PHYSICAL GEOLOGY 1403 FINAL EXAM
What is a floodplain
A broad strip of land built up by sedimentation on either side of a stream channel. Covered with water during a flood.
A stream can increase its length by _____.
All of the answers are correct.
Identify the list that consists of ten common minerals ranked in order of increasing hardness, from 1 to 10.
Mohs Hardness scale
Which of the following is true about transport of sediment in a stream
Sediment that is deposited within a stream bed is unlikely to be transported again
What is a point bar
a crescent-shaped accumulation of sand and gravel deposited on the inside of a meander
A delta forms when
a river slows and deposits sediment as it enters a lake or sea
Among other things, geologists are employed as____
all of the answers are correct
Plate tectonics is a unifying idea that helps explain where and why there are ___ on Earth
all of the answers are correct
How can we tell that the Himalaya has been uplifted
all of these
which of the following influences whether a flood occurs
all of these are influences
What is probably the most important factor in the health of most ecosystems
availability of clean water
The mineral ____ reacts with weak hydrologic acid to produce carbon dioxide gas, i.e. it effervesces (fizzes) in dilute acid
calcite
Huge circular depressions from which volcanoes erupt are called:
calderas
Landslides and volcanic eruptions can cause a tsunami by:
causing a large mass of rock to catastrophically displace the water
A ____ encompasses all land near the sea, including the beach and a strip of land inland from it
coast
Most deaths by earthquakes are caused by
collapse of structures
Which mineral property is the least reliable for identifying a mineral?
color
Folds are most often created through what type of stress
compression
Which of the following does NOT match a sedimentary rock with a possible metamorphic equivalent
conglomerate-mudstone
Which of the following parts of the seafloor are the shallowest
continental shelves
In geology, _____ usually means determining time equivalency of rock units.
correlation
Open fissures called ___ develop in the brittle surface ice of glaciers.
crevasses
Glaciers can be considered as _______ of fresh water for future use.
deposits
Mid-ocean ridges form where two ocean plates
diverge
A ridge or strip of ground separating one drainage basin from another is termed a ______
divide
Igneous rocks may be either ____ if they form on or near Earth's surface, or ___ if they solidify under ground.
extrusive; intrusive
A mineral specimen with a Mohs hardness of 2 can scratch a mineral specimen with a hardness of 5
false
A syncline is a fold shaped like an arch, with the oldest rocks in the center
false
A transform plate boundary occurs where two plates converge
false
Agriculture and biodiversity will be enhanced with increased global temperatures
false
An anticline is a structure in which beds dip away from a central point
false
An ultramafic rock is composed almost entirely of quartz.
false
Color is the most reliable physical property in mineral identification
false
During an earthquake, buildings built on hard rock are damaged more than buildings built on soft sediment
false
Extrusive igneous rocks are typically fine grained because they crystallized slowly, deep below the Earth's surface
false
Low stream velocity generally results in erosion and transportation of sediment
false
Mafic igneous rocks are silica-rich
false
Paved areas and storm sewers decrease the rate of surface runoff of water
false
Rocks formed at high temperatures and under high pressure deep within the Earth and pushed upward by tectonic force are stable in their new environment
false
The Appalachian Mountains are an example of ocean-ocean convergence
false
Uniformitarianism reflects the belief among geologists that the Earth remains uniform and unchanging through time
false
Waves usually come straight into shore
false
Weathering and erosion play no role in the development of mountains
false
A(n) ____ is a coastal inlet that is formed by a drowned glacial carved valley
fiord
____is/are sudden localized floods of large volume and short duration, often triggered by heavy rainstorm
flash floods
What is probably the least expensive approach for avoiding shoreline hazards
forbid the building of houses or other structures in high risk areas
A ______ is a type of hot spring that erupts hot water and stream
geyser
A coarse-grained intrusive rock composed mostly of feldspar and quartz is called
granite
Rock deep within the Earth is _____ and ______.
hot; heat flows out toward Earth's surface
The Earth's system that includes the oceans, rivers, lakes, and glaciers of the world is called the _______.
hydrosphere
Which of the following is properly called a flood
if water spreads out over the floodplain
The geothermal gradient is the
increase of earth's temperature with increase in depth
Where does the quartz in granite typically end up
it ends up as sand in rivers, dunes, and beaches
An area with many sinkholes and caves is said to have ___ topography.
karst
Which of the following igneous rocks has a texture consistent with a magma that cooled and solidified slowly at first, followed by more rapid cooling
large, early formed crystals surrounded by smaller late formed crystals
What is a common rock that can be dissolved by water and weak acids
limestone
____ is the movement of sand parallel to the shore
longshore drift
Rivers may develop pronounced sinuous (wiggly) curves called a ___ pattern.
meandering
Heat, pressure and deformation are processes that can create
metamorphic rocks
Rocks are composed of
minerals
The Earth's interior heat engine works because hot buoyant material deep within Earth ___ while cold denser material _____
moves upward; moves downward
_____ are low ridges of flood-deposited sediment that form on both sides of a stream channel and thin away from the channel
natural levees
_____ refers to the ability of a rock to transmit fluids
permeability
Not all deserts are hot. Descending air near the North and South poles creates ____ deserts.
polar
____ is the percentage of a rock or sediment that consists of void space
porosity
The ____ is based upon the observation that fossil species succeed one another through layers in a predictable order
principle of faunal succession
Rocks rich in what mineral tend to have a poor solubility during weathering
quartz
Which of these minerals could be used to make glass windows
quartz
Sand moving over a dune surface by saltation typically forms ___.
ripple marks
The greater part of the sand from most beaches comes from ____.
rivers
Overall, a P-wave increases in velocity with depth. This implies that:
rocks are increasing in density with depth
Which of the following materials is NOT produced by erupting volcanoes
sandstone
Most ________ and _________ are both porous and permeable.
sandstone; conglomerate
Clastics sedimentary rocks are classified primarily on the basis of
sediment size
Which of the following features is formed by the collapse of caves
sinkhole
_____ are closed depressions found where land surfaces are underlain by limestone bedrock
sinkholes
Which of the following situations would result in angular clasts
steep slopes in a mountain
What type of figure would you use to portray the relative thickness of rock units stacked on top of one another
stratigraphic section
which principle is used to determine the age of rocks by ordering them from oldest on the bottom to the youngest on the top
superposition
A fold in which rocks fold down in the shape of a U is a(n):
syncline
When a fracture cuts across several rock layers, we can interpret that:
the fracture is younger than the layers it crosscuts
____ are the product of past glaciations
the great lakes
Tectonics is the study of
the origin and arrangement of the broad structural features of Earth's surface
A finely crystalline or glassy igneous texture indicates that
the rock is cooled quickly
What is permafrost
the upper part of the ground that remains frozen throughout the year
A vesicular igneous texture indicates that
there was a lot of gas in the magma
Which of the following processes is NOT considered to be chemical weathering
thermal expansion
what kind of map give detailed information regarding the elevation of the land's surface
topographic
What type of map depicts the shape of the land surface by showing the elevation of the land surface with a series of lines called contours?
topographic map
Smaller subsidiary channels that feed main channels of rivers are called:
tributaries
A cutoff meander can become an oxbow lake
true
A fault in which movement is predominantly horizontal and parallel to a strike is called a strike-slip fault
true
A fiord is a glacially-cut valley flooded by rising sea level
true
A geologic cross section represents a vertical slice through a portion of the earth
true
A mineral is defined as a crystalline solid that is naturally occurring, has a specific chemical composition and forms through geologic processes
true
Both graphite and diamond are made of carbon.
true
Deposits of calcite built up in caves by dripping water are called speleothems
true
Dune types and dune-crest are influenced by wind velocity
true
Geologists use fossils in sedimentary rocks to assign their correct place in geologic history
true
Geology uses the scientific method to explain natural aspects of the Earth.
true
Glaciers are a major fresh water reserve
true
Gravel beaches have a steeper face slope than sand beaches
true
How fast groundwater flows depends, in part, on the permeability of the sediment through which it passes.
true
In an uncomformity the contact represents a gap in the geologic history
true
Plate tectonics regards the lithosphere as divided into segments (plates) that are in horizontal motion
true
Rocks are defined as naturally-formed aggregates of minerals or mineral-like substances.
true
Seawalls are constructed perpendicular to the shore to prevent wave erosion.
true
Striations and grooves in bedrock indicate the direction of ice movement
true
The compacted mass of granular snow, transitional between snow and ice, is called firn.
true
The principle of original horizontality states that beds of sediment are nearly always deposited as nearly horizontal layers
true
The study of ancient climates is called paleclimatology
true
Understanding geology can help us lessen or prevent damage to the environment
true
We depend on geologists for the raw materials we need for survival.
true
Downslope marine flows comprised of mixed masses of sand, mud, and water are called____
turbidity currents
Missing geologic time caused by erosion is called a (an):
unconformity
Which of the following is true about density and weight
weight depends on the mass of the object and the pull of gravity
Major mountain belts with higher mountain ranges tend to be geologically _____ relative to those where the mountains are lower
younger than