EAPS 100 Exam 1

Saturated with respect to

A cooling magma begins to grow crystals. We can say that this magma is ________ the crystallizing mineral. Please fill in the blank with the best answer choice below.

faster flowing water

A river requires _______ to transport large pieces of rock (i.e., sedimentary clasts) when compared to smaller clasts. Please fill in the blank with the best answer choice.

All of the above

Alfred Wegener proposed that the continents had once been joined into a super continent and then drifted apart. Which of the following was a line of evidence that he used to make this proposal? a. The coastlines of continents look like they fit together in the past. b. Fossils of certain species seem to form continuous habitat zones if continents were once joined c. Locations where there is evidence for tropical or glacial environments could be restored to low and high latitudes, respectively, if the continents were once joined together and had drifted apart d. All of the above

He did not have a explanation for how the continents had moved

Alfred Wegener's proposal for continental drift was rejected during his own lifetime (b. 1880, d. 1930) for which of the following reasons?

Several consecutive sunny days

All of the following, except which answer choice, might indicate that magma is moving beneath a volcano? a. Inflation of the volcano b. Several consecutive sunny days c. A change in the composition of gases emitted from the volcano d. Lot's of small earthquakes

Increasing surface area

Chemical weathering is a major process during which rock is broken down through chemical reactions and dissolved ions are incorporated into natural waters. Which of the following parameters will lead to increased chemical weathering if all other variables are kept the same?

Clastic rocks are typically composed of rounded clasts

Clastic rocks are distinguished from crystalline rocks in that they are composed or weathered bits of rock (clasts) that have been transported as sediment and deposited in a location that is different from where their constituent rocks formed. What is one feature of clastic rocks that you could use to distinguish them?

Coal was originally deposited in a biologically productive terrestrial ecosystem.

Coal is a sedimentary rock composed of organic matter and frequently contains plant fossils. Which of the following statements can we infer to be true about the depositional environment in which coal formed?

Plants

Coal is composed of fossil organic matter and is used as fuel for many of the power plants in the USA. From which organisms did this organic matter originate?

A major mountain range

Continental collisions lead to the development of what type of topographic feature at the surface of the Earth?

Subduction

Diamonds are made from carbon with an isotopic signature that is consistent with an origin as ancient life-forms. What process could have brought organic carbon deep into Earth's interior to provide the carbon needed to create diamonds?

No, people can typically get out of the way of lava flows. However, infrastructure might be damaged.

Do volcanoes that dominantly erupt basaltic magma tend to pose an acute threat to human life?

A sedimentary rock only containing fossils of species A. (mod 6)

Each letter in the above diagram represents a species and the adjacent line represents the period of time it was present on Earth before it speciated or went extinct. Use this information to determine which of the following sedimentary rocks is the oldest. (picture 7)

A mountain range

Geological shortening during collisions between continents frequently leads to what topographic feature?

a 'plume' of hot material that has risen from deep within the Earth, potentially from the boundary between the Earth's mantle and core

Geologists think that hotspots form over what type of feature?

inhibit

Heating a magma will ________ crystallization and solidification into a rock. Please fill in the blank with the best answer choice.

The chain of volcanoes lies parallel to the direction of motion for the tectonic plate on which they are built

Hotspot volcanism typically makes linear chains of volcanoes that get progressively younger in one direction. What would best describe the orientation of these features?

A composite volcano

How would you characterize this volcano based on its shape and eruptive style? (pic 9)

1) River bed, 2) Beach, 3) Reef

If you see a sequence of sedimentary rocks that changes from bottom to top: 1) conglomerate, 2) sandstone, and 3) limestone containing marine fossils, what is a plausible sequence of ancient depositional environments for that area?

respiration; photosynthesis

In order to sequester organic carbon in sediments at the bottom of the ocean, production of organic carbon through _________ must be greater than consumption of organic carbon through ________. Please fill in the blanks with the best answer choice.

1

In the above diagram of a river system where are most sedimentary clasts/grains produced? (use picture 2)

Convergent boundary

In what tectonic setting might you find many reverse faults?

Atoms lose or gain valence electrons to make positively or negatively charged ions that can then bond

Ionic bonding occurs when ______? Please fill in the blank with the best answer choice.

false

Is the following statement true or false? The remains of most plants and animals eventually form fossils.

flow downhill

Lava flows, pyroclastic flows, and lahars are all different types of volcanic hazards. All of these hazards will ________ to minimize their gravitational potential energy. Please fill in the blank with the best answer choice.

Transform Boundary

Locations where tectonic plates slide past one another along a vertical plane are known as what type of plate boundary?

The melting point of the mantle is lowered by the addition of water released as the sinking oceanic crust undergoes metamorphic reactions

Magma is dominantly produced in subduction zones through which of the following processes?

Pillow basalt

Mid ocean ridges are underwater mountain ranges, where new oceanic crust is produced. If you were to dredge pieces of rock from a modern mid-ocean ridge, which of the rocks below would be most likely?

randomly arranged atoms

Minerals do not have _________?

Plankton

Oil is composed of organic matter that has been buried in a sedimentary sequence and has experienced elevated temperatures during lithification. Which organism produced the organic matter that goes on to make oil?

CO2

One by-product of burning fossil fuels for energy is the release of ________. Please fill in the blank with the best answer choice.

Burning fossil fuels

Plate tectonics modulates Earth's climate through all of the following processes except which one?

The zones are symmetrical about the mid-ocean ridge

Researchers have documented that magnetic minerals within the seafloor form zones that sometimes point toward the modern north pole and sometimes point toward the modern south pole. These zones form linear belts parallel to mid-ocean ridges. Which of the following is an observation regarding these zones that supports the idea of seafloor spreading?

Diamond

Samples of the Earth's mantle are brought to the Earth's surface through rare volcanic eruptions. One example of this process are kimberlite eruptions, which erupt from deep in the Earth's interior and can breach the surface with extremely high eruption velocities. We have studied these type of volcanic eruptions in detail because they also transport the mineral _________, which only forms at extremely high pressures, to the Earth's surface. Please fill in the blank with the best answer choice.

The deep ocean far from any land

Sandstone is a sedimentary rock largely composed of sand-sized sedimentary clasts/grains. Which of the following environments is not a place where you would expect sand to be deposited and eventually form sandstone?

move apart

Seafloor spreading at mid-ocean ridges is a mechanism that produces new oceanic crust. This process also allows adjacent tectonic plates to __________. Please select the best answer choice to fill in the blank.

seafloor spreading

Since one continent cannot easily sink beneath another continent when two continental plates collide they accommodate the differential motion between them through the process of 'shortening'. This process is similar to when the hood of a car is smashed in a wreck, leading to a shorter total length of the car. Which of the following is not a mechanism through which geological shortening occurs?

pulled back into the Earth's mantle

Subduction zones are places where oceanic crust is ___________. Please fill in the blank with the most appropriate answer choice.

The first macroscopic (things that you could see without the aid of a microscope) animals evolved

The 'Cambrian Explosion' occurred between 541-519 million years ago. What happened during this period of time?

Explosive eruptions can disrupt international air travel and Alaska lies along a common flight path between North America and Asia

The Alaska volcano observatory is one of the largest observatories in the United States, despite the fact that Alaska does not have any major cities adjacent to a major volcano. Why is so much effort put into monitoring Alaskan volcanoes?

Decreasing pressure, while keeping temperature constant

The Earth's mantle is composed of a rock called peridotite. It can begin melting through which of the following processes?

Northwest towards Alaska

The San Andreas fault marks a transform boundary between the North American and Pacific tectonic plates. Los Angeles lies to the west of this fault and is part of the Pacific plate. Based on the lecture materials, where will Los Angeles be transported over the next ~50 million years?

Daughter atoms accumulate as parent atoms decay

The above diagram shows how the number of parent and daughter atoms change through time during radioactive decay. Which of the following statements is true? a. Parent atoms accumulate as daughter atoms decay b. Daughter atoms accumulate as parent atoms decay c. There is no relationship between the number of parent and daughter atoms

Sinistral strike-slip fault

The above fault separates several sedimentary layers. Using the information from the video segments, how would you classify this fault? Hint: Identify the orientation of the fault, the footwall and hanging wall, and the sense of separation of sedimentary layers across the fault. (pic 10)

A

The above image shows all of the different tectonic plates (the boundaries are shown by dark blue and brown lines). Which location is least likely to experience a major earthquake? Note: I'm not asking whether a location has 0% chance of an earthquake, only the location that is least likely to have an earthquake. (pic 11)

It was originally deposited high in the mountains.

The above limestone contains fossil shells from marine organisms. What is not a reasonable inference about the environment in which this sedimentary rock was originally deposited? (no pic sry)

approximately the same period of time

The above photograph shows a mountain composed of sedimentary rock. The principle of lateral continuity allows you to assume that a single layer represents ________ as you trace it across the photograph. (picture 6)

D

The above photograph shows a vertical magmatic dike cutting across horizontal sedimentary layers. Which of the labeled rocks is the youngest based on the principle's of superposition and cross cutting relationships? (picture 4)

Angular unconformity

The above photograph shows two groups of sedimentary rocks, one that is vertical and the other that is shallowly dipping. James Hutton observed this outcrop and realized that an enormous of amount of time was required to deposit sedimentary rocks, rotate them to a vertical orientation, erode them, and deposit new sedimentary rocks. This realization kicked off the modern efforts to quantify the history of the Earth. What do we call surface (outlined in white) between the two groups of sedimentary rocks?

Dissolved ions

The organisms that produce shells made out of calcium carbonate are utilizing what component of seawater?

A deep canyon known as a 'trench'

The point where oceanic crust begins sinking in subduction zones is marked by what type of topographic feature?

Cementation

The process through which loose sediment becomes a rock is known as lithification. _______ is the process that occurs when fluids precipitate new minerals in the pore spaces between sedimentary clasts/grains and leads to lithification.

Unit cell

The smallest repeatable unit in a crystalline sold is known as the _________? Please fill in the blank with the best answer choice.

increases

The thickness of sedimentary rocks on the seafloor _________ with distance from mid-ocean ridges. This observation indicates that the seafloor gets progressively older with distance from the mid-ocean ridge and is one of the lines of evidence for seafloor spreading. Please fill in the blank with the most appropriate answer choice.

Mineral size

The unit cell leads to all of the following mineral properties except which one?

4

Use the labels on the above cross section of a delta and associated sedimentary deposits to answer the following question. Where would you most likely find sedimentary deposits composed of the smallest clasts/sedimentary grains? (use picture 1 on word)

The magmas have an extremely low viscosity (meaning that they can flow with relative ease)

Volcanoes that are associated with subduction zones are frequently associated with explosive volcanic eruptions. All of the following are qualities of subduction zone magmas that lead to this characteristic behavior except which one?

True

We now think that plate tectonics is largely driven by 'slab pull', meaning that the ocean crust that is metamorphosed into very dense rock during subduction pulls the other tectonic plates as it sinks.

No initial daughter isotope when the material formed

We now use radioactive decay to determine the age of geological materials. What is one feature of an ideal material for radiometric dating?

Igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary

What are the three main types of rock?

Silicon (Si) and Oxygen (O)

What are the two most common elements in Earth's crust?

The species had a very small population

What feature would not make a fossil useful for determining relative geologic ages?

Metamorphism transforms the basalt that forms ocean crust into a rock that is more dense than the Earth's upper mantle. This transition pulls oceanic crust downward as it sinks.

What is the key process that causes the ocean crust to be pulled into the Earth's mantle?

Silicate Minerals

What is the most common class of mineral within the Earth's crust? Hint: Remember the most common elements in the Earth's crust.

Lahar

What is the name for a mud flow that is composed of volcanic debris?

Friction

What is the reason why faults tend to move intermittently (stick-slip behavior) instead of continuously?

Low viscosity (flows with relative ease)

What magma property listed below would not lead to explosive volcanic eruptions? a. High gas content b. High gas content c. Low viscosity (flows with relative ease)

Erosion

What process causes the Hawaiian islands to go from high volcanic mountains to very low-lying, small islands over long periods of time?

Weathering and Erosion

What process is constantly removing material from mountain ranges? Hint: Think back to earlier in the course.

Melting triggered by decompression as the Earth's mantle flows upward

What process leads to partial melting of the Earth's mantle and the production of large volumes of basaltic magma at mid-ocean ridges?

The continent will resist being pulled into the Earth's deep interior because it is composed of rocks that are much less dense than the rocks that compose Earth's mantle.

When a continent is pulled into a subduction zone it will __________? Please fill in the blank with the best answer choice.

On a ridge on a non-volcanically active part of the island

Which location would be the safest place to build a house on the Big Island of Hawaii. Remember, this island has several active volcanoes that produce basaltic lava flows?

Plates are pulled by oceanic crust that is metamorphosed into very dense rock during subduction

Which of the following best describes the force that drives plate tectonics?

a drought

Which of the following is least likely to trigger a mass wasting event from a steep slope?

Earthquakes that occur far from mid-ocean ridges

Which of the following is not a line of evidence used to support the idea of seafloor spreading? a. Magnetic striping on the seafloor b. Earthquakes that occur far from mid-ocean ridges c. The thickness of sediment on the seafloor increases away from mid-ocean ridges d. Evidence for recent basaltic eruptions at mid-ocean ridges

A cubic zirconia (ZrO2) crystal grown in a laboratory

Which of the following is not a mineral? a. Quartz (SiO2) crystals extracted from a granite b. Diamond (C) extracted from a kimberlite c. Ice (H2O) crystals in a snow flake d. A cubic zirconia (ZrO2) crystal grown in a laboratory

the bottom of the ocean

Which of the following locations on the surface of the Earth has the lowest gravitational potential energy? Hint: Where is most sediment ultimately deposited?

Rainwater infiltrating a crack and dissolving rock

Which of the following processes is not an example of mechanical weathering?

Hydrothermal activity around crystallizing magma

Which process typically leads to the concentration of elements like gold, silver, and copper into economically viable deposits?

Surface waves

Which type of seismic wave is most damaging to human infrastructure?

The sedimentary rocks have been rotated from their original orientation.

You observe the sequence of sedimentary rocks in the above photograph. Using the principle of original horizontality, what can you infer about the history of this location? (picture 5)

Close to a subduction zone

You observe the volcanic eruption above. Based on the shape of the mountain and the eruptive style, what tectonic setting are you in? (picture 8)

A

You walk up to this outcrop of sedimentary rocks. You know from previous observations that they have not been rotated or overturned. Using the principle of superposition, which of the labeled layers is the oldest? (picture 3)

Yes, the risk of eruption is elevated

You work at the a volcano observatory. Over the past several days you have monitored GPS data indicating that the volcano is inflating. Over the same period of time you have monitored numerous small earthquakes. Another scientist at the observatory reports that the gases emitted from several hot springs have changed to different chemical compositions. Do you recommend that the government evacuate the towns that are adjacent to the volcano?

Basalt

_______ is a rock formed from solidification of magma that forms during partial melting of the Earth's mantle? Please fill in the blank with the best answer choice.