and two alternative nodal planes
. Details. The sketch is a double-couple seismic moment tensor calculation, not a claim that first motions uniquely identify which nodal plane slipped. The mapped north-dipping surface supplies that additional geological choice.
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