GEO Final

__________ are sediments consisting of nearly spherical grains, which grow in modern seas by rolling around and accumulating aragonite needles on their surfaces. A) Oolites B) Ooids C) Cherts D) Coals

A

__________ consist of a unique kind of atom. A) Chemical elements B) Atomic masses C) Molecules D) Chemical compounds

A

__________ is a kind of igneous rock that is high in silica and contains two types of feldspars. A) Granite B) Gabbro C) Felsic D) Basalt

A

__________ is the collective term for the chemical and physical processes that break down rocks of any kind at Earth's surface. A) Weathering B) Sediment C) Erosion D) Lithification

A

__________ is the process in which material that is heated deep within the asthenosphere rises to displace cooler, less dense material near the surface. A) Convection B) Subduction C) Mountain building D) Divergence

A

A __________ is a discrete body of rock of a particular type that formed in a particular way. A) group B) supergroup C) formation D) member

C

A mineral is A) either extrusive or intrusive. B) interlocking or bonded grains of matter. C) a naturally occurring inorganic solid element or compound. D) formed mainly of sand grains that are cemented together.

C

A phylogenticphylogenetic diagram shows that the derived traits shared ONLY by reptiles, therapsids, and mammals are A) jaws. B) lungs. C) claws or nails. D) fur and mammary glands.

C

A sedimentary particle that is 1/128 millimeter in diameter is classified as A) clay. B) silt. C) sand. D) pebble.

C

Actualism is the A) idea that the geological record provides a unique perspective on human activities. B) study of how large meteors have struck the Earth over time and thus caused mass extinctions of life. C) notion that fundamental physical principles operating today have done so throughout Earth's history. D) study of ripples in sand made by water and air movements, and how those features are always different from the ones made by water and air long ago.

C

An ecosystem is A) a cyclical change in Earth's history. B) the direction and the nature of change in Earth's history. C) an environment and the organisms within it. D) a group of fossil organisms.

C

An igneous rock that forms under water is called A) pumice. B) flood basalt. C) pillow basalt. D) tuff.

C

An initial assumption of cladistics research is that A) not all species within a taxon can be traced to a common ancestor. B) a higher taxon must have multiple evolutionary origins. C) when two groups share a particular biological trait, both groups have inherited the trait from a common ancestor. D) more species will die out than will originate over the same period of time.

C

Catastrophism is a A) principle very similar to actualism and uniformitarianism. B) theory advanced first by a Scottish gentleman farmer named James Hutton and expounded upon by the English naturalist and author Charles Lyell. C) nineteenth-century concept that floods caused by supernatural forces formed most of the rocks that we see today on Earth's surface today. D) twentieth-century philosophy about the formation of volcanic rocks.

C

Coarse grain size (or crystal size) is usually found in A) flood basalts. B) pillow lavas. C) plutons. D) tuffs.

C

Eras are divided into formal units called A) eras. B) epochs. C) periods. D) ages.

C

Fishes with fins supported by thin bones that radiate outward from the body are called A) conodonts. B) lobe-finned fishes. C) ray-finned fishes. D) amphibians.

C

How many gyres are associated with wind systems of the Northern Hemisphere of Earth? A) Two B) Four C) Six D) Eight

C

In the phylogeny of birds, __________ are intermediate between reptiles and birds. A) amphibians B) therapsids C) dinosaurs D) mammals

C

Of the major mineral groups, the one that is dominant in all igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks is called A) sulfates. B) carbonates. C) silicates. D) sulfides.

C

Select the animal group below that is NOT an arthropod. A) crustaceans B) trilobites C) bryozoans D) insects

C

Silicon has an atomic number of 14, meaning that all atoms of silicon have A) 14 nuclei. B) 14 neutrons. C) 14 protons. D) 14 electrons.

C

Some of the Archaea are notable for A) forming greenish scums in lakes, streams, or the sea. B) breaking down the cells and tissues of dead organisms. C) tolerance of extreme environmental conditions. D) causing some diseases in plants and animals.

C

The largest reservoir for water on Earth is in A) glaciers and ground ice. B) groundwater (both saline and fresh). C) oceans. D) Earth's atmosphere.

C

The location of the most powerful earthquakes that occur deep within the Earth is A) at the Mid-Atlantic ridge. B) on the western edge of Africa. C) on the western edge of South America. D) on the eastern edge of Africa.

C

The natural ordering known as fossil succession A) cannot be used to establish the relative age of rocks that lie far apart. B) was one of the few things that eighteenth-century surveyor William Smith did not notice about the fossils he collected. C) reflects the sequence of organic evolution and extinction through time. D) has to do with the characteristics of trilobites from the Early, Middle, and Late Cambrian Periods.

C

The thickest chalk deposits in the world are found in which geological system? A) Cambrian B) Carboniferous C) Cretaceous D) Triassic

C

Ultramafic rocks make up Earth's A) continental crust. B) oceanic crust. C) mantle. D) core.

C

Unicellular algae that secrete two-part skeletons of opal, a form of silicon dioxide, are called A) radiolarians. B) coccolithophores. C) foraminifera. D) diatoms.

C

We know that life on Earth existed as far back as 3.8 billion years ago because of A) chemical "blueprints." B) membrane-bounded modules. C) the fossil record. D) living cells and their genes.

C

_________ absorb most of their food from dead organisms. A) Fernss B) Seed plants C) Fungi D) Conifers

C

__________ are protists that possess a single flagellum. A) Ciliates B) Dinoflagellates C) Zooflagellates D) Algae

C

__________ precipitates directly from seawater as tiny needle-like crystals, which accumulate on the shallow sea floor as __________. A) Calcite; calcite crystals B) Halite; evaporite minerals C) Aragonite; carbonate mud D) Calcite; coral skeletons

C

__________ release enzymes to break down food materials in the external environment and then absorb the food into their cells. A) Archaea B) Bacteria C) Fungi D) Protists

C

The body of rock recognized in 1835 as representing the oldest system in what we call today the Phanerozoic is called A) Devonian. B) Silurian. C) Ordovician. D) Cambrian.

D

The concept or philosophy of uniformitarianism is commonly summarized by saying A) catastrophic forces dominate Earth's geological history. B) conditions existing today cannot form rocks as in the past. C) rocks cannot be made in the laboratory. D) the present is the key to the past.

D

The form of metamorphism that is most closely associated with the heat or "baking" resulting from an igneous intrusions is A) a fault-zone. B) regional. C) hydrothermal. D) contact.

D

The northern and southern trade winds converge in the A) easterlies. B) westerlies. C) world's deserts. D) intertropical zone.

D

Which of the following is NOT an era in the Phanerozoic? A) Cenozoic B) Mesozoic C) Paleozoic D) Proterozoic

D

Which phrase below does NOT best describe the whole stratigraphic record? A) Sedimentation can occur in pulses. B) It displays evidence of episodic deposition. C) Deposition can be catastrophic. D) It contains few, if any, gaps in sedimentation.

D

__________ is the word used to indicate the levels of temperature and pressure of metamorphism. A) Thermometer B) Barometer C) Assemblage D) Grade

D

When an asteroid strikes the Earth, rocks that border the impact crater are affected by __________ metamorphism. A) contact B) shock C) regional D) fault-zone

B

The arrangement of sedimentary rocks in discrete layers is called A) metamorphism. B) lithification. C) cementation. D) stratification.

D

__________ form by the cooling of molten material to the temperature at which the molten material hardens or freezes. A) Magmas B) Igneous rocks C) Minerals D) Sedimentary rocks

B

__________ is a group of individuals that belong to a single species and live together in a particular area. A) Community B) Population C) Ecosystem D) Biota

B

Banded iron formations are complex rocks that consist of A) oxides, sulfides, or carbonates of iron interlayered with thin beds of chert. B) interlayered thin beds of calcite and aragonite, and beds of chert. C) interlayered beds of limestone and dolostone, and beds of chert. D) thin beds of chemical and biogenic sediments, which are interlayered with chert.

A

Biomarkers are __________, which provide key information about the former presence of ancient life. A) chemical residues in rocks B) teeth and bones C) fossil fuels D) impressions and molds

A

Central to Hutton's view of Earth's history was A) vast geologic time. B) catastrophism. C) volcanism. D) supernatural floods.

A

Darwin provided evidence that showed life has evolved even without A) changes in the physical environment. B) the vast span of geological time. C) any process akin to organic evolution. D) preservation of the sequence of parent and descendant species in the rock record.

A

Dolomite resembles calcite in many ways, but in approximately half of the sites where there could be calcium ions in dolomite's crystal structure, there is instead a(n) _________ ion. A) magnesium B) iron C) strontium D) carbon

A

In the __________, the reproductive cycle entails alternation of generations; a spore-producing generation alternates with one that produces eggs and sperm. A) ferns B) mosses C) fungi D) conifers

A

In the atomic structure of diamond, each carbon atom is covalently bonded with _________ other carbon atom(s) in the diamond structure shown. A) four B) three C) two D) one

A

Most species of animals on Earth are in the taxonomic group called A) insects. B) crustaceans. C) onychophorans. D) segmented worms.

A

Of the siliciclastic rocks that have mainly sand-sized grains, the one with at least 25% percent feldspar sand grains is called A) arkose. B) breccia. C) graywacke. D) lithic sandstone.

A

Regarding the phylogeny of Nannippus, the first Nannippus species (unnamed) gave rise DIRECTLY to A) N. westoni. B) N. aztecus. C) N. lenticularis. D) N. peninsulatus.

A

Select the domain of life that is one of the two groups of prokaryotes. A) Bacteria B) Eukarya C) Fungi D) Green plants

A

The intertidal zone is most closely associated with A) the continental shelf. B) the abyssal plain. C) a barrier island shoreline. D) the continental slope.

A

The mica-like, green mineral chlorite occurs primarily in A) schist. B) marble. C) gneiss. D) slate.

A

The name of this group of plants means "seed within a vessel." A) Angiosperms B) Gymnosperms C) Mosses D) Ferns

A

The radioactive isotope of carbon is A) carbon 14

A

The secret of fossilization of soft tissue is A) protection from oxygen. B) presence of oily plant debris. C) permeable sediment. D) absence of sunlight.

A

A by-product of long-term photosynthesis that is a major constituent in Earth's atmosphere is A) carbon dioxide. B) oxygen. C) nitrogen. D) water vapor.

B

A type of unconformity, with eroded crystalline rock below it, is called a A) disconformity. B) nonconformity. C) angular unconformity. D) mass extinction.

B

An earthquake always begins at A) the Moho. B) a focus. C) the base of the Earth's crust. D) the top of the Earth's mantle.

B

Chert can form by biogenic processes (for example, as deposits from silica-rich solutions moving through rock) or by the process of A) evaporation of seawater. B) direct precipitation from seawater. C) compaction and cementation. D) Native Americans making arrowheads.

B

Consumers that feed on producers are called A) carnivores. B) herbivores. C) parasites. D) scavengers.

B

In some places, the strontium ion substitutes for the __________ ion within the calcium carbonate crystal structure. A) sodium B) calcium C) chlorine D) carbon

B

In the sedimentary debris generated by the breakdown of preexisting rocks, the most common grains are A) bits of broken sea shells. B) particles of sand and clay. C) salts precipitated from seawater. D) clay minerals derived from feldspars.

B

Ionic bonding occurs in A) seawater. B) halite. C) diamond. D) graphite.

B

Jellyfishes, corals, and their relatives represent the group known as A) lophotrochozoans. B) cnidarians. C) deuterostomes. D) ecdysozoans.

B

Minerals containing the complex ion SO42- are called A) sulfides. B) sulfates. C) oxides. D) silicates.

B

Mud is a mixture of A) sand and silt. B) silt and clay. C) pebbles and sand. D) pebbles and cobbles.

B

Naturally occurring radioactive materials A) decay into other materials at variable rates. B) provide us with good estimates of the actual ages of ancient rocks. C) are produced annually, like similar to rings in a tree trunk. D) establish relative ages of rocks on a global scale, but only in rocks with abundant fossils.

B

Sedimentary rocks made of the fragments of skeletons of once-living organisms are called A) shale. B) limestone. C) sandstone. D) crystalline rock.

B

Steno's second principle says that A) the laws of nature are inviolable and have not changed with time. B) originally, all strata are horizontal when they form. C) the oldest strata lie at the bottom of a succession of layers and that successively higher strata are progressively younger. D) similar rocks that seem once to have been connected usually are.

B

The average direction of the slope of __________ indicates the general direction of prevailing winds when ancient sands were deposited, thus forming a sand dune. A) mudcracks B) cross-bedding C) graded beds D) ripples

B

The classification of superfamily is the next step below __________ in the major tazonomictaxonomic categories of the higher taxa. A) phylum B) class C) order D) suborder

B

The extinct group of animals known as __________ actually occupied an intermediate evolutionary position between reptiles and mammals. A) jawed fish B) therapsids C) reptiles D) amphibians

B

The genus that includes all the living members of the horse family is A) Nannippus. B) Equus. C) Hipparion. D) Megahippus.

B

The main chemical process that occurs during lithification is called A) compaction. B) cementation. C) weathering. D) evaporation.

B

The modern "sand dollar" that lives along sandy beaches is part of the echinoderm group called A) sea stars. B) irregular sea urchins. C) regular sea urchins. D) crinoids.

B

The outermost shell of the chlorine atom, prior to bonding with sodium to form a common mineral (NaCl), contains how many electrons? A) 8 B) 7 C) 6 D) 5

B

The principle of cross-cutting relationships states that A) intrusive igneous rock is always younger than the rock it invades. B) any structure, such as a fault, that cuts through a sequence of preexisting rocks must be younger than the host rocks. C) fragments of one body of rock are found within another body of rock. D) rock may be melted to form magma that later cools to form intrusive igneous rock.

B

The tilt of Earth's axis causes A) the percentage of solar radiation reflected from Earth's surface to vary from 5 to 95 percent. B) the Sun's rays to strike more directly and for more hours every day during summer in the Northern Hemisphere and summer in the Southern Hemisphere. C) all of Earth's heat transfer in the atmosphere. D) deflection of air currents differently in the Northern versus the Southern Hemisphere.

B

The type of metamorphism associated with the percolation of hot watery fluids through rock is called A) contact. B) hydrothermal. C) burial. D) shock.

B

The way that a species relates to its environment defines its A) habitat. B) ecologic niche. C) life habit. D) limiting factors.

B

This sedimentary structure formed when sediments were exposed to air. A) Graded bed B) Mudcracks C) Cross-bedding D) Ripples

B

Today, this small group of bivalves includes the living genus Lingula, but during the Paleozoic Era, this group was very common in the world's oceans. A) Bryozoans B) Brachiopods C) Arthropods D) Ecdysozoans

B

Tracks, trails, burrows, and other marks left by animal activity are known as A) biomarkers. B) trace fossils. C) fossil fuels. D) prokaryote.

B

We can use the principle of actualism if A) the rocks in question formed under conditions that no longer exist. B) we can simulate or replicate the conditions under which a rock formed. C) we know that the conditions responsible for the formation of these rocks still exist, but at such great depths beneath Earth's surface that we cannot observe them. D) the conditions exist today, but produce the rocks over a long interval of geologic time.

B

What sedimentary structure formed on a beach and is (are) produced by wave motion in water that oscillates back and forth? A) Cross-bedding B) Ripples C) Mudcracks D) Graded beds

B

A cluster of species that share a common ancestry is called a A) phylogeny. B) family. C) genus. D) clade.

D

A fossil is defined as A) internal and external skeletons. B) non-living structures within which certain chemical reactions take place. C) the capacity for self-replication and self-regulation. D) the tangible remains or signs of ancient organisms that died long ago.

D

A three-dimensional, negative imprint of a fossil organic structure is called A) permineralization. B) carbonization. C) impression. D) mold.

D

An example of a living monotreme mammal is a(n) A) theraspid. B) kangaroo. C) alligator. D) platypus.

D

Charles Lyell was NOT A) the author of Principles of Geology, a popular 1830s geology text. B) an advocate of ideas similar to James Hutton's regarding Earth's history. C) an advocate of gradual forces in Earth's history. D) a German professor of mineralogy who promoted catastrophism.

D

Diversity is usually relatively low in habitats that A) have communities with moderate predation. B) have communities with low levels of physical disturbance. C) have communities dominated by opportunistic species. D) present physical difficulties for life.

D

Hematite is an example of the major mineral group called A) sulfates. B) carbonates. C) silicates. D) oxides.

D

Lophotrochozoans that respire by means of a frilly, loop-shaped organ called a lophophore are called A) ecdysozoans. B) brachiopods. C) gastropods. D) cephalopods.

D

The albedo of Earth's surface is greatest in areas covered by A) forests. B) bare soil. C) ocean water. D) ice and snow.

D