GEO 101 Exam

Which of the following drawings shows detrital sediment that was likely transported for a long time and deposited far from the source?

C

Limestone is an evaporate sedimentary rock.

False

Silicate minerals are the most common minerals in Earth's outer core.

False

The Hawaiian Islands are a volcanic arc atop an oceanic subduction zone.

False

Which of the following variables would not necessarily be a characteristic of a biome, regardless of where it occurs in the world?

Its human population density

This biome has mild, wet winters and warm, dry summers; vegetation is typically small-leaved evergreen shrubs and small trees adapted to wildfires. This biome is densely populated and widely cultivated.

Mediterranean scrub shrub

Intrusive igneous rocks consist of slowly cooled magma.

True

P-waves travel faster than surface waves.

True

What is uniformitarianism?

a concept that states that present processes operated in the past, at similar rates

What is a theory?

a hypothesis that has withstood extensive testing

Why is topographic monitoring sometimes useful in forecasting a volcanic eruption?

a volcano sometimes swells as lava moves toward the surface

A group of populations of different species living in the same area with varying degrees of interaction with each other is

an ecological community

A lahar is produced when

ash and other pyroclastic ejecta become saturated with water

In an ionic bond,

atoms are joined by negatively or positively charged ions

Shield volcanoes have gently-sloping sides because they are dominated by eruptions of runny

basalt

Limestone is prone to chemical weathering where the rock can dissolve to form caves because it consists of a mineral from the

carbonate group

The maximum number of people Earth can hold without causing prohibitive environmental degradation is called

carrying capacity

Why do composite volcanoes consist of alternating lava and pyroclastic layers?

composite volcanoes are created by a mixture of explosive activity and lava flows

Detrital sedimentary rocks differ from chemical sedimentary rocks in that

detrital sedimentary rocks are composed of visible pieces of preexisting rocks, and chemical sedimentary rocks are composed of minerals that evaporate or precipitate from a solution

Which of the following statements about earthquake prediction is CORRECT?

earthquake recurrence intervals are used to make long-term predictions (probabilities over decades of time) for large earthquakes foreshocks and deformation to the ground surface may occur prior to a large earthquake

The study of interactions of living things and their physical environment is called

ecology

In a covalent bond,

electrons are shared between atoms to form a strong bond

What are the possible effects of utility lines (electric power, gas, water, sewer) rupturing in an earthquake?

fires could be sparked by broken electric power and gas lines, and if water lines are also broken, there may not be any way to put them out loss of functioning water and sewer lines could cause sanitation problems, which may lead to outbreaks of disease

Why might the emission of radon gas be useful in predicting earthquakes?

fracturing of the rocks allows radon to move more readily

Why was Alfred Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift not taken seriously by most geologists?

his mechanism for movement of the continents was faulty

A strike-slip fault has what type of motion?

horizontal

Surface seismic waves...

include Love and Rayleigh waves travel slower than P or S waves only travel through the surface or crust can be more destructive than P or S waves all of the above

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

increases primarily because the water depth and velocity decreases.

The Moment Magnitude of an earthquake

is a measure of the energy released in the earthquake requires knowledge of the amount of slip on the fault, the length and depth of the fault rupture, and the strength of the rocks involved in order to calculate it

Environmental geology

is the study of human interactions with the Earth environment, hazards, and resources is applied geology

If magma has a HIGH silica content

it has high viscosity and a high explosive potential since its difficult for trapped gas to bubble out and escape

Species with disproportionate influences on their ecosystems are called

keystone species

What is sustainability?

meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs

The life story of most oceanic lithosphere is the same. It's created at ______________ and gets destroyed at _________________.

mid-ocean ridges; subduction zones (trenches)

Intrusive igneous rocks differ from extrusive igneous rocks in their

mineral crystal sizes

How a species "makes its living" is called its

niche

What does the concept of environmental unity state?

one action leads to subsequent actions in linked systems

Which of the following is NOT produced during a pyroclastic eruption?

pahoehoe basalt

How are the impacts of natural hazards linked to population growth?

population growth concentrates people and resources, such that the impacts of an individual natural hazard can be greater

Ocean-continent convergent plate boundaries

result in mountain belts with volcanic arcs built on the continent

Grass colonizing a forest of dead trees after a forest fire is an example of secondary succession , shrubs growing in bare sand dunes is an example of primary succession .

secondary succession primary succession

How is the behavior of seismic waves traveling through the Earth used to characterize the Earth's interior?

seismic waves will reflect (bounce) or refract (bend) when they encounter a boundary between layers of different densities seismic waves will speed up when they travel through rocks that are high density, and slow down when they travel through rocks that are less dense S waves can't travel through liquid, so because they never travel all the way through the Earth, we can surmise that the outer core is liquid all of the above

Which of the following statements about earthquakes is CORRECT?

shake maps are based on the proximity to known faults and the characteristics of soils and bedrock within an area, and are used to predict which locations will suffer the most ground shaking during an earthquake

What types of Earth materials are most likely to amplify seismic waves and undergo liquefaction?

soft sandy soils and clay-rich soils

Why are most active volcanoes associated with plate tectonic boundaries?

spreading or sinking plates interact at plate boundaries with other materials to produce magma

Composite volcanoes are typically associated with what type of plate tectonic feature?

subduction zone

As an ecosystem evolves following disturbance, it follows the path of

succession

Viscosity of a magma is controlled by

temperature and silica content of the magma

The Mohorovicic discontinuity represents

the boundary between mantle and crust

Why is the geologic history of a volcano important in hazard prediction?

the geologic history reveals the frequency and style of eruptions

What is the principal difference between the inner core and outer core?

the inner core is solid while the outer core is liquid

Which of the following statements about the lithosphere and asthenosphere is CORRECT?

the lithosphere is composed of crust and the uppermost mantle and forms rigid plates

The concept that one action leads to other actions in a linked system is referred to as

the principle of environmental unity

This biome has a short growing season, permafrost, has only small hardy plants, and low average precipitation.

tundra

A transform plate boundary involves

two plates sliding past each other, such as the North American plate and the Pacific plate sliding past each other along the San Andreas Fault

Transform plate boundaries are marked by

two plates sliding relative to one another

How can you estimate the time it takes for a population to double in size?

use the formula D = 70/G, where D = time and G = growth rate

Science

uses observation, experiment, and calculations to explain natural phenomena

Which of the following is not a mineral?

volcanic glass

Beavers

were once driven nearly to extinction for their pelts can raise water tables, making valleys wetter than they would otherwise be create a diversity of habitats in stream systems were also once more abundant in Yellowstone All of the above