Brian carter Geology 1103 BRCC Midterm EXAM study guide

The actual location on a fault plane where the rupture occurs that causes an earthquake is called the:

Focus

Geology is different than physics or chemistry because:

Geology is a diachronous science, so the geological record has been unique through time in any one location

The mineral olivine :

Is an isolated tetrahedral silicate mineral

A geophysicist can determine the distance between a seismograph and an earthquake's epicenter by measuring the elapsed time between the arrival of the ______ and ______ at a seismograph.

P waves and S waves

At divergent plate boundaries:

Plates move apart and new lithosphere is created.

Volcanoes with felsic composition lavas usually form which of the following landforms:

Stratovolcanoes

The half-life of a radioactive isotope is:

The time required for one-half of the original number of radioactive parent atoms to decay into stable daughter atoms

Coarse-textured igneous rocks have large crystals because:

They have cooled slowly.

During metamorphism, a rock undergoes mineralogical and textural changes:

While primarily in a solid state, due to changes in heat and/or pressure.

2 plates collide and form mountain chains, chains of volcanic islands, and deep sea trenches. ocean-continent, ocean-ocean, continent-continent. Results in REVERSE FAULTS.

convergent plate

Basaltic lava flows in Hawaii that move like oozing molasses and form a smooth, ropey surface are called:

Pahoehoe

Oceanic crust is _____ and higher density

mafic

doc ewing

young oceanic crust

A mineral is defined as:

A naturally occurring solid crystalline substance, generally inorganic, with a specific chemical composition.

The three axes of the metamorphic rock diagram should be labeled:

A= Pressure, B=Temperature, C= Depth

Which of the following is not a mineral?

Coal

Oceanic crust always subducts below continental crust because it is:

Composed of denser rocks

Seismic P waves are also known as:

Compression waves

The names of the appropriate metamorphic rocks in the correct places in the chart from the following choices below should be:

D= Slate, E= Schist, F= Gneiss

According to the __________, earthquakes occur when ___________ accumulates until it exceeds the strength of the rock.

Elastic Rebound Theory / stress

Harry Hess

sea floor bathymetry

The United States mainland is characterized by which of the following tectonic margins:

A transform margin characterized by frequent strong earthquakes A Passive continental margin characterized by deep sedimentary deposits A convergent margin with deep sea trench and volcanoes on the mainland

A type of metamorphism created by the intrusion of an igneous dike at into shallow pre-existing rock is called:

Contact metamorphism

Alfred Wegener developed what concept that led to the Theory of Plate Tectonics:

Continental Drift

The tectonic boundaries with the deepest focus earthquakes would be:

Convergent boundaries

Major earthquakes of magnitudes greater than 8 on the Richter scale are typically related to:

Convergent plate boundaries Subduction zones The Pacific "Ring of Fire"

The geologic history of this sketch can be summarized in order by:

Deposit A through D, Uplift / Deformation, Erosion, Deposit E through G, Intrude volcanic dike

What are the most deadly phenomena of earthquakes from epicenters in or near an ocean:

Tsunami waves

vine and matthews

sea floor spreading

Alfred Wegener developed what concept that lead to the Theory of Plate Tectonics:

Continental Drift

If a rock body is subjected to a force, and it deforms by breaking or faulting, that represents ______________ deformation

brittle

The Richter scale for earthquakes is an exponential scale, meaning the Japanese 2011 earthquake of magnitude 9 was how many times stronger than the Haitian 2010 earthquake of magnitude 7:

100 times

Carbon-13 has six (6) protons. Therefore, this carbon isotope has how many neutrons in its nucleus?

7

Pangea is a name for:

A former supercontinent that was made up of all present continents

Quartz is:

A hard, framework silicate mineral, with conchoidal (glass-like) fracture

In a sequence of sedimentary strata, an unconformity represents:

A missing interval of time, during which sedimentary rocks were either eroded or not deposited

A blueschist rock indicates______ metamorphism typical of ________.

High pressure, low temperature / subduction zones

The type of lavas found at mid-ocean ridges and oceanic hotspots like Hawaii are:

basalt

Rock record:

outline of the continents, shared rock and fossil records between continents, young oceanic and fossil records between continents, young oceanic crust, volcanism of the "Ring of Fire"crust, volcanism of the "Ring of Fire"

Granite rocks that form mountains on continental crust (and are favorites for counter tops!) are what types of igneous rocks:

Felsic / Intrusive

The type of lava that forms at the highest temperatures is:

Basalt

The study of stratified rocks, especially their geometric relations, composition, origins, and age relations. Used to determine if rocks from geographically widely distributed areas are temporally distributed.

stratigraphy

Diamond is the hardest mineral on the Mohs Scale of Hardness because:

B. It has covalent bonding in a 3 dimensional framework

What volcanic rock type would spread out a long distance from its source, compared to other lavas?

Basalt, because it has a lower viscosity than other lavas

A thrust fault indicates that the rocks were deformed under what type of force:

Compressional

Geochronologic Units

Eons, Eras, Periods, Epochs

Which of the following statements about the explosiveness of volcanic eruptions is true?

Explosiveness increases as the silica content of the lava increases

Igneous rocks with very small / microscopic crystals or that are mostly glass are typically:

Extrusive igneous rocks

If an igneous rock contains mostly quartz, it's composition is considered to be:

Felsic

The atoms that compose the heavier elements in the Earth were formed:

From nucleosynthesis in former stars that have gone through a supernova event

Geology / Earth Science:

Is a process of observing contemporary Earth materials and the rock record; creating and testing hypotheses to explain the processes that form these different rocks types; and relating these to the development of the Earth through time.

j tuzo wilson

plate geometry

At convergent plate tectonic margins:

Plates come together and oceanic crust is recycled back into the mantle.

20th century observations (1920's to 1960's) along mid-ocean ridges went against older notions of the nature of the ocean because:

The ocean was shallower in the middle than along the sides of the ocean There was almost no sediment in the middle of the ocean The seafloor was youngest in the middle and composed of volcanic rock

The principle stating that an identical sequence of fossils identified in separate locations is time equivalent is:

The principle of faunal succession

Relative ages of rocks may be determined using:

The principle of original horizontality The principle of cross-cutting relationships The theory of faunal succession

How do geomagnetic isochrons on the ocean seafloor indicate where there is a faster rate of spreading at a mid-ocean spreading center than others:

Where isochrons are wider and farther apart

hugo benioff

seismicity of subduction