Geol 102 Practice test questions

How many neutrons present in this element? 17 O 8

9

The ancient stable, crustal core area of a continent is called a. craton b. orogenic belt c. aulacogen d. batholith e. crampon

A

Shale deposits (e.g. Ohio shale) were frequently formed during _____________ (Cambrian, Devonian) time period

Cambrian

_____ The wind-blown silt that makes up the bluffs along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers (including Vicksburg) is called a. blowus b. greywacke c. fluss d. molasse e. loess

E

Siberian flood basalts represent _________________ a. Volcanic eruptions b. Glaciation c. Earthquakes d. Tsunami

a

Taconic Orogeny associated with the closer of _________ Ocean. a. Iapetus b. Tethys c. Rheic d. Panthalassa

a

Temperatures across Pangea was over 100F outside the tropics during _____. The resulted Aeolian (desert-like) environment on the Earth. a. Permian b. Devonian c. Silurian d. Cambrian

a

The extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Mesozoic has been attributed to the impact of a _______________ a. Meteorite b. Dust ball c. Comet d. Ice ball

a

The supercontinent that existed near the end of the Precambrian (~750 MYA) is called ______ a. Rodinia b. Pangea c. Laurasia d. Gondwana

a

What are the two most common elements on the Earth's crust? a. Oxygen and silicon b. Silicon and carbon c. Carbon and oxygen d. Aluminum and sulfur

a

What is the reason that you do not see much of the ocean with in the North America by the end of Cretaceous? a. Tectonic upliftment exposed the land b. Glaciation c. Water was inflitrated through the soils d. Sea level rising

a

Which of the following represents the longest time period in the Geological time scale? a. Precambrian (2.5 Ga) b. Paleozoic c. Mesozoic d. Cenozoic

a

Which one of the following animal phylum shows radial symmetry? a. Cnidaria-Jelly Fish b. Arthopoda c. Millusca d. porifera

a

Which one of the followings is not an Orogeny that associated with the formation of North America? a. Himalayan Orogeny b. Taconic Orogeny c. Acadian Orogeny d. Alleghenian Orogeny

a

____ Cratonic segment of Laurentia became Laurasia during a. Devonian b. Ordovician c. Cambrian d. Permian e. Precambrian

a

____ The supercontinent that existed at the end of the Paleozoic is called a. Pangaea b. Rodinia c. Baltica d. Gondwana e. Lauasia

a

_____ Vascular plants and first walking animal appeared during a. Devonian b. Mississippian c. Cambrian d. Permian e. Silurian

a

______ "Jawless fish, large coral reefs, first plant on land, first animal on land explains the period/s of a. Silurian-Devonian b. Ordovician c. Cambrian d. Mississippian-Permian e. Precambrian

a

______ The Mississippian and Pennsylvanian Periods are generally used only in North America. In Europe, the same geologic time is called a. the Carboniferous Period b. the Trias Period c. the Archaean Period d. the Alleghanian Period e. the Caledonian Period

a

_______The time period had large quantities of coal deposits would be a. Pennsylvanian b. Cambrian c. Precambrian d. Permian e. Silurian

a

_________ was opening from the break-up of Pangea a. Atlantic ocean b. Pacific ocean c. Indian Ocean d. Arabian Ocean

a

___________ was buried in enormous amounts as carbonates, organic shales and coals during Mississippian and Pennsylvanian time a. Carbon b. Oxygen c. Hydrogen d. Nitrogen

a

A mountain building episode is called an ______________ a. Mountain belt b. Orogeny c. Accretion d. Divergent

b

An extended period in the Proterozoic when the Earth was covered in ice is called _________ a. Glaciation b. Snow ball earth c. Ring of fire d. Ice age

b

Divergent boundaries are always marked by the ____________ a. Rock weathering process b. Formation of igneous rocks-Basalts c. Formation of metamorphic rocks d. Destruction of the old crust

b

Energy releases as the form of _____ during radioactive decay process a. light b. heat c. kinetic d. elastic

b

Plants with seedless and lacking flower and called__________ and they appeared in Paleozoic a. Angiosperm b. Gymnosperm c. Bryophyta d. Algea

b

The Sierra Nevada Mountains in California are an exposed batholith made up of the felsic rock ______________ a. Basalt b. Granite c. Rhyolite d. Gabbro

b

The large physiographic province of western North America that has formed in an extensional (or tensional) stress regime between the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains is called the _________________ a. Colorado plateau b. Basin and range c. Black hills d. Cascades

b

The supercontinent that existed near the end of Permian (~250 MYA) is called _______ a. Rodinia b. Pangea c. Laurasia d. Gondwana

b

Transgression events are ______ and regression events are ______ a. erosional, deposiitonal b. Depositional, erosional c. Glacial, depositional d. Inter-glacial, erosional

b

What is meant by the term "cyclothems"? a. Cyclothems are heat currents b. Sequence of Sandstone, coal, shale, limestone deposits, forming during transgressions and regressions due to the cyclic glaciation and melting c. Cyclothems are preserved fossils in carbonates d. Cyclothems appear immediately after cyclones

b

What is unconformity? a. breakage in the rocks or minerals b.erosional or non-depositional contacts in between the rock layers c. another term for uniformitarianism d. "present is key to the past"

b

What sequence of lithologies that you expect during transgression from bottom to top? a. Limestone, Sandstone, Shale b. Sandstone, Shale, Limestone c. Shale, Limestone, Sandstone d. Granites, rhyolite, Sandstone

b

Which ocean separates Laurasia from Gondwana during the Devonian time period? a. Iapetus Ocean b. Rheic Ocean c. Panthalassa Ocean d. Thethys Ocean

b

Which of the following time period does not include the Paleozoic era? a. Ordovician b. Jurassic c. Mississippian d. Permian

b

Which of the following would not explain that Earth is unique? a. Earth's gravity b. Earth's rotation along its axis c. Life on earth d. Presence of Oxygen in the Atmosphere

b

Which one of the following places that you would see the Transgression related lithological sequences in U.S.A? a. Middle of New York City b. Grand Canyon c. Ruby Falls d. Oxford, Mississippi

b

Which one of the following was a dominant animal species in Paleozoic and disappeared by the end of Permian? a. Ammonite b. Trilobite c. Dinosaurs d. Porifera

b

Which one of the following was disappearing during Ordovician (470 MA)? a. Taconic Orogeny b. Iapetus Ocean c. laurentia d. Rheic Ocean

b

Which one of the following would be an example of a passive margin a. west coast of U.S.A b. East coast of U.S.A c. Mid Atlantic ridge d. Pacific ring of fire

b

___________ became very popular during the Silurian period with the average thickness of ~2500 m. a. coal deposits b. Salt deposits c. Shale deposits d. Sand deposits

b

____________ mountain formation is associated with Pangea formation during late Paleozoic. a. Rocky b. Appalachian c. Andes d. Everest

b

study of the origin and development of Earth and its biosphere is known as a. physical geology b. historical geology c. ecology d. seismology

b

Carbon atoms with same atomic number but different mass numbers. These are called _______. a. Protons b.electrons c. isotopes d. alpha particles

c

Proterozoic ocean was stratifies, where __________ rich water at the surface of the ocean and anoxic water at the bottom of the ocean a. Carbon b. Sulfur c. Oxygen d. Nitrogen

c

The ______ was an era dominated by the dinosaurs. a. Precambrian b. Paleozoic c. Mesozoic d. Cenozoic

c

What atmospheric gas was higher in composition during Mississippian and Pennsylvanian, which also leads higher pressure in the atmosphere? a. Oxygen b. Carbon dioxide c. Nitrogen d. Hydrogen

c

What dating technique is NOT related with relative dating? a. Principle of inclusions b. Cross cutting relationships c. 14C dating d. principle of superposition

c

What dating technique is not related with relative dating? a. principle of fossil succession b. cross cutting relationships c. 14C dating d. principle of superposition

c

What is meant by the term "epicontinental sea"? a. Sea within the continent b. Another name for Proterozoic ocean c. A shallow sea that extends over part of a continent d. Boundary between oceanic crust and continental crust

c

What is not true about plate tectonics? a. Plates are rigid and moving on top of the asthenosphere b. Plates are defined as crust and the upper part of the mantle c. All plates move at the same rate d. Plates melt at subduction zones

c

Which one is the least important property that is used in mineral identification? a. luster b. streak c. color d. cleavage

c

Which one of the following is not marked as a mass extinction in the geological time scale? a. End of Ordovician b. End of Cretaceous c. End of Mississippian d. End of Permian

c

Which one of the following represent an orogeny in western North America? a. Taconic orogeny b. Acadian orogeny c. Antler orogeny d. Alleghenian Orogeny

c

Who invented radioactivity? a. Alfred Wegner b. Moh c.Henry Becquerel D. James Hutton

c

____ Repeated oscillation of sea level in the Pennsylvanian created thick sections of alternating marine, non-marine, and coal deposits in the Mid-continent U.S. These patterns of deposition are called a. batholiths b. diatremes c. cyclothems d. lacoliths e. sills

c

_____ Extensive deposits of black, organic-rich shales in anoxic epicontinental basins that today are economically important sources of oil and gas were formed in the a. Cambrian b. Triassic c. Devonian d. Pliocene e. Paleocene

c

_____ The terms "Snowball Earth" refers to a time when a. there was a run-away greenhouse effect b. the Moon was formed by a planetary collision c. the entire Earth was glaciated d. volcanoes were especially active e. primitive life filled the oceans

c

_____ The type of plate margin formed during rifting event would be a. transform b. convergent c. divergent d. destructive e. subduction

c

Cambrian, Ordovician, _______. What should be the next time period in Paleozoic? a. Permian b. Jurassic c. Mississippian d. Silurian

d

What is an example of radiogenic mineral that used in radiometric dating? a. Quartz b. Feldspar c. Olivine d. Zircon

d

What is the correct order of decreasing span of time? a. era, eon, epoch, period b. period, eon, era, epoch c. eon, era, epoch, period d. eon, era, period, epoch

d

Which could not be a possible reason of mass extinction? a. Glaciation b. Oceanic anoxia c. Meteorite impact d. Higher Oxygen levels in the atmosphere

d

Which is not true about absolute age dating? a. Carbon dating is useful to determine recent ages (>5700 years) b. Unstable, radiogenic elements from stable elements during radioactive decay c. It is required the presence of radiogenic minerals to do radiometric/absolute age dating d. Sedimentary rocks are the best candidates to find radiogenic minerals

d

Which of the following is not a principle explained by Nicolaus Steno? a. Principle of Superposition b. Principle of Original Horizontality c. Principle of Lateral Continuity d. Principle of fossil succession

d

Which one is not a property that is used in mineral identification? a. Luster b. streak c. Color d. Temperature

d

Which one of the Following represent continental depositional environment? a. Delta b. Lagoon c. Abyssal plain d. Lake

d

Which one of the following events does not belong to Mississippian (359-318 Ma)? a. Dropping carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere b. Alleghenian Orogeny c. Dominant carbonate deposition d. Break up of Pangea

d

Which one of the following is not a sediment sequence occurred during Paleozoic transgression event? a. Kaskasia b. Sauk c. Absaroka d. Gondwana

d

Which plate boundary would never show volcanoes? a. divergent boundary b. Ocean-continental convergent boundary c. Ocean-ocean convergent boundary d. Transform fault boundary

d

Which statement is not true about the atoms? a. Atoms are the smallest units/particles of the matter b. Electrons are negatively charged c. Atomic number is equal to number of protons in an atom d. center of the atom is called "nucleus" and consists of protons and electrons

d

___ The boundary between oceanic and continental crust that is not a plate boundary is called a. rift basin b. volcanic island arc c. active margin d. subduction zone e. passive margin

e

______ Most of the oxygen in Earth's early atmosphere was quickly bound up in a. the ozone layer b. coal deposits c. subduction zones d. copper deposits e. banded iron formations

e

Coarsening upward sequence in stratigraphic column represents..... a. Transgression b. Regression c. Glacial cycle d. Inter-glacial cycle e. Both a and d f. Both b and c

f

absolute age dating requires

radiogenic minerals

Accretion of __________ arcs along the western margin of North America formed the mountain ranges in western U.S.A (volcanic/metamorphic).

volcanic