GEO SCI 10: FINAL EXAM

The extinction of many types of dinosaurs occurred about: A) 65,000 years ago. B) 650,000 years ago. C) 6,500,000 years ago. D) 65,000,000 years ago. E) 650,000,000 years ago.

D) 65,000,000 years ago.

Look at the picture above which shows a region just less than a foot across, of a stream deposit from the base of the same pile of rocks that show up in Bryce Canyon. This picture was taken in the face of a cliff in Red Canyon, just west of Bryce Canyon National Park. A indicates a piece of limestone that has been rounded off in a stream; B indicates a mass of sand glued together by hard-water deposits, and C indicates another such mass of sand glued together by hard-water deposits . In order of time of formation, they are: A) A was formed first, then B was glued together by hard-water deposits, then C was glued together by hard-water deposits. B) B was glued together by hard-water deposits, then C was glued together by hard-water deposits, then A was formed. C) C was glued together by hard-water deposits, then B was glued together by hard-water deposits, then A was formed. D) C was glued together by hard-water deposits, then A was formed, then B was glued together by hard-water deposits. E) B was glued together by hard-water deposits, then A was formed, then C was glued together by hard-water deposits.

A) A was formed first, then B was glued together by hard-water deposits, then C was glued together by hard-water deposits.

We speak of elements, such as gold, or oxygen, or iron. If you got some gold, and started dividing it into smaller and smaller pieces, the smallest piece that would still be called "gold" would be: A) An atom. B) A proton. C) A quark. D) An electron. E) A neutron.

A) An atom.

The picture above shows Telescope Peak, towering above Death Valley. The straight edge of the alluvial fan in the foreground is: A) An earthquake fault, where the valley has dropped relative to the mountains. B) An earthquake fault, where the mountains are being shoved upward and over the top of the valley. C) Something the design team put in using Photoshop, because nothing in nature could be so straight. D) An earthquake fault, from long ago in geological time when tectonic processes still affected Death Valley. E) The excavation for the shoulderof the scenic Zabriskie Point Highway along the west side of Death Valley National Park, which, along with Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain, Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier, and the Windows Highway in Zion, is one of the four most famous drives of the national parks.

A) An earthquake fault, where the valley has dropped relative to the mountains.

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina brought a storm surge that overtopped the levees and flooded New Orleans, causing over 1400 deaths and perhaps $100 billion in damages. This flooding of New Orleans from a big storm was: A) An event that scientists had warned about for decades, based on the known size of hurricanes, and the sinking of the city and the Delta. B) An event that proves that civil authorities are so good at planning that you never need to worry about dangers from any weather events in the future. C) An "act of nature" that no one could have foreseen; these things just happen. D) A disaster that humans made much worse by causing massive sedimentation that raised the whole Mississippi Delta above the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, so that the storm waves could use the Delta as a ramp to jump easily into the city. E) An event proving that if you drive your Chevy to the levee, it causes a hurricane to form.

A) An event that scientists had warned about for decades, based on the known size of hurricanes, and the sinking of the city and the Delta.

The picture above shows: A) An upside-down dinosaur track. B) A right-side-up dinosaur track. C) A sideways dinosaur track; the picture should be rotated ninety degrees clockwise to be right-side-up. D) A sideways dinosaur track; the picture should be rotated ninety degrees counterclockwise to be right-side-up. E) Mud cracks.

A) An upside-down dinosaur track.

Tsunamis: A) Are like tornadoes; they can be predicted with some accuracy seconds to hours before they strike in most cases, allowing quick warnings to save many lives. B) Are like the seasons; they can be predicted accurately months in advance, allowing wise planning. C) Always are huge and destructive. D) Are completely unpredictable on all time scales. E) Are like the weather; they can be predicted fairly accurately days in advance, allowing wise planning.

A) Are like tornadoes; they can be predicted with some accuracy seconds to hours before they strike in most cases, allowing quick warnings to save many lives.

Regions with mountain glaciers that experience much surface melting in the summer typically are eroded: A) At a faster rate than regions with streams but no glaciers. B) At the same rate as regions with streams but no glaciers. C) At a slower rate than regions with streams but no glaciers. D) At the same rate that natural rainfall dissolves granite. E) Not at all; no erosion occurs in typical regions with melting glaciers.

A) At a faster rate than regions with streams but no glaciers.

Tsunamis: A) Can be predicted with some accuracy seconds to hours before the waves strike in most cases, allowing quick warnings to save many lives. B) Always are huge and destructive. C) Invariably involve water moving away from the coast before extra water comes in. D) Can be predicted accurately months in advance, allowing evacuations. E) Are completely unpredictable, so there is nothing we can do about them.

A) Can be predicted with some accuracy seconds to hours before the waves strike in most cases, allowing quick warnings to save many lives.

If you went swimming in the single channel of this river, and grabbed a sample of the river bank, what would you likely come up with? A) Clay, that sticks together and can hold up steep slopes. B) Sand, that can make really steep slopes such as are seen in sand castles. C) Boulders, that pile together to hold up river banks. D) A mixture of clay, sand and boulders, called till. E) Sand, that collapses to plug channels .

A) Clay, that sticks together and can hold up steep slopes.

Among fossil fuels: A) Coal is made by heating of woody plant material, and oil is made by heating of algae. B) Oil is made by heating of woody plant material, and coal is made by heating of algae. C) Coal is made by heating of woody plant material, and oil is made by heating of different woody plant material. D) Oil is made by heating of algae, and coal is made by heating of different algae. E) Oil is made by spraying WD-40 on duct tape, and coal is made by being bad so Santa delivers it to your stocking.

A) Coal is made by heating of woody plant material, and oil is made by heating of algae.

Heat is moved around by convection, conduction and radiation (and by lemmings carrying space heaters, if lemmings ever carry space heaters). Which statement is more nearly correct? A) Convection moves heat efficiently through the soft, hot rocks of the Earth's mantle, but is not efficient at moving heat through the space between the Sun and the Earth. B) Convection moves heat efficiently through the space between the Sun and the Earth, but not through the soft, hot rocks of the mantle. C) No matter where you are, convection always moves heat more efficiently than does radiation. D) No matter where you are, convection always moves heat more efficiently than does conduction. E) No matter where you are, lemmings carrying space heaters are always moving more heat than convection is moving.

A) Convection moves heat efficiently through the soft, hot rocks of the Earth's mantle, but is not efficient at moving heat through the space between the Sun and the Earth.

In the photo above Dave and Kym are discussing a model of the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park. The Waterpocket probably formed in the same way as the Front Range of the Rockies. This involved: A) Especially warm sea floor in the subduction zone off the west coast rubbed along under western North America and squeezed or wrinkled the rocks, folding them (probably with a push-together fault somewhat deeper under the fold). B) The rocks were dropped when salt deposits below were dissolved by groundwater. C) The rocks were wrenched and twisted by a San Andreas-type slide-past fault. D) The rocks were folded by obduction when California docked on the west coast. E) The rocks were dropped along a Death-Valley-type fault.

A) Especially warm sea floor in the subduction zone off the west coast rubbed along under western North America and squeezed or wrinkled the rocks, folding them (probably with a push-together fault somewhat deeper under the fold).

Which is older: A) Fault I. B) Fault J. C) Fault H. D) Unconformity K. E) Intrusion G.

A) Fault I.

In affecting the landscape: A) Glaciers that are frozen to their beds don't do much, but glaciers that are thawed at their beds and have a lot of meltwater change things rapidly. B) Glaciers that are frozen to their beds change things rapidly, but glaciers that are thawed at their beds and have a lot of meltwater don't do much. C) Regardless of whether they are frozen to their beds or thawed at their beds with much meltwater, glaciers always change the landscape very much more rapidly than do rivers or landslides. D) Regardless of whether they are frozen to their beds or thawed at their beds with much meltwater, glaciers always change the landscape very much more slowly than do rivers or landslides. E) Regardless of whether they are frozen to their beds or thawed at their beds with much meltwater, glaciers never change the landscape.

A) Glaciers that are frozen to their beds don't do much, but glaciers that are thawed at their beds and have a lot of meltwater change things rapidly.

The glacier shown above: A) Has retreated, because a decrease in snowfall to the accumulation zone (A) or an increase in melting of the ablation zone (B) occurred. B) Has advanced, because a decrease in snowfall to the accumulation zone (A) or an increase in melting of the ablation zone (B) occurred. C) Has retreated, because a decrease in snowfall to the ablation zone (A) or an increase in melting of the accumulation zone (B) occurred. D) Has advanced, because a decrease in snowfall to the ablation zone (A) or an increase in melting of the accumulation zone (B) occurred. E) Has not changed.

A) Has retreated, because a decrease in snowfall to the accumulation zone (A) or an increase in melting of the ablation zone (B) occurred.

The pictures labeled I and II show fossils from a sediment core collected from the floor of the Atlantic ocean, east of South Carolina. The sediment has not been disturbed by landslides or mountain building or other processes. The pictures were taken by Brian Huber, of the Smithsonian Institution, using a scanning electron microscope. The two samples in the sediment core were separated by the unique layer marking the extinction that killed the dinosaurs. Which is correct? A) II is younger than the unique layer, and thus sat above the unique layer in the sediment on the sea floor. B) II is younger than the unique layer, and thus sat below the unique layer in the sediment on the sea floor. C) I is younger than the unique layer, and thus sat above the unique layer in the sediment on the sea floor. D) I is younger than the unique layer, and thus was bathed in Diet Pepsi on the sea floor.

A) II is younger than the unique layer, and thus sat above the unique layer in the sediment on the sea floor.

A University of Michigan student visiting Penn State's University Park campus drinks too much Diet Pepsi, wanders out in a pouring rainstorm, and takes a leak in a sinkhole behind the nearby Nittany Mall. The trout in the stream to which the sinkhole drains will notice the dastardly deed: A) In a few hours to days. B) In a few centuries. C) In a few thousand years. D) Never, because sinkholes don't drain to trout streams. E) Never, because all sinkholes drain to Michigan.

A) In a few hours to days.

Calcium released by chemical weathering is transported by streams to the ocean, where much of it: A) Is used by clams, corals, etc. to make their shells B) Builds up in the water, making the ocean saltier C) Evaporates from the ocean and rains back out on the land D) Is subducted back into the mantle at the mid-ocean ridges E) Is extracted from the water by marine dairy cows to add to milk

A) Is used by clams, corals, etc. to make their shells

Bigger earthquakes occur less frequently, but a bigger quake releases more energy and does more damage. An interesting question to ask about earthquakes (and about almost anything else!) is whether the increase in energy release and damage done is larger or smaller than the decrease in frequency as one looks at bigger earthquakes. Asked a different way, is most of the damage done by the many little earthquakes or by the few big earthquakes? A) Most of the damage is done by the few, big earthquakes. B) Earthquakes only damage Coke machines, under an exclusive contract with Pepsi. C) Most of the damage is done by the many, little earthquakes. D) Earthquakes don't do any damage, so this is a silly question. E) The drop-off in frequency just balances the rise in energy, so all earthquake sizes contribute equally to global earthquake damages.

A) Most of the damage is done by the few, big earthquakes.

In the map above, blue shows the Mississippi River, and the Gulf of Mexico, around the Birdfoot Delta of the river. The USGS image uses different colors to indicate changes in the delta. Orange and red both indicate change in one direction, whereas yellow and green indicate change in the other direction. Based on the material presented in this class: A) Orange and red indicate loss of wetlands over time, whereas yellow and green indicate gain of wetlands over time. B) Orange and red indicate gain of wetlands over time, whereas yellow and green indicate loss of wetlands over time.

A) Orange and red indicate loss of wetlands over time, whereas yellow and green indicate gain of wetlands over time.

Volcanoes in Death Valley: A) Produce rocks with similar composition to the rocks made at undersea spreading ridges, because Death Valley is geologically related to spreading ridges. B) Produce rocks with similar compositions to those of undersea spreading ridges, because all volcanoes produce rocks of the same composition. C) Produce rocks of composition completely unlike rocks of undersea spreading ridges, because Death Valley has no geological similarities to undersea spreading ridges. D) Do not exist, and have never existed. E) Are erupting all the time, so you can drive out from Vegas and be sure to see a few in action

A) Produce rocks with similar composition to the rocks made at undersea spreading ridges, because Death Valley is geologically related to spreading ridges.

The arrows point to an interesting feature, high in a road cut in the folded Appalachians of western Maryland. What happened here? A) Push-together forces broke a layer during folding and shoved one side over the other side. B) The sediments in the rock layer near the arrows were deposited this way; muds and sands normally form overlapping shingle-type patterns such as this. C) Slide-past forces caused one side of the rock to slide past the other side. D) Pull-apart forces broke a rock layer, and earthquakes happened as one side slid past the other as they were pulled apart. E) High-temperature metamorphism caused the rocks to soften and flow, with one side "dripping" under the other.

A) Push-together forces broke a layer during folding and shoved one side over the other side.

The picture above shows a muddy limestone that was deposited in shallow water of a lake. The pocket knife is sitting on a high region of the rock. The pink arrow points along a low trough or groove in the rock, and several other such grooves are evident. The rock is: A) Right-side-up; you are looking at the side that was facing up toward the sky when the rock was deposited. B) Upside-down; you are looking at the side that was facing down toward the center of the Earth when the rock was deposited. C) Edge-on; the side that was facing up toward the sky when the rock was deposited is now facing toward the upper-right-hand-corner of the picture. D) Edge-on; the side that was facing up toward the sky when the rock was deposited is now facing toward the lower-right-hand-corner of the picture. E) Edge-on; the side that was facing up toward the sky when the rock was deposited is now facing toward the lower-left-hand-corner of the picture.

A) Right-side-up; you are looking at the side that was facing up toward the sky when the rock was deposited.

Globally averaged, the level of the oceans is: A) Rising, as warming causes the ocean to warm and expand, and as glaciers melt. B) Falling, as humans pump water out of the ground beneath places such as Kansas faster than water goes back into the ground. C) Rising, as glaciers and ice sheets grow. D) Falling, as glaciers and ice sheets melt. E) Rising, as humans pump water into the ground beneath places such as Kansas faster than the water comes back out.

A) Rising, as warming causes the ocean to warm and expand, and as glaciers melt.

The two pictures above, I and II, show fossils inrocks from the Grand Canyon. Each is "typical"; the rocks near sample Icontain fossils similar to those shown in sample I, and the rocks nearsample II contain fossils similar to those shown in sample II. It is likely that: A) Sample I is from high in the cliffs of the Grand Canyon, and sample II is from much lower, near the river. B) Sample I is from near the river, and sample II is from high in the cliffs of the Grand Canyon. C) Sample I is from near the river, and sample II is also from near the river. D) Sample I is from high in the cliffs of the Canyon, and sample II is also from high in the cliffs of the Canyon. E) Sample I is from the north shore of Lake Winna-Bango, and sample II is from the south shore, where there is plenty of moose moss to munch.

A) Sample I is from high in the cliffs of the Grand Canyon, and sample II is from much lower, near the river.

Often, building a groin or "dam" sticking out into the water from a coast in a region where longshore drift is moving sand from "upstream" to "downstream" only partially solves the problem for which the groin was designed, because: A) Sediment is deposited upstream of the groin but eroded downstream of the groin. B) Sediment is eroded upstream of the groin and deposited downstream of the groin. C) Sediment is deposited on both sides of the groin. D) Sediment is eroded on both sides of the groin. E) No change occurs in sediment.

A) Sediment is deposited upstream of the groin but eroded downstream of the groin.

Hardy souls who visit beaches in the winter are often surprised by how different summer and winter beaches really are. A typical change is (note: a breaking wave curls over and the top falls down, making spectacular movie footage if a surfer is in the way; a surging wave hangs together and the top doesn't fall over): A) Surging waves bring sand in during summer, and breaking waves take sand out during winter, so summer beaches are large and sandy while winter beaches are small and rocky. B) Surging waves bring sand in during summer, and breaking waves take sand out during winter, so summer beaches are small and rocky while winter beaches are large and sandy. C) Surging waves bring sand in during winter, and breaking waves take sand out during summer, so summer beaches are large and sandy while winter beaches are small and rocky. D) Surging waves bring sand in during winter, and breaking waves take sand out during summer, so summer beaches are small and rocky while winter beaches are large and sandy. E) Cape Cod beaches are taken over by nudists in winter.

A) Surging waves bring sand in during summer, and breaking waves take sand out during winter, so summer beaches are large and sandy while winter beaches are small and rocky.

What is not accurate about the "Law" of Faunal Succession: A) The "Law" was developed by Darwin to help his geological colleagues put rocks in time order. B) The "Law" was developed from the observation that geological reasoning can be used to put rocks in time order from oldest to youngest, and that this ordering of the rocks puts the fossils in those rocks into order as well. C) The "Law" proved useful in engineering and geology. D) The "Law" was developed by someone who was a canal engineer. E) After it was discovered, the "Law" was used in discussions of evolution.

A) The "Law" was developed by Darwin to help his geological colleagues put rocks in time order.

The Earth is layered. Most geologists believe that this layering originated primarily because: A) The Earth partially or completely melted soon after it formed, and the denser materials fell to the center. B) The Earth has been separating bit-by-bit for billions of years as the cold oceanic slabs sink all the way to the center and pile up. C) The denser material fell together from space first, and then the less-dense material fell in later. D) The Moon flew out of the Earth after a great collision with a Mars-sized body, causing the Earth to spin faster and separate. E) The nine Supreme Court justices decreed that it separate, so, afraid of being arrested for breaking the law, it did.

A) The Earth partially or completely melted soon after it formed, and the denser materials fell to the center.

What happens to most of the water that falls as rain on central Pennsylvania's Happy Valley each year (or any similar place, such as Washington, DC or other places with trees)? A) The biggest amount is re-evaporated, mostly through trees, and most of the remainder soaks into the ground and then flows through the ground to streams. B) The biggest amount is re-evaporated, mostly through trees, and most of the remainder flows directly over the surface to streams. C) The biggest amount soaks into the ground and then flows through the ground to streams, and most of the remainder flows directly over the surface to streams. D) The biggest amount falls directly on streams, with mosts of the remainder evaporated especially from trees. E) It is used in soft-drink bottling plants.

A) The biggest amount is re-evaporated, mostly through trees, and most of the remainder soaks into the ground and then flows through the ground to streams.

If you hike down into Bryce Canyon, and you look up the correct stream bed, you'll see this. The trees lying across the stream bed in the photo above (between the pink arrows) are a small dam. What has happened here? A) The dam has trapped sediment upstream, and the clean water coming over the dam has picked up sediment downstream of the dam and lowered the stream bed there. B) The glaciers that carved the canyon left the sediment above the dam. C) A large sediment wave was moving slowly down the river, and the dam was built at the front of the sediment wave to stop the sediment, which it did. D) A landslide came down the river, and the dam was built at the front of the landslide. E) Marmots dug out the space below the dam.

A) The dam has trapped sediment upstream, and the clean water coming over the dam has picked up sediment downstream of the dam and lowered the stream bed there.

The big W is in ocean water, while the little w is in water in a bay cut off from the ocean by the bar indicated by the pink dashed arrow. A stream flows toward the bay along the blue arrow, and coastal bluffs are indicated by the dashed yellow arrow. What probably happened here? A) The low bluffs show that erosion has been occurring as waves hammer the shore, and the bar shows that longshore transport is moving the sediment from that erosion along the shore. B) The low bluffs show that the land is being raised by tectonic processes, which has allowed the ocean to flood over the bar and make the bay. C) The low bluffs show that the land is being lowered by tectonic processes, which has formed the bar and allowed the ocean to flood over the bar and make the bay. D) A sinkhole opened behind the beach, and the stream slumped into the hole, leaving the bar. E) The Monterey Bay aquarium built the bar to isolate the bay as a holding tank for the narwhals to be used in their new exhibit.

A) The low bluffs show that erosion has been occurring as waves hammer the shore, and the bar shows that longshore transport is moving the sediment from that erosion along the shore.

What is indicated by the arrows? A) The pink arrows point to a barrier beach or outer beach piled up by waves, and the yellow arrows point to a "washover" where a storm broke through the outer beach and moved sediment inland. B) The yellow arrows point to the original beach, which was overwhelmed by a flood that carried the sand out to the pink arrows. C) The yellow arrows point to the original beach, but this is Greenland, and most of the beach moved to the pink arrows by soil-creep processes. D) The yellow arrows point to bars in the river, and the pink arrows point to a beach. E) The yellow arrows point to a coral reef, and the pink arrows point to a former coral reef that has been killed by global warming.

A) The pink arrows point to a barrier beach or outer beach piled up by waves, and the yellow arrows point to a "washover" where a storm broke through the outer beach and moved sediment inland.

Dr. Alley once helped a Grand Canyon ranger answer a tourist's question: "Why is the Canyon wider at the top than at the bottom?" The tourist had their own favorite theory. Based on the materials that have been presented to you've in this class, what geologically accepted answer would Dr. Alley and the ranger have given the tourist? A) The river cuts down, and that steepens the walls of the canyon, which fall, topple, slump, creep or flow into the river to be washed away, thus widening the canyon above the river. B) The canyon is really the same width at the top as at the bottom, but the well-known "optical illusion" of distant things appearing smaller causes it to look as if the canyon is narrowing downward. C) The bulldozer that made the canyon was wearing out its blade as it dug down. D) The river used to be much wider because it was not steep, and water spreads out when running slowly (a little tap feeds a big bathtub...); then, as the Rockies were raised, the river steepened and narrowed, so it used to cut a wide canyon and now cuts a narrow one. E) The river used to be much wider before the desert formed, and so cut a wide canyon, but the river has narrowed as the drying occurred, and now cuts only a narrow canyon.

A) The river cuts down, and that steepens the walls of the canyon, which fall, topple, slump, creep or flow into the river to be washed away, thus widening the canyon above the river.

Suppose you wrote a big check to someone to go out into deep water and haul sand up to replenish your private beach along the Atlantic coast. What is this most likely to cause? A) The sand will be moved back into deeper water by waves and currents over the next year or years. B) The sand will be fused under its weight into glass, which will break, and then you won't be able to use your beach. C) The extra weight of the sand will attract even more sand, so your beach will be saved for your great-great-great grandchildren. D) The sand will hang around for your great-great-great grandchildren and their kids to enjoy, but eventually the sand will be washed away after that. E) The sand will cause so much friction in the water that the longshore drift will quit eroding your beach for a thousand years.

A) The sand will be moved back into deeper water by waves and currents over the next year or years.

What happens to most living things, after they die? A) They are recycled, usually by being "burned" with oxygen to provide energy for other living things, or to provide energy to fires. B) They are recycled, usually by being "burned" with Diet Pepsi to provide energy for other living things, or to provide energy to fires. C) They are fossilized. D) They are buried in regions with much oxygen, and turned into fossil fuel. E) They are buried in regions with little oxygen, and turned into fossil fuel.

A) They are recycled, usually by being "burned" with oxygen to provide energy for other living things, or to provide energy to fires.

A dam is built on a river, forming a reservoir. Over time, this likely will cause the fields of some farmers along the river just upstream of the reservoir: A) To be buried by sediment. B) To be washed away as the river cuts downward while the extra sediment is deposited below the dam. C) To dry out as the water table falls. D) To become saturated with Pepsi. E) To experience no changes.

A) To be buried by sediment.

Convection occurs: A) In solids only. B) Because hotter things are less dense and tend to rise. C) Because hotter things are more dense and tend to sink. D) Because hotter things are more dense and tend to rise. E) In liquids only.

B) Because hotter things are less dense and tend to rise.

You start with 800 parent atoms of a particular radioactive type, which decays to give stable offspring. You wait just long enough for two half lives to pass. You should expect to have how many parent atoms remaining (on average): A) 400. B) 200. C) 100. D) 50. E) 25.

B) 200.

Acadia National Park has a long, rich and varied geologic history. The large island marked "I" in the middle of the above picture is composed of resistant granite from the long-ago closure of the proto-Atlantic. However, the shape of the island was formed by much more geologically recent processes (within the last 100,000 years or so). What is primarily responsible for the beautiful shape of the island? A) A glacier flowed over the island, moving from right to left, grinding off the rock first encountered and smoothing the long tail. B) A glacier flowed over the island, moving from left to right, smoothing the rocks encountered first and plucking rocks free from the other side. C) Strong winds blowing from left to right shaped the rocks. D) Huge storms pounded the island from the right, breaking the rocks to make the bluff facing the sea. E) Sculpting of the rocks by stone masons hired by the Rockefellers, followed by donation of the sculpture to the people of Maine.

B) A glacier flowed over the island, moving from left to right, smoothing the rocks encountered first and plucking rocks free from the other side.

This rock in the picture above was modified by: A) A glacier, which scratched and polished the rock at A and plucked blocks loose at B, as the ice moved from B to A. B) A glacier, which scratched and polished the rock at A and plucked blocks loose at B, as the ice moved from A to B. C) A glacier, which scratched and polished the rock at B and plucked blocks loose at A, as the ice moved from B to A. D) A glacier, which scratched and polished the rock at B and plucked blocks loose at A, as the ice moved from A to B. E) A soil-flow lobe.

B) A glacier, which scratched and polished the rock at A and plucked blocks loose at B, as the ice moved from A to B.

When scientists agree that a particular scientific theory is a good one, and the scientists use that theory to help make new things, cure diseases, etc., that "agreement" came about because: A) A single experiment had an outcome that was well-predicted by that theory. B) A number of different experiments by different people all had outcomes that were well-predicted by the theory. C) That's what it says in all the books. D) A single, well-respected scientist put forward the idea. E) The Nobel prize committee gave the inventor of the idea a lot of money.

B) A number of different experiments by different people all had outcomes that were well-predicted by the theory.

The geologic time scale is, starting with the youngest and ending with the oldest: A) Precambrian, Cenozoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic. B) Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic, Precambrian. C) Precambrian, Mesozoic, Paleozoic, Cenozoic. D) Precambrian, Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic. E) Cenozoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Precambrian.

B) Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic, Precambrian.

Suppose that tomorrow someone bulldozed all the rocks in the Appalachians, right down to sea level, and shipped all of those bulldozed rocks to Uzbekistan to build ski slopes. A few thousand years from now, we probably would find that the surface of the Earth exposed by the bulldozers was: A) At sea level. B) Almost, but not quite, as high as the Appalachians are today, because the roots of the mountains bobbed up. C) Higher than the Appalachians are today, because of volcanic eruptions triggered by the bulldozers. D) As high as the Appalachians are today, because of obduction. E) As high as the Appalachians are today, because the roots of the mountains bobbed up.

B) Almost, but not quite, as high as the Appalachians are today, because the roots of the mountains bobbed up.

Dr. Alley is pointing to a brownish zone exposed in the low bluff along Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod National Seashore. The brown zone is rounded on the bottom, flat on the top, rests on sand and gravel, and has sand dunes on top. In the lower picture, Dr. Alley is showing that the brown zone contains twigs and other organic material. What is the brown zone doing here? A) A sinkhole opened here, forming a lake that was then filled with organic material. B) An ice block from the glacier was buried in sand and gravel, then melted to make a lake that filled with organic material. C) Humans dammed a nearby river, forming a lake that then filled with organic material. D) The brown zone is mostly the carcass of a dead whale, which washed up on the beach and was buried. E) The brown zone is mostly the carcass of a dead whale, which was propelled here when highway-department workers dynamited it to get it off the beach.

B) An ice block from the glacier was buried in sand and gravel, then melted to make a lake that filled with organic material.

A widely accepted scientific idea usually is based on: A) Results of one experiment or observation that refuted old ideas and supported the correctness of the new idea. B) An interlocking web of important experimental results or observations that support the correctness of the idea. C) Socially conditioned ideas of scientists without reference to observations or experiments. D) Received wisdom from sacred books. E) Diet Pepsi ads.

B) An interlocking web of important experimental results or observations that support the correctness of the idea.

Between the pink arrows there is an interesting surface. What is it? A) A fault, where rocks have been shoved over other rocks. B) An unconformity, where erosion occurred before the rocks above were deposited. C) The side of a sand dune, where the wind blew away the sand on top. D) A mud crack, with the layer on top having fallen down the crack. E) The quarry from which they collected the rocks used to make the president's new desk.

B) An unconformity, where erosion occurred before the rocks above were deposited.

The picture above shows an outcrop along Interstate 70 in Utah. The green arrow points to a person, for scale. Between the pink arrows there is an interesting surface. What is it? A) A fault, where rocks have been shoved over other rocks. B) An unconformity, where erosion occurred before the rocks above were deposited. C) The side of a sand dune, where the wind blew away the sand on top. D) A mud crack, with the layer on top having fallen down the crack. E) The quarry from which they collected the rocks used to make the president's new desk.

B) An unconformity, where erosion occurred before the rocks above were deposited.

The picture above shows a beautiful specimen of Araucarioxylon arizonicum, a fossil tree from the Mesozoic rocks of Petrified Forest National Park. Based on the discussions of evolution in the class materials, it is likely that: A) Araucarioxylon arizonicum is essentially identical to trees still alive today. B) Araucarioxylon arizonicum is related to, but recognizably different from, trees still alive today. C) Araucarioxylon arizonicum is completely unrelated to trees still alive today.

B) Araucarioxylon arizonicum is related to, but recognizably different from, trees still alive today.

Most earthquakes: A) Are caused by Diet Coke drinkers kicking Pepsi machines. B) Are caused when rocks on opposite sides of a break, or fault, in the Earth's crust move in different directions, and the fault is poorly lubricated, so the rocks along the fault get stuck for a while and bend their neighbors before breaking free and moving. C) Are caused by "implosion" of minerals taken to great depth in the Earth by tectonic processes. D) Are caused when rocks on opposite sides of a break, or fault, in the Earth's crust move in different directions, and the fault is well-lubricated all the time so the rocks can move freely. E) Are caused when rocks on opposite sides of a break, or fault, in the Earth's crust move in the same direction at the same speed.

B) Are caused when rocks on opposite sides of a break, or fault, in the Earth's crust move in different directions, and the fault is poorly lubricated, so the rocks along the fault get stuck for a while and bend their neighbors before breaking free and moving.

When geologists consider sedimentary rocks, those rocks: A) Are classified primarily based on composition. B) Are classified first based on origin (clastic or chemical precipitate). C) Are classified first based on grain size, and then subdivided based on origin. D) Are classified first based on color (red, yellow, pink, pastel, etc.) and then based on composition. E) Are classified first based on affinity for Coke or Pepsi, and then based on diet or regular.

B) Are classified first based on origin (clastic or chemical precipitate).

Look at the picture above, which shows a small section of a "fossil" sand dune (a sand dune in which the grains have been "glued" together by hard-water deposits). When the dune was first deposited, which was up (which letter is closest to the arrow that is pointing in the direction you would have looked to see the sky when the dune was deposited)? A) A B) B C) C D) D

B) B

The above diagram is from one of the Geomations in the unit. It shows three possible fault styles. A and B are cross-sections, with a collapsed building on top to show you which way is up—the yellow band is a distinctive layer of rock that was broken by the earthquake that also knocked down the building. C is viewed from a helicopter, looking down on a road with a dashed yellow line down the middle; the road was broken by an earthquake along the green fault, and the earthquake knocked down a building to make the funky-looking brown pile in the upper right.What is accurate about the different earthquake styles? A) B is pull-apart, C is push-together, and A is slide-past B) B is pull-apart, C is slide-past, and A is push-together C) B is push-together, C is slide-past, and A is pull-apart D) B is push-together, C is pull-apart, and A is slide-past E) B is slide-past, C is push-together, and A is pull-apart

B) B is pull-apart, C is slide-past, and A is push-together

During the most recent ice age: A) Central Pennsylvania was overrun by ice from Canada. B) Central Pennsylvania was just beyond the edge of the Canadian ice. C) Central Pennsylvania was far from the nearest ice. D) Central Pennsylvania was overrun by ice from the south. E) We have no idea what central Pennsylvania was like.

B) Central Pennsylvania was just beyond the edge of the Canadian ice.

Considering long-term averages, and assuming that we don't deploy space-based defenses against incoming meteorites, a reasonable estimate of the chance of an average U.S. citizen being killed by the effects of a meteorite or comet impact is that this risk is about the same as the chance of being killed by: A) A dinosaur stampede. B) Crash of a commercial airplane. C) Crash of a car. D) The various diseases that come from smoking, overeating and under-exercising for a long time. E) Choking on a Diet Pepsi can.

B) Crash of a commercial airplane.

The North Pole sticks up out of Dr. Alley's bald spot, and the equator crosses his nose and cheeks. The sun shines on this odd globe, and on the real globe, the most likely thing that would happen here is: A) Dr. Alley may get a sunburned nose, and the equator is hotter than the pole on the real Earth, primarily because the equator is so much closer to the sun than the pole is. B) Dr. Alley may get a sunburned nose, and the equator is hotter than the pole on the real Earth, primarily because the sun hits the equator directly but the sun hits the pole a glancing blow. C) Dr. Alley may get a sunburned nose, and the equator is hotter than the pole on the real Earth, primarily because the wind heats the surface as it rotates by, just as Dr. Alley can turn his head rapidly and cause heat by friction. D) Dr. Alley may get a sunburned nose, and the equator is hotter than the pole on the real Earth, primarily because most volcanoes are located near the equator, forced there by the centrifugal force of Earth's rotation, and Dr. Alley exhales hot air from his equatorial nose. E) Dr. Alley is undoubtedly the sexiest human being on Earth.

B) Dr. Alley may get a sunburned nose, and the equator is hotter than the pole on the real Earth, primarily because the sun hits the equator directly but the sun hits the pole a glancing blow.

What probably happened to create the two rocks with the orange surfaces, seen in the center of the above picture from Greenland? A) A tree root cracked the rock, which killed the tree, so we don't see the tree anymore B) Expansion from water freezing in the crack wedged the rock apart C) A performance artist painted the rock orange, to signify the coming of deer-hunting season D) The rock was recently erupted from a volcano, thrown high in the air, and broke when it hit the surface, as shown by the orange caused by heat from the volcano E) The two pieces of rock with the orange are completely unrelated, and just happened to wind up next to each other

B) Expansion from water freezing in the crack wedged the rock apart

True or False: religion and science always disagree. A) True. B) False.

B) False.

As water from rain soaks through the soil, the water typically: A) Loses carbon dioxide (CO2) to the air and then to plant roots, becoming more basic. B) Gains carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and then gains more carbon dioxide in the soil, becoming more acidic. C) Neither gains nor loses carbon dioxide (CO2) in the air or the soil. D) Gains humic compounds from the air and more from the soil, becoming a strong base. E) Gains Diet Pepsi from the air and loses it in the soil, becoming a strong electrolyte.

B) Gains carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and then gains more carbon dioxide in the soil, becoming more acidic.

Which correctly gives the order of the faults, from youngest (first) to oldest (last): A) H, I, J B) H, J, I C) I, J, H D) I, H, J E) J, H, I

B) H, J, I

The Mississippi River: A) Has built a delta, which is almost a mile thick at its thickest point, from near Baton Rouge, LA to the Gulf of Mexico over millions of years. B) Has built a delta, which is several miles thick at its thickest point, from near St. Louis, MO to the Gulf of Mexico over millions of years. C) Has split the continent by eroding a great trench from near St. Louis, MO to the Gulf of Mexico, causing earthquakes to occur at the tip of this trench near St. Louis, MO. D) Is colored brown because of people spitting up massive quantities of Yoo Hoo. E) Has split the southern part of the continent by eroding a small trench from near Baton Rouge, LA to the Gulf of Mexico over millions of years.

B) Has built a delta, which is several miles thick at its thickest point, from near St. Louis, MO to the Gulf of Mexico over millions of years

Which of the following is not part of the evidence that the odd layer marking the extinction of the dinosaurs was caused by a large meteorite impact? A) The common occurrence in the layer of otherwise-rare "shocked" quartz and other mineral types known to be formed only by quickly applied high pressures. B) High concentrations of iron found in the layer. C) Abundant soot found in the layer. D) High concentrations of iridium found in the layer. E) Large torn-up rock blocks from a tsunami (giant wave), found in the layer near the Caribbean Sea.

B) High concentrations of iron found in the layer.

What is accurate about the scientific results learned by counting annual layers in ice cores? A) There are no annual layers in ice cores, so no one can count them. B) Many tests show that some ice cores have reliably preserved annual layers, and the longest record extends back more than 100,000 years. C) Many tests show that the ice cores can't be very old because the ice age melted all the glaciers. D) Annual layers in ice cores show that the Earth is exactly 12,429 years old. E) Many tests show that annual layers exist in ice cores, but only back to 5,000 years, with no older ice.

B) Many tests show that some ice cores have reliably preserved annual layers, and the longest record extends back more than 100,000 years.

In the picture above, the dark stripes on the surface of the glacier are: A) Terminal moraines, deposited at the end of the glacier. B) Medial moraines, rocks picked up from points where tributary glaciers flow together. C) Basal moraines, deposited beneath the glacier. D) Schistosity, formed by metamorphic separation of minerals. E) Sedimentary layering, formed by alternating dusty ice from late winter and clean ice from the rest of the year.

B) Medial moraines, rocks picked up from points where tributary glaciers flow together.

Limestone, the type of rock most likely to contain caves, is made up of: A) Grains of sand that have weathered out of granite, "glued" together by hard-water deposits. B) Old shells, or pieces of old shells, pressed together. C) Rocks erupted from volcanoes. D) Rocks squeezed and cooked deep in a mountain range. E) Rocks that solidified deep beneath a volcano.

B) Old shells, or pieces of old shells, pressed together.

Geologically speaking, the water table: A) Rises in elevation during times of drought as trees suck it up, and sinks during rainstorms as trees quit pulling up water because they are well-watered. B) Rises during or soon after rainstorms as spaces fill up, and sinks during droughts as water drains away. C) Never changes its elevation, because it is pinned by the creeks. D) Changes elevation randomly. E) Sits next to the coffee table in the Capitol Building.

B) Rises during or soon after rainstorms as spaces fill up, and sinks during droughts as water drains away.

The picture above is of the coast at Acadia National Park. Look at the shape of the rocky island marked with the big "I" in the middle of the picture. The most likely interpretation is that this was caused primarily by: A) Sculpting of the rocks by a glacier, which flowed from the right to the left. B) Sculpting of the rocks by a glacier, which flowed from the left to the right. C) Sculpting of the rocks by wind, followed by flooding as sea level rose at the end of the ice age. D) Sculpting of the rocks by waves, followed by uplift of the rocks above sea level as the land rebounded from the weight of the ice sheets. E) Sculpting of the rocks by stone masons hired by the Rockefellers, followed by donation of the sculpture to the people of Maine.

B) Sculpting of the rocks by a glacier, which flowed from the left to the right.

Most U.S. beaches are shrinking or encroaching on the land rather than growing or moving seaward, so the land of the U.S. is getting smaller, not bigger. Causes include: A) Global sea level fell as the ice-age ice sheets grew, and this caused rivers to deliver much sediment to the coast. B) Sea-level rise as the last ice age ended flooded river valleys to form bays, and sediment now is deposited in these bays rather than being delivered to beaches. C) Global sea level fell as the ice-age ice sheets grew, exposing sand to the attack of large waves during winter storms, so beaches are now being removed. D) Local regions are rising as fluid injection wells used for waste disposal bulge up the land in many places. E) Dams on rivers have increased sediment delivery to the beaches.

B) Sea-level rise as the last ice age ended flooded river valleys to form bays, and sediment now is deposited in these bays rather than being delivered to beaches.

Think about Pennsylvania, or other places in the eastern US. What is accurate: A) Sediment is accumulating everywhere now, and erosion was happening everywhere before European settlement, so the geologic record in all townships or similar-sized areas is very short. B) Sediment is accumulating in a few places, with erosion in most places, and this has been the pattern for a long time, so the geologic record in any township or similar-sized area is notably incomplete, and you need to combine observations from many places to get a reasonably complete geologic record. C) Sediment is accumulating in most places, and has been for a long time, with just a little erosion, so in any township or similar-sized area you can find a relatively complete record of all of geologic history. D) Sediment is not accumulating anywhere, with erosion everywhere, and this has been happening for a long time, so that there is no information in a township or similar-sized area on geologic history. E) Sediment is accumulating everywhere, and has been for a long time, so in any township or similar-sized area you can find a complete record of all of geologic history.

B) Sediment is accumulating in a few places, with erosion in most places, and this has been the pattern for a long time, so the geologic record in any township or similar-sized area is notably incomplete, and you need to combine observations from many places to get a reasonably complete geologic record.

Before they can be published, scientific papers must be peer-reviewed. This means that: A) Some other scientific experts read the papers and guarantee that they are True. B) Some other scientific experts read the papers and provide quality control by eliminating many mistakes. C) An editor reads the papers, to make sure that all the semicolons are in the correct places. D) Everyone in the world is given the opportunity to comment on the papers through a specially maintained blog. E) Government bureaucrats read the papers, to be sure that the papers do not insult the political positions of the current officeholders.

B) Some other scientific experts read the papers and provide quality control by eliminating many mistakes.

The scientific study of the origin of the planet has taken a lot of effort, and still generates much discord outside the scientific community although almost no discord within the scientific community. The scientifically accepted history is: A) The Earth formed three minutes after the Big Bang, as the cosmic microwave background radiation cooled off, about 14 billion years ago, as chronicled in Steven Weinberg's famous book "The First Three Minutes". B) The Earth formed from older materials that fell together under gravity about 4.6 billion years ago. C) The Earth formed from older materials that fell together under gravity about 6000 years ago. D) The Earth formed in the Big Bang about 6000 years ago. E) The Earth was formed from the deep-space wind, generated by the gas-passing activities of giant space marmots, about 4.6 billion years ago.

B) The Earth formed from older materials that fell together under gravity about 4.6 billion years ago.

In the picture above, when Dr. Alley slices his finger through the sand, he is recreating on a smaller scale what type of geologic process? A) The action of waves making a beach in Hawaii. B) The action of mass wasting, as soil and rock collapses off of newly steep canyon walls initially carved out by water. C) The action of an earthquake tearing apart continents. D) The action of Chuck Norris karate chopping someone. E) The action of earthworms burrowing in loose soil.

B) The action of mass wasting, as soil and rock collapses off of newly steep canyon walls initially carved out by water.

The picture above illustrates what scientific principle? A) The equator is hotter than the pole because the equator is closer to the sun than the pole B) The equator is hotter than the pole because the sun hits the equator directly but the sun hits the pole a glancing blow C) The equator is hotter because it rotates faster, and the wind heats the surface as it rotates by, just as Dr. Alley can turn his head rapidly and cause heat by friction D) The equator is hotter than the poles because most volcanoes are located near the equator, forced there by the centrifugal force of Earth's rotation, and Dr. Alley exhales hot air from his equatorial nose E) Dr. Alley is undoubtedly the sexiest human being on Earth

B) The equator is hotter than the pole because the sun hits the equator directly but the sun hits the pole a glancing blow

Which is accurate about the Earth? A) The lithosphere usually flows rather than breaks, and the asthenosphere usually flows rather than breaks. B) The lithosphere usually breaks rather than flows, and the asthenosphere usually flows rather than breaks. C) The lithosphere usually breaks rather than flows, and the asthenosphere usually breaks rather than flows. D) The lithosphere and the asthenosphere freeze in the winter to make Pepsi slushees. E) The lithosphere usually flows rather than breaks, and the asthenosphere usually breaks rather than flows.

B) The lithosphere usually breaks rather than flows, and the asthenosphere usually flows rather than breaks.

It is almost always interesting to ask whether most of the "action" comes from the few, rare events, or the many common events. For earthquakes, we saw that most of the energy is released by the few, big events. For mass movement, averaged over the land surface and over thousands of years, which moves the most material: A) The rare, large events (such as the Gros Ventre slide in the Tetons or the Hebgen Lake slide just outside of Yellowstone) move the most material. B) The many, small events (often lumped together as soil creep) move the most material. C) Landslides move material downhill, but soil creep moves the material back uphill, so that nothing is accomplished. D) No material is moved downhill by mass movement, which actually refers to the process by which marmot #2 is produced, and may happen uphill or downhill.

B) The many, small events (often lumped together as soil creep) move the most material.

At Cade's Cove in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, there is an unusual arrangement of rocks where older rocks are sitting on top of younger rocks, though neither layer has been overturned. This is because: A) The younger layer was injected as molten material under the older rock and then solidified. B) The older layer was thrust over the younger layer by the forces of obduction. C) The younger layer subducted under the older layer. D) George the Marmot did it.

B) The older layer was thrust over the younger layer by the forces of obduction.

The picture above shows a very hard piece of rock about six inches across, in the Grand Canyon. The surface of the rock looks rather different from the surfaces of many other rocks. What made this odd-looking surface? A) A glacier; the high plateaus adjacent to the canyon had ice-age glaciers that helped carve the canyon. B) The river, which blasted the rock with sand- and silt-laden water during floods; this shows that even hard rocks can be eroded by rivers. C) The wind, which has been primarily responsible for carrying away sand bars, and which sand-blasts rocks with the sand. D) A fault, which dropped old rocks so that they were preserved in Death-Valley-type valleys and so were not eroded away. E) The river; because the rocks are still there, this shows that rivers cannot really erode hard rocks and thus that the river could not have carved the canyon.

B) The river, which blasted the rock with sand- and silt-laden water during floods; this shows that even hard rocks can be eroded by rivers.

What probably happened in the above picture? A) The tree initially sprouted on another stump, which was removed by the Park Service after new growth had occurred for a while, leaving the tree we see now perched on roots that encircled the original stump. B) The tree started with its roots underground, but erosion washed the dirt away from them, so now they stick out. C) Jeffrey pines such as this are known as multi-leader trees, and typically grow such a trunk for extra support. D) The Park Service hired an expert in topiary, the growth of interesting trees, to make sculptures such as this along the rim of Bryce Canyon. E) Nothing

B) The tree started with its roots underground, but erosion washed the dirt away from them, so now they stick out.

Above is a "beach" at Acadia National Park. The pieces are granite. A) There is no sand here, so this must be a place where sand is not produced. B) There is no sand here, so sand must be lost to deep water fast enough in comparison to sand supply that sandy beaches have not formed. C) There is no sand here, because Acadia and the surrounding coast of Maine get huge storms, and sandy beaches cannot exist where such huge storms occur. D) There is no sand here, because the Park Service mines the sand to pave park roads. E) There is sand under the rocks; the Park Service places the rocks on top to protect the beach, and takes the rocks off on sunny days.

B) There is no sand here, so sand must be lost to deep water fast enough in comparison to sand supply that sandy beaches have not formed.

Which is most accurate about tsunamis? A) They are big waves caused by changes in the way the Earth rotates from day to day. B) They are big waves caused by very rapid displacement of a lot of water, which may occur in response to an undersea landslide, earthquake, volcanic eruption, or other cause. C) They are big waves caused only by earthquakes. D) They are primarily caused by belching belugas. E) They are waves caused by big tides, such as the tidal bore at the Bay of Fundy in Canada.

B) They are big waves caused by very rapid displacement of a lot of water, which may occur in response to an undersea landslide, earthquake, volcanic eruption, or other cause.

Look at the picture above of a small dam across a stream bed (between the pink arrows) just above one of the trails into Bryce Canyon. When floods happen in the stream bed: A) They flow away from the camera; turbulent floodwaters have been undermining the small dam, and will cause it to collapse soon. B) They flow toward the camera; floodwaters have filled the space upstream of the dam and debris has started to cascade over the dam, so the dam is not serving to trap sediment any more. C) They sometimes flow toward the camera, and sometimes flow away from the camera, as shown by the occurrence of some debris on both sides of the dam. D) Actually, floods never occur; the dryness of the region, as shown by the sparse vegetation, prevents floods. E) They are caused by giant marmots digging through the retaining walls of the sewage-treatment facility at Bryce, which proved unpleasant for the marmots and the tourists.

B) They flow toward the camera; floodwaters have filled the space upstream of the dam and debris has started to cascade over the dam, so the dam is not serving to trap sediment any more.

The picture above shows a region of hard rock about six inches across from the Grand Canyon. The shape and polish of the rock are interesting. It is likely that the rock: A) Was scratched and polished by a glacier, which helped erode the Canyon during the ice age. B) Was scratched and polished by silt-laden river water, during carving of the Canyon by the Colorado River. C) Was scratched and polished by the wind, which howls through the Canyon carrying loads of sand eroded from sand bars. D) Was scratched and polished by motion along a fault, which helped open the Canyon so that weathering could lower the Canyon floor. E) Was scratched and polished by the hooves of mules carrying tourists into the Canyon along the Bright Angel Trail.

B) Was scratched and polished by silt-laden river water, during carving of the Canyon by the Colorado River.

The great scientist Alfred Wegener proposed that continents have moved, while other scientists such as T.C. Chamberlin argued against Wegener. Wegener's ideas eventually won, and are now widely accepted, because: A) Wegener's ideas were more beautiful, and so were favored by the intellectual elite. B) Wegener's ideas did a better job of predicting the results of new observations and experiments. C) Wegener's ideas appealed to dead white European males, whereas Chamberlin's didn't. D) Wegener's ideas appalled dead white European males, and we all know that in this politically correct era, dead white European males cannot get a fair shake. E) Wegener won the Nobel prize.

B) Wegener's ideas did a better job of predicting the results of new observations and experiments.

Transitional forms between distinct types (species) of different ages in the fossil record: A) Do not occur. B) Are known for all types. C) Are common for commonly fossilized types, but rare for rarely fossilized types. D) Are never referred to in the debate about evolution. E) Prove that the theory of evolution is wrong.

C) Are common for commonly fossilized types, but rare for rarely fossilized types.

Evidence that glaciers were much bigger about 20,000 years ago than they are now includes: A) Land bearing the unique marks of glaciers is sinking today, while regions just around that land are rising as deep hot rock flows back after being displaced by the glaciers. B) Global sea level today is falling as the water from the melted ice is returned to the oceans. C) 20,000-year-old deceased shallow-water corals occur in growth position far below the surface on the sides of oceanic islands. D) Shells of creatures that lived in the ocean about 20,000 years ago indicate that the ocean water was especially isotopically light then. E) Sea level is lower now than it was then, as shown by there being no flooded river valleys anywhere today.

C) 20,000-year-old deceased shallow-water corals occur in growth position far below the surface on the sides of oceanic islands.

The bowl-shaped feature in the foreground of the above photo is: A) A moraine, bulldozed up around a glacier that flowed away from the camera. B) A blockfield, which moved downhill under gravity in the cold, permafrost conditions that are evident from the snow in the picture. C) A cirque, a bowl gnawed into a mountain at the head of a glacier. D) A sinkhole, dissolved into the layered basalts, from the breakup that formed the Atlantic, by acidic groundwaters melted from the base of the ice by the Earth's heat. E) A giant alien toilet, proof that we are visited by beings from another planet, but only evident from the air such as seen here.

C) A cirque, a bowl gnawed into a mountain at the head of a glacier.

The ridge left behind by a glacier that outlines where the glacier had been is called: A) A cirque, composed of till (which is sorted) and outwash (which is unsorted). B) An arête, composed of till (which is unsorted) and outwash (which is sorted). C) A moraine, composed of till (which is unsorted) and outwash (which is sorted). D) A moraine, composed of till (which is sorted) and outwash (which is unsorted). E) A horn, composed of till (which is unsorted) and outwash (which is sorted).

C) A moraine, composed of till (which is unsorted) and outwash (which is sorted).

Carbon dioxide, CO2, is an important greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases warm the Earth primarily by: A) Breaking down the ozone layer that cools the planet. B) Absorbing the sunlight reflected from snow, clouds, and reflective desert sands. C) Absorbing some of the infrared radiation emitted from the Earth. D) Breaking down the methane emitted by flatulent cows. E) Making politicians mad, so they give speeches that heat the air.

C) Absorbing some of the infrared radiation emitted from the Earth.

Air moves in from the Pacific, over the Sierra Nevada (a mountain range), and down towards Death Valley. What happens? A) Air moving down the east slope toward Death Valley expands and rains, cooling about 3 degrees F per thousand feet downward. B) Air moving down the east slope toward Death Valley is compressed and rains, warming about 3 degrees F per thousand feet downward. C) Air moving down the east slope toward Death Valley is compressed, and warms by about 5 degrees F per thousand feet downward. D) Air moving down the east slope toward Death Valley expands, rains, and warms by about 5 degrees F per thousand feet downward. E) Air moving down the east slope toward Death Valley is compressed, causing it to dump Diet Pepsi on unwary hikers.

C) Air moving down the east slope toward Death Valley is compressed, and warms by about 5 degrees F per thousand feet downward.

Continents: A) Can sink into sea floor but not into denser mantle. B) Often sink into giant subterranean lakes of Pepsi One. C) Are the "unsinkable" part of the solid Earth; although a little of a continent might go down, most continental material stays near the surface. D) Can sink all the way to the core-mantle boundary in subduction zones. E) Won't sink when young and warm, but will sink when old and cold.

C) Are the "unsinkable" part of the solid Earth; although a little of a continent might go down, most continental material stays near the surface.

The deepest earthquakes are rare, and differ in some ways from the more-common type of quakes. These deepest earthquakes probably: A) Are the shaking of the ground caused by elastic rebound of bent rocks when a fault breaks. B) Are caused by Coke drinkers kicking Pepsi machines and then jumping back when Gatorade squirts out. C) Are the shaking of the ground caused by "implosion" as minerals rearrange to denser forms as the pressure on them rises in downgoing slabs. D) Are caused by Pepsi machines exploding after being kicked by Coke drinkers to cause Gatorade to squirt out. E) Are caused by atomic-bomb testing.

C) Are the shaking of the ground caused by "implosion" as minerals rearrange to denser forms as the pressure on them rises in downgoing slabs.

The recent changes in the amount of ice on Earth over time occurred: A) At random times, in response to very large changes in the total sunshine received by the Earth in response to features of Earth's orbit. B) At regular and repeating times, controlled by the very large changes in total sunshine received by the Earth in response to features of Earth's orbit. C) At regular and repeating times, controlled by redistribution of sunlight on the surface of the Earth in response to features of Earth's orbit, even though total sunshine received by the planet didn't change much. D) At random times, controlled by redistribution of sunlight on the surface of the Earth in response to features of Earth's orbit, even though total sunshine received by the planet didn't change much. E) Because flocks of giant ptarmigan and herds of giant marmots clustered on the edges of the ice sheets, which melted the ice

C) At regular and repeating times, controlled by redistribution of sunlight on the surface of the Earth in response to features of Earth's orbit, even though total sunshine received by the planet didn't change much.

The recent changes in the amount of ice on Earth over time occurred: A) Because of the actions of a Serbian mathematician, Milutin Milankovitch. B) Because changes in the Earth's orbit have caused large changes in the total amount of sunshine received by the Earth. C) Because changes in the Earth's orbit have caused changes in the amount of sunshine received during certain seasons at different places on Earth. D) Because the Earth has swung through giant clouds of dust in space that blocked the sun and caused global cooling. E) Because flocks of giant ptarmigan and herds of giant marmots clustered on the edges of the ice sheets, which melted the ice.

C) Because changes in the Earth's orbit have caused changes in the amount of sunshine received during certain seasons at different places on Earth.

The above picture shows ocean in the upper right, a beach, andland (lower left). The red dashes trace the crest of a wave. Wavesmove perpendicular to their crests. What principle is illustrated by the picture? A) The rotation of the Earth causes wave crests to be curved as they approach the beach. B) Because waves go faster in shallower water, waves move primarily along the beach, causing longshore motion of sediment. C) Because waves go slower in shallower water, waves turn and move almost directly towards the beach, but the little bit of along-beach motion remaining drives longshore transport. D) Because waves go faster in shallower water, waves turn and move almost directly towards the beach, but the little bit of along-beach motion remaining drives longshore transport. E) Because waves move slower in shallower water, waves turn and move exactly toward the beach.

C) Because waves go slower in shallower water, waves turn and move almost directly towards the beach, but the little bit of along-beach motion remaining drives longshore transport.

Some natural resources are renewable—nature produces them fast enough that humans can obtain valuable and useful supplies of a resource without depleting it. Other natural resources are nonrenewable—if we use the resource at a rate fast enough to matter to our economy, the resource will run out because use is much faster than natural production. What do we know about oil and coal? A) Both oil and coal are renewable resources; they are being made rapidly by natural processes in places such as ANWR on the North Slope of Alaska, and in sea-floor regions off the continental shelf. B) Oil is a nonrenewable resource, but coal is made more rapidly, especially in coastal mangrove swamps, and so is a renewable resource. C) Both oil and coal are nonrenewable resources, and at current usage rates and prices similar to today, oil will run out in about a century and coal will run out in a few centuries. D) Coal is a nonrenewable resource, but oil is made more rapidly in places such as large river deltas and so is a renewable resource. E) Both oil and coal are nonrenewable resources, and at current usage rates and prices similar to today, both will last about one century before running out.

C) Both oil and coal are nonrenewable resources, and at current usage rates and prices similar to today, oil will run out in about a century and coal will run out in a few centuries.

You are the chief biodiversity officer for the National Park Service in the eastern US, responsible for maintaining as much diversity as possible, and your boss has told you to focus on maintaining biodiversity of things big enough to see with the naked eye (so you don't need to worry about microorganisms). You have two parks, and enough money to buy 10,000 acres of land. You may add the 10,000 acres to one of the parks, add 5,000 acres to each park while leaving them as isolated parks, or buy a 10,000-acre corridor connecting the two parks. All of the land for sale is now wilderness, but the land you do not buy is going to be paved for a super-mega-mall. You would be wise to: A) Enlarge one park a good bit; bigger islands have more species, so you want to make a big "island". B) Enlarge both parks some; each park has some diversity, and you want to enhance both. C) Buy the corridor connecting the two parks; this keeps one big "island" rather than two smaller ones, and so keeps more species. D) Don't worry, the key is how much area you have in wilderness, so each of the plans is equally valuable. E) Don't worry; malls are highly biodiverse, so you'll succeed no matter what you do.

C) Buy the corridor connecting the two parks; this keeps one big "island" rather than two smaller ones, and so keeps more species.

The diagram above shows a geologic cross-section of some rocks, such as you might see in a cliff. The tree is growing on top of the modern surface. Rock layers A, B, C, D, E, and F are sedimentary; E contains mud cracks and fossil footprints as shown. G is igneous rock that hardened from hot, melted rock. H, I and J are faults, and K and L are unconformities. Sedimentary rocks are right-side-up unless there is some indication given to show something else. Referring to the rocks you see here ......Which is the oldest sedimentary rock layer? A) F B) B C) C D) D E) E

C) C

Which is the oldest sedimentary rock layer: A) F B) B C) C D) D E) E

C) C

Many of the headstones in graveyards are made of granite. What are these granite headstones turning into? A) Limestone deposits in the soil beneath them, and ions that wash away. B) Magnesium-bearing basalt in the soil beneath them, and ions that wash away. C) Clays, rust, and sand that go into making soil beneath them, and ions that wash away. D) Soluble ions that primarily go into making soil beneath them. E) Diet Pepsi.

C) Clays, rust, and sand that go into making soil beneath them, and ions that wash away.

What cause probably was not important in contributing to extinction of most species on Earth, including the dinosaurs, in a very short interval of time at the end of the Mesozoic Era? A) Wildfires caused by great heat from rocks warmed by atmospheric friction while falling back to Earth after being blasted high in the atmosphere by the impact. B) "Impact winter" caused when tiny pieces of dust or other materials, which were put in the air by a meteorite impact, blocked incoming sunshine for months or years, after larger pieces had fallen back to Earth. C) Cold from the change in Earth's orbit caused when the meteorite shoved the planet farther from the sun. D) Acid rain, from sulfuric acid from the meteorite hitting sulfur-bearing rocks, and nitric acid from the heat of the meteorite burning the air.

C) Cold from the change in Earth's orbit caused when the meteorite shoved the planet farther from the sun.

A glacier flowing down the side of a mountain has come into balance with the climate. Then, a climate change occurs, so that melting exceeds snowfall on the glacier. The glacier will: A) Flow back up the mountain to reach a new balance. B) Continue flowing down the mountain, and shrink until a new balance is reached, without ever shrinking until the ice disappears. C) Continue flowing down the mountain, but shrink until a new balance is reached or until the ice disappears (of course, it must quit flowing as it disappears!). D) Grow until a new balance is reached. E) Grow until if finds a marmot colony to have a chat with.

C) Continue flowing down the mountain, but shrink until a new balance is reached or until the ice disappears (of course, it must quit flowing as it disappears!).

Glaciers move by: A) Deformation within the ice. B) Deformation within the ice, and sometimes sliding over materials beneath. C) Deformation within the ice, and sometimes sliding over materials beneath or deformation within materials beneath. D) Deformation within materials beneath and sliding over those materials, and sometimes by deformation within the ice. E) Deformation within materials beneath, and sometimes by sliding over those materials or by deformation within the ice.

C) Deformation within the ice, and sometimes sliding over materials beneath or deformation within materials beneath.

When considering the land surface: A) Deposition of sediments is occurring on it in most places most of the time, so you can go almost anywhere and find a complete or nearly complete record of geologic history. B) Deposition of sediments occurs in only a few places, with erosion or nondeposition occurring in most places to produce inclusions, and one must piece together geologic history from rocks in many places. C) Deposition of sediments occurs in only a few places, with erosion or nondeposition occurring in most places to produce unconformities, and one must piece together geologic history from rocks in many places. D) Deposition of sediments occurs in only a few places, with erosion or nondeposition occurring in most places to produce unconformities, and there is no way to figure out anything about geologic history. E) Deposition of sediments does not occur on land, so there is no way to figure out anything about geologic history.

C) Deposition of sediments occurs in only a few places, with erosion or nondeposition occurring in most places to produce unconformities, and one must piece together geologic history from rocks in many places.

The law that established the National Parks gave them a hard job, because it required that they: A) Pump out all the oil under the parks and sell it to raise money to pay the rangers. B) Make people happy today, even if it messes things up for the future. C) Help people enjoy the parks today, but also save the parks for the future. D) Make sure that the bison don't take a dump in front of visiting congresspersons. E) Save for the future, even if it means driving people away today.

C) Help people enjoy the parks today, but also save the parks for the future.

What geologic setting is primarily responsible for producing Hawaii's volcanoes? A) Push-together Subduction B) Slide Past C) Hot Spot D) Pull-Apart E) Push-together Obduction

C) Hot Spot

The consensus of the world's climate scientists, as generated by the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is that: A) Human activities have raised CO2 levels in the atmosphere, and these higher levels of CO2 are the primary cause of the ozone hole. B) Human activities have raised CO2 levels in the atmosphere, warming the planet, but if we proceed with business as usual for the next few centuries, the additional changes we cause will be smaller than the changes we already have caused. C) Human activities have raised CO2 levels in the atmosphere, warming the planet, and the changes so far have been small compared to the changes that are likely over the next centuries unless we humans alter our behavior. D) Human activities have lowered CO2 levels in the atmosphere, starving plants and causing death of the tropical rain forests. E) Human activities have lowered methane levels in the atmosphere, causing cows to become more flatulent to achieve balance.

C) Human activities have raised CO2 levels in the atmosphere, warming the planet, and the changes so far have been small compared to the changes that are likely over the next centuries unless we humans alter our behavior.

Early geologists did not have radiometric dating techniques, or long layer-counted histories. Instead, they followed William Smith in putting things in order, and then used uniformitarian calculations based on modern rates of processes and observed results of processes in the geologic record. These early geologists, using these techniques, found that the Earth: A) Is about 6000 years old. B) Is about 10,000 years old. C) Is more than about one-hundred-million years old. D) Is 4.6 billion years old. E) Has been here forever.

C) Is more than about one-hundred-million years old.

Using only uniformitarian calculations from the thickness of known sedimentary rocks, likely rates at which those rocks accumulated, and features in and under those sedimentary rocks, geologists working two to three hundred years ago estimated that the Earth: A) Is less than about one-hundred-million years old. B) Is about one-hundred-million years old. C) Is more than about one-hundred-million years old. D) Is 4.6 billion years old. E) Has been here forever.

C) Is more than about one-hundred-million years old.

The above picture is from the Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument. The pink arrows point along some interesting features. What are they? A) Pull-apart faults, where rocks were moved in earthquakes. B) Mud cracks, formed when a flash flood roared down the road (which is under the lower-right pink arrow), spread mud onto the desert surface, and then the mud dried. C) Joints, formed when the sedimentary rocks were broken by physical-weathering or other processes. D) Unconformities, formed by erosion in the past. E) Push-together faults, where rocks were moved in earthquakes.

C) Joints, formed when the sedimentary rocks were broken by physical-weathering or other processes.

During chemical weathering, sodium is released as dissolved ions and transported to the ocean, where: A) Most of it is used in shells of such creatures as clams, corals and coccolithss. B) Most of it is used in shells of such creatures as diatoms, radiolarians and sponges. C) Most of it stays in the water for a while, making the water salty. D) Most of it reacts with hot sea-floor rocks to make new minerals. E) Most of it vaporizes to cause intense air pollution.

C) Most of it stays in the water for a while, making the water salty.

Dr. Alley has helped drill many holes in ice sheets. Special tools can be lowered down the holes on cables, and tracked to learn the shapes of the holes. Initially, the holes are straight up and down. Years later, the holes are bent, because the ice in the ice sheet is flowing. What does it mean to say that the ice is flowing? A) The drill used to make the hole has shaken the ice so that it broke into chunks, which rolled downhill. B) The drill used to make the hole has melted the whole ice sheet, the water flowed for a while, and then refroze when the drilling stopped. C) Much like rocks in the mantle or iron heated by a blacksmith, the ice is almost hot enough to melt, and deforms as gravity pulls on it, without breaking into loose chunks. D) The ice is so far below its melting point that it is dense enough to sink into the rocks beneath it, bending the hole as it does so. E) The ice is enjoying the summer, relaxing, hanging out with its friends, just, you know, going with the flow.

C) Much like rocks in the mantle or iron heated by a blacksmith, the ice is almost hot enough to melt, and deforms as gravity pulls on it, without breaking into loose chunks.

The processes that made Death Valley have been operating for millions of years, and continue to operate today. For this question, ignore the sand and gravel moved by water and wind, and think about the big motions of the rocks beneath. If you had visited Death Valley 1 million years ago, you would have found the valley then to have been (choose the best answer): A) Shallower than it is today, with no change in the width. B) Wider and deeper than it is today. C) Narrower and shallower than it is today. D) Narrower than it is today, with no change in the depth. E) The same as it is today.

C) Narrower and shallower than it is today.

At current rates of use, and at prices not greatly higher than those of today: A) Coal will run out in a century or so, and oil will run out in a few centuries. B) Coal will run out in a century or so, and oil will run out in a century or so. C) Oil will run out in a century or so, and coal will run out in a few centuries. D) Oil will run out in a few centuries, and coal will run out in a few centuries. E) Oil and coal will last much longer than a few centuries.

C) Oil will run out in a century or so, and coal will run out in a few centuries.

Human population continues to grow. Looking at many of the things we use on Earth (farmland and land for wood and other things, fish in the sea, etc.): A) We use almost all of the dilithium crystals for our warp drives. B) We use less than 1% or so, the tiniest bit, with vast amounts out there in the wilderness somewhere. C) Our use is large but not everything; we are approaching use of half of all that is available. D) We use almost everything, 99% or more, so we're in deep doo-doo for the future. E) We use almost all of the Diet Pepsi springs but with huge natural reserves of Diet Coke.

C) Our use is large but not everything; we are approaching use of half of all that is available.

What is accurate about seismic waves moving through the Earth? A) P-waves (also called push-waves or sound waves) move through all liquids except Diet Pepsi, and s-waves (also called shear-waves) move through no liquids except Diet Pepsi. B) S-waves (also called shear-waves) and p-waves (also called push-waves or sound waves) both move through both liquids and solids. C) P-waves (also called push-waves or sound waves) move through liquids, but s-waves (also called shear waves) don't. D) P-waves (also called push-waves or sound waves) move through solids, but s-waves (also called shear waves) don't. E) Neither S-waves (also called shear-waves) nor p-waves (also called push-waves or sound waves) move through liquids.

C) P-waves (also called push-waves or sound waves) move through liquids, but s-waves (also called shear waves) don't.

The above photograph was taken in the Grand Canyon, and shows a cliff that is approximately 30 feet high. What are the rocks in the cliff? A) Precambrian sedimentary rocks, preserved in blocks dropped down by Death-Valley-Type faulting; the folding was caused by the drag along the faults. B) Paleozoic sedimentary rocks that form the main walls of the canyon; the folding was caused by mass-movement processes before the rocks were hardened by hard-water deposits. C) Precambrian metamorphic rocks with some igneous rocks intruded; the folding was caused by mountain-building processes when the rocks were very hot deep in a mountain range. D) Recent lava flows from pull-apart faults near the west end of the canyon; the folding happened as the lava cascaded over the canyon walls and flowed toward the river. E) Cement poured to make the walls of the new gift shop that sits above the canyon, painted to look like something more interesting.

C) Precambrian metamorphic rocks with some igneous rocks intruded; the folding was caused by mountain-building processes when the rocks were very hot deep in a mountain range.

The geologic time scale is, starting with the oldest and ending with the youngest: A) Paleozoic, Precambrian, Cenozoic, Mesozoic. B) Precambrian, Cenozoic, Mesozoic, Paleozoic. C) Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic. D) Precambrian, Paleozoic, Cenozoic, Mesozoic. E) Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic, Precambrian.

C) Precambrian, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic.

Extinctions have occurred throughout Earth's history. What is accurate about the history of extinctions? A) Prehistoric humans greatly accelerated extinction rates, but modern humans have almost completely stopped extinctions for now and in the future. B) Prehistoric humans almost completely stopped extinctions, but modern humans are greatly accelerating the rate of extinction. C) Prehistoric humans cause extinctions faster than is typical naturally, and modern humans are also causing extinctions. D) Prehistoric humans slowed extinctions far below the natural rate, and modern humans have slowed the rate of extinction even more. E) Because of prehistoric and modern human activities, we are sure that by the time you are old and gray, the only things alive on Earth will be humans and robo-cockroaches.

C) Prehistoric humans cause extinctions faster than is typical naturally, and modern humans are also causing extinctions.

What tectonic setting is primarily responsible for producing Crater Lake? A) Slide-past. B) Push-together obduction. C) Push-together subduction. D) Hot-spot. E) Pull-apart.

C) Push-together subduction.

National Parks are: A) Regions containing key biological resources that have been set aside for the enjoyment of future generations. B) Regions containing key geological resources that have been set aside for the enjoyment of the present generation. C) Regions containing key biological, geological or cultural resources that have been set aside for the enjoyment of the present generation and future generations. D) Regions containing key cultural resources that have been set aside for the enjoyment of the present generation and future generations. E) Regions containing key roller coasters that have been set aside for the enjoyment of you and your immediate friends.

C) Regions containing key biological, geological or cultural resources that have been set aside for the enjoyment of the present generation and future generations.

What happened in the picture above? A) Turbulence where the rivers enter the sea has caused suspended sediment in the seawater to flocculate and settle, forming the deposits seen on the right. B) Rivers have delivered sediment to the sea, forming flat-topped deposits called deltas. C) Rivers have delivered sediment to the sea, forming deltas that built up as they built out so that they still slope slightly downhill toward the sea. D) Divers have built the mud piles to slow down the river water and protect endangered clams that live along the coast. E) A certain financially ailing airline that flies to Cincinnati and then Atlanta built this from thrown-out beverage cups as an advertisement.

C) Rivers have delivered sediment to the sea, forming deltas that built up as they built out so that they still slope slightly downhill toward the sea.

What happened in the picture above? A) Turbulence where the rivers enter the sea has caused suspended sediment in the seawater to flocculate and settle, forming the deposits seen on the right. B) Rivers have delivered sediment to the sea, forming flat-topped deposits called deltas. C) Rivers have delivered sediment to the sea, forming deltas that built up as they built out so that they still slope slightly downhill toward the sea. D) Divers have built the mud piles to slow down the river water and protect endangered clams that live along the coast. E) A certain financially ailing airline that flies to Cincinnati and then Atlanta built this from thrown-out beverage cups as an advertisement.

C) Rivers have delivered sediment to the sea, forming deltas that built up as they built out so that they still slope slightly downhill toward the sea.

What is accurate about seismic waves moving through the Earth? A) S-waves (also called shear-waves) move through neither solids nor liquids. B) S-waves (also called shear-waves) move through both solids and liquids. C) S-waves (also called shear-waves) move through solids but not liquids. D) S-waves (also called shear-waves) move through solids and all liquids except Diet Pepsi. E) S-waves (also called shear-waves) move through liquids but not solids.

C) S-waves (also called shear-waves) move through solids but not liquids.

Humans often try to change coastal processes to benefit us. One of the many things we do is to build walls, or groins, or jetties, to interrupt waves and currents and sediment transport. This example is from the coast of Washington. What has happened here? A) Sediment transport is typically from the upper left, and the sediment falls into the lee of the jetty on the right and piles up, while the left side is unaffected B) Sediment transport is typically from the right, causing deposition to the right of the jetty but no change to the left C) Sediment transport is typically from the right, causing deposition to the right of the jetty but erosion to the left D) Sediment transport is typically from the upper left, and the sediment falls into the lee of the jetty on the right and piles up, while erosion happens on the left E) Sediment transport is typically directly from the ocean to the land, piling up sediment on both sides of the jetty.

C) Sediment transport is typically from the right, causing deposition to the right of the jetty but erosion to the left

Which of these is an important idea that geologists use in learning which clastic sedimentary rocks are older, which younger, and what has happened to those rocks? A) Sedimentary layers start out perfectly vertical. B) Sedimentary layers start out at 45 degree angles to horizontal. C) Sedimentary layers start our nearly horizontal. D) Sedimentary layers start out at random angles, from vertical to horizontal, with no angle preferred. E) Sedimentary layers start out at steep angles rather than nearly horizontal.

C) Sedimentary layers start our nearly horizontal.

Your boss has assigned you to get the low-down on the latest wonder-drug, and to be darn sure to get it right. You would be wise to consult: A) The Wikipedia; everything they publish is up-to-date. B) The web site of the manufacturer of the wonder drug; they know more about it than anyone else does. C) The article in the Journal of the American Medical Society, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, reporting on the discovery and testing of the drug. D) The New York Times article quoting the discoverer of the drug on how wonderful it is. E) The web site in the email you received with the subject line "Grow your ***** naturally with new wonder drug".

C) The article in the Journal of the American Medical Society, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, reporting on the discovery and testing of the drug.

The size of a typical sandy beach, averaged over a few decades, is usually controlled by: A) The balance between loss of sand blown away to make sand dunes, and gain of quartz sand from weathering of the granite bluffs just behind the beach. B) The balance between net transport of sand to the beach by wintertime storms, and removal of sand from the beach by smaller summertime waves. C) The balance between sand supply from rivers or from coastal erosion, and sand loss to deep water. D) The balance between sand supply from glaciers and sand loss to the wind. E) The balance between sand dug up from below by crabs, and sand taken inland in the shorts of small beach-goers.

C) The balance between sand supply from rivers or from coastal erosion, and sand loss to deep water.

In the photo above, Sam Ascah is standing on sand and gravel in a pothole, where a stream swirls during the short but intense thunderstorms of Zion National Park. And next to that stream, the other picture shows the sandstone and the hang-on-so-you-don't-fall-over-the-cliff chain along the trail. A likely interpretation of these features is: A) The Park Service carefully cut little grooves behind the chain before they hung it, so that it would look cute and slide well, and they cut the potholes so that hikers would have something to look at. B) The stream swirled rocks around and cut the potholes, and even bounced up the cliff to cut the notches behind the chain. C) The grooves behind the chain have been cut over decades by motion of the chain as hikers grabbed it, and the potholes were cut by water swirling rocks around during the rare floods over much longer times. D) The potholes and the grooves behind the chain were gnawed by giant beavers. E) The potholes and the grooves behind the chain were gnawed by giant marmots.

C) The grooves behind the chain have been cut over decades by motion of the chain as hikers grabbed it, and the potholes were cut by water swirling rocks around during the rare floods over much longer times.

Air that passes over the Sierra Nevada from the Redwoods to Death Valley is warmed by roughly 30oF, even if the air goes over at night. Where does the energy come from? A) Sunshine heating the air while it is passing over the mountains B) The rotation of the Earth, which causes winds to curve as they blow over the surface C) The heat that had been stored during evaporation from the ocean and was released when clouds formed on the west side of the Sierra D) Volcanic eruptions from the peaks along the Sierra E) Gas-passing marmots, such as George, seen below;

C) The heat that had been stored during evaporation from the ocean and was released when clouds formed on the west side of the Sierra

The picture above shows a hillslope in Greenland that is about ½ mile across. The hill slope towards you, so the lowest part of the hill is at the bottom of the picture, and the highest part is at the top of the picture. What is likely to be true? A) The materials on the hillside are moving toward you at many miles per hour. B) The materials on the hillside are moving toward you at a few miles per year. C) The materials on the hillside are moving toward you at an inch or so per year. D) The materials on the hillside are not moving, but moved toward you at a few miles per year during the ice age when such motion was common. E) The materials on the hillside have never moved.

C) The materials on the hillside are moving toward you at an inch or so per year.

Large rivers have many interesting features, including: A) The flood plain, that flat area above where any floods reach. B) The natural levees, high regions left behind when compaction of mud occurs beneath the river. C) The natural levees, formed when flood waters leaving the channel slow down and drop much of their load near the channel; beyond the natural levees is the flood plain, where much of the rest of the mud in a flood is deposited in a thin layer. D) The natural levees, formed when water rushing back into the river channel after floods erodes troughs away from the river. E) The flood plain, the flat region left behind when the river cuts downward to make a valley and leave uplands.

C) The natural levees, formed when flood waters leaving the channel slow down and drop much of their load near the channel; beyond the natural levees is the flood plain, where much of the rest of the mud in a flood is deposited in a thin layer.

The above Landsat image from NASA shows Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The short yellow arrow indicates new sand deposits, which have formed over the last decades. The long pink arrow indicates underwater sand deposits. The dotted blue arrow points to the great Outer Beach of the Cape. Based on material presented in this class, what is going on? A) The ocean is eroding the outer beach, but the ocean is also taking sand from the pink-arrowed underwater deposits to add to the yellow-arrowed regions where the Cape is growing. B) The ocean is eroding the blue-arrowed outer beach, and all of that sand is transferred to the yellow-arrowed end, while nothing happens to the pink-arrowed underwater sand, so the Cape as a whole is holding its own. C) The ocean is eroding the blue-arrowed outer beach, and the yellow-arrowed end is growing more slowly, with some sand falling off to the pink-arrowed deposits and then off into deeper water, so the Cape as a whole is shrinking. D) The ocean is "mining" material from the pink-arrowed region, and adding that material to the yellow-arrowed and blue-arrowed places, so the Cape is getting longer as well as wider. E) The yellow and pink arrows actually indicate piles of peripherals lost by wintertime nudists sunbathing on the Cape's beaches.

C) The ocean is eroding the blue-arrowed outer beach, and the yellow-arrowed end is growing more slowly, with some sand falling off to the pink-arrowed deposits and then off into deeper water, so the Cape as a whole is shrinking.

Which is not accurate about the Grand Canyon, in Arizona: A) The youngest rock layer at the canyon slants downward to the north beneath still-younger rocks of Zion, Bryce, etc. B) The rock record of the canyon contains many unconformities. C) The oldest rocks are on top, with younger ones beneath, as shown by all of the footprints being upside-down in the rocks of the canyon walls. D) A great thickness of sedimentary rocks exists in Death-Valley-type faulted basins, which can be seen deep in the canyon in many places. E) The walls of the Canyon include rocks deposited in many different environments.

C) The oldest rocks are on top, with younger ones beneath, as shown by all of the footprints being upside-down in the rocks of the canyon walls.

Stephanie and Topher are standing next to the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. What can be said of the water here? A) The river water is naturally clear, fed by snowmelt from the Colorado Rockies. B) The river water is kept clear by the Park Service to keep the trout healthy. C) The river was naturally muddy, but has been made clear because most of the sediment is settling out in the reservoir behind the dam upstream. D) The river was cleaned up briefly by the Park Service to help Stephanie and Topher in their filming. E) The river is really filled with 7-UP, hence the green color.

C) The river was naturally muddy, but has been made clear because most of the sediment is settling out in the reservoir behind the dam upstream.

Dave Janesko is explaining the great Sevier Fault to Dr. Alley and the CAUSE class. Dave has just informed everyone that the black rocks, which formed by cooling of a very hot lava flow, are much younger than the red rocks, which formed from sediments deposited in a lake. He has examined the red rocks and found that they have not been "cooked" by heat from the black rocks, so the red and black rocks must have been placed together after the black rocks cooled. And, he has examined the contact between red and black rocks and found that it is a fault that has been scratched by the motion of the rocks along the fault. It is likely that: A) The scratches are nearly horizontal, because the black rocks were slid in from the side along a slide-past fault. B) The scratches are all horizontal, because the red rocks moved over the black rocks in a landslide. C) The scratches are nearly vertical, because the black rocks were dropped down along a pull-apart fault to lie next to the red rock. D) The scratches make little curlicues, because motion on the fault screwed the two sides together. E) The scratches are nearly vertical, because the black rocks were pushed up from below along a push-together fault to lie next to the red rocks.

C) The scratches are nearly vertical, because the black rocks were dropped down along a pull-apart fault to lie next to the red rock.

Chemical reactions involve: A) The sharing or trading of protons. B) The sharing or trading of neutrons. C) The sharing or trading of electrons. D) The sharing or trading of partons. E) The sharing or trading of quarks.

C) The sharing or trading of electrons.

Most landslides happen when: A) The unconsolidated materials on hillslopes are dry, so the grains roll easily downhill. B) The unconsolidated materials on hillslopes are damp, so the grains are made slippery by the water. C) The unconsolidated materials on hillslopes are very wet and thus heavy and slippery, and the water doesn't have to "break" as the grains move. D) The unconsolidated materials on hillslopes are paved with blacktop. E) The unconsolidated materials on hillslopes are paved with concrete.

C) The unconsolidated materials on hillslopes are very wet and thus heavy and slippery, and the water doesn't have to "break" as the grains move.

Most landslides happen when: A) The unconsolidated materials on hillslopes are dry, so the grains roll easily downhill. B) The unconsolidated materials on hillslopes are damp, so the grains are made slippery by the water. C) The unconsolidated materials on hillslopes are very wet and thus heavy and slippery, and the water doesn't have to "break" as the grains move. D) The unconsolidated materials on hillslopes are paved with blacktop. E) The unconsolidated materials on hillslopes are paved with concrete.

C) The unconsolidated materials on hillslopes are very wet and thus heavy and slippery, and the water doesn't have to "break" as the grains move.

You build and maintain two biologically diverse terrariums that are identical in every way at the beginning, except that one is divided in half by an unbreachable glass wall. After some time (long enough for many generations to pass, but not long enough for much evolution to occur), it is most likely that: A) The total number of species in each terrarium will be the same. B) The divided terrarium will have more species than the undivided one. C) The undivided terrarium will have more species than the divided one. D) The Pepsi Corporation will buy advertising in your terrariums. E) The Pepsi Corporation will buy advertising in your terrariums, and then "water" them with Pepsi, killing them.

C) The undivided terrarium will have more species than the divided one.

20-mule teams hauled borax salts out of Death Valley, and the valley still has lots of salt, sand, and river gravel in the bottom. The most likely explanation is: A) The valley was made by folding, which ground up the rocks into little pieces to make the gravel. B) Wind and rivers carved an immense canyon that is Death Valley, and after the river dried up, the river gravel, salt and sand were left behind. C) The valley was dropped relative to the mountains by faulting, and rivers have been (and still are) carrying gravel, sand and salts down from the mountains into the valley; then the water evaporates and leaves the gravel, sand and salts behind. D) The valley was paved with salt, sand and gravel by a movie company for a really spectacular stunt in the Dukes of Hazzard movie, involving long-distance car chases and Daisy leaping the boys' car across the entire park. E) The valley was raised by faulting, bringing up the salts, sand and gravel from subterranean caves.

C) The valley was dropped relative to the mountains by faulting, and rivers have been (and still are) carrying gravel, sand and salts down from the mountains into the valley; then the water evaporates and leaves the gravel, sand and salts behind.

What is accurate about the planet's climate system? A) The wind blows because heating of the poles drives convection cells in the atmosphere, and the winds appear to curve to the left or right over the surface of the planet because of the planet's the planet is spherical shape. B) The wind blows because heating near the equator drives convection cells in the atmosphere, and the winds appear to curve to the left or right over the surface of the planet because of the planet's spherical shape. C) The wind blows because heating near the equator drives convection cells in the atmosphere, and the winds appears to curve to the left or right over the surface of the planet because of friction produced by the spherical planet's rotation beneath the atmosphere. D) The wind blows because heating near the poles drives convection cells in the atmosphere, and the winds appear to curve to the left or right over the surface of the planet because of friction produced by the spherical planet's rotation beneath the atmosphere. E) The wind blows because of marmot flatulence.

C) The wind blows because heating near the equator drives convection cells in the atmosphere, and the winds appears to curve to the left or right over the surface of the planet because of friction produced by the spherical planet's rotation beneath the atmosphere.

What is accurate about the planet's climate system? A) The wind blows because heating of the poles drives convection cells in the atmosphere, and the winds appear to curve to the left or right over the surface of the planet because of the planet's the planet is spherical shape. B) The wind blows because heating near the equator drives convection cells in the atmosphere, and the winds appear to curve to the left or right over the surface of the planet because of the planet's spherical shape. C) The wind blows because heating near the equator drives convection cells in the atmosphere, and the winds appears to curve to the left or right over the surface of the planet because of friction produced by the spherical planet's rotation beneath the atmosphere. D) The wind blows because heating near the poles drives convection cells in the atmosphere, and the winds appear to curve to the left or right over the surface of the planet because of friction produced by the spherical planet's rotation beneath the atmosphere. E) The wind blows because of marmot flatulence.

C) The wind blows because heating near the equator drives convection cells in the atmosphere, and the winds appears to curve to the left or right over the surface of the planet because of friction produced by the spherical planet's rotation beneath the atmosphere.

What is indicated by the yellow lines in the image above, which separate flat-lying sedimentary rocks, on top, from slanting sedimentary rocks beneath? A) A great fault, where push-together action shoved the upper rocks over the lower ones. B) A great fault, where pull-apart action slid the upper rocks across the lower ones. C) A great unconformity, with sedimentary rocks above resting on metamorphic rocks below. D) A great unconformity, with sedimentary rocks above resting on older sedimentary rocks below. E) An intrusion, with melted rocks squirted along the yellow line and then hardened.

D) A great unconformity, with sedimentary rocks above resting on older sedimentary rocks below.

What is indicated by the yellow lines in the image above? A) A great fault, where push-together action shoved the upper rocks over the lower ones. B) A great fault, where pull-apart action slid the upper rocks across the lower ones. C) A great unconformity, with sedimentary rocks above resting on metamorphic rocks below. D) A great unconformity, with sedimentary rocks above resting on older sedimentary rocks below. E) An intrusion, with melted rocks squirted along the yellow line and then hardened.

D) A great unconformity, with sedimentary rocks above resting on older sedimentary rocks below.

Extinction removes biodiversity, and evolution generates biodiversity. The balance between extinction and evolution controls the Earth's biodiversity. Based on the scientific evidence summarized in the text and in class: A) Biodiversity on the planet is constant because extinction and evolution are in balance over short and long times. B) Biodiversity decreases as time passes over tens of millions of years, because extinction exceeds evolution. C) Biodiversity increases as time passes over tens of millions of years, because evolution exceeds extinction. D) Biodiversity fluctuates about a balance, with short-lived mass extinctions lowering biodiversity and subsequently evolution exceeding extinction over tens of millions of years to increase biodiversity until a new balance is reached. E) Biodiversity is controlled by the massive Pepsi Corporation, which determines who lives or dies.

D) Biodiversity fluctuates about a balance, with short-lived mass extinctions lowering biodiversity and subsequently evolution exceeding extinction over tens of millions of years to increase biodiversity until a new balance is reached.

Which formula describes the chemical changes that occur and release energy when you start with plant material and then burn it in a fire or "burn" it in a stomach? A) CaCO3 + H2CO3 → Ca+2 + 2HCO3- B) Ca+2 + 2HCO3- → CaCO3 + H2CO3 C) CO2 + H2O → CH2O + O2 D) CH2O + O2 → CO2 + H2O E) Diet_Coke + Mentos → Boom

D) CH2O + O2 → CO2 + H2O

Regarding global warming, most scientists (including those who have advised the United Nations through the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) agree that if we continue to burn fossil fuels at an accelerating rate: A) Climate changes will hurt everyone, equally. B) Climate changes will primarily hurt wealthy people in cold places. C) Climate changes will primarily hurt poor people who live in warm places and who are the major contributors to climate change through cutting of tropical rain forests and other activities. D) Climate changes will primarily hurt poor people in warm places, but the climate changes are primarily being caused by wealthier people in colder places. E) Climate changes will help everyone.

D) Climate changes will primarily hurt poor people in warm places, but the climate changes are primarily being caused by wealthier people in colder places.

The United Nations, under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, has attempted to assess the scientific understanding of how greenhouse-gas emissions will affect the climate, and thus people. The UN reports show that if we continue on our present path, burning fossil fuels at a faster and faster rate: A) Climate will change, primarily getting warmer, and these changes will hurt everyone, equally. B) Climate will change, with cooling at high latitudes that primarily will hurt wealthy people living in those cold places. C) Climate will change, primarily getting warmer, and those changes will primarily hurt the poor people in warm places who are the main causes of the climate changes through deforestation and other actions. D) Climate will change, primarily getting warmer, and those changes will primarily hurt poor people in warm places, but the climate changes are primarily being caused by wealthier people in colder places. E) Climate will change, primarily getting colder, and those changes will especially hurt those people living in northwestern Europe.

D) Climate will change, primarily getting warmer, and those changes will primarily hurt poor people in warm places, but the climate changes are primarily being caused by wealthier people in colder places.

Look at the picture, which shows a small section of a "fossil" sand dune (a sand dune in which the grains have been "glued" together by hard-water deposits). When the dune was first deposited, which was down (which letter is closest to the arrow that is pointing in the direction you would have looked to see the ground when the dune was deposited)? A) A B) B C) C D) D

D) D

The volcanoes of the island of Hawaii eventually will: A) Blow up as powerfully as the main 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens. B) Blow up as powerfully as the main eruptions of Yellowstone, 1000 times bigger than Mt. St. Helens. C) Last forever while nothing happens to them except for development of a protective layer of condominiums. D) Drift off the hot spot and cease to erupt, while a new volcano grows to their southeast. E) Rise above sea level as they cool and sink, and are eroded.

D) Drift off the hot spot and cease to erupt, while a new volcano grows to their southeast.

Look at the picture above, from the coast of Olympic National Park. What happened here? A) First Mt. Mazama and then Mt. St. Helens blasted rocks and ash and dust through the air, which fell as layers, with coarse at the bottom, fine on top from the first eruption, then coarse and fine again from the next eruption, and so on. B) The pocket knife was confiscated by government agents when an absent-minded geologist tried to board an airline, and the government agents heaved it onto this rock. C) The pocket knife was flushed out of an airline toilet by an absent-minded geologist. D) Earthquakes knocked loose undersea muds that raced down the slopes of the west coast into the subduction zone, making rocks that were then scraped off the downgoing slab to make part of Olympic National Park. E) Glaciers coming down from the high peaks of Olympic National Park ground over the surface of the rock, carving the grooves we see.

D) Earthquakes knocked loose undersea muds that raced down the slopes of the west coast into the subduction zone, making rocks that were then scraped off the downgoing slab to make part of Olympic National Park.

When humans build or raise levees along big rivers such as the lower part of the Mississippi, we are likely to cause: A) The surface of the water in the river to become slanted to the side, as mud compaction beneath the river increases meandering. B) Land to emerge from the sea at the mouth of the river, because the levees stop compaction of sediment downstream. C) Fields and roads on the flood plain to rise above the surface of the river, because compaction of flood-plain mud will no longer be balanced by sediment accumulation during floods. D) Fields and roads on the flood plain to drop below the surface of the river, because compaction of flood-plain mud will no longer be balanced by sediment accumulation during floods. E) Madonna and Don McLean to drive their Chevys to the levees, but the levees will be dissolving rapidly in Pepsi.

D) Fields and roads on the flood plain to drop below the surface of the river, because compaction of flood-plain mud will no longer be balanced by sediment accumulation during floods.

The jobs of geologists include: A) Supervising taste-tests between Coke and Pepsi, and not telling anyone that the geologists drink coffee at home. B) Supervising taste-tests between Coke and Pepsi. C) Cloning new organisms to sabotage competing companies. D) Finding valuable things in the Earth, warning about hazards, learning how the Earth works, and educating and entertaining people. E) Writing new computer viruses, to make people really depressed.

D) Finding valuable things in the Earth, warning about hazards, learning how the Earth works, and educating and entertaining people.

A glacier almost always flows: A) From south to north. B) From where bedrock is high to where bedrock is low. C) From north to south. D) From where the glacier's upper surface is high to where the glacier's upper surface is low. E) Up a mountain.

D) From where the glacier's upper surface is high to where the glacier's upper surface is low.

Which of the following is not a part of the modern theory of evolution? A) Diversity exists within a species, and "experiments" that tend to promote diversity sometimes occur during reproduction. B) A "successful experiment" during reproduction is one that increases the ability of an individual to have children who survive to have children. C) Children are more similar to their parents than to other individuals from their parents' generation. D) If the body of an adult living thing is changed by its environment, those changes usually are passed on biologically to children. E) If a reproductive "experiment" is successful, it will be passed to more and more children in successive generations until all members of a population have it.

D) If the body of an adult living thing is changed by its environment, those changes usually are passed on biologically to children.

We saw when we studied weathering that physical weathering makes little pieces from big, and that chemical weathering dissolves some things and makes other chunks. The different chemicals went into different places, dissolved or in chunks. When geologists classify sedimentary rocks, the first divisions are based on: A) Chemistry—the iron-bearing ones and the silica-bearing ones and others are separated. B) Grain shape—whether a grain is square or round is most important thing in classification. C) Mode of weathering—rocks made of pieces from chemical weathering and from physical weathering are given different names based on how the original rock was taken apart. D) Origin—rocks made from pre-existing pieces are separated from rocks made from precipitation of dissolved things. E) Color—red rocks and green rocks and fuchsia rocks and other rocks are named based on color.

D) Origin—rocks made from pre-existing pieces are separated from rocks made from precipitation of dissolved things.

Suppose that the sun suddenly became a little brighter, which would warm the world a little. Over the next few hundred years, what would you expect to happen? A) Other things would change in the Earth system, and these feedbacks would oppose the warming from the sun and cause the Earth to end up so much cooler than before the sun changed that a new ice age would start. B) Other things would change in the Earth system, and these feedbacks would oppose the warming from the sun and cause the Earth to end up at the same temperature as before the sun changed. C) Nothing else would change in the Earth system, so the Earth would end up a little warmer than before the sun changed. D) Other things would change in the Earth system, and these feedbacks would amplify the warming from the sun a little and cause the Earth to end up somewhat warmer than before the sun changed. E) Other things would change in the Earth system, and these feedbacks would amplify the warming from the sun a whole lot and cause the Earth to warm up so much that life would become impossible.

D) Other things would change in the Earth system, and these feedbacks would amplify the warming from the sun a little and cause the Earth to end up somewhat warmer than before the sun changed.

Heating of some materials produces coal. With increasing temperature and time, one observes: A) Peat, lignite, anthracite, bituminous. B) Anthracite, bituminous, peat, lignite. C) Peat, anthracite, lignite, bituminous. D) Peat, lignite, bituminous, anthracite. E) Anthracite, lignite, bituminous, peat.

D) Peat, lignite, bituminous, anthracite.

You start with some of the right kind of dead material, and heat this material in the right way, perhaps with a little squeezing. As the material changes, you end up with coal, and the name scientists give to the material changes. In order, from coolest (first) to warmest (last) the names given are: A) Bituminous, peat, lignite, anthracite. B) Bituminous, lignite, anthracite, peat. C) Bituminous, anthracite, peat, lignite. D) Peat, lignite, bituminous, anthracite. E) Bituminous, anthracite, lignite, peat.

D) Peat, lignite, bituminous, anthracite.

Many plants are hard to get along with. Imagine crashing pell-mell through a thicket of devil's club (pictured above), in coastal Alaska, to get away from a charging brown bear. The native people use devil's club for medicinal purposes. We now know that: A) The thorns shown here, and guard hairs and such, provide the primary protection for plants. B) Thorns, such as shown here, help protect plants, but plants also gain protection by making chemicals that are poisonous to many things that would eat the plants; those chemicals are always harmful to humans (poison ivy, for example). C) Plant protection by thorns is supplemented by chemicals that are poisonous to many plant-eaters but always beneficial to humans, and that form the basis for all human medicines. D) Plant protection by thorns is supplemented by chemicals that are poisonous to many things that would eat the plants; those chemicals are sometimes harmful to humans (poison ivy, for example) but sometimes beneficial to humans, and have given us many of our medicines. E) Devil's club is a new development of the Pepsi Corporation, and is planted around Coke machines by midnight saboteurs

D) Plant protection by thorns is supplemented by chemicals that are poisonous to many things that would eat the plants; those chemicals are sometimes harmful to humans (poison ivy, for example) but sometimes beneficial to humans, and have given us many of our medicines.

What tectonic setting is primarily responsible for producing Mt. St Helens? A) Slide Past B) Pull-Apart C) Hot Spot D) Push-together Subduction E) Push-together Obduction

D) Push-together Subduction

The main types of boundaries between different lithospheric plates are: A) Hot spots. B) Car-crash" boundaries, formed where Pepsi trucks hit Coke haulers. C) Pull-apart and slide-past. D) Push-together, pull-apart and slide-past. E) Push-together and slide-past.

D) Push-together, pull-apart and slide-past.

You decide to get "back to nature", so you dig a well in your back yard in the limestone rocks there, install a hand pump, and pump the water from your well into a basin to which you add a little soap when you want to wash dishes. After a while, you notice white scum on your glasses, which gets worse and worse with time. This probably is: A) Soap scum; soap just builds up on glassware washed in well water. B) Bacterial films, living on the soap scum. C) Rock that had been dissolved in the water, which is deposited only on glassware. D) Rock that had been dissolved in the water, and that probably is building up inside your pump and elsewhere as well. E) Clay that was pumped out of the limestone and settled on your glasses.

D) Rock that had been dissolved in the water, and that probably is building up inside your pump and elsewhere as well.

Opinion polls show most residents of the US do not believe they understand science very well, but they do favor more government support of science. Why do most US residents favor government support of science? A) Scientists apply their scientific method, which allows them to learn the Truth. B) Science is simply so fascinating that almost everyone can't wait to see what will be discovered next. C) Science is so boring that almost everyone uses public-broadcasting science programming as a sleep aid, and government funding is needed to insure a steady supply of boredom. D) Science has helped make our lives healthier, wealthier, easier, safer, etc., and people hope that more funding of more science will provide even more health, wealth, ease, safety, etc. E) Scientists are so breath-takingly sexy that most people are drawn through sheer carnal lust to support the scientific enterprise.

D) Science has helped make our lives healthier, wealthier, easier, safer, etc., and people hope that more funding of more science will provide even more health, wealth, ease, safety, etc.

There are many large mammals on Earth today. This is because: A) The warm blood of the many large mammals that lived before the meteorite impact allowed them to survive the cold from the meteorite impact that killed the dinosaurs. B) The very large mammals that were alive on Earth with the dinosaurs have gotten smaller over time because the mammals don't have to be big to compete with the dinosaurs any more. C) Small mammals wanted to become bigger, and after the dinosaurs were killed, the small mammals had their chance and so made themselves bigger. D) Small mammals were not able to outcompete the dinosaurs for big-animal jobs, but after the dinosaurs were killed, some large mammals evolved from small mammals to fill the large-animal jobs. E) Dinosaurs in hibernation were killed by acid rain, which didn't hurt things that could run away.

D) Small mammals were not able to outcompete the dinosaurs for big-animal jobs, but after the dinosaurs were killed, some large mammals evolved from small mammals to fill the large-animal jobs.

If we could artificially double the CO2 content of the atmosphere and then hold the CO2 content at that level for a thousand years, the most likely effect would be: A) The Earth would cool until a new ice age occurred. B) The Earth would cool a little, and then the temperature would stabilize at that new, cooler level. C) Nothing would happen to the Earth's temperature. D) The Earth would warm a few degrees, and then the temperature would stabilize at that new, warmer level. E) The Earth would warm many tens of degrees.

D) The Earth would warm a few degrees, and then the temperature would stabilize at that new, warmer level.

The map above shows the Birdfoot Delta of the Mississippi River, where it empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The river is shown in blue, as is the Gulf of Mexico. The river "wants" to leave this delta, and flow somewhere else, far to the west of the area covered by this map. Why? A) Humans have been damming the river at the end, so the river must go elsewhere. B) Hurricane Katrina, in 2005, plugged many of the river channels, so the river must go elsewhere. C) As the mud of the delta sinks, the river loses its river banks, so it flows elsewhere. D) The delta has built up as well as out, and that makes some other path to the Gulf steeper and shorter than the one now being taken, and during a flood the river tends to take that shorter path and cut a new channel. E) The meandering of the river has tied it in a knot, so it has to take a different path.

D) The delta has built up as well as out, and that makes some other path to the Gulf steeper and shorter than the one now being taken, and during a flood the river tends to take that shorter path and cut a new channel.

On the Richter scale of earthquake intensity: A) The ground is shaken twice as much by a magnitude-8 quake as by a magnitude-4 quake. B) The ground is shaken 8 times more by a magnitude-8 quake than by a magnitude-1 quake. C) The ground is shaken 10 times less by a magnitude-8 quake than by a magnitude-7 quake. D) The ground is shaken 10 times less by a magnitude-7 quake than by a magnitude-8 quake. E) A magnitude-7 quake is impossible; nothing that big can occur.

D) The ground is shaken 10 times less by a magnitude-7 quake than by a magnitude-8 quake.

Shown above is Great Rock, Cape Cod National Seashore, with some of Dr. Alley's relatives for scale. The rock is metamorphic. The picture includes most but not all of the above-ground portion; the rock goes about as far below ground as above. What is the rock doing here in the middle of Cape Cod? A) Tsunami waves washed it here, when a huge landslide occurred from a volcanic island in the Atlantic Ocean. B) The rock rose up through the sand during a giant earthquake, the way large rocks are "floated" up in permafrost regions. C) The rock was thrown here by the giant meteorite impact that hollowed out Hudson Bay. D) The rock was carried here by glacier ice and left when the ice melted. E) The rock was used as ballast on the Mayflower, and left at First Encounter Beach as a present to the native Americans because the Mayflower no longer needed ballast in thenear-coastal waters.

D) The rock was carried here by glacier ice and left when the ice melted.

Soil is produced by weathering of rocks. In the natural state of affairs, on a hillside covered by soil: A) The soil layer gets thicker and thicker over time as weathering breaks down more rocks. B) The soil layer gets thinner and thinner over time as gravity and streams remove older soils. C) The soil thickness never changes over time; a perfect balance is achieved between soil production and removal so no matter how long you wait or when you measure, the thickness will be the same. D) The soil thickness tends to a nonchanging value as production is balanced by removal, but you may have to watch for a while, as sometimes production may go faster and sometimes removal may go faster. E) The soil is mainly produced by human pets.

D) The soil thickness tends to a nonchanging value as production is balanced by removal, but you may have to watch for a while, as sometimes production may go faster and sometimes removal may go faster.

You find two neutral atoms. Each has 8 protons in its nucleus, but one has 7 neutrons, and the other has 8 neutrons. It is correct to state that: A) The two atoms are from two different elements. B) The two atoms are from the same element, but are different ions of that element. C) The two atoms are from the same element, but are different isopleths of that element. D) The two atoms are from the same element, but are different isotopes of that element. E) The two atoms are from the same cola, but presented in different packaging.

D) The two atoms are from the same element, but are different isotopes of that element.

Statistically, and based on how many people are likely to die if they engage in or are exposed to the following problems, which is most dangerous to residents of the United States: A) Meteorite impacts. B) Commercial airline crashes. C) Earthquakes. D) The various diseases that come from smoking, overeating and under-exercising for a long time. E) Tornadoes.

D) The various diseases that come from smoking, overeating and under-exercising for a long time.

The ptarmigan and the marmot have something in common, other than being cute. What is it? A) They are both mineral-like silica-based life forms. B) They both are standing on cirques. C) They both are standing on moraines. D) They both are standing on glacially eroded surfaces. E) They both are hyper-flatulent reptiles.

D) They both are standing on glacially eroded surfaces.

In the picture above, Dr. Alley is discussing events that are happening outside of Grand Canyon National Park, which may impact the park. What are the issues he is discussing? A) Plastic pieces, such as the straw he is holding in the picture to your right, are littered outside the park, and will break down and release toxins that pollute the waters of the park. B) Water spread on golf courses is introducing nitrates into the park. C) Water spread on golf courses is causing flooding in the park. D) Water pumped out of the ground for golf courses and other uses evaporates, so less water flows through the ground to the springs of the canyon. E) A terrible shortage of Pepsi has alarmed the Park Service.

D) Water pumped out of the ground for golf courses and other uses evaporates, so less water flows through the ground to the springs of the canyon.

You are dating a lava flow by the potassium-argon system. However, the offspring in this system are leaking out of the minerals. Which is accurate? A) You will think that the lava flow is older than it really is, and you will have no way to detect your error. B) You will think that the lava flow is younger than it really is, and you will have no way to detect your error. C) You will think that the lava flow is older than it really is, but you will be able to detect the error by comparing concentrations of offspring from the edges and centers of grains. D) You will think that the lava flow is younger than it really is, but you will be able to detect the error by comparing concentrations of offspring from the edges and centers of grains. E) You will get the age exactly right without worrying about any complications.

D) You will think that the lava flow is younger than it really is, but you will be able to detect the error by comparing concentrations of offspring from the edges and centers of grains.

Suppose that all the rainfall that fell during an average year on a typical surface in central Pennsylvania just stayed there as a layer of water (and all the snow melted, and the melt just stayed there). If at the end of the year you were standing on your head on that surface (assuming you are a typical-sized human being), what would be true? (In an average year, Pennsylvania gets about the same amount of precipitation as the average for the world.) A) The hair trapped between your head and the surface would be wet, but nothing else (if you are bald, this applies to the hair that you would have if you had hair on the top of your head). B) The water would make the top of your head wet, but wouldn't quite cover your ears. C) The water would be over your ears and up to your nose, but you could breathe through your mouth. D) You would be breathing by SCUBA or snorkel, because the water would be up between your belly button and your knees somewhere. E) You would be breathing by SCUBA or a really long snorkel, because your feet would be way under water.

D) You would be breathing by SCUBA or snorkel, because the water would be up between your belly button and your knees somewhere.

What can you learn about past environments from sediments and sedimentary rocks? A) A tiny amount, primarily whether they were deposited in the ocean or on land. B) A tiny amount, primarily whether the land was green or brown. C) A tiny amount, primarily whether rivers or waves made the sediment. D) Nothing. E) A huge amount, including whether the environment was land or water, whether it was warm enough for crocodiles or cold enough for ice, and much more.

E) A huge amount, including whether the environment was land or water, whether it was warm enough for crocodiles or cold enough for ice, and much more.

Which of the following was probably important in contributing to extinction of most species at the same time the dinosaurs became extinct? A) Cold from the change in Earth's orbit caused when the meteorite shoved the planet farther from the sun. B) Heat from the change in Earth's orbit caused when the meteorite shoved the planet closer to the sun. C) Changed weather patterns because the meteorite caused large true polar wander (the north pole shifted rapidly in comparison to the continents because the meteorite rolled the planet on its side). D) Silicosis caused by dissolution of the meteorite in the ocean. E) Acid rain, from sulfuric acid from the meteorite hitting sulfur-bearing rocks, and from nitric acid from the heat of the meteorite burning the air.

E) Acid rain, from sulfuric acid from the meteorite hitting sulfur-bearing rocks, and from nitric acid from the heat of the meteorite burning the air.

Weathering attacks a granite in Pennsylvania or Washington, DC, or a similarly rainy place. The quartz grains in the granite primarily: A) Dissolve and wash away quickly, helping grow shells in the ocean. B) Dissolve and wash away quickly, to react with sea-floor rocks in the ocean. C) Are loosened from the rock but don't change much, making rust in the soil. D) Are loosened from the rock but don't change much, making clay in the soil. E) Are loosened from the rock but don't change much, staying in the soil as quartz sand.

E) Are loosened from the rock but don't change much, staying in the soil as quartz sand.

If you were looking for different types of coal, you likely would find: A) Lignite in the metamorphic rocks of eastern Pennsylvania, and anthracite in the sedimentary rocks of western Pennsylvania. B) Lignite in the metamorphic rocks of eastern Pennsylvania, and more lignite in the sedimentary rocks of western Pennsylvania. C) Bituminous in the metamorphic rocks of eastern Pennsylvania, and lignite in the sedimentary rocks of western Pennsylvania. D) No coal in Pennsylvania. E) Bituminous in the sedimentary rocks of western Pennsylvania, and anthracite in the metamorphic rocks of eastern Pennsylvania.

E) Bituminous in the sedimentary rocks of western Pennsylvania, and anthracite in the metamorphic rocks of eastern Pennsylvania.

To get gas from the Marcellus shale, drillers: A) Deepen existing water wells that have flammable methane in them, blowing up people's houses so the gas companies can then buy the land cheaply. B) Core vertically through the rocks, and then use powerful vacuum pumps to suck, or "frac", the gas out of the rocks. C) Put machines into the ground the crawl along the shale layer, grinding up the rock to release the gas. D) Drill diagonally through the rocks, and then use powerful compression pumps to blow the gas out the other end of the holes. E) Drill into and then along the shale, and then pump in high-pressure fluids to fracture the rock and release the gas.

E) Drill into and then along the shale, and then pump in high-pressure fluids to fracture the rock and release the gas.

Evolutionary theory is used in the real world for: A) Absolutely nothing. B) Guiding the thinking of computer scientists, but not for anything else. C) Making professors feel good, but nothing else. D) Fighting antibiotic resistance in diseases, but not for anything else. E) Fighting diseases, and in other practical ways including guiding some techniques in computer science.

E) Fighting diseases, and in other practical ways including guiding some techniques in computer science.

Which of the following is part of the modern theory of evolution? A) If the body of an adult living thing is changed by its environment, those changes usually are passed on biologically to children. B) Evolution proceeds in the direction desired by members of a generation. C) Evolution always produces bigger and more-complicated living things from smaller and simpler living things. D) Evolution usually proceeds by birth of "hopeful monsters" involving very large changes from one generation to the next. E) If a reproductive "experiment" is successful, it will be passed to more and more children in successive generations until all members of a population have it.

E) If a reproductive "experiment" is successful, it will be passed to more and more children in successive generations until all members of a population have it.

You hear an astronomer on the evening news, pointing out a coming alignment of planets and predicting that the extra gravitational attraction is sure to trigger a huge earthquake in California during the few hours of alignment. Based on what has been covered in this class, a reasonable approach is to: A) Invest in coffee; people always want caffeine after earthquakes, and an earthquake is highly likely at the time and place predicted. B) Take it seriously; maybe the quake isn't certain, but a big quake is much more likely than not during those few hours. C) Go to California with your camera to take pictures of the buildings falling down during the alignment so you can sell the pictures for lots of money. D) Stay the heck out of California, because if you go, you will be trampled to death by all the scientists running to California to observe the quake. E) Ignore it; although gravitational forces such as tides and planetary pulls might possibly exert a very small effect on earthquakes, no one has successfully predicted the where-and-when of earthquakes.

E) Ignore it; although gravitational forces such as tides and planetary pulls might possibly exert a very small effect on earthquakes, no one has successfully predicted the where-and-when of earthquakes.

The Cenozoic: A) Is "old life", the age of shellfish. B) Is "middle life", the age of dinosaurs. C) Is "new life", the age of dinosaurs. D) Is "old life", the age of algae. E) Is "new life", the age of mammals.

E) Is "new life", the age of mammals.

If you watched a sand grain moved by waves on a beach on the U.S. east coast, you would usually see that most of its motion: A) Is to the north. B) Is to the south. C) Is to the north in the winter and to the south in the summer. D) Is from the shore to the sea in the summer, and from the sea to the shore in the winter. E) Is alternately toward and away from the shore, causing little net change.

E) Is alternately toward and away from the shore, causing little net change.

Geological evidence based on several radiometric techniques has provided a scientifically well-accepted age for the Earth. Represent that age of the Earth as the 100-yard length of a football field, and any time interval can be represented as some distance on the field. (So something that lasted one-tenth of the age of the Earth would be ten yards, and something that lasted one-half of the age of the Earth would be fifty yards.) On this scale, how long is written history? A) 50 yards. B) Just over 10 yards. C) 1 yard. D) 1 inch. E) Just over the thickness of a sheet of paper.

E) Just over the thickness of a sheet of paper.

What sort of rock is the dark material very close to the pink granitethat Dr. Alley is pointing to in the picture above? A) Sedimentary; The layering was caused by changes in the flow velocity of the river that deposited the material B) Sediment that isn't rock yet. The layers are alternating silt and sand from deposition from landslides off the Olympic Peninsula into the trench offshore. C) Marmot #2 D) Igneous; The layers were caused by flow processes during the eruption that released this. E) Metamorphic; The rock separated into layers as it was cooked and squeezed deep in a mountain range.

E) Metamorphic; The rock separated into layers as it was cooked and squeezed deep in a mountain range.

Which is not part of our modern view of geology? A) Convection occurs below the lithosphere in the deeper mantle. B) Lithospheric plates move mainly horizontally on the soft, deeper material. C) Lithospheric plates float on soft material deeper in the mantle. D) The Earth's lithosphere is broken into a few major plates plus a few smaller ones. E) Most mountain building occurs in the centers of lithospheric plates.

E) Most mountain building occurs in the centers of lithospheric plates.

Major differences between Mt. St. Helens and Hawaiian volcanoes include: A) Mt. St. Helens is a low-silica shield volcano, and Hawaii has medium-to-high-silica stratovolcanoes. B) Mt. St. Helens is a volcano, but Hawaii doesn't have any volcanoes, and never has. C) Mt. St. Helens is a low-silica stratovolcano, and Hawaii has medium-to-high-silica shield volcanoes. D) Mt. St. Helens is a medium-to-high-silica shield volcano, and Hawaii has low-silica stratovolcanoes. E) Mt. St. Helens is a medium-to-high-silica stratovolcano, and Hawaii has low-silica shield volcanoes.

E) Mt. St. Helens is a medium-to-high-silica stratovolcano, and Hawaii has low-silica shield volcanoes.

A scientist gains knowledge about how the world works, and uses that information to successfully predict what will happen in an experiment. This proves that the scientist's knowledge is: A) True; you can't get it right unless you know what is going on. B) Lucky; no one knows what is going on, so only lucky people get things right. C) Close; no one really knows what is going on, but people sort of know. D) Cheating. E) One or more of True, lucky, or close to being true (or cheating), but we can't tell which.

E) One or more of True, lucky, or close to being true (or cheating), but we can't tell which.

What tectonic setting is primarily responsible for producing the Appalachian Mountains and Great Smoky Mountains National Park? A) Slide Past B) Pull-Apart C) Push-together Subduction D) Hot Spot E) Push-together Obduction

E) Push-together Obduction

What tectonic setting is primarily responsible for producing Olympic National Park as well as the hills on which San Francisco is built? A) Hot-spot. B) Pull-apart. C) Push-together obduction. D) Slide-past. E) Push-together subduction.

E) Push-together subduction.

In age dating, geologists use: A) Cross-cutting relationships for absolute ages, and uniformitarianism for relative ages. B) Radiometric techniques for relative dating of events that happened in the last 100,000 years, and layer-counting for relative dating of events that happened billions of years ago. C) Radiometric techniques and layer-counting for relative dating of events that happened in the last 100,000 years, and numbers printed on the bottom of Pepsi bottle caps for relative dating of much older events. D) Radiometric techniques for absolute dating of events that happened in the last 100,000 years, and other radiometric techniques and layer-counting for absolute dating of much older events. E) Radiometric techniques and layer-counting for absolute dating of events that happened in the last 100,000 years, and other radiometric techniques for absolute dating of much older events.

E) Radiometric techniques and layer-counting for absolute dating of events that happened in the last 100,000 years, and other radiometric techniques for absolute dating of much older events.

You drill through the muds at the bottom of the sea floor and sample the rocks beneath, and you then determine the ages of those rocks, using standard scientific techniques. As described in the course materials, you will find that: A) Rocks near spreading ridges are oldest, and ages decrease as you move away from a spreading ridge in either direction. B) The rocks are older west of a spreading ridge and younger east of the ridge, controlled by the Earth's rotation. C) Rocks of many different ages occur, but there is no sensible pattern to the ages. D) All sea-floor rocks have the same age, made by sudden volcanic eruptions. E) Rocks farthest from spreading ridges are oldest, with ages decreasing as you move toward a ridge.

E) Rocks farthest from spreading ridges are oldest, with ages decreasing as you move toward a ridge.

If you went swimming in one of the channels of the river pictured above, and grabbed a sample of the river bank, what would you likely come up with? A) Lava flows, of the type that eroded all the major rivers of the world. B) Sand, that always makes really steep slopes such as are seen in sand castles. C) Cave formations. D) A mixture of clay, sand and boulders, called till. E) Sand or gravel, that collapses to plug channels.

E) Sand or gravel, that collapses to plug channels.

What is accurate about sediments and sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks? A) Loose sediment, and sedimentary rock, are very different, and intermediates between loose sediment and sedimentary rock are never found. B) All the sedimentary rocks came into existence when the Earth first formed, and all the loose sediment has been made when water dissolved the cement between grains. C) Loose sediment and sedimentary rock are very different with no intermediates, but sedimentary rock grades smoothly into metamorphic rock with many intermediates. D) All the sedimentary rocks came into existence when the Earth first formed, and all the loose sediment has been made when Diet Pepsi dissolved the cement between grains. E) Squeezing and heating can turn loose sediment into sedimentary rock, and sedimentary rock into metamorphic rock, with all the intermediate steps observed in nature.

E) Squeezing and heating can turn loose sediment into sedimentary rock, and sedimentary rock into metamorphic rock, with all the intermediate steps observed in nature.

During the most recent ice age, the great ice sheets produced many geologic features. Which of the following was NOT produced by the great ice sheets during that most recent ice age? A) Moraines on Long Island, NY. B) Moraines on Cape Cod. C) Layers of rocks from Canada spread into Pennsylvania from the north. D) Layers of rocks from Canada spread into Minnesota and Wisconsin from the north. E) The piles of mud along the river crossing the Mississippi Delta.

E) The piles of mud along the river crossing the Mississippi Delta.

Dust and shells and fish poop and all sorts of things fall to the sea bed to make sediment. Across broad central regions of the ocean, the sediment accumulates at a uniform rate—piling up about as rapidly here as it does over there. And, in most places, the currents don't move the sediment around much, so that it stays where it falls. Thus, the thickness of the sediment is related to the age of the rocks beneath the sediment. If you go around an ocean and measure the thickness of the sediment in lots of places, you are likely to find: A) The sediment thickness forms waves, thicker thinner thicker thinner thicker thinner, as you cross the ocean, but with no influence from spreading ridges. B) The sediment is thick near spreading ridges, and thinner away from the ridges. C) The sediment thickness varies a lot from place to place, but the pattern is totally random. D) The sediment is the same thickness everywhere. E) The sediment is thin near spreading ridges, and thicker away from the ridges.

E) The sediment is thin near spreading ridges, and thicker away from the ridges.

Which is younger: A) Rock layer C. B) Unconformity L. C) Fault I. D) Rock layer D. E) The tree.

E) The tree.

The photograph above shows some rocks in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. From looking at the rocks, and what you know about the park, a likely story is that: A) These rocks were stretched and then snapped back, bending as they did so and making an earthquake. B) These rocks were buried deeply and squeezed in a continent-continent collision, and then brought to the surface in one of the giant volcanic eruptions that built the Smokies. C) These rocks were sheared in the great slide-past fault that slid rocks from Florida up to the North-Carolina/Tennessee border to form the Smokies. D) These rocks are really marmot #2. E) These rocks were buried deeply and squeezed in a continent-continent collision, and then brought to the surface as overlying rocks were eroded.

E) These rocks were buried deeply and squeezed in a continent-continent collision, and then brought to the surface as overlying rocks were eroded.

Hot spots are important geological features. What is accurate about hot spots? A) They provide the caffeine consumed during all-night arguments in Washington. B) They feed volcanoes that grow up from the sea floor, but are never found breaking through continents. C) They feed volcanoes that form on continents, but never feed volcanoes that grow up from the sea floor. D) They are rapidly-moving features, zipping along beneath the nearly stationary plates above to make lines of volcanoes. E) They are rising towers of hot rock, perhaps from as far down as the core-mantle boundary, bringing heat up to feed volcanoes.

E) They are rising towers of hot rock, perhaps from as far down as the core-mantle boundary, bringing heat up to feed volcanoes.