Geology Midterm (Quizzes 1-4)

As a tsunami approaches land, the height of a tsunami wave ____.

increases primarily because the water depth and velocity decreases.

The epicenter of the 2010 Haiti earthquake was located _____.

on the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault.

What are two main causes of tsunami?

subduction-zone earthquakes and landslide into the ocean

Which type of earthquake waves do the most damage?

surface waves

The background in the painting, The Scream, by Edvard Munch is evidence of what?

the high amount of sulfur dioxide put into the atmosphere by the eruption of Krakatau in 1883.

A transform plate boundary involves

two plates sliding laterally past each other.

The Japanese islands formed from a volcanic island arc. At convergent ocean - ocean boundaries volcanoes form when the subducted plate is at what depth?

80 - 100 km

Earthquakes associated with normal faulting cause the extension of Earth's crust. This type of faulting is generally associated with which type of plate boundary?

Divergent

The Midcontinent Rift which underlies part of Iowa is evidence of what past geologic event?

The Midcontinent Rift is evidence that the central part of the North American continent was once the site of a divergent boundary that failed.

Which of the following is not true with respect to the San Andreas fault?

The San Andreas fault represents the convergent boundary between the North American and the Pacific plates.

Which of the following statements is NOT true with respect to Earth's mechanical layers?

The lithosphere contains the crust and the upper part of the plastic asthenosphere.

Which of the following was the main reason why most scientists did not believe in the concept of continental drift?

The originator of the concept of continental drift did not adequately explain how the continents could move.

What was the origin of the pumice rafts associated with the 1883 eruption of Krakatau?

The pumice rafts formed when hot ash from pyroclastic flows encountered cold seawater.

Which of the following is true with respect to tsunamis?

Tsunamis occur when the seafloor is suddenly uplifted or dropped down during an earthquake.

VEI stands for ______.

a volcano's explosivity index

A tsunami may occur when _____.

An earthquake occurs on or near the ocean floor, a volcano erupts under water, an underwater landslide occurs

Which of these is NOT a way to mitigate or reduce the impact of natural hazards on people and property.

Coastal building/developement

The terms 'tsunami' and 'tidal wave' mean the same thing and are interchangeable when discussing a seismic sea wave.

False

The island of Hispaniola is located on which of the following plates?

Gonave plate, North American plate, Caribbean plate

Which of the following would not be a part of the Ring of Fire?

Hawaii

Which is the product of a non-explosive style of eruption?

Lava flows

How does pahoehoe lava differ from aa lava?

Pahoehoe is ropy-looking, and aa is clinkery

The originator of the theory of continental drift called the single landmass _______.

Pangaea

What type of volcano is associated with volcanic arcs built over subduction zones?

Strato-volcanoes

The Gonave microplate formed in response to ______.

Strike-slip motion between the North American plate and Caribbean plate, extension along the Mid-Cayman spreading center, at the transform plate boundary between the North American and Caribbean plates.

Which of the following would be a modern analogy to the Midcontinent Rift of North America?

The East African Rift Valley

The massive loss of life in the 2010 Haiti earthquake was primarily due to _____.

The massive loss of life in the 2010 Haiti earthquake was primarily due to _____.

Which of the following did not occur as a result of the eruption of Krakatau?

The sound of the explosions could be heard as far away as San Francisco, California.

A rapid retreat of the shoreline can indicate a tsunami wave is imminent.

True

A tsunami ripped the Dutch ship Berouw from its moorings and deposited it 0.5 miles upstream from the ocean. A subsequent wave picked it up again and carried it another mile upstream.

True

Volcanoes with high silica magmas generally have more explosive eruptions than those with lower silica magmas.

True

Moment magnitude depends on what main factor(s)?

amount of movement on the fault, strength of the faulted rocks, and total surface area of the fault plane

The layer of the Earth that deforms and flows, behaving like a plastic, is called the _____.

asthenosphere

Which type or types of seismic waves can travel through the mantle of the Earth and be recorded by seismographs?

both P and S waves

Earthquakes associated with reverse faulting results in crustal shortening, which is generally found at which type of boundary?

convergent

Highly explosive magmas are controlled by which of the following?

high silica content and high water

What does the Mercalli Intensity Scale depend on?

how much damage the shaking caused

The Great Tohoku earthquake occurred _______.

in the Japan trench subduction zone.

The costs of catastrophic events continue to increase primarily because ____.

more people are moving into areas at high risk for natural disasters

Unlike regular ocean waves, tsunami waves are different because they ____.

move much faster

Earthquakes

occur on faults when rocks rupture, releasing stored up stress as energy

The residential construction that sustained the least amount of damage during the Haiti earthquake was _____.

one-story shanties made of mud and twig walls, sheet metal roofs, and earthen floors.

Most natural disasters are which of the following?

rarely if ever cyclic because there are too many overlapping effects

The Great Tohoku earthquake occurred as a result of ______.

subduction of the Pacific plate under the North American plate

How did mountain ranges like the Himalayas, Alps, and Appalachians form?

they all formed along continent-continent convergent plate boundaries

Approximately 40,000 people died as a result of the 1883 eruption of Krakatau. What were the two volcanic hazards responsible for these deaths?

tsunamis and pyroclastic flows

Why does Japan rely so heavily on nuclear energy?

Because Japan has few natural resources that it can use to generate electricity.