Geology chapter 1

We live in which geologic era? a. Cenozoic b. Mesozoic c. Paleozoic d. Precambrian e. Holocene

a. Cenozoic

The San Andreas Fault is an example of what kind of fault? a. Transform b. Normal c. Reverse d. Inactive

a. Transform

Downhill movement of soil, organic material, and rocks in response to gravity after a wildfire is called: a. Mass movement b. Dry ravel c. Soil slip d. Erosion

b. Dry ravel

Where is the largest mountain on Earth found? a. Olympus Mons, on Mars b. Hawaii c. In Nepal, in the Himalayas d. Alaska e. Iceland

b. Hawaii

Carbon films and molds are types of what? a. Homeostatic responses to climate change b. Greenhouse gases c. Fossils d. Minerals e. Fracking chemicals

c. Fossils

Recently, as discussed in many articles on articles day, swarms of earthquakes in Oklahoma and Ohio were allegedly caused by what? a. Global warming b. Building a new reservoir c. Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas d. A meteorite impact

c. Hydraulic fracturing for natural gas

The cryosphere is that part of the earth that contains: a. Rock b. Magma c. Living things d. Ice e. Water

d. Ice

Elements are to minerals as minerals are to: a. Compounds b. Atoms c. Sediments d. Lithosphere e. Rocks

e. Rocks

The prehistoric reptile, Mesosaurus is particularly compelling evidence for:

Global plate tectonics

What "floats" over the hot, ductile plastic zone known as the asthenosphere ("weak sphere") and contains the earth's crust?

Lithosphere

Of all the plate boundary types listed below, the most destructive volcanoes occur, in general, where?

Subduction zones

Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher and pioneer of wisdom of the late 6th century BC, said: a. "Change is the only constant". b. "With their four-dimensional minds, and in their interdisciplinary ultra-verbal way, geologists can wiggle out of almost anything." c. "The present is the key to the past". d. "Geology is physics slowed down". e. At his death before the eruption of Volcano Vesuvius, he muttered "Odds of this giant awakening are a trillion to one".

a. "Change is the only constant".

Tectonic plates move yearly about how much on average? a. About the rate of growth of your fingernails b. 10 feet c. Several miles d. They don't move at all. It's a sham.

a. About the rate of growth of your fingernails

The world's longest continuous mountain chains are associated with which type of plate boundary? a. Divergent b. Convergent c. Transform (conservative)

a. Divergent

Gypsum and halite (rock salt) are formed by the evaporation of sea water. These sedimentary rocks are called: a. Evaporites b. Lava c. Uniformitarianistic rocks d. Shale plays

a. Evaporites

One of our rocks of the day was the February birthstone, amethyst. In ancient Greece, this mineral was thought to: a. Prevent drunkenness b. Ward off demonic spirits related to earthquakes c. Provide money to those who kept amethyst in their right pocket d. Support bowel regularity if ingested in powdered form

a. Prevent drunkenness

The Holocene Temperature Conundrum is related to what? a. Scientists see an opposite effect associated with climate modeling (shows warming) versus proxy data (shows global cooling) over the past 7000-10,000 years b. A hoax c. Al Gore's 1990s rant about global warming

a. Scientists see an opposite effect associated with climate modeling (shows warming) versus proxy data (shows global cooling) over the past 7000-10,000 years

According to most geologists, the earth is about how old? a. 20 million years b. 4.57 billion years c. 12 billion years d. 6000 e. About a billion years

b. 4.57 billion years

Hazardous events that long ago produced disasters are now causing catastrophes. The main cause is: a. Climate change is causing intensification of many hazards such as tornados, windstorms, hurricanes, and ocean current alteration. b. Areas susceptible to natural hazards are much more developed and populated than in the past c. Earthquake and volcanic activity has increased in magnitude due to unknown external forces d. Tectonics has speeded, causing more and greater earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, and ocean current changes e. There really has not been more catastrophes. The reason is that the media make more of a big deal about disasters these days.

b. Areas susceptible to natural hazards are much more developed and populated than in the past

One of our "Rocks of the Day" was an ancient (> 1 billion years old) fossil of single-cell organisms called stromatolite. The significance of this "living fossil" is: a. It is evidence for continental drift b. It is an early photosynthetic organism that contributed to oxygenating our atmosphere c. It is a precious gemstone d. It is essential to radiometric dating of the earth

b. It is an early photosynthetic organism that contributed to oxygenating our atmosphere

About 40 million years ago, the MECO occurred. What was this? a. Major Extinction of Collective Organisms b. Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum c. Maximum Environmental Carbon-dioxide Event d. Middle Earth Cold Occurrence

b. Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum

Magnetism in ocean floor rocks (i.e., polar striping) is related to which of the following? a. Hot spot earthquakes b. Seafloor spreading and mid-ocean ridge volcanism c. The rise of the Himalayan Mountains

b. Seafloor spreading and mid-ocean ridge volcanism

One of our Rocks of the Day (ooooh) was an ammonite, a fossilized sea creature similar to today's nautilus shell. One of the interesting features of the ammonite was a Fibonacci Sequence, which is related to what? a. The number of atoms in a gram of any mineral b. The Golden Ratio c. How human population grows d. The number 7

b. The Golden Ratio

Which of the following is not a major source of earth's internal heating? a. Radioactive decay of uranium b. The sun c. Original heat of compression d. Heat from ancient asteroid collisions and impacts

b. The sun

Lord Kelvin used the geothermal gradient, the rate at which the Earth's temperature increases with depth, to calculate the age of the earth. Which of the following is a typical geothermal gradient away from tectonic boundaries in terms of degrees F per hundred feet? a. 15 degrees F b. 1000 degrees F c. 1.5 degrees F d. Billions of degrees F

c) 1.5 degrees F

Due to extinctions and other changes caused by man many geologists advocate that the current epoch of geological time be renamed what? a. Humanocene b. Homocene c. Anthropocene d. Obamacene e. 6th Major Extinction Event

c) Anthropocene

The oldest rocks on earth are found in Australia and are about how old? a. 6000 years b. 4.57 billion years c. 4.3 billion years d. 200 million years

c. 4.3 billion years

2011 was the costliest year for natural disasters. The primary reason was: a. A prediction of an earthquake along the New Madrid fault that never happened b. Flooding in the Midwest USA c. Earthquakes in Japan in March and New Zealand in February d. Tornadoes in the USA southeast

c. Earthquakes in Japan in March and New Zealand in February

Transpiration and evaporation are two important processes in the hydrologic cycle. Collectively these two processes are referred to as: a. Condensation b. Precipitation c. Evapotranspiration d. Infiltration

c. Evapotranspiration

Alfred Wegener's theory of plate tectonics was met by his cohorts with: a. Joviality and toasts of warm German beer b. Confusion c. Harsh and scathing hostility d. Total indifference (i.e., it was ignored)

c. Harsh and scathing hostility

Heating (but not melting) and pressurizing a sedimentary rock to the degree that it changes into a different kind of rock is called: a. Lithification b. Compaction c. Metamorphism d. Weathering

c. Metamorphism

According to the article "The Rising Costs of Natural Disasters", the main cause of these cost increases is: a. Global warming and sea level rise b. Increase in the number of volcanic eruptions and earthquakes since the 1950s c. Over- population d. Greedy insurance companies e. Recent worldwide droughts

c. Over- population

About 200-300 million years ago, all of the Earth's continents were combined into one supercontinent called: a. Rodinia b. Precambria c. Pangaea d. Wilsonville e. Panthalassa

c. Pangaea

The softest and the hardest minerals, respectively, on Moh's Scale of Hardness are: a. Graphite and diamond b. Talc and lonsdaleite c. Talc and diamond d. Graphite and diamond e. Quartz and feldspar

c. Talc and diamond

The largest U.S. source of carbon dioxide pollution produces 2.5 billion tons every year from: a. Car and vehicle exhaust b. Cow farts c. Deforestation and burning of wood debris d. Fossil-fired power plants

d. Fossil-fired power plants

The location, intensity, and frequency of many geological hazards such as volcanoes and earthquakes can be explained at least partially by: a. Earth's liquid outer core b. The rock cycle c. The water cycle d. Global tectonics e. Hydrofracking

d. Global tectonics

The earth's atmosphere contains about 21% oxygen, a concentration that remains constant. Which of the following processes is responsible for maintaining characteristics such as atmospheric oxygen concentrations? a. Lithification b. Uniformitarianism c. Liquefaction d. Homeostasis e. Biogeochemical cyclin

d. Homeostasis

In class, I depicted geological time using a string. This string was about how long? a. 10 feet b. It hung from the ceiling to the floor c. As wide as my arms d. It stretched from my podium to the doors in the back of the auditorium

d. It stretched from my podium to the doors in the back of the auditorium

Bentonite is a clay mineral derived from the weathering of volcanic ash. What is the geological hazard associated with bentonite? a. It is radioactive b. It pollutes groundwater c. It lubricates faults and leads to earthquakes d. It swells significantly when wetted

d. It swells significantly when wetted

The water you drink from your tap or water bottle is probably about how old? a. A few days b. 100 to 1000 years c. 600 million years d. Over 3 billion years

d. Over 3 billion years

Hydrofracking has been implicated in which of the following environmental impacts (we discussed this several times via articles discussions)? a) Earthquakes b) Surface water contamination c) Groundwater contamination d) Air pollution e) All of the above

e) All of the above

Of the following, which contributed to the developing knowledge about the age of the earth? a. Buffon's balls b. John Joly's ocean saltiness work c. Radiometric dating d. Cuvier's fossils e. All of the above

e) All of the above

Hot spots are found predominantly where in relation to tectonic plate boundaries? a. Near subduction zones b. Only at new or old mid-ocean ridges c. Along mountain chains like the Rockies d. Close to strike-slip faults like the San Andreas fault e. Far away from plate boundaries and randomly spaced over the globe

e) Far away from plate boundaries and randomly spaced over the globe

Who is one of your best professors ever? a. Brodie b. Dr. Selbaun Stanislowsky IV c. Brodie d. Major General Dr. Eunice Billouise Brusselmeister, M.D., PhD e. Brodie

e. Brodie

Of the following natural hazards, which does not pose a significant risk to the Chattanooga area? a. Flooding b. Mass movements (landslides) c. Earthquakes d. Karst e. None of the above (they all are risks to Chattanooga)

e. None of the above (they all are risks to Chattanooga)

In one of your the assigned videos, there were 4 conditions discussed for the formation of fossil fuels. Which of the following was NOT one of these conditions? a. Saturated environment b. Anaerobic conditions (no oxygen) c. High pressure d. High temperature e. Tectonic uplift

e. Tectonic uplift

Black smokers are evidence for: a. Mid-ocean ridge earthquakes b. Earth's internal heat flow c. The scientific method d. Intraplate tectonics

b. Earth's internal heat flow

A rock that has been melted and lithified is termed: a. Sedimentary b. Metamorphic c. Igneous

c. Igneous

Sedimentary rocks are deposited in the environment in horizontal layers. This geologic "law" is called: a. The Law of Superposition b. Huttonism c. The Law of Original Horizontality d. Uniformitarianism

c. The Law of Original Horizontality

Which of the following possibly contributes significantly to anthropogenic releases of the greenhouse gas methane to the atmosphere? a. Drinking soda pop b. Continued use of CFCs as propellants in household spray cans c. Driving gas-guzzling cars and SUVs d. Livestock farts

d. Livestock farts

The principle of Uniformitarianism implies that:

Climate change has happened in the past and will occur in the future