Geology final

An American experience with desertification in the earlier 20th Century, as shown in the figure, is called The _____

Dust Bowl

What was the name of the floral fossils Wegener used for the idea of continental drift?

Glossopteris

For the block diagram below, what type of unconformity is labeled as 2?

angular unconformity

The main mechanism of glacial movement is _____.

basal sliding

Which of the following is NOT a glacial deposit?

cirque

According to the figure below, in which of the following types of plate boundaries "new" seafloor is being produced?

divergent boundary

In the nuclear chain reaction of Uranium-235, illustrated below, each nucleus releases two _____.

neutrons

Which of the following is a category of mineral deposit that produces gold from gravel?

placer deposits

Geothermal energy is produced in the Earth by _____.

radioactive decay

In general most living resources are _____.

renewable

In the figure below, what is the approximate depth of the asthenosphere?

100km

For the illustration below, which decay sequence represents beta decay?

2

In the figure below, how many magnetic reversals occurred between 2.0 and 1.5 million years ago?

2

The fissioning of one gram of nuclear fuel produces heat equivalent to _____ grams of oil.

2 million

In the figure below, what is the approximate time of the arrival of the P-waves?

2 minutes, 15 seconds

In the figure below, what is the approximate time of the arrival of the surface waves?

5 minutes, 30 seconds

All of the following are nonrenewable resources derived from minerals except _____.

A) soil B) fertilizers C) copper D) iron E) gold Ans: A

For the illustration below, what would be the change in atomic number from parent element to daughter element as a result of beta decay?

+1

For the illustration below, what would be the change in atomic number from parent element to daughter element as a result of alpha emission?

-2

For the illustration below, what would be the change in atomic mass from parent element to daughter element as a result of alpha emission?

-4

If greenhouse gas levels remain the same as today, we can expect 50-year temperature increases in the range of _____ °C:

0.5-1.5

Data from the past 100 years indicates that global temperatures have increased approximately _____ °C:

0.6

For the illustration below, which decay sequence represents alpha decay?

1

According to the figure below, what is the approximate S-P travel time?

1 minute, 45 seconds

According to the figure below, the island of Molokai was probably over the hot spot approximately how many million years ago?

1.30

The peak of the last Ice Age, when glaciers blanketed much of North America, was _____ years ago.

18,000

Deserts comprise approximately _____ of the world's total land area.

25%

In the figure below, how many magnetic reversals occurred between 1.5 million years and present?

3

In the figure below, what is the approximate time of the arrival of the S-waves?

4 minutes

The most ancient rock body on Earth has a radiometric age of _____.

4.0 billion years.

The oldest radiometric date reported for an individual mineral grain from a sedimentary rock is approximately _____.

4.4 billion years

Our best estimate for the age of the Earth is _____.

4.56 billion years

In the figure below, what is the approximate speed of S-waves at the 670km discontinuity?

6km/sec

In the figure below, what is the approximate age of the sea floor off the north coast of Spain?

83.0 - 141.9 million years

Evidences of recent climate change are found in _____.

A) changes in animal migrations, including penguins B) shrinking of mountain glaciers C) reduction of sea ice D) increased temperature in the Arctic all of the above

In the block diagram shown below, deformation of the stratigraphic sequence labeled 1

A) occurred prior to 34 million years ago B) before the intrusion of the igneous rock body labeled B. C) before the deposition of unit 2. All of the above are true statements.

The largest tar sand deposits with rock such as shown in the photograph, are in _____.

Alberta

For the block diagram below, which of the following statements is(are) true?

B) The igneous intrusion labeled B is younger than Unit 2. C) The igneous intrusion labeled B is younger than the tilted sequence 1. Both B and C are true statements.

An increase through time in the proportion of heavy oxygen (O-18) in a sequence of carbonate sediments implies

Earth was becoming cooler over time

Which of the following does NOT have a known effect on Earth's climate?

Earth-Moon tidal gravity

Which of the following locations is the best example of continental crust colliding with continental crust?

Himalayas

The boundary that separates the crust from the mantle is known as the _______ Discontinuity.

Mohorovicic

According to the diagram below, which of the following plates is all oceanic crust?

Nasca

_______ are the first waves to leave the focus after an earthquake.

P-waves

According to the diagram below, which of the following is the largest plate?

Pacific

The geologic era in which animals with hard shells first developed is the

Paleozoic.

The first oil well, shown in the photograph, was drilled in _____.

Pennsylvania

The _______ scale is a logarithmic scale that assigns a number to quantify the amount of seismic energy released by an earthquake.

Richter

According to the figure below, which of the following would cause more damage?

S

_____, _____, and _____ are the geological components necessary to have a petroleum resource.

Source rock; reservoir rock; cap rock

In the diagram below, which two are the best examples of the "puzzle-piece" argument?

South America - Africa

For the stratigraphic section of the Grand Canyon depicted in the photograph below, which rock unit is older?

Tapeats Sandstone

_____ is (are) an example(s) of "unconventional oil."

Tar sands and oil shales

For the illustration below, what would be the change in atomic mass from parent element to daughter element as a result of beta decay?

There will be no change in atomic mass.

____ is the astronomical motion considered by Milankovitch as most related to the seasons.

Tilt of the axis

In the glacial "ice budget," a zone of snow accumulation is balanced by a zone of _____.

ablation

What is the depth of this newly forming Hawaiian island, Loihi?

about 1000m

According to the figure below, most of eastern Brazil is approximately how old?

about 550 million years

When arroyos empty their sediments onto a flat desert floor, the resulting deposit forms a(n)_____.

alluvial fan

The contact beneath the Tapeats Sandstone and the underlying Grand Canyon Supergroup is an example of a(n)

angular unconformity.

_____ grade coal is one step higher in rank than bituminous coal.

anthracite

The phenomenon of the Earth's magnetic pole being in different locations in the past is known as _______.

apparent polar wandering

The _______ is the part of the Earth's interior where rocks start to melt.

asthenosphere

The region of greatest temperature contrast, as compared between greenhouse and icehouse periods, would be found

at the poles

When desert canyons are closely spaced, their deposits on flatlands often form _____.

bahadas

In the figure below, deposition of unit 4 occurred

between 34 million and 20 million years ago.

__________ is NOT a category of Earth's resources.

capital resources

The most probable cause of anthropogenic warming in the foreseeable future is the increase in _____.

carbon dioxide

The hole in the ozone layer has been brought about by anthropogenic emissions of .

chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)

In the block diagram below, the contacts between layers in the tilted stratigraphic sequence labeled 1, are examples of

conformable depositional contacts.

The idea proposed by Alfred Wegener to explain the continental shapes and positions is known as _____.

continental drift

What term best describes to driving force behind plate tectonics?

convection

Which type of plate boundary results from two or more plates coming together?

convergent

Ninety percent of the silver produced in the United States is produced as a byproduct of _____ mining.

copper

The mechanism of wind erosion in which loose particles of sand and dust are picked up and removed, leaving behind only coarser particles, is called _____.

deflation

Irrigation in the Great Plains, as shown in the figure below, helps prevent desertification, but it also leads to _____.

depletion of aquifers

For the block diagram below, what type of unconformity is labeled as 3?

disconformity

In the block diagram below, the contact between rock unit 4 and the underlying rock unit 3 is an example of a(n)

disconformity.

In the diagram below, the contact between C and E is a(n)

disconformity.

In the stratigraphic sequence of the Grand Canyon, depicted below, the contact between the Muav Limestone and the overlying Redwall Limestone spans two missing periods of geologic time. The contact between these two sttratigrpahic units represents a(n)

disconformity.

Which of the following is NOT a likely consequence of enhanced global warming?

enlarged ozone hole

Which of the following is NOT a fossil fuel?

enriched uranium

The _______ is the point on the surface directly above the point of an earthquake.

epicenter

Which of the following types of global change is not reversible

evolution of life on Earth

Fossil fuels are those which derive their energy from _____.

fossil photosynthesis

The glacial valley shown here was formed by ______.

glacial erosion

Which of the following is NOT a type of desert?

grassland

When cirques form on several sides of a mountain, they often form a _____.

horn

The plates 'floating' on the asthenosphere is a condition called _____, which is similar to wood floating on water.

isostasy

Which of the following is a waxy substance found in shale, which could be a source of hydrocarbons?

kerogen

Diamonds are incorporated in solidified magma called _______ that come deep from within the Earth.

kimberlites

The steepest portion of a desert sand dune is on the _____ side.

leeward

The difference in average temperatures between the poles and the equator during most of the Mesozoic era was ___ that seen today.

less than

The _______ is the Earth's rocky, outermost layer.

lithosphere

Which of the following terms best describes the rocky outer layer of the Earth?

lithosphere

In the figure below, which layer of the Earth is the thickest?

mantle

Which of the following is NOT a type of glacier?

marine glacier

A ridge of material that rides along the middle of a glacial ice stream is called a ______ moraine.

medial

Pure copper ore (and all pure element ores) is referred to as _____ copper.

native

For the block diagram below, what type of unconformity is labeled as 1?

nonconformity

In the block diagram below, the contact between rock unit 4 and the underlying intrusion B is an example of a(n)

nonconformity.

Which of the following alternatives to fossil fuels is NOT a renewable resource?

nuclear

The following forms of energy are in common use EXCEPT ______, which is so far undeveloped.

ocean wave power

Placer mineral deposits, such as shown in the figure below, CANNOT be found in one of the following sites:

on mountain tops

When we see sedimentary rock units that are twisted or tilted, we know that some force must have disturbed the strata after they were deposited. The principle upon which we base this inference is the principle of _____.

original horizontality.

Ancient temperatures are best extrapolated by comparing isotopes of _____ gas.

oxygen

Which of the following processes removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?

photosynthesis

The original source of petroleum is ocean _____.

phytoplankton

A _____ is a broad lobe of ice that terminates on open slopes beyond a mountain front.

piedmont glacier

Based on the block diagram below, the igneous intrusion labeled B is younger than Unit 2. What stratigraphic principle allowed you to determine this observation?

principle of cross-cutting relationships

For the block diagram below, what stratigraphic principle allowed you to determine the relative age of the intrusion and the stratigraphic sequence labeled 1?

principle of cross-cutting relationships

If you see a vertical magmatic intrusion embedded in horizontal layers of sedimentary rocks, which principle will help you determine the relative age of the intrusion?

principle of cross-cutting relationships

What is the principle that helps geologists determine the age of rocks that are separated by distance?

principle of lateral continuity

What principle would allow you to determine the relative ages of different parts of the stratigraphy of this section of the Grand Canyon?

principle of superposition

Glacial ice is generally formed by _____.

recrystallized snow

There is a correlation in Earth history between warm periods and .

relatively large amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

When sedimentary particles move in series of short bounces, the process is termed _____.

saltation

Which of the following is NOT early evidence of continental drift?

seafloor spreading

Coal-bearing strata in the Appalachian, Illinois and Western Interior coal basins, as shown on the map below, include up to 60 layers of coal, which miners term _____.

seams

Fossil fuels are trapped in ____ rock.

sedimentary

Salt deposits are part of the _____category of mineral deposits?

sedimentary evaporite

A(n) _______ wave is an elastic rebound wave that travels outward in all directions from the point of an earthquake.

seismic

An instrument that measures and detects vibrations in the Earth is known as a _______.

seismograph

The scientific study of earthquakes and seismic waves is known as _______.

seismology

During most of the Mesozoic, Earth was

significantly warmer than at any time within the last few million years

A(n) _____ is NOT one of the geological oil or gas traps shown in the following figure.

slate trap

A _____ dune, shown in the figure below, forms from shifting wind directions and abundant sand.

star

According to Wegener's model, what evidence did glaciers leave for the existence of Pangaea?

striations

The rocks at the base of an advancing glacier leave parallel scratches termed glacial _____.

striations

According to the figure below, which of the following types of plate boundaries produce the deepest earthquakes?

subduction zone boundary

Periods of geologic time lasted for

tens of millions of years

Continental ice sheets gouged out _____, a major feature in the central North American lowlands.

the Great Lakes

The principle of stratigraphic superposition tells us that _____.

the oldest rock strata in any undisturbed sedimentary sequence are on the bottom, and the youngest are on the top.

The civilization on Easter Island was apparently decimated by the man-made loss of _____.

trees

_____ is NOT an important non-metal mineral resource.

tungsten

Which of the following products is NOT derived from petroleum?

turpentine

Which of the following processes may be responsible for short-term cooling, yet in the long term favors warm, greenhouse climate?

volcanism

Which of the following processes releases carbon dioxide to the atmosphere?

volcanism

The major unsolved problem in using nuclear fission is:

waste disposal

_____ is an indirect means of harnessing current solar energy.

wind power

Fragments of unmelted rocks that are sometimes incorporated in magma are known as _______.

xenoliths