Geology 1403 Bockoven Final Exam Review
How long ago did the universe form, according to the big bang theory?
13.7 billion years ago
Plates move at a rate of about ____ cm/year
5
After one half life, _____% of the parent isotope and ____% of the daughter isotope is present. After two half lives, ____% of the parent isotope and ____% of the daughter isotope is present. After three half lives, _____% of the parent isotope and ____% of the daughter isotope is present
50,50 25, 75 12.5, 87.5
What is a sedimentary rock?
A rock that is the most common on the Earth's surface. They can from either eroding a previous rock to a sediment and then lithifying the sediment or precipitation from water or compaction of plant fragments
How old is the earth?
About 4.6 billion years old
The two largest conventional oil fields in the United States are n the states of ___ and __
Alaska, Texas
In North America, the two major mountain chains are the _____ in the east and the ____ in the west.
Appalachian, NA Cordillera
The North American Cordillera includes, among others, the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevadas, and the ____ mountains.
Cascade
____ sedimentary rocks are formed from cemented sediment grains eroded from pre-existing rocks
Clastic detrita
____ is an inorganic sedimentary rock, formed from the compression and alteration of plant fragments
Coal
Where is mechanical weathering by freeze thaw cycles most commonly found?
Temperature climates
Where is chemical weathering most commonly found?
The Humid/Wet/Tropical climates
What theory describes the formation of the Milky Way Solar System?
The Nebular Theory
What are fractures in bedrock along which movement has taken place?
Vaults
What is Ship Rock, NM and Devil's Tower, WY examples of?
Volcanic neck
During heavy rains, sediment carried down narrow mountain canyons is deposited on the desert floor as ____ fans
alluvia
What is a metamorphic rock?
a Rock that forms from high pressure and temperature in the solid state
Why do geologists believe that the outer core of the earth is liquid?
because p waves can travel through it but s waves cannot
Caverns are usually formed by acid dissolution of limestone ____ the water table. Speleothems are formed by precipitation of limestone by dropping water in a cavern limestone ___ the water table.
below, above
Coral sand beaches in the caribbean or the great barrier reef are composed of the mineral ____
calcite
What mineral are limestones composed of?
calcite
The lower part of a glacier, where melting of snow and ice occurs, is called the zone of _____ or the zone of wastage.
ablation
_____ fans are thick deposits of sediment found at the base of many submarine canyons.
abyssal
An alpine glacier ___ when accumulation is greater and ___ when wastage is greater.
advance, retreats
What Mineral Group is calcite a member of?
carbonates
We live in the _____ era
cenozoic
A ____ forms at the mouth of a stream, where it empties into a body of water and deposits sediments
delta
What is oceanic crust compared to continental crust?
denser and thinner
The point on the surface of the earth directly above an earthquake's focus is the _____
epicenter
Rocky shorelines with sea stacks and arches indicate a _____ Coastline
erosional
A ____ is an ice-transported boulder that was not derived from the underlying bedrock
erratic
An ____ is along sinuous ridge of sediment deposited by a stream that flowed under a continental glacier
esker
The point within the earth where seismic waves first originate in an earthquake is the _____
focus/hypocenter
A ____ is the sharp peak tat remains after cirques have cut back into a mountain several sides. The metamorphic rock ___ is named after the Matterhorn. The upper part of a glacier, the part with the permanent snow and ice, is called the Zone of ____
horn, horntels, accumulation
The upthrown block is the ____ and the downthrown block is the ____
horst, graben.
Intraplate Mantle Plumes form _____ such as the Yellowstone Supervolcano, the Hawaiian Islands, and the Emperor Sea Mount Chain. These Mantel Plumes ____ located at plate boundaries
hot spots, are not
What are hot springs on the seafloor at the mid-ocean ridges?
hydrothermal
Another name for Continental Glaciation is ____
ice sheets
Unweathered _____ rocks are the best choice for absolute radiometric dating.
igneous
What are the 3 major rock groups?
igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary
Plutonic igneous rocks are usually ____ and cool ____ and are ____ grained
intrusive, slowly, coarse
The line which separates these 2 zones on a glacier is called the _____
snowline
As an Alpine or Continental glacier retreats, end moraines called ____ moraines may be left behind. The end moraine that indicates the farthest reach of the glacier is called the ___ moraine
recessional, terminal
______ metamorphism occurs over widespread areas when rocks subjected to high pressure at depth, and usually results in foliated textures
regional
What are the 2 major types of metamorphism
regional and contact
The two types of age dating are ____ and ____
relative, radiometric (absolute, numeric)
Economic deposits of petroleum in a conventional field require ____, ____, ____, and ____
source rock, reservoir, trap, and cap rock/sea
Longshore drift can create a ____ , a long thin ridge of sediment attached to land but extending out into open water.
spit
Speleothems that hang from the cave ceiling are called _____ . The ones that grow up from the floor are called _____. These can join together to form a _____
stalactites, stalagmites, pillar/column
Wave erosion of headlands and deposition in bays causes coastal ____
straightening
What is the most significant agent of chemical weathering?
the formation of carbonic acid from CO2 and H2O
What is the continental crust composed of?
the igneous rock granite
Underwater earthquakes can cause seismic sea waves called _____
tsunamis
______ composition magmas are the most viscous, and create the most explosive volcanic eruptions.
Felsic
_____ coasts are common because sea level has been rising for the past 15,000 years
Submergant
A ____ is a ridge of sediment that completely crosses a bay, cutting it off from the ocean.
Baymouth bar
What are the 2 micas?
Biotite Mica and Muscovite
_____ metamorphism occurs adjacent to a pluton when a body of magma intrudes a relatively cool country rock, and usually results in nonfoliated textures
Contact
US coasts with gently sloping sandy beaches, such as those along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico are ____ Coastlines
Depositional
The most recent catastrophic nuclear disaster occurred in ____
Hiroshima, Japan
The ferromagnesian minerals contain the elements ____ and ____. The minerals are ____, the Pyroxene ____, the Amphibole _____, and the mica _____
Iron, Magnesium, olivine, ____, ____, biotite
What theory states that less dense continental rocks "floats" on the more dense mantle rock?
Isostacy
A small hill of till left behind a Continental Glaciation is called a ____
Kames
When an ice block that was buried in till in front of an Ice Sheet finally melts a depression called ____ forms.
Kettle lake
The delta of the ___ river is a wave-dominated delta that resembles the Greek letter delta nd is the origin of the name
Nile
Does the mineral Quartz have cleavage?
No
What forms the outer brittle tectonic plates
Lithosphere
_____ composition magmas are less viscous, ad create runny, basaltic, lava flows.
Mafic
The Big Thwack Theory explains that our moon was formed when a ______ sized planet collided with the earth.
Mars
The dinosaurs went extinct at the end of the _____ Era, _____ Period, _____ years ago
Mesozoic, cretaceons, 65 million
The ______ cycles explain that earth's ice ages and interglacial periods are caused by differences in the amount of heat from solar radiation that the earth receives due to variations in its orbit around the sun
Milankovich
Out of the 4, rank from most dense to least dense: Core, continental crust, mantle, oceanic crust
Most dense to least dense: Core, Mantle, Oceanic crust, Continental Crust
_____ is a type of mass wasting that acts like a viscous fluid or "wet cement"
Mud flow
Much of the city of ___ is below sea level because it was built on a subsiding delta.
New Orleans
The first abundant multicellular, hard-shelled organisms appeared in the ____ Era, _____ period, ______ years ago.
Paleozoic, Cambrian, 540 million
The Colorado plateau is marked by flat-lying sedimentary rocks that are heavily eroded into landforms called _____
Plateaus, mesas, beauts, and monuments
The longest length of geologic time occurred during the ______. The oldest rocks are found in the middle of continents in the Precambrian_____. The oldeset rocks dated so far contained zircon crystals and were found in the Jack Hills of ____.
Precambrian, shield, Australia
What is the silicate mineral most resistant to weathering and least susceptible to chemical attack on the Earth's surface?
Quartz
What metamorphoses from the parent rock quartz sandstone?
Quartzite
The _____ scale measures the magnitude of an earthquake. It is a logarithmic mathematical scale based on the maximum amplitude on a seismogram. The ____ Scale describes an earthquakes intensity
Richter, Mertality
What is an igneous rock?
Rocks form by melting, cooking and recrystalization
What type of volcano is very large and has a gentle slope with layers of basaltic lava flows?
Shield
What is the core composed of?
The elements iron and nickel
What is the most common agent of chemical weathering?
The formation of carbonic acid from CO2 in the atmosphere and water
What does dilute acid react with?
The mineral calcite, the sedimentary rock limestone, and the metamorphic rock marble
What does the lithosphere move on ?
The plastic asthenosphere
What causes the magnetic field of the earth?
The presence of iron in the earth's core
A ____ is an upward-arching field with two limbs. The limbs dip away from the axis/hinge line.
anticline
What is another term for fine-grained texture in igneous rocks?
aphanetic
Sharp ridges are called _____ separate adjacent glacially carved alpine valleys.
arete
The "horns" in a _____ dune point in a downwind direction. Trough time, the sand dune moves. Wind bounces sand up the ____ windward side of the dune until the sand reaches the crest. Sand then avalanches down the ____ leeward slip face of the dune.
bargent, gentle, steep
Galveston Island, and Padre Island, are examples of ____ islands.
barrier
What is the oceanic crust composed of?
basalt
Some black sand beaches in Hawaii are made up of sand-sized particles of the rock ___ or the volcanic glass ____. Hawaiian green sand beaches are composed of the mineral _____
basalt, obsidian, olivine
What is the most common mineral group in the earth's crust?
basillicate
A fold in which the beds dip toward a central point is called a ____
basin
A ____ is a large intrusive pluton greater than 100 square kilometers in size
batholith
Seismic ____ waves travel faster than surface waves. The seismic wave that travels fastest is the ____ wave, followed by the ____ wave. Surface waves cause the most destruction to people and property, and include the ____ wave, and the _____wave.
body, p, s, Raleigh, love
Wind=blown sand many sculpt isolated pebbles, cobbles, or boulders into ____
bonifact
A _____ stream flows in a network of intertwined channels, around numerous sandbars. These are common in areas of high bed loads such as deserts and ____ runoff.
braided, glacial
A ___ is a structure built parallel to shore to absorb the force of large, offshore breaking waves and provide quiet water near shore
breakwater
What are the 2 most common minerals on the earth's crust?
quartz and the feldspars
A _____ is a small, steep volcano constructed of pyroclastic fragments.
cindercone
A ___ is a bowl-shaped depression carved into a mountain at the head of an alpine glacier. After the glacier melts, the depression may be filled with a lake called a ____ . A series of small lakes down an alpine glacier carved valley are called ____ Lakes because they resemble Rosary Beads.
circ, tarn, Paternoster
What are the 3 major sedimentary rock groups?
clastic detrital, bioclastic/chemical organic, chemical inorganic
What is it called when a mineral breaks along planes of weakness?
cleavage
Most of our electricity comes from power plants that burn ___ or ____
coal, natural gas
Most of our energy comes from the 2 nonrenewable fossil fuels, ____, _____, _____
coal, natural gas, and oil
A _____ volcano is an intermediate volcano in both size and in the angle of its cone.
composite
All folds are created by what kind of stress?
compression
A ______ view represents a vertical slice through the Earth. The view from above is called the ____ view.
crossection, map
The Himalayas were formed by collision of 2 continental plates at a _____ convergent plate boundary
cont-cont
The 3 types of convergent plate boundaries are?
cont-cont, ocean-cont, and ocean-ocean
What are the major types of crust?
continental and oceanic
In North America, the ___ separates streams that flow into the Pacific ocean from those that flow into the Atlantic ocean and Gulf of Mexico.
continental divide
The 2 main types of glaciation are ___ and ___
continental, alpine
In _____ plate boundaries, the plates are moving towards each other. Crust is destroyed here.
convergent
What are the 3 concentric zones of the earth?
core, mantle, crust
A geologist uses _____ to establish the equivalency of rocks of similar age in different areas
corolation
the slowest form of mass wasting is ____, which can cause bent telephone and fence poles, and cracked walls and driveways
creep
Open fissures called ___ develop in the brittle surface ice of glaciers.
crevass
Deflation may cause fine silt and clay to be removed by desert winds, and many leave behind a layer of gravel known as ______
desert pavement
The area of a desert covers may enlarge due to poor agricultural practices, overuse of water, and climate change. This is called ____
desertification
At the surface of the Earth, ultramafic rocks in kimberlite pipes weather away leaving behind concentrations of ______.
diamonds
A ______ is a small discordant igneous intrusion and a ___ is a small concordant igneous intrusion.
dike, sill
In _____ plate boundaries, the plates are moving away from each other. New crust is constructed here.
divergent
Mid-Ocean Ridges are examples of ____ plate boundaries
divergent
Rifts are examples of ____ plate boundaries
divergent
What are the three major types of plate boundaries
divergent, convergent, and transform
Shallow focus earthquakes are associated with ____ and ____ plate boundaries while both shallow and deep focus earthquakes are associated with ___ Plate boundaries.
divergent, transform, convergent
A fold in which the beds dip away from a central point is called a _____
dome
The ____ is the total area drained by a river and its tributaries (sometimes called the watershed)
drainage basin
A ___ is a long canoe or cigar shaped hill made of till, parallel to direction of Ice sheet movement
drumlin
Bad agricultural practices, drought, and windblown loess caused an ecological disaster in the Great Plains of the US in the 1930's. This is called the ____ and includes the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas.
dust bowl
Many ____ coast lines indicate that the land has been uplifted at a faster rate than sea level is rising.
emergant
An ____ meander (also called _____ meander), forms when a meandering stream begins to downcut due to a change in the stream's height above base level. This can be caused by ____ of the land or a _____ in sea level.
encized, trenched, uplift, fall
____ moraines form at the terminus of both Alpine and Continental Glaciers.
end
Volcanic igneous rocks are usually _____ and cool _____ and are _____ grained
extrusive, quickly, fine
When the river overtops the channel during a flood, fine sediments are deposited in the ____ that make fertile farmland.
flood plain
What is it called when a mineral breaks irregularly?
fracture
____ are sometimes built perpendicular to shore in an attempt to protect beaches that re losing sand from longshore drift
grains
All glaciers flow downhill due to ___
gravity
Much of the fresh water we use for drinking and irrigation comes from subsurface _____
groundwater
The half-life of a radioactive material is the time it takes for a given amount of radioactive isotope to be reduced by ____
half
The mineral ____ tastes salty and has ______cleavage.
halite, cubic
Mass wasting is more common in areas with ____ slopes, ____ relief, ____ precipitation, and a ___ amount of vegetation
high, high, high, low
A stream may evolve from a "straight" stream near its headwaters to a meandering stream near its mouth. Near the headwaters, the "straight" stream may have a ____ gradient, a ____ v-shaped channel in cross-section, a ____ floodplain, and _____may be the prominent type of erosion.
higher, symmetrical, absent, downcutting
What metamorphoses from the parent limestone
marble
____ are rock walls designed to protect the entrance of a harbor from sediment deposition and storm waves.
jetties
What are fractures in the bedrock along which no movement has taken place?
joints
What are the feldspars?
k feldspar and plagiocrase
An area with many depressions, sinkholes, sinking streams, springs and caves is said to have ____ topography.. The rock type associated with this topography is _____ which is usually dissolved by ____ acid.
karst, limestone, carbonic
Melted glacial ice mixed with volcanic ash forms a type of flow called _____
lahar
Mounds of till that form along the sides of valley glaciers are called ____ moraines, and ___ moraines form in the middle of an alpine glacier.
lateral, medial
Wind creates waves. Waves move sand. Sand is moved along the beach by waves hitting eh beach at an angle and producing a ____ current.
longshore
Continental crust has a higher elevation than oceanic crust due to its ____ density
lower
A ____ stream has a curvy s-shaped channel. This stream flow faster and erodes more on the outside of meander bends at the _____, and it flows slower and deposits sediments on the inside of the meander bends at _____.
meandering, _____, point bar
According to the theory of sea floor spreading, the youngest igneous rocks in the ocean are found at the ______
mid-ocean ridge
Geologic resources that take millions of years to form and cannot be replenished during a human's lifetime are called _____
non renewable
What are the 3 types of unconformities?
nonconformity, angular unconformity, disconformity
Fault Block Mountains, such as the Grand Tetons, WY, are created by ____ faults.
normal
Horst and gabens are bounded by _____ faults.
normal
____ faults are the result of tension
normal
____ and _____ faults are the most common types of dip-slip faults.
normal, reverse
We mine uranium to produce ____energy, which accounts for about 10% of our energy needs
nuclear
non-ferromagnesium
quartz, k felds, plagiocias, feldspar
Most beach sand is composed of the mineral ____ and is carried to the shore line by _____ and moved along the beach parallel to shore by _____.
quartz, rivers, waves/longshore drift
The 4 rocks of prograde metamorphism, from lowest grade to highest grade are:
slate, phylite, schist, and neiss
The Cascade Range of Washington and the Andes of South America are formed along Subduction zones at ____ convergent plate boundaries
ocean-cont
The Mariana Trench and the Aleutian Islands are formed along Subduction zones at _____ convergent plate boundaries
ocean-ocean
Most of the water on the planet is saline and foun din the ____. Most fresh water on the planet is found in ____
oceans, ice/glaciers
On a map, an anticline or dome has the ____ rocks in the center and a syncline or basin has the ____ rocks in the center
oldest, youngest
What are places where bedrock is exposed at the surface of the earth?
outcrop
In parts of Texas and New Mexico, ____ of groundwater has caused the water table of the Ogallala Aquifer to drop more than 40 feet.
overuse
A cutoff meander may become a crescent-shaped _____ lake.
oxbow
Many of the red, orange, and yellow rocks of the desert are a result of _____ of iron forming minerals such as the mineral ______
oxidation, hematite
The chemical composition of the _____ is the most important factor in determining what the resultant metamorphic rock will be.
parent rock
A ___ is a broad, gently sloping surface formed by the coalescing of alluvial fans
pejada
What is the mantle composed of?
peridotite
What is another term for coarse- grained texture in igneous rocks?
phaneritic
The Exfoliation Dome and sheet joints at Enchanted Rock are examples of physical weather by ______?
pressure release
The most deadly event in a volcanic eruption is a(n)
pyroclastic flow
Folds and ____ faults are the result of compression
reverse
What cleavage does calcite have?
rhombehdral
What are the driving forces of plate tectonics?
ridge puss, convection, slab pull
The San Andreas fault is a ____ lateral _____ slip fault
right, strike
Worldwide, the most important concentration of earthquakes and volcanoes is called the _____
ring of fire
When global temperatures rise, ice sheets melt and sea level ____ and when global temperatures fall, ice sheets form and sea level _____
rises, falls
The Mississippi River has a ___ dominated delta which extends quite far out into the relatively quiet waters of the gulf of mexico
river
The fastest type of mass wasting is ____ or ____
rockfall, rock avalanche
Walls built on shore to protect the land from wave erosion are called ____. These were overtopped by the tsunami after the 2011 Japan earthquake.
seawalls
What type of cleavage do Biotite Mica and Muscovite have?
sheet cleavage
A ____ forms when the roof collapses on a cavern near the surface
sinkhole
The foliated metamorphic rock _____ is often used for making chalkboards, pool tables, and roofs.
slate
Estuaries (drowned rivers) and Fiords (drowned glacial valleys) indicate a ____ Shoreline.
submerged
A _____ is a downward bending fold with two limbs. The limbs dip toward the axis/hinge line
syncline
The ____ is the end of a glacier. Tis term applies to both Alpine and Continental glaciers
terminus
The state that produces the most wind energy is ____
texas
What does the lithosphere include?
the crust and the upper mantle
a _____ fault is a low-angle reverse fault
thrust
A ____ is a bar of sediment that connects an island to the mainland. Morro Rock, CA is connected to the mainland by one of these.
tombolo
In ____ plate boundaries, the plates are moving side-by-side. Crust is not created or destroyed here
transform
The San Andreas fault of California is a ____ plate boundary
transform
A ____ slide moves down a plane of weakness, such as a clay later, a mica shist, or a fault or joint
translational
The 2 types of slides are ____ and ___ slides.
translational, rotational
To become a sedimentary rock, sediment is ____ , ______, is buried and then _______.
transported, deposited, lithified
A _____ is a gap in the geologic rock record representing erosion or non-deposition
unconformity
In an Emergent coastline, a wave cut platform may be raised up out of the water to create a flat area called an ____. These create the sea cliffs that are common in California.
uplifted marine terrace
The cross-section of stream valleys are often ____ shaped and the cross section of alpine glacial valleys are often ___ shaped.
v, u
Other names for Alpine Glaciers are ____ Glaciers or ____ glaciers.
valley, mountain glaciers
Petroglyphs were often carved into ____, a hard shiny coating of mafic minerals that form on rock surfaces in deserts
varnish
Sea mounts are extinct underwater ____. As coral grows upward around an eroding and sinking seamount, a ring of coral called an ____ may form.
volcanoes, atoll
The predominant force of erosion shaping most desert landscapes is _____
water
The upper surface of the saturated zone of ground water is called the ____
watertable
The 3 types of deltas are
wave, tide, and stream dominated
In general, higher mountain ranges such as the Himalayas tend to be geographically ___. Lower mountain ranges such as the Appalachians tend to be geologically _____.
younger, older