Exam 1 Quizzes

In 1902, a famous pyroclastic flow killed approximately 28,000 people on the Caribbean island of ________.

Martinique

Because of its physical properties, magma tends to

move upward, away from where it formed.

What describes the progression of rock types through increasing metamorphic grade from left to right?

shale → slate → phyllite → schist

Evidence that glaciers once covered an area might include

till and striations.

The San Andreas Fault zone in California is an example of a ________ plate boundary.

transform

Sea level rises locally, and marine sediments are deposited on top of terrestrial sediments during events termed

transgressions.

Chemically precipitated limestone that forms in caves or around hot springs is termed

travertine

______________ are snowball-like lumps of ash formed when ash mixes with water in the air and then sticks together to form small balls.

Accretionary lapilli

Abundant swamps led to the formation of coal during the Late Paleozoic in which of the following places?

North America

________ metamorphism affects the greatest volumes of rock and produces the greatest variety in metamorphic rock types.

Regional

What is typically associated with the eruption of a Large Igneous Province (LIP)?

Sea level rise, extinction, climate change

What was unusual about the 1986 volcano-related disaster near Lake Nyos in Cameroon?

Volcanically derived carbon dioxide gas bubbled from the lake and suffocated people and animals nearby.

The pattern of atoms in a crystal can be detected using

X-ray diffraction.

Minerals are all naturally occurring solid substances with a definable chemical composition. They must also possess

a fixed crystalline structure (spatial arrangement of atoms and ions).

If you find a tuff in the field, what type of geologic activity could you reasonably assume has occurred?

a volcanic eruption

Which magma compositions are most commonly erupted in continental arc settings?

andesite and rhyolite

Most commonly, felsic igneous rocks

are lighter in color than mafic rocks.

Seafloor spreading occurs

at mid-ocean ridges.

Precambrian metamorphic rocks are exposed at the surface

at places in continental interiors (called shields).

A vast, composite intrusive igneous body that covers hundreds of square kilometers (in a map view) is called a

batholith

Because the velocity of sediment settling (deposition) is positively related to grain size for waterborne sediments, fluvial deposits are more likely than glacial deposits to

be well sorted.

What environment would most likely produce sedimentary deposits characterized by very well-sorted, very well-rounded grains that are nearly pure quartz?

beach

The rapid, deep burial of sediments in an accretionary prism leads to the formation of a metamorphic rock termed

blueschist

Marble and quartzite are nonfoliated metamorphic rocks because

both are dominated by minerals that produce equant grains.

What is most likely to be found at fracture zones?

broken-up rocks and vertical cracks

Diamond and graphite are both polymorphs of

carbon

Which of the following processes are NOT involved in metamorphism?

cementation and compaction of grains during diagenesis

Precipitation of gypsum due to evaporation of seawater produces which kind of sedimentary rock?

chemical

Of the three primary forms of subaerial volcanoes, ________ consist of a cone-shaped pile of tephra often formed in a single eruption.

cinder cones

Lithified detritus (breakdown products of preexisting rocks) forms which kind of sedimentary rock?

clastic

Thick accumulations of sediments and fossils in the deep ocean tend to be ___________-sized because of the low amount of energy in the environment.

clay

Fewer than 50 minerals are

commonly found in rocks

Pele's hair ________.

consists of thin strands of basaltic glass

The boundary formed between new intrusive igneous rock and the host rock around it is called a

contact

Subduction zones are found at ________ plate boundaries.

convergent

Intrusive rocks that form deep within the Earth ______________ than intrusive rocks that cool near the surface.

cool more slowly

In the formation of gneiss from a granite protolith, distinctive compositional bands form because of

crystals dissolving, with atoms and ions migrating and reorganizing as new crystals.

The mineral assemblage within metamorphic rock is

dependent on both the mineral assemblage of its protolith and the temperature and pressure of formation.

The application of ________ during metamorphism causes elongated crystals to align parallel with each other. When this happens, the rock develops ________.

differential stress; foliation

Seafloor spreading is most likely to occur at

divergent boundaries

Rhyolite lavas ________.

do not flow as far from the vent as basaltic lavas do

At transform plate boundaries,

earthquakes are common but volcanoes are absent.

Nonviolent eruptions characterized by extensive flows of basaltic lava are termed ________.

effusive

Which of the following choices lists atomic particles ordered from smallest to largest in size?

electron, proton, nucleus, atom

Volcanism in Iceland is occurring as a result of ________.

eruptions from a hot spot that sits astride a mid-ocean ridge

Crystals that exhibit well-formed faces are referred to as

euhedral

The diamonds we typically see today in engagement rings do not display their natural crystal faces but rather ________, which are made by grinding the gem on a spinning lap.

facets

Rocks resulting from thermal (contact) metamorphism will NOT possess

foliation

Slaty cleavage, schistosity, and compositional banding are all examples of

foliation

Basins that form on the continental side of mountain ranges are called _________ basins.

foreland

As compared to subaerial basaltic lavas, submarine basaltic lavas differ in that they ________.

form pillow-like mounds because they cannot flow as far from their source

Wegener's idea of continental drift was rejected by American geologists because

he could not conceive of a valid mechanism that would cause continents to shift positions.

The Hawaiian island chain is an example of a(n) ________.

hot-spot island chain

With increasing distance from a mid-ocean ridge, the age of oceanic crust

increases.

A mineral within a metamorphic rock that can be used to narrowly constrain the temperature and pressure of rock formation is termed a (n) ________ mineral.

index

Within a single mountain range,

it is possible to find a variety of metamorphic rocks produced in distinct facies, including high-, intermediate-, and low-grade rocks.

Diamonds are usually found in a rock called

kimberlite

A fast-moving wet slurry consisting of a mixture of water and volcaniclastic debris is termed a ________.

lahar

Compared to felsic lavas, mafic lavas have a ________.

lower viscosity

The way a mineral scatters light is a diagnostic property termed

luster

A buried body of shale is subjected to differential stress, causing clay minerals to realign and produce slate. This is an example of

metamorphism

The net chemical change in a metamorphic rock induced by a reaction with hot groundwater is termed

metasomatism

Marine magnetic anomaly belts run parallel to

mid-ocean ridges.

Chemical sedimentary rocks are classified primarily on the basis of

mineral composition.

In general, if a body of igneous (source) rock is subjected to partial melting, the magma that is produced is expected to be

more felsic than the source rock.

The sedimentary rocks breccia and conglomerate most commonly form in a ________ environment.

mountain stream

Sedimentary rocks are most likely to form

near the Earth's surface.

The atomic number of an element corresponds to the

number of protons

In the discontinuous series of Bowen's reaction series, the first mineral to crystallize from a mafic melt is

olivine

The most recently formed portion of any crystal is always found

on the outer edges.

The textural term for a basaltic lava flow that has a smooth, ropy appearance is ________.

pahoehoe

Continental coastlines that occur within the interior of a tectonic plate are called ________ margins.

passive

Diagenesis refers to

physical and chemical alterations, including compaction and cementation, that occur as sediment is transformed into rock.

Hot-spot tracks result from moving

plates

A _________ is an irregular or blob-shaped intrusive body; a ___________ is a blister-shaped intrusion.

pluton; laccolith

When two different minerals have the same chemical formula but different crystal structures, they are said to be

polymorphs

Pegmatites, which often occur in dikes, are unusual among shallow intrusive rocks in that they

possess exceptionally coarse grains

As compared to mafic igneous rocks, felsic igneous rocks have a higher

proportion of silica relative to Mg oxide and Fe oxide.

A felsic, highly-vesicular volcanic rock is termed

pumice.

A well-sorted sandstone with asymmetric ripples was most likely deposited as sand by a

river (far from source).

A preferred orientation of large, flaky mica crystals within metamorphic rock is termed

schistosity

Volcanoes that are submerged beneath the surface of the sea are termed

seamounts

Of the three primary forms of subaerial volcanoes, ________ have the most gently sloping sides, due to the low viscosity of the basaltic lavas that form them.

shield volcanoes

The mineral class that makes up more than 95 percent of the continental crust is termed the

silicates

A mineral property defined as the density of the mineral sample divided by the density of water (1.0 g/cm3) is

specific gravity

Of the three primary forms of subaerial volcanoes, ________ are large cone-shaped mountains that consist of alternating layers of tephra and solidified lava.

stratovolcanoes

Flood basalts such as those found in the Columbia Plateau and the Deccan region are associated with

superplumes.

The geotherm is the rate of change of

temperature with depth in the Earth's interior.

Ash, cinders, and blocks are all types of ________.

tephra

If a geologist discovered coal in a modern-day cold, snowy location, he or she could conclude that

the area was once covered with swamps and/or jungles.

A triple junction is a place on Earth's surface where

the boundaries of three lithospheric plates meet at a single point.

If a geologist found preserved mud cracks, he or she could conclude that the environment in which they formed

was once covered in wet mud.

Important volatiles in magmas include

water and carbon dioxide.

Common volcanic gases include:

water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide

Potassium feldspar reacts with water to form clay. This is an example of

weathering