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Which of the following is an example of a volcanic island arc? A) Cascade Volcanoes B) Andean Volcanoes C) Hawaiian Volcanoes D) Aleutian Volcanoes A ________ is a part of the craton that is covered by a thin covering of […]

What is slab pull? A) Cold oceanic lithosphere is pulled below warmer asthenosphere. B) Cold continental lithosphere is pulled below warmer asthenosphere. C) Cold continental lithosphere is pulled below warmer oceanic lithosphere. D) Warmer oceanic lithosphere is pulled below colder […]

Which of the following scenarios would best indicate that a thrust fault is present at a location? A) The hanging wall of the fault has slipped down. B) Two parts of the same rock have been horizontally displaced by 20 […]

Match the tectonic boundary with the type of stress affecting it. 1. Convergent boundary 2. Divergent boundary 3. Transform boundary A) Shear B) Compression C) Tension Which of the following regions is not one of the top coal-producing states in […]

Match the mass wasting process with the correct definition. A) Gradual movement of sediment due to repeated freezing and thawing B) Soil saturated with water flows downslope in permafrost areas C) Material moves as an intact mass along a curved […]

Peridotite is the main constituent of which part of the Earth? A) Crust B) Magma chambers C) Rift zones D) Upper mantle Which of the following is not an example of a continental rift? A) East Africa B) Rhine Valley, […]

Which of the following scenarios best describes the creation of the lahars associated with the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980? A) Hot gases melted the volcano’s snowcap, generating meltwater that mixed with ash. B) A volcanic flank collapsed […]

When going from a 5 to a 6 on the Richter Scale, what is the increase in amplitude of seismic waves? A) 1 time B) 2 times C) 10 times D) 32 times Which mineral formation process would have been […]

What type of atomic bond is shown in the figure above? A) Hybrid B) Metallic C) Covalent D) Ionic The lithosphere is composed of the ________ and the rigid part of the ________. A) outer core; inner core B) mantle; […]

How has sea level changed over the last few thousand years? A) It has risen 1 cm per millennium. B) It has remain constant. C) It has fallen 25 cm per century. D) It has risen about 10 cm per […]

What is a planetesimal? A) A rotating cloud of interstellar gases B) A celestial body that orbits the sun but cannot clear its own neighborhood C) Rocky material accreted through repeated collisions D) The core of a star that has […]

Barrier islands are more common along the Atlantic Coast than the Pacific Coast. Composite cones are also known as stratovolcanoes. Answer: TRUE Rip currents are the result of tidal variations. Answer: FALSE Glaciers are a single, solid piece of ice […]

Which of the following materials will allow for the fastest transmission of seismic waves? A) Rigid, less compressible material B) Material that has been slightly heated C) Partially molten material D) Molten material ________ is the name for glacial deposits […]

________ are mixtures of clay, sand, and bitumen. A) Tar pits B) Oil sands C) Oil shales D) Gas hydrates ________ is a biochemical sedimentary rock that often forms in carbonate reefs. A) Limestone B) Chert C) Rock Salt D) […]

Which section (A, B, or C) indicates the zone where direct seismic waves are received? A) Section A B) Section B C) Section C The Challenger Deep has previously been measured to have a depth of 10,994 meters. You have […]

Assume that the irrigation well in the middle of this image was installed by a seed corn company and not by the farmers who own the local wells on either side. If irrigation were stopped immediately, would this localized lowering […]

________ is the study of mineral materials. A) Mineralogy B) Lithology C) Mineralosophy D) Historical Geology What is the source of the sediments in a forearc basin? A) Carbonate reefs B) Continental sediments and pyroclastic materials C) Sediments washed from […]

What submarine oceanic features are circled in this image? A) Seamounts B) Deep-sea fans C) Rift zones D) Faults The mineral bauxite is refined to produce ________ for economic use. A) iron B) aluminum C) copper Answer: A D) gold […]

Which type of convergence will result in a continental volcanic arc? A) Oceanic-continental B) Oceanic-oceanic C) Continental-continental ________ describes how an entire suite of silicate minerals can form from a single basaltic magma as it cools and crystallizes. A) The […]

Black smokers can be found along subduction zones. All isotopes are unstable. Answer: FALSE The hydrologic cycle is off-balance because more liquid is brought in via comets and meteorites each year. Answer: FALSE The early Earth was not hospitable to […]

________ was the English engineer and canal builder who observed that sedimentary strata in widely separated areas could be identified by their distinctive fossil assemblages. A) Isaac Newton B) William Smith C) Charles Lyell D) Charles Darwin Why might there […]

Which layer is thought to be the birthplace of deep mantle plumes? A) Transition zone B) Outer core C) D” layer D) Shadow zone Approximately 91 percent of the coal use in the United States today is used for ________. […]

Which of the following substances is not a volatile found in magma? A) O2 B) CO2 C) H2O D) SO2 Which of the following textural terms describes the texture of nonclastic chemical sedimentary rocks? A) Sand-sized B) Crystalline C) Gravel-sized […]

The depth of deep-ocean trenches is closely related to age: the younger the subducting plate, the deeper the trench. Dikes tend to form as solitary structures. Answer: FALSE Aquitards are made of high-conductivity materials such as clay. Answer: FALSE The […]

Which of the following materials is most readily dissolved by water? A) Clay minerals B) Silica C) Feldspars D) Calcite As of 2015, which of the following earthquakes was observed to have the greatest displacement, exceeding 40 meters? A) Christchurch, […]

Which agent of metamorphism was primarily responsible for generating the rock in the image above? A) Heat B) Directed pressure C) Confining pressure D) Partial melting This figure shows what will happen as a seismic wave moves from a material […]

________ is when groundwater is being replenished. ________ is when groundwater is flowing back toward the surface. A) Recharge; Discharge B) Drainage; Discharge C) Dissolution; Recharge D) Retention; Capacity Using the figure above, fill in the missing substances from Bowen’s […]

________ are former river valleys that were oriented parallel to the direction of ice flow and were scoured deeper by advancing glacial ice. A) Hanging valleys B) Paternosters C) Finger lakes D) Kettle lakes What was the approximate increase in […]

Match the igneous composition to its silica content. 1. Mac 2. Felsic 3. Intermediate A) ~60% B) ~50% C) ~70% Generally speaking, how does the chemical composition of most metamorphic rocks compare to that of the parent rock? A) Their […]

Tsunamis travel as a single wave across the ocean. Weathering is the transportation or removal of broken-down materials. Answer: FALSE Fast mass-wasting processes are more widespread than slow mass-wasting processes. Answer: FALSE Carbon-14 dating is useful for paleontologists researching dinosaurs. […]

Which of the following is an example of a numerical date? A) The Stone Age occurred before the Iron Age. B) John Adams was president of the United States after George Washington. C) A meteorite impacted the Earth sixty-five million […]

What is the most important factor driving metamorphism? A) Pressure B) Heat C) Hydrothermal fluids D) Orientation What kind of stress is deforming this block? A) Shear B) Compression C) Tension Answer: C Answer: B Match the image with the […]

Beaches are locations along the shoreline where excess sediment has accumulated on shore. Continental shelves are valuable locations that support important fishing grounds. Answer: TRUE The inner planets are the smaller rocky planets that are close in proximity to the […]

What materials are best dated with carbon-14? A) Igneous rocks B) Volcanic rocks C) Organic materials D) Sandstones When was the Last Glacial Maximum? A) 18,000 years ago B) 10,000 years ago C) 100,000 years ago D) 32,000 years ago […]

Which kind of mineral tenacity refers to a mineral being deformed by being hammered without breaking? A) Malleable B) Sectile C) Fibrous D) Elastic Why did invertebrates, particularly arthropods, get so large in the Late Paleozoic? A) There was more […]

Due to the crashing of waves and the backwash of water from shore, beaches can be thought of as areas where material is in transit. In cast and mold fossilization, the cast is the hollow space in the rock made […]

A geyser is a type of artesian well. Ice cores taken from glaciers show higher concentrations of 18O in the ice deposited during colder climates. Answer: FALSE Changes that occur in one part of the climate system are isolated and […]

What is diagenesis? A) The change from a sedimentary rock to a metamorphic rock B) The weathering of carbonate rock due to dissolution C) The textural, compositional, and other changes that occur to sediments after deposition D) The two-stage cooling […]

When did the Big Bang occur? A) 3.8 billion years ago B) 4.6 billion years ago C) 7.8 billion years ago D) 13.7 billion years ago The ________ of a continent consists of a core area of Precambrian rocks exposed […]

The granitic igneous rocks that make up the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California and Nevada are ________. A) extrusive B) intrusive C) metamorphic The creation of which sedimentary feature is controlled in part by debris flows exiting a narrow canyon? […]

Which sediment size has the steepest angle of repose? A) Gravel B) Sand C) Silt D) Clay A convergent boundary is usually associated with which physical features? A) Rift valleys B) Volcanic arcs C) Horizontally displaced rocks D) Submarine trenches […]

Where is oceanic crust generated? A) Along divergent plate boundaries B) Where volcanic lava meets the sea C) Where continents collide D) Where magma bodies are emplaced deep in the crust In a desert environment, in which area would surface […]

Using the map provided, locate three continental plates and three oceanic plates. Match the correct label with the correct plate. 1. Pacific Plate 2. North American Plate 3. Nazca Plate 4. Philippine Plate 5. Eurasian Plate 6. African Plate A) […]