Final Exam Questions

In 2011, over 20,000 people died in Japan's 9.2M Tohoku earthquake. The worst damage and loss of life were caused by what phenomenon/process?

A tsunami

Calderas are elongated, circular depressions on Earth's surface that typically form by __________________________?

A volcano collapsing into an empty magma chamber

Most chemical weathering involves ____________.

Alteration of minerals

Shaking is felt stronger near the epicenter of an earthquake and lessens to areas moving farther away. This effect is called _________________.

Attenuation

Freeze-thaw mechanical weathering can occur year-round in what types of environments?

Common in arid regions and coastal areas.

The largest earthquakes that have been recorded typically occur along what type of plate boundary?

Convergent

Earthquakes are caused by movement along lithospheric plates. Lithospheric plates can move in what three ways?

Divergent-apart Convergent- together Transform - side to side

As stress is imposed on a rock, it will deform until the stress is greater than the strength of the rock causing a(n) _______________________?

Earthquake

When a volcano appears inactive and shows signs of weathering and erosion along the surface, it is said to be what type of volcano?

Extinct

All volcanoes occur on plate boundaries. True or False?

False

Shaking accounts for just a fraction of the damage caused by earthquakes. Damage may also be caused by what other processes?

Fires, landslides, and tsunamis.

As fluid basaltic lava pours out of linear cracks, or fissures, ____________ form large sheets of lava rather than a typical cone-shaped volcano.

Flood basalts

What type of weathering is associated with the freezing of water in the joints of rocks?

Frost Action

Gases cannot escape from _____ magma easily; therefore, they produce _____ eruptions.

High-silica; explosive

Earthquakes that do NOT occur along a plate boundary occur in this zone.

Interplate earthquakes

A fracture in the Earth's crust that shows no displacement between rock layers on either side of the fault is called a ______________.

Joint

Topography that can be distinguished and studied as a single unit is a __________?

Landform

Small materials can be transported from one location to another by __________ processes.

Mass Movement

Rates of erosion would be greatest in what type of landscape?

Mountains

It is difficult to identify outcrops that reveal reverse faulting because the overlying hanging wall has usually collapsed, weathered, and eroded. Another easy way to identify a reverse fault is by locating areas of ______________________ overlying ________________________.

Older rock; younger rock

Which of the following is NOT a form of mechanical weathering: exfoliation, oxidation, frost action, thermal expansion.

Oxidation

The greatest concentration of earthquakes occurs along the _______________.

Pacific Ocean

The most effective and significant agent of erosion, globally, is _______________.

Running Water

What type of volcano erupts fluid basalt?

Shield Volcano

Areas of high relief tent to have (steep/gentle) slopes and (high/low) rates of erosion.

Steep; High

To describe the nature and orientation of structures, the _________ is the compass direction of the line of intersection between a rock layer and a horizontal plane.

Strike

The San Andreas Fault is an example of a ___________ fault.

Strike-Slip/ transverse

The majority of continental and island-arc volcanoes are in or near what type of plate boundary?

Subduction by convergent plates

What type of stress is imposed on a rock body to produce horsts and grabens?

Tensional

A linear valley produced from tensional forces is called a _______________.

Tensional normal/ (more specific to the valley) graben

The block of rock below the fault plane is termed ____________________.

The footwall

When the block above a low-angle fault plane moves up, it produces a ____________ fault.

Thrust

Chemical weathering is more active in (cold/warm), (dry/wet) climates.

Warm, Wet

______________ is a natural geologic process that breaks down rock.

Weathering

The growth of _________ crystals in arid regions has similar effects on rocks as do frost action in cold regions.

salt

Creep involves movement of soil at a ____________________ pace.

slow, almost imperceptible