GLG 201 Final
The late Proterozoic Grenville orogeny is an event related to
assembly of the supercontinent Rodinia.
A semi-rigid layer including the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle that acts as the plates in plate tectonics.
asthenosphere
The part of the mantle that is soft enough to flow.
asthenosphere
The lithosphere lies directly above the
asthenosphere.
Broadly, metamorphism involves
changes in mineralogy and texture in response to heat and stress.
Volcanologists and geologists monitor volcanoes to determine whether or not an eruption is imminent. Which of the following is not a typically used monitoring technique?
changes in velocity of streams flowing from around the volcano
Precipitation of gypsum due to evaporation of seawater produces which kind of sedimentary rock?
chemical
Minerals are grouped into mineral classes primarily on the basis of
chemistry, specifically the anions within the chemical formula.
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
What type of sediment is typically found in lake bottoms?
clay/mud
In 1900, the most commonly used source of energy in the United States was ________; today it is ________.
coal; oil
The two main mechanisms of rain and snow formation within clouds are ________ and ________.
collision and coalescence; the Bergeron process
When two continental plates come together at a convergent boundary, the result is
collision and mountain formation.
Trace amounts of impurity can produce significant differences in ________ among individual crystals of a mineral species.
color
The capacity of a stream depends on its __________.
competence and discharge
The distinction between the crust and the mantle is primarily on the basis of a difference in ________; the distinction between the lithosphere and the asthenosphere is primarily on the basis of a difference in ________.
composition; the ability to flow without breaking
Mountain ranges formed along subduction zones are formed, in part, by ___________ in the crust.
compression
As shown in the figure below, a coiled spring would be useful in illustrating any ________ wave.
compressional
The image below shows a mineral specimen of quartz. What is the term for the smoothly curving, clamshell-shaped surface on the sample?
conchoidal fracture
The image below shows an outcrop of coarse-grained sedimentary rock. Note the rock hammer for scale. What is the name of this rock type?
conglomerate
As compared to the rocks that make up the crust, the Earth as a whole is
considerably more dense.
Where air sinks, as in the subtropical horse latitudes, the air usually ________.
creates high pressure locally
Seafloor spreading
creates new oceanic crust.
The life-sustaining part of the Earth System is known as the __________.
critical zone
Consult the figure below. Here, distinct internal laminations are inclined at an angle to the boundary of the main sedimentary layers. These are termed
cross beds.
Which of the following geologic principles is NOT a result of gravity?
cross-cutting relationships
Oil taken directly from the ground, without artificial chemical alteration, is termed ________.
crude oil
Once an ancient mountain range is destroyed by erosion, what evidence can geologists look for to learn of its past existence?
crust containing igneous activity, deformation, and metamorphism
Stromatolites are layered structures produced by the activity of
cyanobacteria.
At transform plate boundaries,
earthquakes are common but volcanoes are absent.
Nonviolent eruptions characterized by extensive flows of basaltic lava are termed ________.
effusive
Regions of the sea floor with negative magnetic anomalies were formed during times when the Earth's magnetic field
had reversed polarity.
The region below a streambed where groundwater flows in the same direction as the stream but at a slower rate is termed the ________ zone.
hyporheic
The majority of caves are formed by the dissolution of bedrock ________.
just below the water table
Diamonds are usually found in a rock called
kimberlite.
The polarity of the Earth's magnetic field in the geologic past is
known to have experienced numerous reversals, as shown by remnant magnetization of iron-rich minerals in rocks.
A fast-moving wet slurry consisting of a mixture of water and volcaniclastic debris is termed a ________.
lahar
Chalk rock contains many tiny plankton shells. This is evidence of which depositional environment?
ocean
Runoff is NOT commonly derived from ________.
ocean currents
A meander that is cut off to become completely isolated from the main channel but which retains water is a(n) ________.
oxbow lake
Which type of weathering process is happening to materials when they rust?
oxidation
Which gas found in today's atmosphere was absent during the Hadean and Archean eons?
oxygen
Which of the following are most likely to preserve conditions of ancient surface environments on the Earth?
sedimentary rocks
A __________ shows deflections traced by a seismometer, which provides a record of an earthquake.
seismograph
Geologists who specifically study earthquakes are called
seismologists.
Limestone is most likely formed in which of the following environments?
shallow-marine carbonate
Spreading peanut butter on bread is an application of
shear stress.
The rate of seafloor spreading exactly matches the rate of
subduction.
Pyrite (FeS2) is in which mineral class?
sulfides
In an undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rocks, younger layers overlie older layers, according to the principle of
superposition
Generally, which type of earthquake waves travel with the slowest velocity?
surface waves
Earthquake waves that travel along the Earth's surface are termed
surface waves.
In the image below, the rocks have been bent into an elongate trough. This is a(n) ________.
syncline
Which of the following is NOT an important type of oil trap
syncline
Geographically, a shield and surrounding platform together are
synonymous with "craton."
As compared with metamorphism, diagenesis
takes place at lower temperatures and pressures.
Hot springs can be formed by the heating of groundwater by magma or by ________.
the geothermal gradient
Hot groundwater is mineralized because
the hot water dissolves minerals.
The primary stream fed by tributaries within a dendritic drainage network is termed a ________ stream.
trunk
Tsunamis are more destructive than wind-driven storm waves primarily because
tsunamis have longer wavelengths and thus larger volumes of water are involved.
Lithified ash (or ash mixed with pyroclastic fragments) forms a volcaniclastic rock called a:
tuff
Which of the following is LEAST likely to affect soil thickness?
types of animals
Which of the following lists compositions in order of increasing silica content?
ultramafic, mafic, intermediate, felsic
The pillow basalts in the photo below most likely formed ____________.
underwater at a mid-ocean ridge
Rock or sediment between the water table and the land surface represents a(n) ________.
unsaturated zone
If water is the transport mechanism of sediment, the grain size of sedimentary deposits most closely indicates the
velocity of the water at the moment the sediment settled to the bottom.
Differentiation of the core from the mantle early in the Earth's history was possible because the planet was ________ at the time.
very hot
Which geologic event is NOT suspected as a source of major climate change and mass-extinction events?
very large earthquakes
All deep-sea trenches border
volcanic arcs.
Discharge is the area of a stream's cross section multiplied times its velocity. It is a measure of
volume / time
During most of the Mesozoic Era, the Earth was ________.
warmer than present
With the increased data collected in recent years, scientists have become increasingly certain that the Earth's climate is ________.
warming as a result of human inputs of atmospheric greenhouse gases
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.
Which gas is most abundantly emitted by volcanic activity?
water vapor
The overall physical conditions of the atmosphere at a given location at a given time are known as _________.
weather
Sediment formation is the result of __________ at the Earth's surface.
weathering
Most of the metals currently in commercial use ________.
were discovered in the last two centuries
A subducting plate in the mantle
Metamorphic rock
Rectangular
In a region with prominent orthogonal sets of joints
Burial and compression during mountain-building
Metamorphic rock
The country rock next to an intrusion of magma
Metamorphic rock
Within the world's sedimentary rocks, fossils
occur in an ordered sequence.
Volcanoes that are submerged beneath the surface of the sea are termed
seamounts.
The dissolution of rock produces ________.
secondary porosity
Source rocks are always __________.
sedimentary
What is the estimated risk for West City in dollars?
$1e9
If a seismic wave starts from an earthquake at Earth's surface, travels straight down through the crust at 6.0 km/s, reflects off the Moho, travels straight back up, and is recorded returning to the surface at 3.8 s later, how thick is the crust in this location (in km)?
(60*3.85)/2 == 11km
If an intrusive igneous rock is unfractured, it serves as a(n) ________ in local hydrogeology.
aquitard
Here is a plot of a normal distribution (also known as a Bell curve), a common statistical distribution for data ranging from performance on exams to physical characteristics of animals. The mean of the dataset is where on the plot?
0 on the x-axis
0 of the ~50 major specimens (at least a substantial fraction preserved, some nearly complete) of Tyrannosaurus rex (and none of the most similar specimens of similar species) have been observed to have wings. Suppose we observe a fossil skeleton with wings. This skeleton would have a ____________ probability of being the remains of a T. rex. In other words, what are the chances that this fossil matches the characteristics of one of the known T. rex specimens?
0%
How does the stress on the ice change if the person wears a ski? What is the pressure generated by 150 pounds over the sole of a rectangular ski 79 by 3.5 inches?
0.54
Evaporite minerals in the table above ALL contain an element from which columns (groups) of the periodic table:
1 or 2
In the figure below, what is the period (time from peak to peak) of the oscillations in the data?
1 year
Suppose you measure the ratio of Ar40/K40 where λλ is a constant equal to 5.81*10−1 yr-1, compute the age (t) of the rock in Ga (billion years).
1.08
The total mass of Earth's crust is estimated to be ~2.77x10^22 kg (Mooney, et al., JGR, 1998). How many kg of gold are present in Earth's crust, total?
1.385x10^14kg
According to the figure below, current estimates are that the world's conventional oil reserves are likely to be depleted in about ________ years
100
A single atom of copper in the mineral native copper is how big, in cubic angstroms?
11.8A^3
For a mountain with a dip angle of 15 degrees, and a height (opposite) of 3.0 km, how long is the slope (the hypotenuse)?
12
The most recent interval of Quaternary glaciation gave way to warmer, interglacial conditions ________ years ago.
12,000
The best estimate of when the Universe formed is
13.7 Ga.
The thickness of the oceanic lithosphere (y) increases with time (t) as the new crust cools. This cooling can be approximated with the following formula: y=13.0t√y=13.0t where t is in years and y is in meters. How many km thick is oceanic lithosphere if it is 105 million years old?
133
at isostatic equilibrium, the total pressure above the isostatic compensation depth is the same for different blocks of different densities. The total pressure P=ρgh, where ρ is density, g is the gravitational acceleration (10 m/s^2), and h is thickness of the layer. As a result, continental crust floats higher above the mantle (assume mantle density is 3300 kg/m^3) than denser oceanic crust. The total pressure on the left for the continent must equal the total pressure on the right for the oceanic crust plus the mantle down to the depth of the base of the continent. If a continent with density 2,650 kg/m^3 and thickness 70 km is in isostatic equilibrium with oceanic crust of density 2,950 kg/m^3 and thickness 6 km, what will be the elevation of the continent above the oceanic crust in km? That is, solve for h in the diagram
13km
If a 500-km wide, 30-km-thick band of continental crust is compressed and thickened, resulting in a total width of 100 km, how thick would the resulting mountain belt be if the total volume (or in this 2-D problem, cross-sectional area) of crust stays the same?
150 km
Based on the graph below, global temperatures in the range of time shown were the coldest ________ years ago.
18,000
What is the value of KD for red atoms in mineral 1 vs. mineral 2 (use equation above)?
19.25
Some of the oldest human remains found with stone tools have been dated to ~300,000 years old in Morocco Relative to the length of time the dinosaurs lived on Earth, the time homo sapiens has been around is closest to
1‰ (per mil, or thousandth)
If a 50-year flood occurs on the Mississippi River this year, what is the probability that a flood of the same magnitude will occur in the following year?
2%
What is the area in km^2 of a large igneous province with total volume of igneous rock (4.000x10^7) km^3 and thickness (2.0x10^1) km?
2.0x10^6km^2
Sizes of atoms and crystal structures are typically measured in angstroms. An angstrom is defined as 10^(-10) meter. In one cubic centimeter (cm^3), there are 10^ _____ cubic angstroms (Å^3).
24
The image below shows a series of graded beds. How many graded beds are shown?
3
Although Switzerland is a small country in Europe, people joke that it would be much bigger if all the mountains were stretched out flat. The current width of the mountain on the map can be thought of as the adjacent side in the triangle in the previous problem. The flattened width of the mountain would be the hypotenuse. 15 degrees is a fairly steep mountain slope, and more than generous enough to estimate the slope of Swiss mountainsides. How much wider would a mountain with a 15 degree slope be on the map if it were flattened out? In other words, what percent bigger is the hypotenuse relative to the adjacent side for a right triangle with a 15 degree angle?
3.5%
What is the relief of the land surface in the topographic map below?
300 m
The Earth is _______ years old.
4.56 billion
The Earth is approximately how old?
4.6 billion years
Iron is _________ atomic percent of the mineral hematite. Fe2O3
40
Let's take a closer look at Eratosthenes' calculation of the circumference of the Earth. We could repeat the measurement here in East Lansing and somewhere due north between here and Mackinac City. Suppose we travel 120 km north (as the crow flies). Since we know the correct answer for the circumference of the Earth--40,008 km--what is the difference in the angle of the shadows we would see at the same day and time in these two different locations?
4009/120 = 360/x == 1.08degrees
T. rex is estimated to have been 12-20 feet tall. If this size range represents 2 standard deviations among 50 specimens, how many specimens fall into this size range?
47
According to the moment magnitude scale (Mw), a magnitude 8 earthquake would be 1,000 times greater than a magnitude ________ earthquake.
5
Question 39 10 / 10 points The relationship between Richter magnitude and the energy released in an earthquake is as follows: log10(E)=4.4+1.5M E is the energy released in Joules and M is the Richter magnitude. A magnitude 8.6 earthquake releases ____________ times the energy of a magnitude 4.1 earthquake. (That is, calculate the ratio between the energy released by these events.)
5,600,000
What is the pressure generated by a weight (force) of 150 pounds over the sole of a shoe with area 29.5 square inches?
5.1
The surface area of a cube with side length 1 cm is
6 sqare cm
The zone where earthquakes take place extends down within the mantle to a maximum depth of ________ km.
660
On the bell curve plot, the shaded regions are labelled with the % of the data (for example, # of fossils) that falls between various ranges, such as the mean and 1 standard deviation away from the mean. What percentage of the data fall within 1 standard deviation of the mean?
68%
What is the ratio between the surface area of 7^3 cubic grains of rock, each with side length 2 cm, and the surface area of a single cube with side length 2*7 cm?
7
It costs heat to evaporate water. Condensing water from water vapor is the opposite, and releases that heat to the environment. The latent heat of vaporization for water is 2,260 kJ/kg. kJ is kiloJoules, or 1000 Joules of energy. kg is the unit of mass (amount of material). How much heat in kJ is released by condensation of 3.1 kg of water droplets?
7,006kJ
The density of native copper is 8.95 g/cm^3. The atomic mass of copper is 63.546 g (per 1 mole). How large, in cubic centimeters, is 1 mole of copper?
7.1cm^3
The mining company can only make a profit if the value of the product is at least at high as the cost. If you mine 1 ton of rock (32000 ounces), and 5 parts per million of that rock is gold, you have mined 32000 oz * 5 / 1 million ounces = 0.16 ounces of gold. If gold is worth $1,300/ounce, and the cost to explore and run the mine is $300/ton, to break even (value of the amount of gold mined = cost to mine 1 ton rock) on the mining project, what is the minimum concentration of gold in the rock in parts per million (ppm)?
7.2ppm
The atomic mass of iron is 55.8 g/mol, while the atomic mass of oxygen is 16.0 g/mol. In hematite, iron is _________ weight percent of the mineral.
70
The reliable paleoclimate record from the Antarctic and Greenland ice cores provides information back to approximately ________ years ago.
800,000
How are bicarbonate and carbon dioxide (CO2) related to one another?
Bicarbonate forms when CO2 molecules dissolve in water.
Which of the following is MOST true of hypotheses in science?
A hypothesis is a possible natural explanation that can explain a set of data.
Which of the following circumstances is likely to preserve a fossil?
A jellyfish is buried by a submarine landslide.
Which of the following statements is MOST true of a scientific theory?
A theory is a scientific idea supported by an abundance of evidence.
Select which of the following statements are correct:
A mineral that breaks in layers is said to have cleavage. Sedimentary rocks are usually layered.
How does the rate at which a body of rock is deformed affect its behavior?
A rock deformed quickly is likely to exhibit brittle behavior.
Which of the following would make the best reservoir rock in a conventional hydrocarbon system?
A: porous sandstone
In the figure below, the pressure gradient is the greatest between point ________ and point ________.
A; B: lines closest together
The figure below shows two hypothetical streams that have identical cross-sectional areas but different channel shapes. Assuming all other factors are equal, stream ________ will have the fastest flow because of the difference in ________.
A; wetted perimeter, less wide but deeper
Which of the following is NOT true about minerals?
All minerals are compounds of more than one element.
radial
Along a large cone-shaped volcano
Parallel
Along a uniform and steep slope of relatively weak substrate
Which major kingdom would a bivalve belong to?
Animalia
How do volcanic eruptions significantly affect global average temperatures on the Earth?
Ash and aerosols block incoming solar radiation.
The image below shows a view of a typical segmented mid-ocean ridge. Which letter below marks the location of the active transform fault?
B : slide past eachother
Which of the following rock types have a layered texture in the images shown?
Banded tuff (an igneous rock), Schist (a metamorphic rock), Shale (a sedimentary rock)
Eclogite
Basalt
Convergence along the western margin of North America during the Cenozoic gave way to rifting forces that created the characteristic topography of the
Basin and Range Province.
Why do earthquakes occur only above the brittle/plastic transition depth?
Below the transition, the rocks are too hot.
Diamond and graphite both have the chemical formula
C
Why is there a seasonal variation in carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations?
CO2 concentrations rise and fall as photosynthesis decreases and increases.
Minerals form through chemical reactions. For example, diamond usually forms in the Earth by reduction of carbonate class minerals, for example by the following reaction: CaCO3→ C + O2 +
CaO
Most of the world's coal was deposited in coal swamps during the ________.
Carboniferous
Consult the figure below. During which part of the Earth's history was the oxygen saturation in the atmosphere highest?
Carboniferous and Permian
Eruption of flood basalts
Catastrophic
Moon-forming impact
Catastrophic
Massive flood
Catastrophic: Cyclic
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
Cold planets need to be more massive to retain volatiles in their atmosphere.
Which of the following is true of continental lithosphere compared to oceanic lithosphere?
Continental lithosphere is thicker than oceanic lithosphere.
Which basic type of plate boundary is shown in the image below? (go towards each other: trench and volcanic arc, one plate is downgoing, one is overriding)
Convergent
Use the graph of sea level below. When was sea level the highest?
Cretaceous
Exchange of carbon between biosphere and geosphere
Cyclic
Supercontinent breakup and assembly
Cyclic
Differentiation of Earth's metallic core from the rocky mantle
Cyclic: Unidirectional
Oxygenation of Earth's atmosphere
Cyclic: Unidirectional
The oldest terrestrial insect fossils are found in rocks from the ________ Period.
Devonian
Why does differential weathering occur?
Different minerals have different resistances to weathering.
Which basic type of plate boundary is shown in the image below? (away from eachother at mid ocean ridge)
Divergent
Imagine you have a layer of limestone with high porosity but low permeability. What can you do to increase its permeability to allow water to be pumped from the layer and used as a source of drinking water?
Drill down to the layer and set off explosives in the hole to fracture the rock.
Which planets lie within the habitable zone of our Solar System?
Earth and Mars
Most meteorites are asteroidal or planetary fragments. As such, geologists consider the average composition of meteorites to be representative of the average composition of the
Earth as a whole.
The interconnected web of interacting materials and processes on the Earth is known as the
Earth system
Which of the following is a brachiopod?
Figure 4 shell with vertival grooves and wavey along ends
How is tectonic foliation, such as elongation of quartz grains, oriented relative to the original bedding plane of a body of rock?
Foliation can be at a variety of angles to original bedding.
How are greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane different from other atmospheric gases like nitrogen and oxygen?
Greenhouse gases are more efficient at absorbing thermal energy and reradiating it than the other atmospheric gases.
The Earth became internally differentiated, with a metallic core distinct from the rocky mantle, during the
Hadean Eon.
How is the formation of hydrocarbons tied to the rock cycle?
Hydrocarbons form when organic matter is buried and metamorphosed.
________ is harnessed from the potential energy of water.
Hydroelectric power
Groundwater, its movement, and its reaction with rock and soil
Hydrogeology
A glass that forms from rapid cooling of molten rock
Igneous rock
A solid material that forms from the freezing (solidification) of molten rock
Igneous rock
A volcanic eruption
Igneous rock
Melting of mantle above a subducting plate
Igneous rock
Trellis
In a region characterized by a parallel series of ridges and valleys
Dendritic
In uniform sediments with a relatively constant and gentle slope at the surface
The Himalayas were produced during the Cenozoic by the collision of southern Asia with
India.
__________ is the balance between the weight of a mountain range and the buoyancy provided by the underlying mantle.
Isostasy
Which of the following statements cannot be applied to the extrusive igneous rock obsidian?
It cools very slowly.
In many areas with karst terrain, people use sinkholes as places to dump garbage. What effect might this practice have on the groundwater supply?
It could contaminate the groundwater in unconfined aquifers only
Which of the following is NOT necessarily true of a planet?
It has one or more moons.
Which of the following is true of the geologic column?
It is a composite stratigraphic column created by correlating strata from millions of locations around the world.
Which of the following is true of the lithosphere?
It is composed of the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle.
Which of the following is true regarding biochemical chert?
It is made of cryptocrystalline quartz.
If a volcano was actively releasing a large amount of volcanic gas and then abruptly stopped, what might happen to the volcano in the near future?
It will erupt explosively because the volcanic gases have no way to escape slowly
Why do scientists believe there was once liquid water on Mars?
Landforms such as river channels and sandbars are seen on Mars.
The oldest geologic unit is
Layer 1 (on bottom)
Based on the figure, what is the age of Layer 7 relative to Layer 3? (7 on top of 3)
Layer 7 is younger than Layer 3.
Marble
Limestone
Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in our Solar System, is found on ________.
Mars
Most asteroids inhabit the "asteroid belt" between the planets
Mars and Jupiter.
Aside from the Earth, the terrestrial planets are
Mars, Mercury, and Venus.
Which earthquake scale is used to assess the effects of an earthquake on humans and human-made structures?
Mercalli scale
A solid material that forms when a rock is subjected to elevated levels of heat and pressure
Metamorphic rock
CO2 in atmosphere doesn't change
Metamorphism of silicates
Physical properties, structure, and chemical behavior of minerals
Mineralogy
The boundary between the crust and the mantle is marked by an abrupt change in seismic velocity called the
Moho.
Which of the following is most true of moons?
Moons orbit a planet.
The figure below shows the hypsometric curve for the Earth. Which of the following can be concluded from the plot of this data?
Most of the continents are between 0 and 1 km above sea level.
Which of these properly illustrates the principle of isostasy?
Mountains stand high because they are gravitationally balanced by their deep crustal roots.
In 79 C.E., the citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum in the Roman Empire were buried by pyroclastic debris derived from an eruption of ________.
Mt. Vesuvius
Examine the figure below. What can be said about the volatility of natural gas relative to kerosene?
Natural gas is more volatile than kerosene.
A solid that forms in an industrial manufacturing plant
Neither 1, 2, or 3
An unconsolidated pile of volcanic ash
Neither 1, 2, or 3
Molten lava that forms by melting the mantle
Neither 1, 2, or 3
Mud at the bottom of a river
Neither 1, 2, or 3
Can the age of the Earth be reliably estimated from sediment thicknesses?
No. Much of the Earth's history is represented by unconformities between strata rather than the strata themselves.
Late Paleozoic glacial deposits are NOT found in which of the following places?
North America
Which type of seismic wave has the fastest velocity?
P-wave
Which of the following statements regarding the fossil record is true?
Paleontologists have not yet found all the fossils that are in the rocks.
Fossils and the evolution of life as preserved in the rock record
Paleontology
Rocks and their formation
Petrology
The eon represented by abundant deposits of strata with shelly fossils is the
Phanerozoic.
Subtracts CO2 from atmosphere
Photosynthesis
Why does physical weathering speed up the processes of chemical weathering
Physical weathering produces more surface area for chemical weathering to attack.
Consult the figure below. ________ deposits form where erosion produces clasts of native metals.
Placer
The _____________ is the division of geologic time that ended 541 million years ago.
Precambrian
How does water get from the atmosphere into the groundwater system?
Precipitation falls on the ground and infiltrates the ground surface to the groundwater system.
________ metamorphism affects the greatest volumes of rock and produces the greatest variety in metamorphic rock types.
Regional
Which statement best summarizes the development of the geologic time scale?
Relative ages for sedimentary strata were known before accurate numerical dates for these rocks were measured.
Adds CO2 to atmosphere
Respiration of animals, Burning of fossil fuels
Quartzite
Sandstone
A beach
Sedimentary rock
A dried-up lake
Sedimentary rock
A landslide
Sedimentary rock
A solid aggregate that forms when fossils are held together by minerals precipitated in pore spaces
Sedimentary rock
A solid aggregate that forms when grains are held together by minerals precipitated in pore spaces
Sedimentary rock
A solid material that forms by precipitation from an aqueous (water-based) solution
Sedimentary rock
Mica schist
Shale
Which of the following mineral groups is NOT commonly produced by evaporation of water?
Silicates
Which of the following best explains how the carbon cycle plays a role in climate change?
Some carbon occurs in greenhouse gases, which influence climate.
Which of the following is true about Earth's tectonic plates?
Some tectonic plates contain both oceanic and continental lithosphere.
How is stress different from strain?
Strain is the change in shape of a rock due to applied stress.
The succession of rock layers and the record of Earth history that they contain
Stratigraphy
Origin and significance of regional-scale geologic features
Tectonics
Which of the following statements is true of the Appalachian Mountains?
The Appalachian Mountains include remnants of structures and rocks that formed during three distinct collisional orogenies.
Which of these statements about the U.S. supply of strategically important metals is true?
The United States imports 100% of many strategic minerals.
Consult the figure below. In this type of volcanic island chain, which of the following is true?
The ages and distance between volcanoes can be used to calculate plate velocities.
You are testing the groundwater quality of an aquifer and find that it has high amounts of arsenic. What is the likely source?
The arsenic comes from the dissolved minerals in the aquifer rock.
You have a choice to drill your water well into a shallow unconfined aquifer or a deeper artesian aquifer. Drilling deeper will cost more money; nevertheless, you chose to drill into the artesian aquifer. Why?
The artesian aquifer will flow on its own, without a pump.
The total of the percentages listed under the bell curve in the drawing above is 100%. What does this mean for T. rex?
The bell curve distribution perfectly matches all statistical data, including T. rex.
Why were mammals able to become the dominant species at the beginning of the Cenozoic?
The dinosaurs died off and the small rodent-like mammals of the Mesozoic evolved to fill the niche.
If a basalt body cuts across a fault, what are the relative ages of the basalt and the fault?
The fault must be older, according to the principle of cross-cutting relationships
Why is radiocarbon dating rarely applied in geological work?
The half-life of carbon-14 is so short that it can only be used to date materials that are less than 70,000 years old.
What would be the topographic elevation of this mountain belt (again assuming constant volume of crust)?
The height of the mountains is the answer to the previous problem minus the old thickness (30 km).
What is the primary reason why mountains substantially taller than Mt. Everest are unlikely to arise on Earth?
The high geothermal gradient in the crust causes mountains to collapse under their own weight
Which of the following statements is true regarding the clasts (labeled 5) inside the granite pluton?
The inclusions are older than the pluton.
Imagine that a layer of leaves is scattered along a forest floor; what must happen in order to preserve these leaves as fossils?
The leaves must be buried rapidly in order to keep out oxygen.
In the area immediately surrounding an igneous intrusion, a host limestone is locally metamorphosed to produce marble. Which of the following statements is correct?
The limestone must be older than the marble.
Why is the preservation potential of an organism higher if it dies in an anoxic (oxygen-poor) environment?
The organism does not decay in an anoxic environment.
Examine the photos below. The first is of a mountainous region in Alaska and the second is of a plain in Ontario. Which of the following statements is true regarding these photos?
The plains of Ontario have low relief.
What can be said about a mountain range that is being uplifted at 2 cm/year but is not growing any taller?
The rate of erosion is the same as the rate of uplift
Look at the following image of the layers of the Earth's atmosphere and the temperature gradient within these layers. Which of the following statements is true of the atmospheric temperatures?
The temperature decreases with altitude in the troposphere but increases with altitude in the stratosphere.
Which of the following best describes what happens to water as air rises?
The temperature of the water decreases until it reaches the condensation point, then the water releases heat to its surroundings as it condenses.
Which of the following is true of the Earth's glacial history?
The term snowball Earth refers to a time in which the Earth's surface was almost entirely covered in glacial ice.
Which of the following is NOT true regarding earthquakes and destruction?
The type of construction used will influence how damaging an earthquake can be.
The porosity of vesicular basalt is about 25%; however, when water is poured on it, the water does not come out the other side. How is this possible?
The vesicles in basalt are not connected, so it has no permeability.
Which of the following is NOT true concerning the long-term predictions of earthquakes?
They allow city planners to schedule evacuations up to a year in advance
Which of the following is NOT true about tsunamis?
They are just as dangerous away from the coast where water depths are great.
According to the figure below, the Earth's magnetic poles move constantly. About how far from the geographic poles do the magnetic poles move?
They remain in the high latitudes.
Consult the figure below. If someone were to dump chemicals into a dry river, what would happen to those chemicals?
They would end up flowing with the groundwater toward the city's wells.
Which basic type of plate boundary is shown in the image below? (slide past one another, no new plate forms and no old plate is consumed)
Transform
Evolution of life
Unidirectional
Volcanoes have provided some positive benefits to humankind and life in general throughout geologic time. Which of the following is NOT true about volcanoes?
Volcanic eruptions have prevented several mass extinctions by cooling the Earth's climate.
Earthquakes that occur in a band called the ________ can be used to track the motion of subducted oceanic lithosphere.
Wadati-Benioff zone
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is a transient condition, whereas climate is a long-term cycle
The __________ is the succession of the opening of an ocean basin to form a passive margin, later followed by the closing of that ocean basin to form a collisional orogeny.
Wilson cycle
Why is a trap necessary to create a conventional reserve?
Without a trap, hydrocarbons would rise buoyantly and seep onto the Earth's surface.
The pattern of atoms in a crystal can be detected using
X-ray diffraction.
Did the dinosaurs walk on Pangaea?
Yes, some of them did, because Pangaea did not break up until the Jurassic Period.
he concentration of red atoms in mineral 1 is
__11___ / ___15___ .
Place the layers and geologic events in order from oldest (1) to youngest (8).
__2__Deposition/formation of sandstone (layer 7) __8__Erosion of land surface __5__Intrusion of granite pluton __7__Intrusion of basalt dike __6__Faulting __4__Folding __1__Deposition/formation of limestone (layer 1) __3__Intrusion of sill
Order the following gases from lightest (1) to most massive (4), based on atomic mass from the periodic table.
__2__He __1__H __4__Xe __3__O2
Order the most abundant gases during stages of Earth's atmosphere development from earliest (1) to modern (5).
__5__nitrogen and oxygen __2__carbon dioxide, water vapor, nitrogen, ammonia, methane __1__hydrogen and helium __4__nitrogen and trace oxygen __3__carbon dioxide and nitrogen
Which of the following would NOT be considered a fossil?
a basalt dike
Which of the following structures is LEAST likely to survive an earthquake? Question options:
a brick building
Concrete is ________.
a combination of cement, sand, and gravel
As an air mass rises, it generally experiences ________.
a decrease in pressure
What physical property of the underlying rock would lead to the formation of a cliff over which a waterfall may form?
a high resistance to erosion
Consult the figure below. Compared with low-grade metamorphic rocks, high-grade rocks
are produced at greater temperatures and pressures.
Of the ~4,000 known minerals, the vast majority
are rare.
Radiometric dates applied to sedimentary rocks produce ages that
are too old (predate sedimentary deposition).
Silicate minerals are subdivided into six groups based on the way silica tetrahedra are
arranged and bonded.
What is a standard deviation?
a measure of the average difference from the mean
A runaway greenhouse effect is an example of ________.
a positive feedback mechanism
You find a sedimentary stratigraphic sequence that contains a marine limestone above an alluvial fan conglomerate. This sequence indicates
a relative rise in sea level.
If you find a tuff in the field, what type of geologic activity could you reasonably assume has occurred?
a volcanic eruption
If KD is greater than 1, (c)
a) the concentration of red atoms is higher in mineral 1 than mineral 2 b) the concentration of blue atoms is higher in mineral 2 than mineral 1 c) both or either a and b may be true
The greatest depth at which oil is found is ________.
about 6.5 km below the surface
Hydration occurs when minerals
absorb water and expand.
Most of the ocean floor is made up of
abyssal plains (4 to 5 km below sea level).
Faults that have moved recently or are likely to move in the future are referred to as ________ faults.
active
Currently, most geologists
agree that continental drift occurs due to mechanisms at work in the ocean basins and upper mantle.
Earthquake warning systems
alert people when an earthquake has taken place, possibly giving them seconds to get to a safer place.
The Big Bang theory states that
all matter in the Universe was once confined to a single point
A mixture of copper and tin would be called a(n)
alloy.
The image below of Death Valley, CA, shows a road that curves around a(n)
alluvial fan.
The vast majority of earthquakes occur
along any plate boundary.
Within the seafloor, the rate of geothermal heat flow is greatest
along mid-ocean ridges.
The metal ores that are found in veins within plutons typically occur ________.
alongside abundant quartz
variety of mineral quartz (SiO2)
amethyst, citrine
Lightning results from ________.
an imbalance between electrical charges
Urbanization of a watershed is most likely to result in __________.
an increase in the volume of water entering streams after rainfall
If horizontal sedimentary strata overlie tilted strata (and no fault is present), the surface between the horizontal and tilted strata must be a(n)
angular unconformity.
Look at the figure below. The contact between the Unkar Group and the Tapeats Sandstone is a(n)
angular unconformity.
Dendrochronology involves dating of historic and geologic events through the study of
annual growth rings in trees.
In the image below, the rocks have been bent into an elongate arch. This is a(n) ________.
anticline
Natural carbon sinks have generally matched the production of carbon dioxide until ________.
approximately 1900
variety of mineral beryl (Be3Al2Si6O18)
aquamarine, emerald
The majority of new oceanic crust is created
at mid-ocean ridges.
Most of the pulling force driving plate motion is produced
at subduction zones.
Which of the following is ALWAYS the same for different isotopes of a single element?
atomic number
Which of the following processes are NOT involved in metamorphism?
cementation and compaction of grains during diagenesis
Magma has intruded into some limestone, and a marble rind formed surrounding the granite pluton. The marble rind must be younger than the limestone according to the principle of
baked contacts.
Consult the figure below. These iron ore deposits, which started as sedimentary layers, are known as ________.
banded iron formations
Mylonites, formed from dynamic metamorphism, typically do NOT display
bands of randomly oriented mica grains.
Beneath a blanket of sediments, oceanic crust is primarily composed of
basalt.
On a geologic map, if the contacts between sedimentary rock units form a bull's-eye pattern of concentric circles, with the youngest unit in the center, the underlying structure is a(n) ________.
basin
Differentiation of the Earth's iron core and collisions of planetesimals caused early Earth to
be much hotter than at present.
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.
Which environment would most likely produce sedimentary deposits characterized by very well-sorted, very well-rounded grains that are nearly pure quartz?
beach
Why do plants generally become carbonized impressions if they are preserved as fossils?
because chemical reactions leave behind only the carbon
Why are feathers rarely found in the fossil record?
because feathers are very small and thus are not well preserved
Why is understanding the hydrologic cycle important to understanding how landscapes form?
because water is the main erosional and depositional agent on the Earth
In some cases, the push of flowing water can break chunks of solid rock off of the channel bed. These pieces are then carried along by a stream as _________
bedload
Geologists call individual layers of sedimentary rocks ________, whereas several of them together are called ________.
beds; strata
Hardness refers to a mineral's ability to resist
being scratched.
Cemented shells of marine organisms form which kind of sedimentary rock?
biochemical
Earthquake waves that pass through the Earth's interior are termed
body waves.
Marble and quartzite are nonfoliated metamorphic rocks because
both are dominated by minerals that produce equant grains.
A shale differs from a mudstone in that it
breaks into platy sheets.
Faulting and earthquakes are examples of ________ and generally occur when rocks are relatively ________.
brittle deformation; cold
Which of the following is an alloy?
bronze
Hard water results from relatively high concentrations of dissolved ________.
calcium and magnesium
Explosive or voluminous eruptions may cause a volcano to subside or collapse into the now-empty magma chamber, producing a broad depression termed a ________.
caldera
Limestone reefs and salt deposits are important in the reconstruction of the Earth's history because they
can be used to infer the ancient climate of the Earth; they are deposited in environments that are restricted to warm climates.
Calcite (CaCO3) is in which mineral class?
carbonates
The majority of large cave and karst systems have resulted from ________ etching into ________.
carbonic acid; limestone
The Cambrian explosion not only produced an abundance of new animal species but also gave rise to the first shells, spines, and active swimmers. This suggests the important influence of ________ in driving animal evolution.
carnivorous predators
Braided streams ________.
consist of a series of intertwined channels that are overloaded with sediment
The boundary formed between new intrusive igneous rock and the host rock around it is called a
contact.
Large, thick-crusted, nonvolcanic mountain belts, like the Himalayas, are associated with
continent-continent collisions
The formation of the Basin and Range Province, a fault-blocked mountain range in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona, is associated with which of the following processes?
continental rifting
Wegener saw Pangaea as a jigsaw puzzle, where the puzzle pieces were
continents.
he image below shows an example of which type of heat transfer? (hot to cold cycle in water)
convection
Which of these is NOT the result of plate tectonics?
convection in the outer core
Deep-oceanic trenches are features of ________ plate boundaries
convergent
Subduction zones are found at ________ plate boundaries.
convergent
Most medium- and deep-focus earthquakes occur at
convergent-plate boundaries.
A volcanic arc results from __________ tectonic movements and is associated with a __________.
convergent; subduction zone
High-pressure systems are associated with weather that is ________.
cool and damp
As compared to coarse-grained igneous rocks, fine-grained igneous rocks
cool and solidify more quickly.
As compared to the asthenosphere, the lithosphere is ________.
cooler and less able to flow
Slab pull occurs because subducting slabs are ________, and therefore ________ dense, than surrounding asthenosphere.
cooler; more
Which list places important pure metals and alloys in chronological order from first to last (most recent) in terms of their widespread use by humans?
copper, bronze, iron
The most dense layer of the solid Earth.
core
The branch of science that studies the structure and history of the Universe is
cosmology.
In the northern hemisphere, how do winds move in a low-pressure system?
counterclockwise rotation
Regions of continents that have NOT been subjected to orogeny during the past 1 billion years are termed ________.
cratons
A body of rock starts at location A in the graph below. The rock, over a period of time, moves to location B and begins to melt. This is an example of melting due to
decompression.
If the volatile content of magma is increased, its viscosity will
decrease.
If one were to ride a hot air balloon up into the atmosphere, one would experience the concentration of gases
decreasing.
What would an area experiencing erosion look like compared to one experiencing deposition?
deep valleys or canyons versus large flat, open areas
Vesicles in an igneous rock are evidence for which of the following?
degassing of volatiles
The mineral assemblage within metamorphic rock is
dependent on both the mineral assemblage of its protolith and the temperature and pressure of formation.
A basic history of global climate change is preserved in the stratigraphic record because
depositional setting and the assemblages of organisms depend on the climate.
The primary challenge of hydrogen fuel cells is ________.
designing them to store explosive gas in a safe way
The figure below represents the final stage in the Earth's formation, which is marked by all of the following EXCEPT
differentiation of the core and mantle.
Normal, reverse, and thrust are all examples of ________ faults.
dip-slip
The shape of the Earth's magnetic field is approximately that of a
dipole, such as that produced by a bar magnet.
Prevailing surface winds are named for the ________.
direction from which they blow
Buried erosional surfaces between parallel sedimentary strata are termed
disconformities.
Look at the figure below. Notice the erosional surface on the top of the Muav Limestone. This contact between the Muav limestone and the Temple Butte Formation is an example of a(n)
disconformity.
Salt water is the end product of this weathering process.
dissolution
Running water dissolves soluble minerals. This material is most likely to be transported by a stream as _________.
dissolved load
The lithosphere of the Earth is generally thinnest at ________ plate boundaries
divergent
Normal faulting is most often associated with mountain building along ___________ boundaries, whereas reverse faulting is generally observed at ___________ boundaries.
divergent; convergent
Naturally forming glass (such as obsidian) is NOT considered a mineral because it
does not have a fixed crystalline structure
The rocks in the image below have been plastically deformed, resulting in a(n) __________.
dome
If a volcano lies along a convergent boundary but has not erupted in over 100,000 years, the volcano is considered ________.
dormant
The distribution of ________ across the globe provides the primary indicator of boundaries between all tectonic plates.
earthquakes
Which of the following is NOT a likely environmental issue associated with mineral resource extraction operations (both underground and on the surface)?
earthquakes
Which of the following is not typically associated with the eruption of a Large Igneous Province (LIP)?
emplacement of large granite batholiths
Which of the following lists the divisions on the geologic column from largest (most general) to smallest (most specific)?
eon, era, period, epoch
The point on the Earth's surface directly above the point where an earthquake occurs is termed the
epicenter.
Summed over the entire surface of the Earth, the rate of spreading at divergent boundaries is ________ lithospheric consumption at subduction zones.
equal to
In global convective circulation, air rises at the ________ and the ________.
equator; polar fronts
The removal of detritus from weathered rock at an outcrop is termed
erosion.
Volcanism in Iceland is occurring as a result of ________.
eruptions from a hot spot that sits astride a mid-ocean ridge
Most DNA in the cells of animals and plants is housed within a nucleus; such cells are termed
eukaryotic.
Darwin believed that the finches on the Galapagos Islands were once a single species but had ________ into several different species that could each eat different types of food.
evolved
Gemstones are often found in pegmatites, which are igneous rocks that are
exceptionally coarse grained.
Atoms that are heavier than iron are generally produced by
explosions of supernovas.
If y is amount of parent isotope and x is time, which of the following graphs best describes the relationship between y and x?
exponential decay (
If y is settling rate and x is viscosity of the water, which of the following graphs best describes the relationship between y and x?
exponential decay (
The higher the temperature, the higher the kinetic energy of gas atoms or molecules. Kinetic energy (E) is given by the following formula: E=1/2mv2 Where m is the mass and v is the velocity. If the kinetic energy is the same for different gas molecules, but different gas molecules have different mass, how does the velocity depend on the mass? In other words, if y is velocity, and x is mass, which graph expresses the relationship between these variables for fixed kinetic energy?
exponential decay, start high
If y is settling rate and x is grain diameter, which of the following graphs best describes the relationship between y and x?
exponential growth J
The escape velocity is the speed where the kinetic energy is exactly equal to the potential energy due to gravity. It depends on the mass of the planet (M) and the distance to the planet's center of mass (r). v=√2GM/r (G is the Gravitational Constant). If y is the escape velocity, and x is the mass of the planet, which image best describes the relationship between y and x?
exponential growth, start lowbut upwards curve
When the last member of a species dies, this is called
extinction.
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
Movement along faults often produces a rock formed from sharply angled rock fragments termed ________.
fault breccia
The intersection between a fault plane and the ground surface is called the
fault trace.
A fracture in the crust, where rocks slide past one another, is termed a Question options:
fault.
The distinction between joints and faults is that ________.
faults are fractures along which displacement has occurred; displacement does not occur along joints
Which type of magma has the greatest silica content?
felsic
Large igneous provinces are formed by ________, which can flow tens to hundreds of kilometers.
flood basalts
The flat-lying area surrounding a river channel is termed the ________.
floodplain
A stream is ________.
flowing water confined to a channel
To an observer traveling outward from the Earth's surface into outer space, the temperature of the atmosphere ________.
fluctuates depending on the atmospheric layer
Slaty cleavage, schistosity, and compositional banding are all examples of
foliation.
Which of the following statements is false? Hornfels facies rocks
form at high pressures and low temperatures.
Sedimentary sequences, which are bounded by unconformities, record global sea level rise and fall with variations in ________.
fossil content
Relative ages expressed on the geologic time scale primarily resulted from the study of
fossil content and spatial relationships among sedimentary rocks.
In which type of silicates are the greatest proportion of oxygen atoms shared by pairs of adjacent tetrahedra?
framework silicates
A primary force opposing motion on all faults is
friction.
According to the figure below, how much has atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) increased in parts per million (ppm) in approximately the last 50 years?
from about 320 to 400 ppm
The boundary between two bodies of air with differing characteristics (such as temperature, pressure, and relative humidity) is termed a ________.
front
If a drilled well encounters both oil and natural gas, the ________.
gas will naturally be floating on top of the oil
Which fossil fuel, oil or natural gas, is found at greater depths within the Earth, and why?
gas, because it is more stable at high temperatures
A rock can be made of (select all that apply)
gases,amorphous solids (glasses),minerals
If erosion is occurring in an area of weak rock, what would you expect the landscape to look like?
gentle hills
What system divides the Earth history into intervals?
geologic time scale
A periodic explosive eruption of steam and water from within the ground up through the surface is termed a(n) ________.
geyser
The slope of a stream surface measured between two points along its course is the ________.
gradient
Runoff from farm fields entering a stream system is likely to be __________ than that from naturally vegetated fields.
greater and more sediment-laden
As a rule, groundwater always flows from areas of ________.
greater hydraulic head to those of lesser hydraulic head
Compared to typical oceanic lithosphere, the thickness of continental lithosphere is
greater.
The majority of liquid freshwater within the Earth exists in ________.
groundwater
Through geologic time, continents have drifted over the surface of the Earth, but each continent has
grown by addition of crustal fragments
If y is amount of daughter isotope and x is time, which of the following graphs best describes the relationship between y and x?
growth, starts high then slows growth
Regions of the sea floor with positive magnetic anomalies were formed during times when the Earth's magnetic field
had normal polarity.
What type of fossil is shown in the picture below?
hard parts
Magnetostratigraphy takes advantage of the fact that the Earth's magnetic field
has experienced numerous polarity reversals, with periods of normal and reversed polarity of varying lengths.
Regularly spaced joints in an outcrop may indicate that an area ________.
has experienced tension
Meandering streams ________.
have a channel that is highly sinuous (curvy)
Short-term predictions of earthquake behavior
have been largely unreliable
Look at the two conceptual examples of light waves shown below. These two waves
have different wavelengths.
Ephemeral streams ________.
have flowing water either episodically or during only a portion of the year
Basaltic lavas ________.
have low viscosity and low silica content
Water in a stream flows from its _________ to its __________.
headwaters, mouth
The blueschist facies form under which of these conditions:
high pressure but relatively low temperature
Laterally, at the surface, winds blow from regions of ________ to regions of ________.
high pressure; low pressure
Under which of these conditions would a body of rock be more likely to exhibit plastic behavior?
high temperature
Geothermal energy provides a low-cost alternative to fossil fuels only in places where ________.
high temperatures exist at relatively shallow depths
An aquifer has ________ porosity and ________ permeability.
high; high
Because of the Doppler effect, a light- or sound-emitting object moving toward you has a ________ than a stationary object.
higher frequency
The central portion of high curvature on a fold is termed the fold ________.
hinge
On a geologic map, if the contacts between sedimentary rock units form a series of parallel lines, with the youngest unit in the center, the underlying structure is a ________.
horizontal syncline
The Hawaiian island chain is an example of a(n) ________.
hot-spot island chain
Permeability is a measure of ________.
how well the pores within rock are connected
What is the ultimate control of the development of the landscape, the large road cut, in the following picture?
human activity
Some researchers think that ________ are causing a sixth mass-extinction event.
humans
Which of the following is an example of a tropical cyclone?
hurricane
Hydrocarbons are chain-like or ring-like molecules made of carbon and ________ atoms.
hydrogen
By far the most common elements in the Universe and in our Solar System are
hydrogen and helium.
The characteristic "rotten egg" smell of many active volcanoes is derived from ________.
hydrogen sulfide gas
Consult the figure below. Hot water reacting with the crust is the basis for what type of metamorphism?
hydrothermal
Mineral-rich veins within plutons, deposited by hot groundwater into fractures within rock, characterize ________ deposits.
hydrothermal
The point within the Earth where an earthquake originates is termed the
hypocenter (focus).
Which transport medium carries the largest particles?
ice in glaciers
A body of gneiss is subjected to heat and forms a melt. Later, the melt cools and crystallizes to form a (n) ________ rock.
igneous
Molten material slowly cools and crystalizes underground. This results in the formation of a(n)
igneous rock.
Commercial ore deposits are most likely associated with ________.
igneous rocks
Thermal (contact) metamorphism occurs
in areas surrounding igneous intrusions.
The principle of ________ explains the occurrence of older rock within a newer rock.
inclusions
The theory of plate tectonics
incorporates and explains both seafloor spreading and continental drift.
Ultimately geysers erupt because of the __________.
increase in pressure from the hot water, which prevents boiling.
If a body of magma becomes more felsic, its viscosity will
increase.
The discharge of a river traveling through a temperate region will typically ________ downstream; the discharge of a river traveling through an arid region will typically ________ downstream.
increase; decrease
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
Incoming solar energy is known as ________.
insolation
Chemical weathering involves the breakdown of material due to
interaction with water or air.
When magma solidifies below the surface of the Earth, ________ are formed.
intrusive igneous rocks
Which ore minerals are commonly found in ancient sedimentary deposits that are two billion years old?
iron oxides
Unlike the lithosphere, the asthenosphere
is able to flow over long periods of time.
At a subduction zone, the downgoing (subducting) plate
is always composed of oceanic lithosphere
The lithosphere of the Earth rarely flows because it
is too cool.
Lines connecting points of equal atmospheric pressure on a map are termed ________.
isobars
The closure temperature represents the point when
isotopes are no longer free to move out of a crystal lattice.
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.
The Siberian Traps, eastern Russia (2x10^6 km^2)
largest 1
If the lithology and fossil content of two bodies of rock on opposite sides of a canyon are identical, then these remaining outcrops were likely physically connected at one time and formed part of an extensive, sheet-like layer of rock. This idea summarizes the principle of
lateral continuity.
Since we traveled due north to make our measurement, the difference in angle made by the sun in these two locations is similar to the difference in
latitude
The thickness of oceanic lithosphere is
least near the mid-ocean ridges and thickens away from the ridges.
The sides of a fold, where curvature is at a minimum, are termed ________.
limbs
In which of the following rocks would you be most likely to find fossils?
limestone
Which of these is the longest-lasting sink for carbon dioxide?
limestones
According to Darcy's law, discharge (Q) is a function of hydraulic conductivity (K), the hydraulic gradient, and the area of an imaginary plane through which groundwater is passing. If y is discharge and hydraulic gradient is x, what is the best image to describe the relationship between y and x?
linear growth
The amount of energy to condense water vapor will be the heat of vaporization multiplied by the mass. If y is amount of energy to condense water vapor and x is mass of vapor, which of the following graphs best describes the relationship between y and x?
linear growth
Wet and unconsolidated substrates are uniquely susceptible to ________ during an earthquake.
liquefaction
Compaction and cementation of grains occurs during
lithification.
The least dense layer of the solid Earth.
lithosphere
Most earthquakes are a result of
lithospheric plate movement.
Which of these factors is NOT important in controlling the climate of a region?
longitude
The stress on the ice when you stand on it wearing a ski is
lower than the stress when you stand in sneakers
Pumping vast quantities of water locally ________.
lowers the local water table, forming a cone-shaped depression
The difference between magma and lava is
magma is melt underground, whereas lava is melt that has emerged from the surface.
The ability of a metal to be bent, molded, and stretched is termed ________.
malleability
Sixty-five million years ago the dinosaurs were wiped out by a __________. Similar events have occurred at least five times in the Earth's history.
mass extinction event
The amount of matter in an object is referred to as its Question options:
mass.
Evidence that the South American and African continents were once joined includes evidence from their coastlines such as
matching fossil distributions.
After precipitation begins, a thunderstorm has reached the ________ stage
mature
At a subduction zone, the overriding plate
may be composed of either oceanic or continental lithosphere.
A protolith
may belong to any of the three primary rock types.
Aftershocks after a major earthquake
may continue for days, weeks, or years after the initial earthquake
The elevation of the water table ________.
may rise during rainy periods and sink during droughts
Area of Michigan
medium 2
Injecting hot fudge into ice cream and causing the ice cream to melt is an appropriate analogy for which cause of magma melt?
melting due to heat transfer from rising magma
The reaction above could take place at high pressure in a subducted carbonate-bearing rock. The new diamond-bearing rock would be ____________.
metamorphic
Clay minerals within a buried body of slate are recrystallized at high temperatures and pressures to form mica, producing a rock called phyllite. This is an example of
metamorphism.
Archean greenstones are formed from
metamorphosed relicts of ocean crust.
The net chemical change in a metamorphic rock induced by a reaction with hot groundwater is termed
metasomatism.
The map below depicts earthquakes, which on the ocean floor coincide most often with
mid-ocean ridges.
Chemical sedimentary rocks are classified primarily on the basis of
mineral composition.
The zone of leaching is the area in which
minerals are dissolved and removed from soil.
The high electrical conductivity associated with metallic bonds is found in ________.
minerals that have a sufficient metal content to be considered ores
What type of fossil forms when a buried organism decays or is dissolved, but the original shape is preserved in the sediment?
mold fossil
In general, when rock is partially melted, the chemistry of the melt is
more felsic than the original chemistry of the rock that was partially melted.
During fractional crystallization of a magma body, the first rock that is expected to crystallize from the magma will be
more mafic than the magma.
Compared with warm fronts, cold fronts move ________.
more rapidly
Hydrocarbons consisting of short carbon chains are ________.
more volatile than hydrocarbons with longer chains
Fossils are most often identified based on changes in their ________, which is easily recognizable, even in the field.
morphology
Rank the risk to each of these municipalities from 1 (greatest risk) to 3 (lowest risk).
most damage is done in the city
Because of its physical properties, magma tends to
move upward, away from where it formed.
If a material is highly permeable, it ________.
must either have substantial porosity or be fractured
Shear stress at sufficient depth within a fault plane can induce plastic shear, forming a fine-grained metamorphic rock named ________.
mylonite
Which of the following are good conductors due to the ability of the electrons in the atoms to move around freely?
native metals
A resource is considered renewable if ________.
nature can replace it within a short time span relative to human life
If you are trapped inside during an earthquake, where should you NOT be?
next to a large bookcase
Presently, the Earth's atmosphere is dominated by which two gases?
nitrogen and oxygen
Look at the figure below. The contact between the Vishnu Schist and the Tapeats Sandstone is a(n)
nonconformity.
The surface below sedimentary rocks that overlie igneous or metamorphic rocks is termed a(n)
nonconformity.
In a ________ fault, the fault plane is non-vertical and the hanging-wall block moves downward relative to the footwall block.
normal
A heavy book is placed on top of a ball of pizza dough, causing the dough to flatten. This is an application of
normal stress.
It is possible for offset along an oblique-slip fault to have both ________ and ________ components.
normal; left-lateral
The atomic number of an element corresponds to the
number of protons.
A birthdate is an example of a(n) ________ age.
numerical
A volcanic island arc forms when
oceanic lithosphere subducts beneath another oceanic lithospheric plate.
In the discontinuous series of Bowen's reaction series, the first mineral to crystallize from a mafic melt is
olivine.
Within a meander, where is sediment most likely to be deposited?
on the inner banks of the meander
The most recently formed portion of any crystal is always found
on the outer edges.
The rate of groundwater flow per unit area through a body of rock or sediment depends ________.
on the slope of the water table and the permeability of the rock or sediment
How much of a radioactive parent isotope will remain after three half-lives have passed?
one-eighth
For the majority of minerals, the streak obtained when the mineral is scratched against a porcelain plate is
only useful if the mineral is softer than the porcelain streak plate.
Not a mineral
opal, pearl
Milankovitch cycles describe variation in the Earth's ________.
orbit and tilt
Two major sources of energy, coal and oil shale, are considered ________ sedimentary rocks.
organic
An episode of mountain building is termed a(n) ________.
orogeny
When moisture-laden wind is forced over a mountain range, clouds will form because of ________ lifting.
orographic
Rates of groundwater flow are ________ than stream flow because the water ________.
ower; must make its way through tiny pore spaces
Banded-iron formations, such as the one in the image below, show evidence of an
oxygen-rich atmosphere that forced the oceans to become oxidizing and precipitate iron-oxide minerals
According to the figure below, marine magnetic anomalies lay roughly ________ to mid-ocean ridges.
parallel
An earthquake would be LEAST likely at a(n)
passive margin.
Broad, sediment-covered continental shelves are found along
passive margins.
The ratio of oxygen-16 and oxygen-18 isotopes in plankton fossils in deep-sea sediments can be used to determine ________.
past temperatures
The following is an example of what type of fossil?
permineralized organism
The long-term buildup of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere is a result of ________.
photosynthesis
Oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere is derived from
photosynthesis.
Diagenesis refers to
physical and chemical alterations, including compaction and cementation, that occur as sediment is transformed into rock.
As understood by modern geologists, the principle of uniformitarianism implies that
physical processes observed today (such as erosion and volcanic eruptions) have been active in the past at roughly the same rates.
Under the theory of plate tectonics, the plates themselves are
pieces of lithosphere at the surface of the solid Earth that move with respect to one another.
The continuous series in Bowen's reaction series describes the crystallization behavior of which mineral?
plagioclase
Most of the hydrocarbons within oil and natural gas are derived from the breakdown of organic matter from once-living ________.
plankton
The theory that describes the movement of the Earth's crust and the consequences of that movement is called
plate tectonics.
Hot-spot tracks result from moving
plates.
In the last few decades, global warming has been most strongly affecting climate and wildlife of ________ regions.
polar
Minerals with the same chemical formula (composition), but with different atomic structure and physical properties are called
polymorphs
If y is settling rate and x is specific gravity of the sand, which of the following graphs best describes the relationship between y and x?
positive linear /
A geologist's compass differs from the more widely known orienteering compass in that the geologist's compass ________.
possesses an inclinometer, allowing the user to measure dip and plunge angles
Nuclear chain reactions within power plants do NOT produce bomb-like explosions primarily because the ________.
power plants do not contain enough highly enriched uranium
When a solution becomes oversaturated, new solid particles are said to
precipitate from the solution.
Winds form where ________.
pressure gradients exist
Some metals are considered precious metals because of their ________.
price per ounce
Humans belong to a lineage of mammals called the
primates.
The transformation of low-grade metamorphic rocks into high-grade metamorphic rocks is termed ________ metamorphism.
prograde
Composition describes the
proportion of chemicals that make up a rock.
The preexisting rock that is subsequently altered to form a metamorphic rock is termed a
protolith.
The atomic mass of an element approximately equals the number of
protons plus neutrons.
A felsic, highly-vesicular volcanic rock is termed
pumice.
Land subsidence is likely when ________.
pumping lowers the water table
Bombs, ash, and cinders are all examples of
pyroclastic debris.
Which volcanic hazard poses the greatest threat to humans?
pyroclastic flows
Stone extraction from the Earth's surface for building purposes occurs in ________.
quarries
Numerical ages for boundaries between time units on the geologic time scale primarily resulted from the study of ________, in conjunction with relative age data.
radiometric dating of igneous rocks
The average time between eruptions is called a(n) ________.
recurrence interval
Strong evidence that the Universe is expanding comes from the fact that the light emitted from nearly all distant galaxies appears to be
red-shifted.
Which of these features would NOT help a geologist recognize a fault?
regularly spaced quartz veins
A permeable and porous rock, regardless of lithology, is a good candidate to serve as a ________ in an oil-producing scenario.
reservoir rock
Water can remain in the ground as groundwater for up to 10,000 years. This is called the
residence time.
Viscosity is defined as a substance's ________.
resistance to flow
The transformation of high-grade metamorphic rocks into low-grade metamorphic rocks is termed ________ metamorphism.
retrograde
During an earthquake, if the hanging wall slides upward relative to the footwall, the fault is termed a ________ fault if the fault is steep (closer to vertical than horizontal). Refer to the figure below for an example of such a feature.
reverse
If a fault plane is greater than 35° from horizontal and the hanging-wall block moves upward relative to the footwall block, the fault is called a ________ fault.
reverse
Granite, an intrusive igneous rock, is most similar in mineral composition to which extrusive equivalent?
rhyolite
Seasonal changes create layering in glaciers known as
rhythmic layering.
Mid-ocean ridges are elevated above the surrounding seafloor because
ridge rocks are hot and therefore are relatively less dense than the surrounding seafloor.
Pulling a block of clay apart, resulting in the middle portion thinning and sinking, is an adequate analogy for
rift basins and subsidence.
the base level of a tributary would ________ if a dam and a reservoir were constructed where it flowed into a trunk stream.
rise
Terrestrial planets are mainly composed of ________, while the giant planets are made predominantly of ________.
rock and metals; volatiles
Dynamothermal (regional) metamorphism occurs when
rock becomes deeply buried during continental collision and mountain building.
Mid-ocean ridges tend to be
roughly symmetrical about the ridge axis.
variety of mineral corundum (Al2O3)
ruby, sapphire
What type of weathering has produced the honeycomb-like features shown in the following photo?
salt wedging
Scientists guide their work using a sequence of steps for systematically analyzing scientific problems in a way that leads to verifiable results. This sequence is called the
scientific method.
An impermeable rock, regardless of lithology, is a good candidate to serve as a ________ in an oil-producing scenario.
seal rock
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 vertical features preserved in the basalt flow in the image below formed because the lava ________.
shrank as it cooled, forming tall polygonal-shaped fractures
The mineral class that makes up more than 95 percent of the continental crust is termed the
silicates.
The most common minerals within the Earth are
silicates.
Volatile materials can exist as gases at the Earth's surface. Which of the following is NOT a volatile material?
silicon
In magma chambers, sulfide ore minerals typically ________.
sink to the bottom
Biochemical limestones are dominated by carbonate mud and fragments of
skeletons of marine invertebrates made of calcite and aragonite.
Which list properly orders foliated metamorphic rocks from lowest to highest grade from left to right?
slate, phyllite, schist, and gneiss
A polished surface produced by scraping of rock along a fault is termed a(n) ________.
slickenside
The quantity of motion that occurs along a fault is termed
slip.
Weathering results in
smaller, more-rounded pieces.
A magma body with a ________ volume and a ________ shape cools fastest.
smaller; pancake
The Columbia River Basalt, western US (1.6x10^5 km^2)
smallest 3
The industrial process that separates metals from ore material is known as ____________.
smelting
The following image shows the Earth's magnetic field. The Earth's magnetic field lines are distorted (i.e., not symmetrical) because
solar wind deflects the Earth's magnetic field lines.
A buried body of rock that contains the raw materials from which hydrocarbons formed is termed a ________.
source rock
A black, organic-rich shale could likely serve as either of which two necessary types of rocks within oil fields?
source rock or seal rock
Which of the following is NOT an example of deformation?
stratification
Of the three primary forms of subaerial volcanoes, ________ are large cone-shaped mountains that consist of alternating layers of tephra and solidified lava.
stratovolcanoes
Seismic retrofitting is the process of
strengthening existing buildings and structures.
A body of rock affected by tensile stress will likely undergo ________.
stretching
If a fault is nearly vertical in orientation and the two walls of rock on opposite sides slide past one another horizontally, the fault is termed a ________ fault. Refer to the figure below for an example of such a feature.
strike-slip
Which process would NOT likely affect the actual thickness of the crust in the Alps during compression and shortening from 500 km to 100 km?
strike-slip faulting
During a journey to the center of the Earth, one would experience
temperature and pressure both increasing.
A radiometric age for a mineral crystal within an igneous rock measures the amount of time that has passed since the
temperature of the crystal became equal to the closure temperature for the mineral.
A geotherm is the rate of change of
temperature with depth in the Earth's interior.
Coal is formed when heat and pressure alter deposits of ancient ________.
terrestrial plants
the 1800s, Lord Kelvin estimated the age of the Earth, utilizing a number of assumptions. Which wrong assumption was the primary reason why his estimate (approximately 20 million years) was so wildly inaccurate?
that no new heat has been added to the Earth since its initial formation
The development of cyclones and anticyclones in high- and low-pressure regions is a result of the deflection of air currents by ________.
the Coriolis effect
In the heliocentric model,
the Earth orbits around the Sun.
Foucault's experiment with a pendulum proved that
the Earth rotates about an internal axis.
The Hadean was a time in Earth history when
the Earth's interior was so hot that a solid outer crust, if present, was likely being extensively remelted.
Scientists believe that the Moon formed due to a protoplanet colliding with the Earth. If this is the case, the Moon should have a composition similar to
the Earth.
Which earthquake severity scale varies from locality to locality for a single earthquake?
the Mercalli scale
Which earthquake scale measures the amplitude of deflection of a seismograph pen, standardized to an idealized distance of 100 km between the epicenter and the seismograph?
the Richter scale
Oceanic lithosphere thickens away from the mid-ocean ridge primarily due to
the addition of new lithospheric mantle as a result of cooling.
Porosity is best described by which of the following?
the amount of open space in a rock or sediment
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.
Which of the following is MOST likely to result in stream rejuvenation?
the base level of a stream drops
If an igneous dike cuts across a sequence of sedimentary beds, then
the beds must be older.
A triple junction, like the one shown below, is a place on Earth's surface where
the boundaries of three lithospheric plates meet at a single point.
The electron microprobe, a commonly used analytical instrument in geology, focuses a beam of electrons on a sample to determine____
the chemical composition.
Consult the figure below. Although granite contains iron atoms, we do not mine granite to produce iron because ________.
the concentration of iron is too small to be economical
The discovery that each continent had different and separate apparent polar-wander paths, such as those in the figure below, proved that
the continents move.
Minerals in geodes (as seen below) form spectacular euhedral crystals because
the crystals have abundant room to grow in their hollow surroundings.
The Mesozoic Era is a time in the Earth's history when
the dinosaurs appeared and came to dominate large-scale terrestrial life
According to the graph below, continental crust was ~80% done forming by
the early Proterozoic.
Which of the following scenarios is more likely to cause a flash flood than a slow-onset flood?
the failure of a stream channel's levees
An iridium-rich layer of clay, glass spherules, and shocked quartz grains strongly suggests that the K-T boundary extinctions were at least in part caused by
the impact of a bolide (meteoroid or comet).
Energy can best be described as
the inherent ability of a region of space and the matter within it to do work.
Which geological setting would you NOT expect to produce a large amount of seismic activity?
the interior of a tectonic plate
There are many ways in which uplift can occur, but all of them reflect ________.
the lithosphere's tendency to achieve isostasy
Which magnitude scale is considered the most accurate? Hint: It uses the amplitudes of several different waves, the amount of slip, and the dimensions of the slipped area on the fault.
the moment magnitude scale
Which of the following best describes the hydrologic cycle?
the movement of the Earth's water through a series of reservoirs
What is natural selection?
the passing on of beneficial characteristics so that the most adaptable survive
Which principle of stratigraphy could be used to determine the relative ages of Layer 7 and Layer 3?
the principle of fossil succession
Climate affects landscape development by controlling
the rate of erosion.
Diagenesis is faster when grain size is smaller because
the reaction between sand grain surfaces and fluids takes place over a bigger area
The force on the ice when you stand on it wearing a ski is
the same regardless of your footwear as long as your weight doesn't change
If a sandstone lies on top of a shale,
the shale must be older, according to the principle of superposition.
The hydraulic gradient in Darcy's Law is essentially the same as which of the following?
the slope of a line
After the generation of hydrocarbons in a sedimentary basin, microbes will digest ________.
the smaller molecules, leaving more viscous oil behind
In which layer in the figure below will the temperature steadily increase as you move to higher altitudes?
the stratosphere
How do magnetic anomaly patterns on the ocean floor best serve as evidence for seafloor spreading?
the symmetry on either side of mid-ocean ridges shows that new crust is created and then split apart.
Which layer of the atmosphere has the lowest density?
the thermosphere
Which layer in the figure below can be thought of as the weather layer?
the troposphere
A person is digging a hole, when the hole suddenly starts to fill with water. What have they found?
the water table
In the figure below, the intertropical surface convergence became known as the doldrums because ________.
the winds along the equator are very weak
If the relative ages of two formations are known, what else about them can be inferred?
their relative position in the geologic column
Which of the following is a type of physical weathering?
thermal expansion
Compared to oceanic crust, continental crust is
thicker.
If the climate in an area has very little rainfall, what would be the characteristics of the soil in the area?
thin, with very little organic material
Igneous rocks are always formed
through the freezing or crystallization of a melt.
During an earthquake, if a hanging wall slides upward relative to a footwall, the fault is termed a ________ fault if the fault is shallow (much closer to horizontal than vertical). Refer to the figure below for an example of such a feature.
thrust
If a fault plane is less than 30° from horizontal and the hanging-wall block moves upward relative to the footwall block, the fault is a ________ fault.
thrust
Which of the following is NOT a way in which the Sun's energy can be harnessed?
tidal movements
Because of the Coriolis effect, air that is spread northward from the equator is deflected ________.
to the east
What type of fossil is shown in the picture?
trace fossil
The San Andreas Fault zone in California is an example of a ________ plate boundary.
transform
The figure below shows the Dakota and Ogallala aquifers along with interlayered shale deposits. What likely occurred in the area to produce the alternating shale and sandstone layers?
transgression and regression
Sea level rises locally, and marine sediments are deposited on top of terrestrial sediments during events termed
transgressions.
A biogeochemical cycle refers to the ________.
transitioning and the residence of specific chemicals among living and nonliving systems
Grains become rounded primarily during
transportation.
Chemically precipitated limestone that forms in caves or around hot springs is termed
travertine.
In the figure below, the area known as tornado alley forms because polar air masses frequently collide with ________.
tropical air masses from the Gulf of Mexico
The optical microscope, a commonly used analytical instrument in geology, focuses light on a thin section to determine ____
what minerals constitute the rock and how grains connect to one another
When would miners use an open pit mine?
when the ore deposit lies close to the surface
the shape of a delta is primarily determined by ________.
whether river currents or ocean currents are locally predominant
It is unusual for ________ to carry grains larger than sand.
wind
Hot spots can occur
within either continental or oceanic plates.