EES150-002 Final Exam

The main type of rock type exposed Earth's surface in Kentucky and the surrounding region is metamorphic rocks

False

The majority by volume of the magma erupted at volcanoes such as Mount St. Helens is extruded as fluid lava flows.

False

The most abundant gas dissolved in silicate magmas is CO2

False

The oceanic and continental crust have constant thickness

False

The volcanic gas that is most diagnostic for monitoring and predicting volcanic eruptions is SO2 (sulfur dioxide) because it does not occur in our atmosphere.

False

Transform plate boundaries are associated with the largest volcanic eruptions in Earth history.

False

Which of the following does not apply to the most explosive volcanic eruptions?

Involves basalt magma

Referring to the feature circled in red in the photo below. Which of the statements DOES NOT apply to the feature?

It is a pahoehoe lava flow

Yellowstone is part of the Cascade continental volcanic arc that formed by subduction of the Juan de Fuca oceanic plate.

False

The "KGS", the state agency responsible for documenting and informing the public of potential seismic hazards in Kentucky, is the:

Kentucky Geological Survey

Which of the rocks below is most analogous to the foam released when a soda bottle is opened?

Pumice

Which of the following is NOT associated with basaltic eruptions?

Pyroclastic flows

Which of the following is NOT a process by which Earth is losing heat

Radioactive decay of U and K in the crust

We discussed the following volcanic eruptions this semester, which are listed in alphabetical order here: Mazama (Crater Lake) Huckleberry Ridge (Yellowstone) Pinatubo Saint Helens Toba Which volcano erupted the least amount of magma? o pop

Saint Helen

The volcano/volcanic feature in the picture above is

Santorini, Greece

Which of the following is NOT a source of heat in Earth?

Solar thermal energy

All of the following are true of plutonic igneous rocks except:

They can take only hours or days to cool and solidify

Hawaii and Yellowstone have all of the following in common except:

They erupt rhyolite

Which of the following is not a characteristic of stratovolcanoes?

They form at at divergent plate boundaries

The earthquakes below Pinatubo before the eruption were interpreted to be related to magma moving upward below the volcano.

True

The feature that metamorphic rocks have in common and distinguish them from plutonic igneous rocks is a foliation, layering, or planar structure that reflects compressional deformation during metamorphism

True

The force that causes tall buildings to collapse and that knocks objects off shelves in homes and stores during an earthquake is due to the acceleration produced by sudden onset of ground motion.

True

The heat source for felsic magma generated in supervolcano systems like Yellowstone is from heat released by basalt magma trapped/ponded/intruding at the base of the continental crust.

True

The increase in seismicity (in terms of number and strength of earthquakes) in central Oklahoma from 2009-2016 correlates with the amount of wastewater injected into the deep subsurface.

True

The most powerful earthquakes in terms of magnitude (M) exhibit the largest rupture areas and displacements along the fault.

True

The most silica-rich magmas also contain the most dissolved water, which increases their explosivity.

True

The most viscous magmas are silica-rich (e.g., rhyolite)

True

The oceanic crust consists primarily of basalt and gabbro

True

The presence of basalt on any planetary body requires that body to have a mantle consisting of peridotite, just like on Earth

True

The primary driving mechanism for lava fountaining or magma explosion is expansion of bubbles of gas that was dissolved in the magma.

True

The primary hazard associated with basaltic volcanism is property destruction.

True

The temperature of water expelled by black smokers in seafloor hydrothermal systems is as high as 300 oC.

True

The total energy released by all Magnitude 1-8 earthquakes on Earth in a single year is less than the energy of a single Magnitude 9 Great Earthquake.

True

There are some exceptions but in general there exists a correlation between the distribution of earthquakes and volcanic centers on Earth

True

Water involved in the production of magma in subduction zones is derived from sediment deposited on the oceanic crust before that crust is subducted.

True

With the exception of "hot spot" volcanism, most magmatic activity occurs at plate boundaries.

True

According to the U.S. Geological Survey a successful earthquake prediction would specify all of the following except:

Type of fault that the earthquake forms on

Which volcanic system exhibits the greatest diversity/range of magma compositions?

continental volcanic arcs

The Mercalli scale for quantifying earthquake intensity is based on all of the following observations except:

the length of the displacement along the fault on which the earthquake occurs.

Megathrusts possess or exhibit all of the following features or properties except:

the upper plate moves laterally relative to the lower plate

Stratovolcanoes form only on continental crust.

False

The Earth's lower crust and upper mantle are mostly molten. This explains why volcanoes are found everywhere across Earth's surface.

False

The July 6th 2018 Ridgecrest California M 7.1 earthquake was probably triggered by wastewater injection that lubricated the fault plane.

False

An accurate estimate for the temperature of magma erupted at Kilauea is (temperature in degree Celsius):

1200 C

Refer to the figure below of a decay curve for an unstable radioactive isotope parent that decays to a stable daughter isotope. If a zircon crystal has 25 atoms of the parent isotope, and 75 atoms of the daughter isotope, how many half lives have passed?

2 half lives

Refer to the Map with the locations A through F. Some locations may used more than once. Some questions have more than one possible correct response but GIVE ONLY ONE RESPONSE. Which box corresponds to the location of a magmatic hotspot?

A

The name of the 3-person submersible vehicle first used to explore seafloor volcanic and hydrothermal systems on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge was

Alvin

Refer to the Map with the locations A through F. Some locations may used more than once. Some questions have more than one possible correct response but GIVE ONLY ONE RESPONSE. Which box corresponds to the location of a stratovolcano built on continental crust?

B

Which magma composition on Earth is involved in or fundamental to generation of all other magmas?

Basalt

Pillow lavas erupt underwater, along the axis of mid-ocean ridges. Which type of magma does this eruption involve?

Basaltic

A planet that is actively undergoing plate tectonics would exhibit all of the following topographic patterns except:

Broad high areas with dense development of meteorite impact craters

Refer to the Map with the locations A through F. Some locations may used more than once. Some questions have more than one possible correct response but GIVE ONLY ONE RESPONSE. Which box corresponds to the location of a stratovolcano built on oceanic crust?

C

Seismicity in the New Madrid Seismic Zone is related to an active strike-slip plate boundary that runs from the northeastern U.S. to the region of the San Andreas Fault Zone.

False

Mount St. Helens is part of which continental volcanic arc?

Cascade Arc

The members of the Italian Great Risks Commission responsible for informing the public of seismic risk were convicted of which of the following in regard to the 2011 L'Aquila, Italy, earthquake?

Conducting a superficial analysis of the seismic risk and providing false reassurances to the public.

Which of the following is NOT evidence for the composition of the Earth's core?

Convection of the Mantle

Refer to the Map with the locations A through F. Some locations may used more than once. Some questions have more than one possible correct response but GIVE ONLY ONE RESPONSE. Which box corresponds to the location of formation of basalt by melting of ascending mantle asthenosphere?

D

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the New Madrid Seismic Zone?

Earthquakes result from strike-slip plate boundary like the San Andreas fault system.

Basalt magma forms when the mantle asthenosphere rises and melts the oceanic crust at divergent plate boundaries.

False

Because Earth has fewer meteorite impact craters it did not undergo the same heavy meteorite bombardment that is evidenced by the dense cratering of the Moon

False

Mars has an extensive highland region and an extensive lowland region, which together require that Mars has plate tectonics like Earth.

False

Martian meteorites are a type of iron meteorite.

False

Megathrust earthquakes are the most powerful earthquakes because they are also the deepest earthquakes that occur on Earth.

False

Most of the eruptions on Hawaii in the past 70 years have been from the summit crater of Mauna Loa.

False

Mount St. Helens was the largest eruption on Earth in the past 150 years.

False

Our understanding of Martian igneous rock types is based on samples collected by Martian landers that drove around on Mars, grabbed samples, and then blasted off from Mars and returned the samples to Earth, like we did by going to the Moon.

False

Peridotite xenoliths are examples sedimentary rocks that form at Earth's surface in erupting basaltic lava

False

Rhyolite magma is the most voluminous/abundant magma generated on Earth.

False

Rhyolite welded tuffs form by crystallization of viscous rhyolite lava flows.

False

Shield volcanoes are the characteristic type of edifice formed at convergent plate boundaries.

False

Caldera volcanic systems involve all of the following processes or features except:

Formation of a shield volcano

Subduction is associated with all of the following phenomenon except

Generation of new oceanic crust

Which type of rock would you NOT expect to find on Mars?

Granite

All of the following contribute to making rhyolite caldera eruptions more explosive except:

High rate of gas escape from the magma before eruption

What type of tectonic process or plate interaction is occurring between the Arabian Plate and Eurasian Plate?

Indentor tectonics

Refer to the map below. Which of the following pairs of continents or plates does not make a matching fit in support of movement of lithospheric plates?

India and Eurasia

Which of the following convergent plate tectonic settings does not actively involve subduction and therefore does not exhibit giant earthquakes:

India with Eurasia

The primary volcanic hazard associated with eruptions at Kilauea is:

Lava flows covering property and setting fire to buildings.

There were several volcanic materials erupted at Mount Pinatubo, which is relatively remote from many towns and cities. Which of the following was NOT one of the volcanic materials that impacted towns and urban centers to create most of the damage and long-lasting disruption to people's lives?

Low viscosity basalt lava flows

Viscosity of a magma is controlled primarily by:

Magma composition (silica or SiO2 content)

All of the following processes drive lithospheric plate motion except

Mantle hotspots

The relative volume proportions (in percent: %) of the different layers of the Earth are:

Mantle:Core:Crust = 83:16:1

Which famous scientist defined the term "radioactivity"?

Marie Curie

Which of the volcanoes listed is the most active volcano based on the number of eruptions in the past 4000 years?

Mount St. Helens, Washington

Which of the following is NOT one of the volcanoes that comprises the island Hawaii?

Mt. Pele

Which of these volcanoes is NOT a submarine stratovolcano in an oceanic arc?

Ngauruhoe

Which pair of volcanoes/volcanic settings is most different in their eruption style?

Ngauruhoe (New Zealand)-Kilauea

The distribution of volcanoes on Earth is

Not random and distributed in linear belts, e.g., around the Pacific ocean

The two most abundant elements of the crust and mantle are:

O and Si

Pumice is a highly vesicular form of which volcanic rock?

Obsidian

The largest single volcanic edifice in the solar system that we know of is:

Olympus Mons on Mars

Submarine (underwater) eruption of magma in an oceanic volcanic arc is different from a continental arc in all of the following ways except:

One involves subduction and one involves a hot spot

All of the following are a type of pyroclastic material except:

Pahoehoe

The mantle consists of what type of igneous rock?

Peridotite

Lava erupted underwater forms:

Pillow lava

The Moon, Mars and Earth have all of the following in common in their histories except:

Plate tectonics

Which type of volcano is most likely to generate lahars?

Stratovolcano

Refer to the Figure. Fault Number 1 is a:

Strike-slip Fault

The volcano in the photo below is exhibiting what style of eruption?

Strombolian

Refer to the figure below. Based on the relative width of oceanic crust that is 20 millions old, which of the listed divergent plate boundaries is spreading the fastest?

The Nazca-Pacific plate boundary.

Which of the following is not a characteristic feature of sea floor magnetic anomalies?

The anomalies are older at the ridge axis and younger away from the axis

The presence of active volcanism on Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific ocean implies all of the following except

The crust or mantle immediately beneath Hawaii is cooler than the surrounding oceanic crust

All of the following are components of the elastic rebound model for earthquake generation EXCEPT:

The fault surface is always a vertical strike-slip fault like the San Andreas fault zone

The international tsunami detection and warning system can detect or predict all of the following except:

The magnitude of the earthquake that generated the tsunami.

Which of the following is not true about the magnet polarity time scale:

The polarity reversals are all of the exact same length of time

We discussed the following volcanic eruptions this semester, which are listed in alphabetical order here: Mazama (Crater Lake) Huckleberry Ridge (Yellowstone) Pinatubo Saint Helens Toba Which volcano erupted the greatest volume of magma?

Toba

Although most mountains form at convergent plate boundaries, mountains can also form along transform plate boundaries

True

Although volcanoes don't form there, most of the magmatism on Earth in terms of volume of magma generated occurs at divergent boundaries where new oceanic crust forms.

True

Although we see mostly sedimentary rocks as we drive around at Earth's surface, the majority of the continental crust consists of plutonic igneous rocks and metamorphic rocks

True

Basalt is the most common magma in the inner solar system based on its presence on Earth, Mars, and the Moon.

True

Common plate motion rates are on the order of 1-20 cm/year

True

Deformation of rocks by fracturing or flowing is permanent (not recoverable)

True

Earthquakes occur primarily at plate boundaries but may also occur in intraplate settings far from plate boundaries.

True

Eruption of basalt on the moon that filled the large impact basins ended by 3.9 billion years ago.

True

Faults represent displacement of rock layers along a fracture.

True

Isotopes are atoms of the same elements with different numbers of neutrons

True

Location of an earthquake epicenter requires detecting the earthquake on seismometers from at least three seismic stations.

True

Measurement of the rate and direction of plate motion by the satellite-based Global Positioning System (GPS) agrees with measurements from paleomagnetism and seafloor spreading from plate motions determined by paleomagnetism

True

Oceanic crust is ultimately consumed by subduction at convergent plate boundaries

True

Of the two types of crust, only oceanic crust is subducted into the mantle

True

One of the challenging aspects of understanding intraplate earthquakes is that they tend to shift locations over 100 to 1000 year time spans, as in northern China.

True

P waves have the highest velocity in the crust and therefore are the first seismic waves to arrive at a seismometer station.

True

Plate Divergence requires creation of new oceanic crust

True

Sedimentary rocks form from sediment that is deposited in horizontal layers, e.g., the sand you might see deposited along the shoreline in Florida or the Bahamas

True

Some lithospheric plates, such as the North American plate, consist of continental crust and oceanic crust.

True

Some of the tsunamis associated with the Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964 were generated by submarine landslides that were in turn triggered by the earthquake.

True

The Mercalli scale is used to quantify intensity for earthquakes that occurred before seismometers were invented, such as the 1811 New Madrid and 1906 San Francisco earthquakes.

True

The New Madrid Fault Zone is considered by the U.S. Geological Survey to have the same seismic risk hazard as the San Andreas Fault Zone.

True

The San Andreas Fault System along southwest margin of the North American plate is an example of a transform plate boundary

True

Gas that is dissolved in a magma and is released during an eruption is primarily:

Water (H2O) vapor