Weathering Evaluation RubricThis assignment requires you to identify the combination of fa...

Weathering Evaluation Rubric

This assignment requires you to identify the combination of factors most likely to contribute to weathering at a World Heritage Site. First, review the information on physical, chemical, and biological weathering and the Angkor Wat case history. Then, imagine you are a member of a US Geological Survey team that has been invited to assist the government of the small, impoverished nation of Sirinia. Your team will be working with the Department of Antiquities, a government agency responsible for managing over 100 historical sites representing over 1,500 years of history, back to the time of the ancient Cetacean Empire. The empire collapsed during a prolonged war from a.d. 1273 to 1314 and was subsequently divided into three nations, one of which is present-day Sirinia. Sirinia has an area of 200,000 square kilometers (77,220 square miles; smaller than Texas, bigger than California), and its elevation ranges from sea level along the coast to 5,265 meters (17,275 feet) inland at Mount Orcinus. Historical sites are distributed throughout the nation and are constructed from local building stone, which varies with location and includes varieties of sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks.

Audience: You will create a scoring scheme that can be applied by local volunteers for the Department of Antiquities. Specifically, you are writing for citizens who will volunteer to participate in a 1-week workshop during the summer before returning to their local regions to evaluate weathering at nearby monuments. The workshop will train them to recognize current weathering and the potential for future weathering. On the basis of the reports of these volunteers, the staff of the Department of Antiquities will send out a team of specialists to inspect the 10 sites determined to be deteriorating most rapidly as a result of weathering.

Main point and purpose: To demonstrate that you understand the principal factors that contribute to weathering of rocks.

Pattern and procedures: Identify five factors that influence weathering, and rank each factor’s potential for weathering as high, moderate, or low. Record your data on the table provided; one factor, rock type, has been provided as an example. Each factor with a high weathering potential is scored as 3 points; low-potential factors rate 1 point. The site with the highest cumulative score for all factors would be at greatest risk for future weathering.

Standards and criteria: You will be assessed on your choice of:

1. Relevant factors that would contribute to weathering.

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2. What constitutes high, moderate, or low weathering potential for each factor.

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3. One factor in particular as the most significant. The score for this factor will be doubled. Discuss your justification for choosing the particular factor.