PHYSICAL GEOLOGY 1403 FINAL EXAM

What is a floodplain

A broad strip of land built up by sedimentation on either side of a stream channel. Covered with water during a flood.

A stream can increase its length by _____.

All of the answers are correct.

Identify the list that consists of ten common minerals ranked in order of increasing hardness, from 1 to 10.

Mohs Hardness scale

Which of the following is true about transport of sediment in a stream

Sediment that is deposited within a stream bed is unlikely to be transported again

What is a point bar

a crescent-shaped accumulation of sand and gravel deposited on the inside of a meander

A delta forms when

a river slows and deposits sediment as it enters a lake or sea

Among other things, geologists are employed as____

all of the answers are correct

Plate tectonics is a unifying idea that helps explain where and why there are ___ on Earth

all of the answers are correct

How can we tell that the Himalaya has been uplifted

all of these

which of the following influences whether a flood occurs

all of these are influences

What is probably the most important factor in the health of most ecosystems

availability of clean water

The mineral ____ reacts with weak hydrologic acid to produce carbon dioxide gas, i.e. it effervesces (fizzes) in dilute acid

calcite

Huge circular depressions from which volcanoes erupt are called:

calderas

Landslides and volcanic eruptions can cause a tsunami by:

causing a large mass of rock to catastrophically displace the water

A ____ encompasses all land near the sea, including the beach and a strip of land inland from it

coast

Most deaths by earthquakes are caused by

collapse of structures

Which mineral property is the least reliable for identifying a mineral?

color

Folds are most often created through what type of stress

compression

Which of the following does NOT match a sedimentary rock with a possible metamorphic equivalent

conglomerate-mudstone

Which of the following parts of the seafloor are the shallowest

continental shelves

In geology, _____ usually means determining time equivalency of rock units.

correlation

Open fissures called ___ develop in the brittle surface ice of glaciers.

crevasses

Glaciers can be considered as _______ of fresh water for future use.

deposits

Mid-ocean ridges form where two ocean plates

diverge

A ridge or strip of ground separating one drainage basin from another is termed a ______

divide

Igneous rocks may be either ____ if they form on or near Earth's surface, or ___ if they solidify under ground.

extrusive; intrusive

A mineral specimen with a Mohs hardness of 2 can scratch a mineral specimen with a hardness of 5

false

A syncline is a fold shaped like an arch, with the oldest rocks in the center

false

A transform plate boundary occurs where two plates converge

false

Agriculture and biodiversity will be enhanced with increased global temperatures

false

An anticline is a structure in which beds dip away from a central point

false

An ultramafic rock is composed almost entirely of quartz.

false

Color is the most reliable physical property in mineral identification

false

During an earthquake, buildings built on hard rock are damaged more than buildings built on soft sediment

false

Extrusive igneous rocks are typically fine grained because they crystallized slowly, deep below the Earth's surface

false

Low stream velocity generally results in erosion and transportation of sediment

false

Mafic igneous rocks are silica-rich

false

Paved areas and storm sewers decrease the rate of surface runoff of water

false

Rocks formed at high temperatures and under high pressure deep within the Earth and pushed upward by tectonic force are stable in their new environment

false

The Appalachian Mountains are an example of ocean-ocean convergence

false

Uniformitarianism reflects the belief among geologists that the Earth remains uniform and unchanging through time

false

Waves usually come straight into shore

false

Weathering and erosion play no role in the development of mountains

false

A(n) ____ is a coastal inlet that is formed by a drowned glacial carved valley

fiord

____is/are sudden localized floods of large volume and short duration, often triggered by heavy rainstorm

flash floods

What is probably the least expensive approach for avoiding shoreline hazards

forbid the building of houses or other structures in high risk areas

A ______ is a type of hot spring that erupts hot water and stream

geyser

A coarse-grained intrusive rock composed mostly of feldspar and quartz is called

granite

Rock deep within the Earth is _____ and ______.

hot; heat flows out toward Earth's surface

The Earth's system that includes the oceans, rivers, lakes, and glaciers of the world is called the _______.

hydrosphere

Which of the following is properly called a flood

if water spreads out over the floodplain

The geothermal gradient is the

increase of earth's temperature with increase in depth

Where does the quartz in granite typically end up

it ends up as sand in rivers, dunes, and beaches

An area with many sinkholes and caves is said to have ___ topography.

karst

Which of the following igneous rocks has a texture consistent with a magma that cooled and solidified slowly at first, followed by more rapid cooling

large, early formed crystals surrounded by smaller late formed crystals

What is a common rock that can be dissolved by water and weak acids

limestone

____ is the movement of sand parallel to the shore

longshore drift

Rivers may develop pronounced sinuous (wiggly) curves called a ___ pattern.

meandering

Heat, pressure and deformation are processes that can create

metamorphic rocks

Rocks are composed of

minerals

The Earth's interior heat engine works because hot buoyant material deep within Earth ___ while cold denser material _____

moves upward; moves downward

_____ are low ridges of flood-deposited sediment that form on both sides of a stream channel and thin away from the channel

natural levees

_____ refers to the ability of a rock to transmit fluids

permeability

Not all deserts are hot. Descending air near the North and South poles creates ____ deserts.

polar

____ is the percentage of a rock or sediment that consists of void space

porosity

The ____ is based upon the observation that fossil species succeed one another through layers in a predictable order

principle of faunal succession

Rocks rich in what mineral tend to have a poor solubility during weathering

quartz

Which of these minerals could be used to make glass windows

quartz

Sand moving over a dune surface by saltation typically forms ___.

ripple marks

The greater part of the sand from most beaches comes from ____.

rivers

Overall, a P-wave increases in velocity with depth. This implies that:

rocks are increasing in density with depth

Which of the following materials is NOT produced by erupting volcanoes

sandstone

Most ________ and _________ are both porous and permeable.

sandstone; conglomerate

Clastics sedimentary rocks are classified primarily on the basis of

sediment size

Which of the following features is formed by the collapse of caves

sinkhole

_____ are closed depressions found where land surfaces are underlain by limestone bedrock

sinkholes

Which of the following situations would result in angular clasts

steep slopes in a mountain

What type of figure would you use to portray the relative thickness of rock units stacked on top of one another

stratigraphic section

which principle is used to determine the age of rocks by ordering them from oldest on the bottom to the youngest on the top

superposition

A fold in which rocks fold down in the shape of a U is a(n):

syncline

When a fracture cuts across several rock layers, we can interpret that:

the fracture is younger than the layers it crosscuts

____ are the product of past glaciations

the great lakes

Tectonics is the study of

the origin and arrangement of the broad structural features of Earth's surface

A finely crystalline or glassy igneous texture indicates that

the rock is cooled quickly

What is permafrost

the upper part of the ground that remains frozen throughout the year

A vesicular igneous texture indicates that

there was a lot of gas in the magma

Which of the following processes is NOT considered to be chemical weathering

thermal expansion

what kind of map give detailed information regarding the elevation of the land's surface

topographic

What type of map depicts the shape of the land surface by showing the elevation of the land surface with a series of lines called contours?

topographic map

Smaller subsidiary channels that feed main channels of rivers are called:

tributaries

A cutoff meander can become an oxbow lake

true

A fault in which movement is predominantly horizontal and parallel to a strike is called a strike-slip fault

true

A fiord is a glacially-cut valley flooded by rising sea level

true

A geologic cross section represents a vertical slice through a portion of the earth

true

A mineral is defined as a crystalline solid that is naturally occurring, has a specific chemical composition and forms through geologic processes

true

Both graphite and diamond are made of carbon.

true

Deposits of calcite built up in caves by dripping water are called speleothems

true

Dune types and dune-crest are influenced by wind velocity

true

Geologists use fossils in sedimentary rocks to assign their correct place in geologic history

true

Geology uses the scientific method to explain natural aspects of the Earth.

true

Glaciers are a major fresh water reserve

true

Gravel beaches have a steeper face slope than sand beaches

true

How fast groundwater flows depends, in part, on the permeability of the sediment through which it passes.

true

In an uncomformity the contact represents a gap in the geologic history

true

Plate tectonics regards the lithosphere as divided into segments (plates) that are in horizontal motion

true

Rocks are defined as naturally-formed aggregates of minerals or mineral-like substances.

true

Seawalls are constructed perpendicular to the shore to prevent wave erosion.

true

Striations and grooves in bedrock indicate the direction of ice movement

true

The compacted mass of granular snow, transitional between snow and ice, is called firn.

true

The principle of original horizontality states that beds of sediment are nearly always deposited as nearly horizontal layers

true

The study of ancient climates is called paleclimatology

true

Understanding geology can help us lessen or prevent damage to the environment

true

We depend on geologists for the raw materials we need for survival.

true

Downslope marine flows comprised of mixed masses of sand, mud, and water are called____

turbidity currents

Missing geologic time caused by erosion is called a (an):

unconformity

Which of the following is true about density and weight

weight depends on the mass of the object and the pull of gravity

Major mountain belts with higher mountain ranges tend to be geologically _____ relative to those where the mountains are lower

younger than