Geology Chapter 1 2 3

________ was never proposed as evidence supporting the existence of Pangaea.

B) Islands of Precambrian rocks along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge

What in the name given to an atom that gains or loses electrons in a chemical reaction?

B) ion

Which mineral is composed of silicon dioxide (SiO2)?

D) quartz

a. oceanic ridge b. seafloor spreading c. arc volcanoes d. divergent

c. arc volcanoes

All atoms of the same element have the same atomic number.

A) True

In general, rocks of the continental crust are less dense than rocks of the oceanic crust.

A) True

Internally, the Earth consists of spherical shells with different compositions and densities.

A) True

Much of our modeling of Earth's interior comes from the study of seismic or earthquake waves.

A) True

Rocks are aggregates of one or more minerals.

A) True

The Himalayan Mountains are the tectonic product of a collision between India and Eurasia that began in Eocene time and still continues.

A) True

The micas, biotite and muscovite, both exhibit one direction of cleavage.

A) True

The oldest rocks of the oceanic crust are found in deep ocean trenches far away from active, mid-ocean ridges.

A) True

The oldest rocks on the seafloor are much younger than the oldest rocks on the continents.

A) True

The volcanoes of Hawaii are localized above a deep mantle hot spot; they are not part of the East Pacific oceanic ridge.

A) True

Wegener's continental drift hypothesis was weakened because a viable mechanism for moving the continents was lacking.

A) True

The volcanoes and deep valleys of east Africa are related to a ________.

A) continental rift along which parts of the African continent are beginning to slowly separate

The Aleutian Islands occur at a ________.

A) convergent boundary on a volcanic arc above a northward-subducting Pacific plate

Which of the following describes the light reflecting and transmission characteristics of a mineral?

A) luster

Cooler, older, oceanic lithosphere sinks into the mantle at ________.

A) subduction zones along convergent plate boundaries

According to the nebular hypothesis, all of the bodies in the universe evolved from a rotating cloud of gases and dust about 5 billion years ago.

B) False

Diamond and quartz are both minerals composed of a single element.

B) False

Hawaii is the oldest island of the Hawaiian Island chain.

B) False

Iceland is a good example of an island arc, formed from an oceanic-oceanic plate collision.

B) False

Igneous rocks are produced largely by the deposition and consolidation of surface materials like sand and mud.

B) False

Oceans cover slightly less than half of the Earth's surface.

B) False

Positive ions are atoms that have gained electrons during a chemical reaction.

B) False

The currently accepted age of Earth is approximately 4.5 million years.

B) False

What are the basic differences between the disciplines of physical and historical geology?

B) Historical geology involves the study of rock strata, fossils, and geologic events, utilizing the geologic time scale as a reference; physical geology includes the study of how rocks form and of how erosion shapes the land surface.

The ________ forms the relatively cool, brittle plates of plate tectonics.

B) Lithosphere

Which one of the following statements is not correct?

B) Sedimentary rocks may weather to igneous rocks.

How do the electrons behave in a mineral with metallic bonding?

B) They can move relatively easily from atom to atom inside the mineral.

________ is often paraphrased as "the present is the key to the past."

B) Uniformitarianism

The strong tendency of certain minerals to break along smooth, parallel planes is known as ________.

B) cleavage

Which one of the following describes a mineral's response to mechanical impact?

B) cleavage

Pull-apart rift zones are generally associated with a ________ plate boundary.

B) divergent

In correct order from the center outward, Earth includes which units?

B) inner core, outer core, mantle, crust

Which of the following minerals is in the mineral group known as mica?

B) muscovite

The most prominent feature on the ocean floor are the ________.

B) oceanic ridges

Which one of the following most accurately describes the volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands?

B) shield volcanoes fed by a long-lived hot spot below the Pacific lithospheric plate

In the early part of the twentieth century, ________ argued forcefully for continental drift.

C) Alfred Wegener

Which of the following best defines a mineral and a rock?

C) In a mineral the constituent atoms are bonded in a regular, repetitive, internal structure; a rock is a lithified or consolidated aggregate of different mineral grains.

________ was an important eighteenth century English geologist and proponent of

C) James Hutton

The former late Paleozoic super continent is known as ________.

C) Pangaea

Compared to the age of Earth accepted as correct today, how did seventeenth and eighteenth century proponents of catastrophism envision the Earth's age?

C) They believed Earth to be much younger than current estimates.

In which type of chemical bonding are electrons shared between adjacent atoms?

C) covalent

New oceanic crust and lithosphere are formed at ________.

C) divergent boundaries by submarine eruptions and intrusions of basaltic magma

What are the lightest or least massive of the basic atomic particles?

C) electrons

The continental drift hypothesis was rejected primarily because Alfred Wegener could not ________.

C) identify a mechanism capable of moving continents

What element is the most abundant in the Earth's crust by weight?

C) oxygen

Which one of the following is a sodium and calcium feldspar with twinning striations?

C) plagioclase

A typical rate of seafloor spreading in the Atlantic Ocean is ________.

D) 2 centimeters per year

Which of the following is an accurate description of ionic bonding?

D) Atoms of different elements, having gained or lost electrons, form negative and positive ions that are bonded together by attractive forces between ions with opposite charges.

________ rocks form by crystallization and consolidation of molten magma.

D) Igneous

A ________ is a well-tested and widely accepted view that best explains certain scientific observations.

D) Theory

A transform plate boundary is characterized by ________.

D) a deep, vertical fault along which two plates slide past one another in opposite directions

Which one of the following is a typical product of weathering?

D) clays

A very long-lived magma source located deep in the mantle is called a ________.

D) hot spot

The asthenosphere is actually a part of the ________ of the Earth.

D) mantle

All silicate minerals contain which two elements?

D) silicon, oxygen

a. Hawaii b. island arc c. volcanic arc d. subduction

a. Hawaii

plates are sliding past one another horizontally

b. transform

plates are moving apart from one another

c. divergent

a. hypothesis b. theory c. fact d. observation

c. fact

a. abyssal plain b. seamount c. oceanic ridge d. continental slope

d. continental slope

a. Curie point b. paleomagnetism c. magnetic poles d. polar wandering

d. polar wandering