Geology Practice Test: Understanding Earth Sciences and Plate Tectonics, Exams of Geology

Download Geology Practice Test: Understanding Earth Sciences and Plate Tectonics and more Exams Geology in PDF only on Docsity! Elements of Geology 2104 (2008) Practice Test I Note: There are 22 practice questions below. Answers are at the end. Also, remember that there will be a few questions from the one-page article from “The Economist” on infrastructure in the United States, and several questions from the reading in Chapters 1 and 2. 1. The aspect of the Earth sciences that I think is absolutely crucial for everyone that deals directly and professionally with this planet is that this is a very, very old place, and human influence has come on extremely rapidly, imparting profound consequences. I showed you many times a population curve for humans that only went back 8,000 years. Just roughly, one could say that human population turned up extremely rapidly, or “exploded”, starting 1) about 5 million years ago, 2) about 8,000 years ago, 3) about 2,000 years ago, 4) within the last few centuries. 2. The field of geosciences is very fortunate to have a unifying theory which ties processes together that, at first glance, don’t seem to have anything to do with each other. But in fact, they are all related. These processes include earthquakes, volcanoes, mountain building, and the characteristics of ocean basins. This theory is as important to geoscience as DNA is to biology, and gravity and magnetism are to physics. This theory is known as plate tectonics. 1) True. 2) False. 3. The age dating equation for a mineral can be derived from a simple differential equation which describes the radioactive decay process. 1) True. 2) False. 4. Vast amounts of Earth materials can be moved naturally by rivers, glaciers, wind, plate tectonics, and so on. (For example, the Mississippi River transports a million tons of sediment each day into the Gulf of Mexico.) However, man moves an enormous amount of Earth material as well in the process of construction and farming. It has been estimated that man moves about 10% of what nature does, an amazing statistic since we are comparing what man can do relative to what all-powerful nature can do. 1) True. 2) False. 5. If all of Earth history was squeezed into a 24 hour day, with the Earth’s formation occurring at midnight, and the present being 24 hours later at the next midnight, about when in the 24 hour day would dinosaurs be living on this planet? 1) around 6 AM, 2) around noon, 3) around 3 PM, 4) around 6 PM, 5) around 11 PM. 6) about 45 seconds before midnight. 7) about 2 seconds before midnight. 6. If all of Earth history was squeezed into a 24 hour day, with the Earth’s formation occurring at midnight, and the present being 24 hours later at the next midnight, about when in the 24 hour day would modern looking humans occur? 1) around 6 AM, 2) around noon, 3) around 3 PM, 4) around 6 PM, 5) around 11 PM. 6) about 45 seconds before midnight. 7) about 2 seconds before midnight. 7. There is presently a mantle plume or hot spot underneath the following areas, resulting in the volcanic activity found there: 1) The Yellowstone area of northwest Wyoming. 2) The Cascade range of the Pacific Northwest (Washington and Oregon). 3) The island of Hawaii. 4) Iceland in the north Atlantic. 5) The volcanoes in the Andes in South America. 6) 1 and 4 only. 7) 2 and 3 only. 8) 2, 3, and 4 only. 9) 4 and 5 only. 10) 1 and 3 only. 8. Of the following list, where presently in the United States does the volcanic activity have a great potential to do significant harm to people, towns, cities, etc? 1) the coast of southern California. 2) the East 1 coast. 3) the Florida coast. 4) the coast of Oregon and Washington. 5) Hawaii. 6) the Texas gulf coast. 7) the Rocky Mountains near Denver, Colorado. 8) 4 and 7 only. 9) 4, 5, and 7 only. 10) 5 and 7 only. 9. The Hawaiian Islands are really the end of a very long chain of volcanoes, all long inactive except for the one at the end of the chain, the actual island of Hawaii itself. Which of the following is/are true: 1) The island of Hawaii will stay volcanically active permanently. 2) The tremendous volcanic activity on Hawaii could result in moderate to occasional major earthquakes. 3) Most eruptions on Hawaii are passive, but there is the potential of a highly, highly explosive eruption on the island that could kill many thousands of people. 4) Volcanic eruptions on Hawaii are extremely rare. 5) All are true. 6) Only 1 and 3 are true. 7) Only 1 and 2 are true. 8) Only 1, 2, and 3 are true. 9) None are true. 10. The east coast of the U.S. is called a passive margin because it is the margin, or edge, of a continent, and 1) the western Atlantic plate is subducting underneath the North American continent, 2) the east coast has no plate boundary at present, 3) the east coast is a transform plate boundary, 4) all are incorrect. 11. The coast of Washington and Oregon represent what kind of plate boundary? 1) transform. 2) divergent. 3) mid-ocean ridge. 4) spreading center. 5) ocean-ocean convergent. 6) ocean-continent convergent. 7) continent-continent convergent, a so-called collisional zone. 8) none of the above is correct. 12. Of the following, earthquake activity is most destructive: 1) away from plate boundaries. 2) along convergent plate boundaries. 3) along divergent plate boundaries. 4) on the ocean floor. 5) under mountains. 6) near volcanoes. 7) over mantle hot spots. 13. Material is often added to the plates by volcanism at or near plate boundaries. Which plate boundary is not characterized by large volumes of volcanic material? 1) Ocean-ocean divergent boundary (mid- ocean ridge). 2) Ocean-ocean convergent boundary (island arc). 3) Ocean-continent convergent boundary. 4) Continent-continent convergent boundary (collisional zone). 14. Iceland 1) is a place where the mid-Atlantic ridge rises above sea level, 2) is part of a spreading center, 3) is made up of basaltic volcanic rocks, 4) all of the above, 5) 1 and 3 only, 6) 2 and 3 only, 7) 1 and 2 only, 8) none of the above. 15. From the following list, what kind of plate boundary has the worst combination of BOTH dangerous volcanoes and major earthquakes? 1) Ocean-ocean divergent boundary (mid-ocean ridge). 2) Ocean- continent convergent boundary. 3) Continent-continent convergent boundary (collisional zone). 4) Mantle hot spots under continents. 16. The Himalayas of Nepal and China are due to 1) an ocean - ocean convergent zone, 2) an ocean - continent collisional zone, 3) a divergent zone, 4) a transform fault, 5) none of the above. 17. Which of the following concerning transform faults is true. 1) Volcanoes do not generally occur along these faults. 2) Major earthquakes can occur along these faults. 3) The San Andreas fault which cuts through California is an example. 4) They represent a type of plate boundary. 5) All of the above. 6) 1, 2, and 3 only. 7) 1, 3, and 4 only. 8) 2, 3, and 4 only. 9) 2 and 3 only. 10) 1 and 3 only. 18. Which of the following is/are true: 1) The United States uses more oil than any other country, by far (HINT: This choice is correct). 2) The United States has more oil still to be pumped out of the ground than any other country in the world except for Saudi Arabia. 3) Oil is easy to extract because it exists in large underground 2