Earth, Geologic Time, Mineralogy, Earth and Planetary Science - Questions | GEOL 101, Exams of Geology

Download Earth, Geologic Time, Mineralogy, Earth and Planetary Science - Questions | GEOL 101 and more Exams Geology in PDF only on Docsity! SECTION 1 -- PRACTICE QUESTIONS Chapters on: Overview of Earth, Geologic Time, Mineralogy, Earth and Planetary Science 1. Rocks are consolidated mixtures of mineral grains. There are three different kinds of rocks: 1) _____________, 2) _____________, and 3) ______________. > igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic 2. _____________ rocks form from the cooling and solidification of molten rock. > Igneous 3. Molten rock contained within Earth is called _____________. > magma 4. Magma extruded onto Earth's surface is called _____________. > lava 5. When magmas cool and crystallize before reaching the surface, they create _____________ igneous rock bodies called _____________ consisting of rocks such as _____________. > intrusive, plutons, granite 6. The violent eruption of highly viscous magmas produces a variety of rock fragments collectively called _____________ or _____________. > tephra, pyroclastic materials 7. Lava and rocks formed by the solidification of pyroclastic materials are referred to as _____________ igneous rocks or _____________ rocks. > extrusive, volcanic 8. When low viscosity magmas cool, they form a rock called _____________. > basalt 9. When rocks of any kind are exposed at Earth's surface, the mineral grains begin to loosen, decompose, or dissolve, a process called _____________. > weathering 10. The debris produced by mechanical and chemical weathering accumulate as a layer called _____________. > regolith 11. Once formed, the regolith is subjected to _____________ that transports the weathered debris downslope to the valley floor where other agents of _____________ including streams, glaciers, waves, or wind carry the debris away to basins or sites of _____________. > mass wasting, erosion, deposition 12. Whether accumulated on land or in the ocean, each layer of sediment or precipitated minerals may be buried beneath other sediment or layers and undergo _____________ to form a _____________ rock. > lithification, sedimentary 13. Because the ocean floor is the major repository of materials stripped from the land, most sedimentary rocks are _____________ in origin. > marine 14. Sedimentary rocks made from materials accumulated on land are called _____________ rocks. > continental 15. _____________, the most abundant sedimentary rock, forms from clay mineral-rich muds that accumulate on stream floodplains, in wetlands, and on the ocean bottom. > Shale 16. The next most abundant sedimentary rock is _____________, composed primarily of quartz grains derived from previously existing rocks. > sandstone 17. The third most abundant sedimentary rock, ____________, forms from calcium carbonate (CaC03) in solution. > limestone 18. Deep within Earth, rocks are subjected to conditions of temperature, pressure, and chemically active fluids that may not cause them to melt, but rather to recrystallize to form ____________ rocks. > metamorphic 19. Recrystallization examples are the transformation of limestone into ______________ and shale into _____________. > marble, slate 20. ______________ form when metamorphic rocks are subjected to temperatures sufficiently high to cause partial melting but where the magma is unable to separate from the solid residue. > Migmatite 21. The "picture" of Earth's interior the seismologists have generated shows a very thin ____________ and a thick ____________ surrounding a central ____________. > crust, mantle, core 22. Materials in the crust, mantle, and core have different _______________. > densities 23. A layer in the upper portion of the mantle called the ________________________ is on the verge of melting. > asthenosphere 24. The thinner ______________ underlies the ocean basins while the thicker ________________________ makes up the continents. > oceanic crust, continental crust 25. The oceanic crust is composed mostly of _____________ while the continental <SCB> crust is mainly made of ______________ and _______________ rocks, with a thin veneer of _____________ rocks in many places. > basalt, granitic, metamorphic, sedimentary 26. The crust and the outermost portion of the mantle above the asthenosphere form the _____________. > lithosphere 27. An important discovery of the 1960s was that the lithosphere is broken into ______________ that fit together like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle. > plates 28. At some plate margins, the plates are ____________ or moving away from each other while at others, the plates ____________ or move toward each other. > diverging, converge 29. As plates move away from each other or ____________, fractures extend down to the top of the asthenosphere. > rift 30. Large continents can be torn apart by the _________________________ movements, resulting in smaller continents that move or "drift" about on Earth's surface. > divergent plate 31. The Rio Grande Rift in New Mexico is a good example of a continental ________________________. > rift zone 32. Continued movement of the plates results in the opening of linear oceans such as the __________________________ and the eventual formation of ocean basins such as the _______________ and _____________ oceans. > Red Sea, Atlantic, Indian 33. The present continents were formed about 200 million years ago by the rifting of a huge continent called _______________. > Pangaea 34. Where the plates _______________, the more dense oceanic lithospheric plate dives, or ______________, beneath the less dense continental lithospheric plate or beneath another oceanic plate. > converge, subducts 35. Water drawn down into the _______________ lowers the melting point of the mantle rocks and produces the molten rock that rises to Earth's surface to build volcanic mountain chains. > zones of subduction 36. At one time, Europe and Africa were separated by an ocean called the _______________. > Tethys Sea 37. The Alps are the result of the increasing _______________ of the northern edge of Africa under the southern edge of Europe. > convergence 38. __________________________ is one of the most significant concepts proposed since the origin of the science of geology more than two hundred years ago. > Plate tectonics 39. The two major components of Earth surface are the ____________ and the ______________. 79. ______________ is a common sedimentary feature that forms by the accumulation of coarse particles followed by particles of progressively smaller sizes. > Graded bedding 80. During the formation of _______________ layers, newly deposited layers commonly erode the uppermost portions of the underlying bed as they are laid down. > cross-bedded 81. Steno's second major contribution was the principle of ______________. > original horizontality 82. In the mid-eighteenth century, the work of William Smith, an English engineer, resulted in the formulation of a concept that allowed the age equivalency of distant rock layers to be established, a method called _______________. > correlation 83. As an understanding of plant and animal evolution developed, Smith's work was eventually formulated in the principle of _______________. > faunal succession 84. Another important tool that allows geologists to establish the relative ages of rocks was proposed by Charles Lyell in ____________ with the publication of his Principles of Geology. > 1830 85. Lyell introduced a concept that has become known as the principle of ______________, which states that a geological feature or rock is younger than any rock or geologic feature that it cuts across. > cross-cutting relations 86. In 1805, Robert Jameson first used the term ______________ to describe surfaces of nondeposition and/or erosion that represent breaks in the geologic record. > unconformity 87. The interval of unrecorded time between the accumulation of the older sequence of rocks and that of the younger sequence is called a ____________. > hiatus 88. The most difficult type of unconformity to detect is a _______________, which is an unconformable surface between parallel bedded sedimentary rocks. > disconformity 89. The beds of the younger and older rocks will usually meet at an angle, giving rise to an ____________________________ such as the exposure at Siccar Point. > angular unconformity 90. An unconformity where sedimentary rocks are deposited on the surface of an eroded plutonic igneous or metamorphic rock mass is called a _______________. > nonconformity 91. In the southwestern United States, a procedure called _____________, which uses wood growth rings to date events of the recent past, has enabled archeologists to date human habitation sites back about 6,000 years. > dendrochronology 92. _____________ are very thin (1-2 mm) sedimentary beds or laminations that represent yearly cycles of deposition in lakes located in temperature-humid regions. > Varves 93. In 1899, an Irish chemist and geologist, _____________ (perhaps the first geochemist), suggested that the age of Earth could be determined based upon the salinity (total of all dissolved solids) of the ocean. > John Jolly 94. At about the same time Jolly was attempting to determine the age of Earth, Lord Kelvin, one of the leading physicists of the day, suggested a __________________ procedure he believed would solve the dilemma. > mathematics 95. Radioactivity was not discovered until 1896 when ____________________ observed that photographic plates darkened when exposed to uranium-bearing minerals. > Henri Becquerel 96. In 1903, _______________ and her husband, ____________, became the first to isolate a measurable quantity of a radioactive element, radium. > Maria Sklodowska Curie, Pierre 97. ______________ are atoms whose nuclei contain the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. > Isotopes 98. The use of radioactive isotopes to determine the age of rocks is based upon the disintegration of radioactive (______________) isotopes into stable (_______________) isotopes. > parent, daughter 99. A _____________ is an electron lost from a neutron. > beta particle 100. An _______________ is the combination of two protons and two neutrons. > alpha particle 101. To date a rock by a radiometric technique, the number of atoms of parent and daughter isotopes in the rock are counted using an instrument called a _______________. > mass spectrometer 102. The age of human remains and artifacts is determined by using ________________ or radiocarbon dating. > carbon 14 103. One of the earliest attempts to establish the chronology of Earth's rocks was a fourfold subdivision proposed by Giovanni Arduino in 1759 based on his studies in the ____________. > Alps 104. Arduino assigned the oldest rocks to the _______________, which included all the igneous and metamorphic rocks that he observed. > primitive group 105. Younger than the Primitive Group was the _______________, which consisted of the sedimentary rocks that he observed overlying the crystalline core of the Alps and making up most of the landscape. > secondary group 106. Arduino then assigned surface accumulations of unconsolidated materials such as regolith and soil to the ______________. > tertiary group 107. Later, in _____________, a fourth group, the quaternary, was added to include the most recent materials such as glacial and lake deposits. > 1830 108. The longest period of geologic time is the ____________. > eon 109. All geologic time is subdivided into two eons, the ______________ Eon and the ________________ Eon. > Cryptozoic, Phanerozoic 110. Eons of time are subdivided into ______________. > eras 111. Based upon the overall characteristics of life forms, the Phanerozoic Eon has been subdivided into three eras: (1) the ______________, (2) the _____________, and (3) the _____________. > Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic 112. The Paleozoic Era extends from approximately _____________ million to about ____________ million years ago. > 570, 245 113. The prefix "paleo," is from the Greek work palaios meaning _____________ > ancient, or old. 114. The Mesozoic Era extends from _______ million years ago to _______ million years ago. > 245, 65 115. The Cenozoic Era extends from _______ million years ago to _____________. > 65, the present 116. Huge marine reptiles such as Elasmosaurus (whose descendants are still thought by devout Scots to live in the black depths of ________________________) dominated the sea. > Loch Ness 117. Pterandon , the great "flying" reptile, gained access to the air by taking advantage of folds of _____________ that stretched between its fingers and rear limbs not unlike those possessed by the modern ____________. > skin, bat 118. Best known, however, was a new class of animal called the _____________ that evolved early in the Mesozoic and was destined to dominate the land during the Mesozoic Era. > dinosaur 119. The prefix "meso," from the Greek word mesos meaning "middle," refers to the middle position the dominant Mesozoic _______________ life-forms represent. > reptilian 120. The name Cenozoic is derived from the Greek word kainos meaning "______________." > recent 121. An era is subdivided into ____________ of time with the sequence of rocks deposited being referred to as a _____________ of rocks. > periods, system 122. The ________________________ locality where the rocks of a particular system were first described is called the type locality. > geographic 123. The oldest rocks of the Paleozoic Era belong to the __________________________. > Cambrian System 124. Adam Sedgwick called the oldest rocks of the Paleozoic Era the Cambrian after Cambria, the Roman name for _____________. > Wales 125. Because the Cambrian is the first period of the Phanerozoic Eon, the rocks belonging to the Cryptozoic Eon are usually referred to as ______________. > Precambrian 126. Roderick Murchison studied a sequence of fossiliferous rocks in southern Wales that he named the ______________ after an ancient Welsh tribe. > Silurian System 127. Charles Lapworth proposed that the disputed sequences of rock be combined into a new system that he proposed to name the ____________ after another ancient Welsh tribe. > Ordovician 128. William Londsdale showed the Devonshire rocks studied by Sedgwick and Murchison were intermediate life-forms between the Silurian and the Carboniferous Systems and named the system the _______________. > Devonian 129. In 1822, William Coneybeare and William Phillips described a section of rocks in northern England to which they applied the name the Carboniferous System because of its ____________ content. > coal 130. The Carboniferous System is subdivided into two systems, the older _______________ and a younger ______________ between which exists a widespread unconformity. > Mississippian, Pennsylvanian 131. The Mississippian System was named after rock exposures along the Mississippi River that were first described and subdivided as the Lower Carboniferous by _____________ in 1870. > Alexander Winchell 132. In 1891, ________________________ proposed that the rocks represented a separate system and assigned the name Mississippian. > Henry Shaler 133. The upper portion of the Carboniferous in North America was named the Pennsylvanian System in 1891 by ________________ after excellent exposures in Pennsylvania where the rock sequence contains rich deposits of coal. > H.S. Williams 134. In 1841, the Tsar of Russia invited Murchison to study a sequence of rocks in the Ural Mountains. Murchison found the rocks contained fossils of a younger stage of biological succession than those of the Carboniferous. On that basis, he designated the sequence as a separate system that he called the Permian after the ________________________ in which the rocks were described. > Perm Province 135. The _________________________ was named by a German geologist, Frederich von Alberti, in 1834 after a sequence of rocks in Germany. > Triassic System 174. ________________________ bonding differs from the other three types of bonding in that it does not involve electron transfer or sharing but rather a weak attraction between subunits within the main crystal structure. > Van der Waals 175. Individual atoms can join together into an orderly three-dimensional array called a _____________ in which each atom, ion or functional group is located at a specific site. > crystal lattice 176. Materials that form in such orderly arrangements are said to be _____________, and if they form naturally, they can be called minerals. > crystalline 177. Material formed by atoms joined together to form a solid where the individual atoms are arranged somewhat randomly with no specific order or assigned location within the solid is said to be ______________ and is called a ______________ or glass. > amorphous, mineraloid 178. When the mineral grains can be seen with the unaided eye or with low-power magnification, the identification technique employed is referred to as _________________________. > visual identification 179. The most conspicuous physical property of minerals is ______________. > color 180. The color of the powdered mineral (streak) is relatively diagnostic of some minerals, particularly metallic minerals such as _______________. > hematite 181. An often-used physical property, ______________ is the resistance of a mineral to scratching. > hardness 182. A geologist named _____________________ studied the relative hardness of minerals nearly two centuries ago (1822). > Fredrick Mohs 183. For the softest mineral, Mohs selected ____________, and for the top of his scale he used the hardest mineral known, ____________. > talc, diamond 184. A ________________________ has a hardness of 2.5, a ______________ a hardness of 3, and a piece of _______________ has a hardness of 5.5 > fingernail, copper penny, glass 185. _______________ is used to make baby powder and talcum powder while ____________ is widely used in the construction industry as plasterboard and dry wall. > Talc, gypsum 186. ______________ is the mineral that makes up the shells of animals such as clams, oysters, and snails, while _____________ is used in the construction of bones and teeth, including those of humans. > Calcite, apatite 187. ______________, one of the potassium feldspars, with a hardness of 6, is the abrasive used in most household cleaners. > Orthoclase 188. ______________ is the hardest of all the common minerals and has long been used as an abrasive. > Quartz 189. Today, _____________, which is harder, has nearly replaced quartz as the major abrasive in stones, wheels, emery cloth, and sandpaper. > corundum 190. It may come as a surprise that most ______________ are not used as gemstones, but as abrasives. > diamonds 191. The ____________ of a mineral is the geometric shape of its crystal as defined by the angle between faces. > form 192. ___________________________ is a very diagnostic physical property of some minerals. > Mineral cleavage 193. The mineral _____________ has three mutually perpendicular cleavage planes, which explains why crushed salt grains have a cubic form. > halite 194. ________________________ also has three sets of cleavage planes, but because they are not mutually perpendicular, the crystal form is rhombic. > Calcite 195. Other common minerals with multiple-cleavage planes include _____________, ____________ and ____________ each with two planes, and _______________ with four. > feldspar, augite, hornblende, fluorite 196. If you shatter a piece of quartz, it will break or ______________ along random, usually curved, surfaces like the breaking of glass rather than along planes of cleavage. > fracture 197. Curved fracture is called ___________________________. > conchoidal fracture 198. The _________________________ is a useful physical property that can be estimated by "hefting" the mineral. > specific gravity 199. The specific gravity of _____________ is 2.65, _____________ 5.02, ______________ 5.8, ______________ 7.6, and _______________ 19.3 > quartz, pyrite, chalcocite, galena, gold 200. The ________________________ and _____________ of a substance are numerically equal. > specific gravity, density 201. The _____________ of a mineral is the appearance of the surface under reflected light. > luster 202. Luster can be described as _______________ or _______________. > metallic, nonmetallic 203. Nonmetallic luster is further subdivided into descriptions that are self-explanatory such as _____________, ____________, _____________, ______________, and ____________ > pearly, silky, glassy, vitreous, earthy 204. ________________________ can be used (also with care) to identify some minerals. > Taste 205. Under the ___________________________ , each mineral has a diagnostic appearance when observed with plane-polarized light. > light microscope 206. ______________________, invented in the early 1900s, has become a standard technique for identifying solid, crystalline materials. > X-ray diffraction 207. As X-rays pass into solid crystalline materials, they are __________________ from their original paths at certain angles depending upon the crystal structure of the material. > diffracted 208. Although originally recorded on film, X-ray diffraction data are now usually recorded by a diffractometer and presented as a ____________________ on a strip chart or computer screen. > diffractogram 209. The specific arrangement of the peaks on the diffractogram with their positions and intensities is called a ___________________________. > diffraction pattern 210. The more than 3,200 known rock-forming minerals are classified into two groups: (1) ________________________ and (2) _______________. > silicates, nonsilicates 211. Depending on the ______________ and ______________ contents, the silicate minerals may be further subdivided on the basis of composition into two mineral subgroups: (1) the ______________________ and (2) the _____________________ minerals. > iron, magnesium, ferromagnesian, nonferromagnesian 212. The basic building block of all the silicate minerals is the ________________________. > silicon-oxygen tetrahedron 213. The silicon-oxygen tetrahedra can be joined into five major structural arrangements: (1) _________________________, (2) _______________________, (3) ________________________, (4) ____________________, and (5) _________________________. > isolated tetrahedra, single chains, double chains, sheets, framework structures 214. A crystal structure can be envisioned as a three-dimensional arrangement of anions or functional groups, ____________ together by cations. > glued 215. In the _________________________, the silica tetrahedra are _______________ from each other and held (glued) together by the cations. > isolated tetrahedral structure, isolated 216. The silicon-to-oxygen ratio in these minerals is 1:4, An example is the ____________________. > olivine group 217. The olivine group is an example of a ____________________, which is a group of minerals with a common crystal structure in which two positive ions of nearly the same size can substitute interchangeably. > solid-solution series 218. The olivines range in composition from the iron-rich end member ______________ to the magnesium-rich end member ____________________. > fayalite, forsterite 219. Other minerals with independent tetrahedral structures are ____________ and _____________. > garnet, topaz 220. In the ________________________________, the silicon-oxygen tetrahedra are joined into a chain by sharing two corners of each tetrahedron producing a unit with a silicon to oxygen ratio of 1:3. > single-chain structures 221. The single-chain structure is represented by the ____________________ minerals. > pyroxene group 222. _______________ is the most common representative of the pyroxene group. > Augite 223. ______________________ are made by joining two single chains, of shared oxygen atoms. > Double-chain structures 224. The double-chain minerals are represented by the ____________________ of silicate minerals of which hornblende is the most common representative. > amphibole group 225. In the ____________________, the silicon tetrahedra are joined into sheets with a symmetrical hexagonal (six-sided) pattern. > sheet structures 226. Most sheet minerals are constructed by joining two sheets of tetrahedra together with cations bridging the negatively charged oxygen surfaces. A representative mineral group is the ____________________. > mica group 227. The ____________________________ form by the chemical alteration of most of the silicate minerals, including the micas, and are a major constituent of many soils. > clay minerals 228. The __________________________ is a three-dimensional arrangement of tetrahedra in which each oxygen is shared by adjoining tetrahedra giving a silicon-oxygen ratio of 1:2. > framework structure 229. The feldspar group is subdivided into two subgroups, the ___________________ feldspars and the ______________ feldspars. > plagioclase, alkali 230. The plagioclase group is a solid-solution series in which composition varies from a calcium-rich end member, ______________ to a sodium-rich end member, ______________. > anorthite, albite 231. The alkali feldspars include _____________, ____________, and _____________. > orthoclase, microcline, sanidine 232. ________________, the representative of the oxide group, is the major ore of iron. > Hematite 233. _______________ is the major mineral of limestone. > Calcite 234. _______________ is an industrial mineral that serves as the raw material for a wide range of products including fertilizer. > Soda niter 275. The crust consists of two parts, a relatively thin ______________________ crust and the thicker _____________ crust. > oceanic, continental 276. The oceanic crust is composed mostly of the igneous rock _____________. > basalt 277. Tales of life on Mars date back to _____________ when two Italian astronomers, Angelo Secchi and Giovanni Schiaparelli drew maps of Mars showing what they described as "canali". > 1863 278. The largest single mountain mass on Mars is a volcano called ______________. > Olympus Mons 279. ________________________ are hundreds of thousands of rock fragments that orbit the Sun, mostly between Mars and Jupiter. > Asteroids 280. Nearly everyone has seen a "shooting star" or _____________. > meteor 281. The streak of light that flashes across the night sky records the penetration of Earth's atmosphere by a ____________. > meteoroid 282. Although shooting star sightings had been recorded for millennia, no accepted evidence existed that meteors fell to Earth to become ______________________ until 1803. > meteorites 283. Iron Meteorites are made of 80% to 90% iron with the remainder being largely _____________. > nickel 284. Stony Meteorites are composed primarily of the same minerals present in Earth's ______________. > mantle 285. ______________ Meteorites are, as the name implies, mixtures of the minerals in the other two meteorite classifications. > Stony-Iron 286. The oddest members of the solar family are _____________. > comets 287. In 1950, a Dutch astronomer, Jan Oort, theorized that a cloud of comets, called the ____________, completely surrounds the solar system and orbits at a distance far greater than the diameter of the solar system. > Oort Cloud 288. Generally flat or gently rolling areas are called ______________. > plains 289. The hydrosphere includes all the ____________ that exists on, above, and below Earth's surface. > water 290. Most water outside the ocean basins is tied up in glacial ____________ and ____________. > ice sheets, ice caps 291. The remaining 20% of Earth's water is contained underground as ______________. > groundwater. 292. ______________ and ____________ account for less than 1% of all nonoceanic water. > streams, lakes 293. The gaseous envelope that surrounds Earth is called the _______________. > atmosphere 294. Earth's atmosphere consists of _____________, ______________, _____________, ________________________, and trace levels of various other gases including _______________. > nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide, water vapor 295. Rather than being forced ______________ onto land and reentering the sedimentary cycle, a newly formed sedimentary rock may be thrust _____________ by subduction. > upward, downward 296. The igneous and metamorphic rock cycles are the result of _____________ that may take place tens or hundreds of miles below the surface. > interior processes 297. Sedimentary rocks, lavas, and pyroclastic rocks are formed by ________________________. > exterior processes 298. Where has our understanding of Earth come mainly from since the science of geology began more than two hundred years ago? a. the study of landforms b. the study of the planets c. the study of rocks d. the study of the atmosphere e. all may apply > c 299. What are consolidated mixtures of mineral grains called? a. igneous rocks b. sedimentary rocks c. metamorphic rocks d. rocks e. all may apply > e 300. Which of the following is not a rock type? a. igneous b. sedimentary c. metamorphic d. mineral e. all may apply > d 301. These rocks form from the cooling and solidification of molten rock. a. igneous rocks b. sedimentary rocks c. metamorphic rocks d. rocks e. all may apply > a 302. Why does molten rock rise once formed within the Earth? a. it is extruded from within the Earth b. it is hotter and therefore less dense than the surrounding rock c. it begins to crystallize d. it begins to cool and is therefore less dense than the surrounding rock e. unknown at this time > b 303. The term for molten rock contained within Earth. a. igneous b. magma c. lava d. plutonic e. granite > b 304. Magma that cools and crystallizes before reaching the surface creates what type of igneous rock body? a. intrusive b. volcanic c. lava d. plutonic e. granite > d 305. What is magma extruded into Earth's surface called? a. intrusive b. granite c. igneous d. lava e. plutonic > d 306. What is meant by the term viscous? a. resistance to physical breakdown b. crystallization rate c. resistance to flow d. melting temperature e. freezing resistance > c 307. Upon what factor is the viscosity of magma largely determined? a. silicon content b. gas content c. water content d. carbon content e. pressure > a 308. The term used to describe debris produced by mechanical and chemical weathering accumulating as a layer. a. lithification b. regolith c. erosion d. compaction e. cementation > b 309. Which of the following is not an agent of erosion? a. streams b. glaciers c. waves d. wind e. all are agents of erosion > e 310. What processes are involved when a rock undergoes lithification? a. transportation and mass wasting b. weathering and erosion c. erosion and compaction d. compaction and cementation e. cementation and deposition > d 311. This sedimentary rock forms from clay mineral-rich muds that accumulate on stream floodplains, in wetlands, and on the ocean bottom. a. limestone b. sandstone c. schist d. shale e. evaporites > d 312. This sediment is resistant to chemical attack and survives long after other minerals have decomposed and accumulates as a residual by-product. a. calcite b. quartz c. schist d. carbonate grains e. evaporites > b e. fault > c 329. What other planets have the equivalent of Earth's granitic continents and basaltic ocean basins? a. Mercury b. Venus c. Mars d. Uranus e. none of the other planets > e 330. Where a continental and oceanic plate converge, which plate will subduct beneath the other? a. the denser oceanic plate will subduct beneath the less dense continental plate b. the older oceanic plate will subduct beneath the younger continental plate c. the denser continental plate will subduct beneath the less dense oceanic plate d. the fastest moving plate will subduct beneath the slower e. the slowest moving plate will be older and therefore subduct beneath the younger and faster moving plate > a 331. What features result from the convergence of plates? a. volcanic arca b. subduction zones c. oceanic trenches d. mountain ranges e. all of the above > e 332. The movement of the plates is the basis for which significant concept to be proposed since the origin of the science of geology more than two hundred years ago? a. evolution b. plate tectonics c. origin of the solar system d. Walther's law e. continental drift > b 333. What are the two major components of Earth's surface? a. mountains and oceans b. waves and atmosphere c. ocean basins and continents d. volcanoes and subduction zones e. island arcs and back-arc basins > c 334. How do you explain the continents riding higher than the ocean basins? a. the continents are thicker b. the ocean basins are older c. the continents are less dense d. the oceans are younger e. the oceans are thicker > c 335. Which of the following are not features of the ocean basins? a. continental margins b. abyssal plains c. abyssal hills d. oceanic ridges e. all are features of the ocean basins > a 336. These areas are the submerged portions of the continents and are transitional between the land and the deep-ocean basin. a. continental margins b. seamounts c. deep-sea trenches d. oceanic ridges e. abyssal hills > a 337. The continental shelf, continental slope and the continental rise are subdivision of what oceanic feature? a. continental margins b. seamounts c. deep-sea trenches d. oceanic ridges e. abyssal hills > a 338. This region of the ocean consists primarily of land-derived sediments that have spilled over the edge of the continental shelf and accumulated at the base of the slope. a. continental margins b. seamounts c. continental slope d. continental rise e. abyssal hills > d 339. Where is the deepest portion of the ocean basin, excepting the trenches? a. continental margins b. seamounts c. continental slope d. oceanic ridges e. abyssal plain > e 340. Where are the flattest features on Earth found? a. continental margins b. seamounts c. continental slope d. oceanic ridges e. abyssal plain > e 341. How do the abyssal plains differ from the abyssal hills? a. the abyssal hills are deprived of sediments, exposing the oceanic crust, b. the abyssal plains are covered with sediment, covering the oceanic crust c. in location d. all of the above e. none of the above > d 342. What is the dominant feature of the ocean bottom? a. seamounts b. abyssal plain c. oceanic ridges d. abyssal hills e. continental slope > c 343. These features are created on the ocean floor by the eruption of molten rock that originates from sources below the oceanic lithosphere. a. seamounts b. abyssal plain c. oceanic ridges d. abyssal hills e. continental slope > a 344. What are the deepest portions of the ocean basin called? a. seamounts b. abyssal plain c. oceanic ridges d. abyssal hills e. deep sea trenches > e 345. Where are oceanic trenches located? a. along the continental margin b. at divergent plate margins c. in the abyssal hill region d. where oceanic lithosphere subducts into the mantle e. at the junction of the continental slope and continental rise > d 346. This region of Earth's surface are part of the lithosphere and are made up mostly of masses of low-density granitic rocks. a. craton b. stable platform c. continents d. all of the above e. none of the above > c 347. What is the central region of continents? a. craton b. stable platform c. sedimentary veneer d. rifts e. igneous rocks > a 348. Who, in 1644, made the first real attempt to establish the age of Earth? a. John Lightfoot b. the Brahmins c. the Greek philosopher Xenophanes d. Bishop Lloyd e. James Hutton > a 349. How were the early estimates of the age of Earth determined? a. using the Old Testament Book of Numbers b. relating the genealogy of the tribes of Israel c. used the Bible as their source d. both a and b e. all of the above > e 350. Limited to a short 6,000 years, many early geologists were forced to use extraordinary means to explain the origin of Earth. Which was the most widely accepted theory? a. uniformitarianism b. catastrophism c. radiometric dating d. superposition e. relative dating > b 351. He is regarded as the founder of modern geology. a. John Lightfoot b. Brahmins c. the Greek philosopher Xenophanes d. Bishop Lloyd d. faunal succession e. cross-cutting relations > d 367. Which stratigraphic principle states that a geological feature or rock is younger than any rock or geological feature that it cuts across? a. superposition b. original horizontality c. correlation d. faunal succession e. cross-cutting relations > e 368. What term describes surfaces of nondeposition and/or erosion that represent breaks in the geologic record? a. hiatus b. unconformity c. conformity d. geologic break e. stratigraphic principle > b 369. What is the term for the interval of unrecorded time between the accumulation of the older sequence of rocks and that of the younger sequence? a. hiatus b. unconformity c. conformity d. geologic break e. stratigraphic principle > a 370. Why is a disconformity the most difficult type of unconformity to detect? a. it is represented by a hiatus b. the beds are conformable c. the unconformable surface is between parallel bedded sedimentary rocks d. the beds are extremely deformed e. there is more than one hiatus > c 371. How are disconformities recognized? a. difference in rock types b. difference in depositional environments c. by a sharp change in bedding d. by the recognition of significant differences in fossil assemblages e. by radiometric techniques > d 372. What is implied by the presence of an unconformity? a. deformation b. uplift c. erosion d. hiatus e. all of the above > e 373. In what type of unconformity do the beds of the younger and older rocks meet at an angle? a. unconformity b. disconformity c. angular unconformity d. nonconformity e. conformity > c 374. On what type of unconformity are sedimentary rocks deposited on the surface of an eroded plutonic igneous or metamorphic rock mass? a. unconformity b. disconformity c. angular unconformity d. nonconformity e. conformity > d 375. The objective of which dating technique is to determine the age of an event or an object in years? a. relative dating b. absolute dating c. chronological dating d. both a and b e. both b and c > e 376. This absolute dating technique used wood growth rings to date events of the recent past. a. salinity b. dendrochronology c. heat flow d. varves e. archeology > b 377. Which absolute dating technique is used to date relatively young materials? a. salinity b. dendrochronology c. varves d. both a and b e. both b and c > e 378. What is the term for very thin sedimentary beds or laminations that represent yearly cycles of deposition in lakes located in temperate-humid regions? a. salinity b. dendrochronology c. heat flow d. varves e. archeology > d 379. Which of the following is not an early attempt at absolute age dating of Earth? a. sediment accumulation b. dendrochronology c. ocean salinity d. heat flow e. all are early attempts > b 380. Who was the first to isolate a measurable quantity of the radioactive element, radium? a. Marie Curie b. James Hutton c. N.L. Bowen d. Lord Rutherford e. John Lightfoot > a 381. Who determined that the rate at which radioactive isotopes disintegrate is a physical constant measured by the half-life of the isotope? a. Marie Curie b. James Hutton c. N.L. Bowen d. Lord Rutherford e. John Lightfoot > d 382. What is the term for atoms whose nuclei contain the same proton numbers but different neutron numbers? a. atomic number b. half-life c. atomic mass d. isotope e. radioactive element > d 383. Who determined, in 1905, a rock's age by using the radioactive breakdown rate of uranium? a. Marie Curie b. James Hutton c. N.L. Bowen d. Lord Rutherford e. John Lightfoot > d 384. Upon what are radioactive isotopes used to determine the age of rocks? a. disintegration of radioactive isotopes b. disintegration of parent into daughter isotopes c. formation of radioactive isotopes to stable isotopes d. both b and c e. all of the above > e 385. Which of the following radioactive particles is an electron lost from a neutron? a. alpha particle b. beta particle c. daughter isotope d. half-life e. gamma ray > b 386. Which radioactive particle results from the combination of two protons and two neutrons? a. alpha particle b. beta particle c. daughter isotope d. half-life e. gamma ray > a 387. With the release of which of the following radioactive particles, will the atomic number of the daughter isotope decrease by two, and the atomic mass decrease by four relative to the parent isotope? a. alpha particle b. beta particle c. daughter isotope d. half-life e. gamma ray > a 388. What is the physical constant where the time required for one-half of the isotope parent atoms to disintegrate into the daughter isotope atoms? a. alpha particle b. beta particle c. daughter isotope d. half-life e. gamma ray > d 389. To date a rock by a radiometric technique, what instrument is used to count the atoms of parent and daughter isotopes in the rock? a. dendrochronology b. mass spectrometer > b 405. What occurs once the concentration of ions needed for precipitation has been exceeded? a. molecules form b. compounds form by bonding c. additional orbitals form by precipitation d. radioactive decay of the compound occurs e. ionic substitution occurs > b 406. What is meant by the term electric neutrality within a compound? a. the positive charges outnumber the negative charges in a ion b. the negative charges outnumber the positive charges in a compound c. the positive charges are larger than the negative charges in a compound d. the total positive and negative charges must balance e. the ionic size is neutral electrically > d 407. Which type of bonding forms the strongest bonds? a. ionic b. covalent c. metallic d. Van der Waals e. all form strong bonds > b 408. Which type of bonding produces some of the most chemically resistant compounds? a. ionic b. covalent c. metallic d. Van der Waals e. all form chemically resistant compounds > b 409. In what type of bonding are the atoms locked into place within a rigid lattice, but the outer electrons roam easily throughout the crystal structure? a. ionic b. covalent c. metallic d. Van der Waals e. none of the bonds acts in that manner > c 410. What characteristic properties of metals are due to the unique metallic bonding style? a. high electrical conductivity b. high thermal conductivity c. low malleability d. both a and b e. both b and c > d 411. How does Van der Waals bonding differ from the other three types of bonding? a. does not involve electron transfer b. does not involve sharing of electrons c. has a rather weak attraction between subunits within the main crystal structure d. all of the above e. Van der Waal bonding does not differ from the other three types of bonding > d 412. What is the term for a solid where the individual atoms are arranged somewhat randomly with no specific order or assigned locations within the solid? a. glass b. mineraloid c. amorphous d. crystalline e. all but d > d 413. What mineral identification technique is employed when the mineral grains can be seen with the unaided eye or with low-power magnification? a. physical identification b. visual identification c. mineral identification d. low-power identification e. simple identification > b 414. What is the most conspicuous physical property of a mineral? a. cleavage b. hardness c. luster d. color e. specific gravity > d 415. What is the term for the color of a powdered mineral? a. streak b. hardness c. luster d. color e. specific gravity > a 416. What physical property of minerals is the resistance of a mineral to scratching? a. streak b. hardness c. luster d. color e. specific gravity > b 417. What is the hardness of a mineral the result of? a. ionic activity b. number of bonds within the compound c. the specific gravity d. the strength of the bonds within the crystal structure e. the resistance of a mineral to scratching > d 418. Which of the following is in the correct order of hardness, from softest to hardest? a. quartz, talc, diamond b. talc, diamond, orthoclase c. topaz, corundum, diamond d. calcite, talc, gypsum e. fluorite, gypsum, apatite > c 419. Which is the hardest of all the common minerals and has long been used as an abrasive? a. diamond b. corundum c. topaz d. quartz e. apatite > d 420. What is the geometric shape of a crystal as defined by the angle between faces? a. streak b. hardness c. luster d. color e. form > e 421. This feature of a mineral is the outer expression of the crystal structure. a. streak b. hardness c. luster d. color e. form > e 422. What physical characteristic of a mineral describes the tendency of certain minerals to break along specific planes within the crystal structure? a. cleavage b. hardness c. luster d. color e. form > a 423. Where do cleavage faces develop? a. where the compounds join together b. where the bonding across some crystallographic planes is weaker than others c. where the crystallographic planes are stacked together d. where the compounds join the crystallographic planes e. anywhere the compounds form weaknesses > b 424. Why does quartz break along random, usually curved surfaces? a. weaknesses within the crystallographic structure differ b. the crystallographic planes are random c. the interatomic bonds are all of equal strength d. results from a mixture of crystallographic structures e. the atoms are arranged along curved surfaces > c 425. What physical characteristic of a mineral is described as the ratio of the mass of a solid to the mass of an equal volume of pure water at 4oC? a. streak b. hardness c. luster d. color e. specific gravity > e 426. Upon what factors is the specific gravity of a mineral dependent? a. hardness of the mineral b. number of crystallographic planes within the mineral c. the ability of a mineral to cleave d. the kinds of atoms and the closeness with which they are packed e. the hardness and the luster of a mineral > d 427. How does the specific gravity differ from the density of a substance? a. they are numerically different b. they are both the same one is used to describe minerals c. specific gravity is dimensionless while density is not d. they are measured differently e. density is dimensionless while specific gravity is not > c 428. What physical characteristic of a mineral is the appearance of the surface under reflected light? d. quartz e. talc > d 444. Why are all ferromagnesian silicates dark colored? a. because of the high absorptivity of light by the magnesium in the crystal lattice b. all have metallic lusters c. because of the high absorptivity of light by the iron in the crystal lattice d. all have nonmetallic lusters e. all ferromagnesian silicates are not dark colored > c 445. Why are nonferromagnesian silicates light in color? a. because of the low absorptivity of light by the magnesium in the crystal lattice b. because of the lack of magnesium in the crystal lattice c. because of the low absorptivity of light by the iron in the crystal lattice d. all have nonmetallic lusters e. because of the lack of iron in the crystal lattice > e 446. Why do ferromagnesian minerals have a higher specific gravity than the nonferromagnesian minerals? a. because of the presence of magnesium in the crystal lattice b. because of the lack of magnesium in the crystal lattice c. because of the presence of iron in the crystal lattice d. because of the lack of magnesium e. because of the lack of iron in the crystal lattice > c 447. What is the term for elements that appear in nature uncombined in a solid or liquid state? a. gold elements b. copper elements c. mercury elements d. silver elements e. native elements > e 448. Where have answers to many of the questions pertaining to the origin of Earth come from? a. the study of Earth's interior b. observations of Earth c. observations of the Solar System d. observations of the Universe e. all of the above > e 449. Which of the following ancient civilizations watched the sky and recorded the movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets? a. Egyptians b. Mayans c. Incas d. the people who build Stonehenge e. all of the above > e 450. Who was the first to suggest that Earth was spherical and the center of the Universe? a. Pythagoras b. Plato c. Aristarchus d. Eratosthenes e. Ptolemy > a 451. What was Plato's contribution to the evolution of modern astronomy? a. first to suggest that Earth was spherical b. stated that Earth was the center of the Universe c. maintained that all heavenly bodies move through the heavens following perfectly circular paths d. first to propose that the Sun was the center of the Universe e. both c and d > e 452. Who maintained that all heavenly bodies move through the heavens following perfectly circular paths? a. Pythagoras b. Plato c. Aristarchus d. Eratosthenes e. Ptolemy > b 453. What was Eratosthenes' contribution to the evolution of modern astronomy? a. first to suggest that Earth was spherical b. stated that Earth was the center of the Universe c. maintained that all heavenly bodies move through the heavens following perfectly circular paths d. first to propose that the Sun was the center of the Universe e. made the first realistic determination of the size of Earth > e 454. Who made the first realistic determination of the size of Earth? a. Pythagoras b. Plato c. Aristarchus d. Eratosthenes e. Ptolemy > d 455. His contributions to modern astronomy, physics, and mathematics include the basic rules of light and optics, force and motion, and the initial laws of gravity and planetary motion. a. Aristarchus b. Eratosthenes c. Newton d. Ptolemy e. Galileo > c 456. What are nebulae? a. part of the asteroid belt b. red giants c. white dwarfs d. galaxies e. stars > d 457. What is the event that created the Universe referred as? a. the White Dwarf b. the Red Giant c. the Solar Nebulae d. the Big Bang e. the Light Year > d 458. How are stars born? a. the condensation of Universal gases b. the combination of hydrogen atoms to form helium c. radiation of energy such as heat and light d. both a and b e. both b and c > e 459. How do stars live? a. by the continued addition of hydrogen b. by converting hydrogen to helium in a nuclear fire c. by turning into galaxies d. both a and b e. both b and c > b 460. Small stars with masses less than 0.4 times that of the Sun first shrink into what form? a. protoplanet b. white dwarf c. red giant d. asteroid e. planetesimals > b 461. At some point in time for stars helium begins to be chemically converted into carbon creating what type of phase? a. supernova b. white dwarf c. red giant d. asteroid e. super-giant > e 462. The most massive stars expand, collapse and later explode into this feature during which most heavy elements are formed. a. supernova b. white dwarf c. red giant d. asteroid e. super-giant > a 463. This celestial body was created from hydrogen, helium and heavier atoms, along with bits of silicates, oxides and carbon thrown into space by supernovas. a. terrestrial planets b. Jovian planets c. stars d. comets e. the Sun > e 464. What is the solar wind? a. solar nebula b. a stream of high speed electrons and protons c. the tail of a comet d. rotating mass of particles e. winds do not exist in space > b 465. During the formation of the solar system and once the mass of planetesimals had become sufficiently large, they contracted under the force of gravity creating what features? a. stars b. asteroids c. comets d. protoplanets e. planets > d 466. How are protoplanets converted into planets? a. increase in mass b. contraction under the force of gravity c. internal compositional changes d. density separation into layers 482. Enormous volumes of water vapor escaped into the primeval atmosphere of Earth through what mechanism? a. plate tectonics b. volcanism c. spreading centers d. gravitational contraction e. differentiation > b 483. How did the oceans become salty? a. the water from the volcanoes was salty b. the atmosphere had salt dissolved in it c. weathering and erosion of rocks that contained salts d. both a and b e. both b and c > c 484. This is an atmospheric by-product of photosynthesis. a. carbon dioxide b. salty atmosphere c. nitrogen d. oxygen e. hydrogen > d 485. Why can't liquid water exist in great quantities on the Martian surface? a. no water exists on Mars in any form b. the temperatures are too high c. the temperatures are too low d. the near-vacuum of the atmosphere would cause it to boil away e. the high pressures of the atmosphere would not let ice melt > d 486. What is the single largest mountain mass on Mars? a. block-fault b. fold-belt c. fault-block d. volcanic e. both a and c > d 487. Although volcanoes, such as the Olympus Mons, exist on this planet, no active volcanism has been observed. a. Mercury b. Venus c. Mars d. Jupiter e. Saturn > c 488. This planet has a mass greater than all the other planets combined. a. Mercury b. Venus c. Mars d. Jupiter e. Saturn > d 489. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of this planet is that its rotational axis is nearly parallel to the orbital plane. a. Uranus b. Venus c. Mars d. Jupiter e. Saturn > a 490. Voyager showed that this planet has continuous rings and six additional satellites. a. Uranus b. Neptune c. Mars d. Jupiter e. Saturn > b 491. The least known planet. a. Uranus b. Neptune c. Pluto d. Jupiter e. Saturn > c 492. These are hundreds of thousands of rock fragments that orbit the Sun, mostly between Mars and Jupiter. a. planetesimals b. meteors c. asteroids d. meteoroids e. comets > c 493. This is a streak of light that flashes across the night sky recording the penetration of Earth's atmosphere. a. planetesimals b. meteors c. asteroids d. meteoroids e. comets > b 494. Where are most meteoroids thought to originate? a. from fragments generated by asteroid collisions b. from dying stars c. from the tails of comets d. from red giants e. from white dwarfs > a 495. Why do most meteoroids not survive the entry into our atmosphere? a. they bounce off back into space b. they are shot down by the military c. they are vaporized from the heat generated by friction d. they dissolve e. unknown at this time > c 496. These are small, irregular shaped chunks of ice encapsulated within a tarry outer crust measuring 5-10 miles in diameter and composed primarily of water, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane and ammonia. a. planetesimals b. meteors c. asteroids d. meteoroids e. comets > e 497. What is a characteristic feature of comets? a. a huge, extremely elliptical orbit b. an incandescent tail c. size d. both a and b e. both b and c > d