Geology Ch.1

The ___ is the thinnest layer of the Earth

Crust

The most prominent feature on the ocean floor are the

Oceanic ridges

The ___ is thought to be a liquid, metallic region in the Earth's interior

Outer core

The magnetic field of earth is thought to originate in which of the following layers?

Outer core

Which of the following layers of earth generates the magnetic field?

Outer core

Why is the geologic time scale more detailed in the Phanerozoic than in previous eons?

The Phanerozoic eon is more detailed because of the presence of organisms with hard parts and the rapid increase in biodiversity

which of the following best explains the formation of the four inner planets?

The inner planets formed from the repeated collisions of planetesimals

Which of the following is a correct assumption about the age of the rock layers in the Grand Canyon?

The metamorphic rock layers at the bottom of the canyon are older and sedimentary layers at the rim of the canyon

The law of superposition applies primarily to sedimentary rocks and lava flows

True

___ is often paraphrased as the "the present is they key to the past"

Uniformitarianism

___ is the process by which rocks break down in place to produce soils and sediments

Weathering

How do we know that the outer core of earth is liquid?

A shadow zone exists where S waves do not arrive on the side of earth opposite the focus of an earthquake

The currently accepted age of the Earth is ______ years

4.6 billion

Which of the following descriptions defines a "system"?

A group of interacting parts that form a working whole

In an open system both energy and matter flow into and out of the system.

True

Much of our modeling of earth's interior comes from the study of seismic or earthquake waves

True

Which of the following statements about the rock cycle is correct?

A sedimentary rock subjected to intense heat and pressure will become a metamorphic rock

Active mountain belts are most likely to be found

Along the margins of continents

Which of the following best describes the fundamental concept of superposition?

Any sedimentary deposit accumulates on older rock or sediment rock

___ was the highly influential, Ancient Greek philosopher noted for his writings and teachings on natural philosophy and on the workings of the Earth

Aristotle

All of the following are possible steps of scientific investigation except for

Assumption of conclusions without prior experimentation or observation

The ___ is not part of the earth's physical environment

Astrosphere

Which of the following rocks best represents a typical composition of oceanic crust?

Basalt

Which of the following responses best describes why the lithospheric plates are able to move around on the surface of the earth?

Because the asthenosphere is composed of weak, hot, and dense rock, the cold, rigid, less dense lithospheric plates are capable of moving on it

The ___ refers to the sum total of all life on earth

Biosphere

What doctrine of earth science implies that major features on the surface of the earth are created by sudden, short-lived, violent events?

Catastrophism

___ a popular natural philosophy of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, was based on a firm belief in a very short geologic history for Earth

Catatrophism

In sedimentary rocks, lithification includes

Compaction and cementation

Which region of earth is composed of abundant amounts of granite?

Continental crust

What hypothesis paved the way for the present theory of plate tectonics?

Continental drift

Which of the following is a component of the earths biosphere

Coral reefs

What is the category name for the largest division of time used on the geologic time scale?

Eon

The asthenosphere

Exists below 100 km

Aristotle and other prominent Greek philosophers were the first ones to promote the doctrine of uniformitarianism

False

Igneous rocks are produced largely by the deposition and consolidation of surface materials like sand and mud

False

The asthenosphere is a relatively cool and rigid shell that overlies the lithosphere

False

Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between people and geology?

Geologic processes only become hazards when people live in areas where these processes occur

Which of the following describes the inner planets of our solar system?

Hey canteen mostly iron nickel and rock forming minerals.

Name the epoch, period, era, and eon in which we live

Holocene Epoch of the Quarternary Period, which is part of the Cenzoic Era and Phanerozoic Eon

In which "sphere" would you find groundwater?

Hydrosphere

___ rocks form by crystallization and consolidation of molten magma

Igneous

In correct order from the center outward, earth includes which units?

Inner core, outer core, mantle, crust

___ was an important eighteenth century English geologist and proponent of uniformitarianism

James Hutton

A continental shelf is located

Landward of the continental slope

Which of the following describes the geologic doctrine known as catastrophism?

Large features like mountains and canyons were created by sudden events produced by unknown causes.

The ___ forms the relatively cool, brittle plates of plate tectonics.

Lithosphere

Which of the following combinations is the correct order of the layers of earth from the surface to the center?

Lithosphere, mantle, outer core, inner core

The asthenosphere is actually a part of the ___ of the Earth

Mantle

Which layer of earth possesses the greatest thickness?

Mantle

The Jurassic Period lies in the ___ era, which was dominated by large terrestrial vertebrates or ___

Mesozoic; dinosaurs

The ___ proposes that the bodies of our solar system formed at essentially the same time from a rotating cloud of gases and dust

Nebular hypothesis

___ rocks always originate at the surface of the solid Earth

Sedimentary

Which of the following rock types is most abundant on earth's land surface?

Sedimentary rocks

Which of the following statements is not correct?

Sedimentary rocks may weather to igneous rocks

The composition of the core of the earth is thought to be

Solid iron-nickel alloy

A _____ is a well-tested and widely accepted view that best explains certain scientific observations

Theory

What is the major source of energy that drives the movement of the lithospheric plates on earth?

Thermal energy from within earth

Compared to the age of the Earth accepted as correct today, how did seventeenth and eighteenth century proponents of catastrophism envision the Earth's age?

They believed Earth to be much younger than current estimates

Which of the following features would you find in an ocean basin?

Trench, abyssal plane, mid oceanic ridge

According to the rock cycle, any type of rock may be transformed into another type of rock, given enough time

True