geology
The best estimate of when the Universe formed is
13.8 Ga
o this theory, the universe evolved
13.8 billion years ago
when did Pangea break apart?
200 million years ago
The image below shows a series of graded beds. How many full sets of graded beds are shown?
3 beds
The Solar System (and the Earth) formed
4.5 billion years ago
This image shows the basic elements of a shallow groundwater system. Label the components of this system using the terms in the table below. Please note that not all of the terms listed in the table are shown in the picture.
A - water table B - unconfined aquifer C - aquitard D - confined aquifer
Which of the following statements best describes the rock cycle?
Any rock can change into another rock based on the conditions to which the rock is subjected.
The principle of lateral continuity
Beds originate as continuous layers that extend in all directions until they eventually thin out or grade into a different sediment type
What type of weathering dominates during soil formation?
Chemical weathering
The Moon was formed during what Eon?_________
Hadean
Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the extrusive igneous rock obsidian?
It likely cooled very slowly.
Based on the figure, what is the age of layer 7 relative to layer 3?
Layer 7 is younger than layer 3.
effusive eruption
Low viscosity, basaltic magma and low gas content eruption.
Dinosaurs first appeared during the ________ Era.
Mesozoic
What is the difference between a rock that is cemented and a rock that is crystalline?
Minerals are held together as interlocking pieces in a crystalline rock, whereas in a cemented rock the grains do not fit together like puzzle pieces and instead are held together by cement.
faster body waves
P wave
The supercontinent Pangaea was assembled during the______Era
Paleozoic
Paleozoic
Pangea formed
surface waves
Rayleigh waves and Love waves
You have a choice to drill your water well into a shallow, unconfined aquifer or a deeper artesian aquifer. Drilling deeper will cost more money; however, you chose to drill into the artesian aquifer. Why?
The artesian aquifer will flow on its own, without a pump.
focus
The point of initial slip during an earthquake
Compared with the continental lithosphere, the oceanic lithosphere is ________.
Thinner and denser
zone of leaching
Zone in soil from which soluble nutrients are removed by water
What circumstance is likely to produce depositional landforms?
a river entering a large body of water
Competence
ability to carry sediment, depends on flow velocity, when it decreases, sediment settles out
stream discharge
amount of water that passes through a cross section of a stream in a given time, depends on watershed area and climate
A continental margin that coincides with a plate boundary is called_________.
an active margin
Mafic minerals
are first to crystalize and last to melt
igneous rocks
are formed by solidification from molten state. They are composed of crystals interlocked together (example: granite, basalt), or , rarely, of glass (example: obsidian)
Sedimentary rocks
are formed from clasts (or grains) of pre-exisiting rocks and are held together by cement, or formed by mineral precipitation the solution (such as rock salt)
Metamorphic rocks
are formed in a very high heat and pressure, resulting in a transformation of a pre-existing rock (examples: marble, slate, gneiss, schist).
angular unconformities
are found between horizontal layers of sedimentary rock and layers of rock that have been tilted or folded
flash floods
are sudden and short lived
Beach sediments travel ________ the ocean during a transgression and ________ the ocean during a regression
away from; toward
Why do meandering rivers meander (move) across their floodplain?
because they are curved, which causes erosion on one side of the curve and deposition on the other side of the curve, thus moving the river in the direction of erosion
Porphyritic
both small and large crystals
streams choked with sediment become
braided
This Google Earth image shows the Platte River in central Nebraska. Which of the following terms best describes the morphology of this stream?
braided river
alluvial fans
build out at the mouth of canyons in deserts
deltas
build out into standing water
organic
carbon rich remains of once-living organisms
Calcite (CaCO3)
carbonate
Dolomite (CaMgCO3)
carbonate
drainage networks
carry water from a watershed to the sea
earthquake
caused by a rapid release of energy, most of which is due to tectonic forces.
deformation
caused by force acting on a rock
cone of depression
caused when pumping groundwater
biochemical
cemented shells of organisms
strain
change in shape caused by deformation, measure of shape change
Minerals are grouped into mineral classes primarily on a basis of ________
chemistry, specifically the anions within the chemical formula
3 types of stress
compression, tension, shear
The image below shows an outcrop of coarse-grained sedimentary rock. Note the rock hammer for scale. What is the name of this rock type?
conglomerate
The presence of vesicles in an igneous rock is evidence that the source melt ________.
contained dissolved volatiles
Which of the following is FALSE?
contains more angular grains
Which kind of lithosphere is oldest on Earth: oceanic or continental?
continental because oceanic always subducts
what term is this
continental rifting
what term is this
continental suture
Refer to the diagram below that shows the cross-sections of the ocean at the different stages of its life cycle, from pre-ocean to post-ocean. The dotted crust is oceanic crust and the solid white crust is continental crust. The dashed line indicates the ocean surface (sea level). What happened first?
continental suture happens after subduction
deep earthquakes occur at
convergent boundaries
As compared to coarse-grained igneous rocks, fine-grained igneous rocks ________.
cool and solidify more quickly
study of the origin and evolution of the Universe
cosmology
granite
course, felsic
Consult the figure below. Here, distinct internal laminations are inclined at an angle to the boundary of the main sedimentary layers. This is termed ________.
cross beds
From left to right, correctly label each section of this slice of Earth. Note that 1 starts at the surface of Earth and 6 ends at the center of Earth.
crust, upper mantle, asthenosphere, lower mantle, outer core, liquid, inner core, solid
minerals
crystalline structure, solid, inorganic, defined chemical formula, naturally occurring
Felsic minerals
crystallize last and are first to melt
The density of seawater increases with ________ temperature and ________ salinity.
decreasing; increasing
Where would you expect to find metamorphic rocks forming?
deep inside a mountain range
Describe how oceanic lithosphere differs from continental lithosphere
denser but thinner
geysers
develop under special circumstances when sudden boiling of groundwater ejects
Regional metamorphism
develops beneath mountain ranges
The process of formation of Earth's layers is called
differentiation
Mesozoic
dinosaurs roamed until KT event, end of era caused extinction of dinosaurs
shallow earthquakes occur at
divergent and transform boundaries
p wave
doesn't travel in fluid
anti-clines
dome like folds, archs
physical weathering
dominates in deserts
Hadean
earth and moon formed, liquid water
Unconformities represent ________ in the rock record.
erosion or nondeposition
rhyollite
fine, felsic
Archean
first continental crust, first bacteria in fossil record
When the sea level rises, causing the ocean to fill a glacially carved valley, a __________ results.
fjord
permanent streams
flow all year
ephemeral streams
flow intermittently
Stress
force applied across a unit area
beaches
form from wave-washed sediment
hot springs
form in geothermal regions headed by magma
glaciers
form when buried snow lasts all year and turns to ice
playas
form where water temporarily collects in basins
disconformities
formed as an erosion surface between parallel layers of sedimentary rock
vesicles
gas bubbles
recharge to discharge areas
gravity and pressure cause groundwater to flow from one to the other
Darcy's Law
groundwater flow is based on
soil liquidification
happens when saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to seismic wave, causing it to behave like a liquid.
This image shows a close-up view of a piece of pumice that was washed up onto a beach in Italy. Which of the following sets of properties allow this volcanic rock to float on water?
high porosity, low permeability
felsic lava
higher viscosity, slow moving
The competence of a mountain river is ________ than that of a river on a floodplain because ________.
higher; the gradient is greater
The principle of cross-cutting relations
holds that younger features truncate (cut across) older features.
ocean surfaces and ground water
hydrosphere
nonconformities
igneous or metamorphic rocks are capped by sedimentary rock
The deepest segments of the ocean floor are found ________
in trenches associated with subduction zones
permeability
indicates the degree to which pores connect
Alfred Wegener
invented theory of plate tectonics
At a subduction zone, the down-going (subducting) plate ________.
is always composed of oceanic lithosphere
A piece of concrete from a driveway is NOT considered a rock because it ________.
is man-made
The discharge of a river will increase if ________.
it rains in the drainage basin area
brittle structures
joints, veins, faults
Sinkholes are a concern primarily for residents whose dwellings are constructed atop ________.
limestone
outermost rigid layer composed of crust and upper rigid mantle
lithosphere
This NASA satellite image shows the Cape Cod peninsula in southeastern Massachusetts. Which of the following processes is responsible for the cuspate shape of this coastal area?
longshore drift
clastic
loose rock fragments (clasts) cemented together
mafic lava
lower viscosity, faster moving
Rates of groundwater flow are ________ than stream flow because the water ________.
lower; must make its way through tiny pore spaces
This GoogleEarth image shows the Mississippis River in the southern part of the U.S. Which of the following terms best describes the morphology of this stream?
meandering
streams with snake-like patterns
meandering
Metamorphic grade
measure of the intensity of temperature and pressure conditions that lead to alteration.
Decompression melting occurs at both ________ and ________.
mid-ocean ridges; rifts
chemical
minerals that crystallize directly from water
Igneous rocks form from ________.
molten rock cooling and forming crystals
Felsic magma is
more viscous than mafic
Cenozoic
mountain belts rose, modern plate boundaries form
Proterozoic
multicellular organisms appeared, atmosphere accumulates oxygen
felsic rocks (fastest to slowest cooling)
obsidian, rhyolite, granite
active margin
occur where continental edges coincide with plate boundaries.
hot spots
occur within the plate and track the plate's motion.
Flux melting
occurs above subducting plates.
Contact metamorphism
occurs around igneous intrusions.
Decompression melting
occurs at mid-ocean ridges and rifts.
karst topography
occurs mostly in limestone bedrock
Wave refraction
occurs when waves approach the shore at an oblique angle, generating the longshore drift
passive margin
occurs where the edge of a continent is not the edge of a plate.
what term is this
oceanic spreading
Halite (NaCl)
other
Pyrite (FeS2)
other
abyssal plains
overlie old oceanic lithosphere
continental shelves
overlie passive-margin basins.
The silica tetrahedron that forms the backbone of all the silicate minerals is composed of silicon and what other element?
oxygen
intermediate grade metamorphism of slate result in
phyllite
Diagenesis refers to ________.
physical and chemical alterations, including compaction and cementation, that occur as sediment is transformed into rock
Tsunamis result from
placement of the sea floor by an earthquake, submarine landslide, or volcanic explosion that displaces the entire volume of overlying water.
The process of differentiation results in all of the following EXCEPT
planets forming atmospheres
epicenter.
point at the surface directly above the focus
When two different minerals have the same chemical formula but different crystal structures, they are said to be ________.
polymorphs
Low-grade metamorphism of sandstone
produces metasandstone, then quartize, then schist and gneiss
Extrusive rock cools
rapidly
ductile deformation
results in folds
ductile deformation
rocks bend and distort without breaking
brittle deformation
rocks break by fracture
body waves
s and p waves
slower body wave
s wave
rest of metamorphic grade
schist then gneiss
mafic rocks (fastest to slowest cooling)
scoria, basalt, gabbro
The dissolution of rock produces_________
secondary porosity.
Identify the FALSE statement. The rock cycle indicates that ___
sedimentary rock cannot form from other sedimentary rocks because the pathway is always from one rock type to a different rock type.
Weathering of rocks produces ________, which can then be incorporated into ________ rocks.
sediments; sedimentary
Potassium feldspar (KAlSi3O8)
silicate
Quartz (SiO2)
silicate
The most common minerals within Earth are ________.
silicates
In the figure on the right, what type of igneous intrusion is the horizontal rock unit shown by letter A?
sill
Low-grade metamorphism of clay produces
slate
Intrusive rock cools
slowly
Any place where groundwater naturally flows out of Earth's surface is termed a(n) _______
spring
The Principle of Uniformitarianism
states that the processes observed today were the same in the past —the present is the key to the past.
The principle of superposition
states that younger strata are on top; older strata are below.
what term is this
subduction
seasonal floods
submerge floodpains and delta plains
fjords
submerged glacial valleys, u shaped
esturaries
submerged glacial valleys, v shaped
Overpumping can lead to ________ of the ground surface.
subsidence
synclines
sunken in, trough like
In an undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rocks, younger layers overlie older layers, according to the principle of ________.
superposition
most destructive wave
surface waves, slower than body and arrive last
Metamorphism
takes place in response to changes in temperature, pressure, application of compression and shear, and/or interaction with hydrothermal fluids.
artesian wells
tap confined tilted aquifers
longshore drift
that moves sand along the shoreline in a zigzag path.
Volcanoes
the conduits through which rising magma makes its way to the surface.
Waves are created by ________.
the wind
unconformity
time gap in rock record, from nondeposition or erosion
porosity
total open space within a material
Grains become rounded primarily during ________.
transportation
The total sediment load of a stream consists of all of the following EXCEPT the ________ load
turbulent
too much pumping causes
water table lowering, land subsidence and saltwater intrusion
If a beach is in an east-west orientation and the waves are approaching the shore from a southeasterly direction, in which direction will the longshore drift be?
western
zone of accumulation
where they precipitate
A huge meteorite impact marks the K-T boundary event that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. When was that?
~65 Ma