In a radio telescope, the electromagnetic energy is gathered by ________.
A) a glass mirror with a reflective coating, similar to an optical telescope
B) a spherical thin metal foil that refracts the radio waves to a point
C) a parabolic metallic mirror, commonly wire mesh
D) a solid slab or copper metal, formed into the shape of a parabola
The mineral fluorite is commonly sold in mineral shops as octahedral (8-sided) objects.
This shape originates from ________.
A) the typical crystal form of fluorite
B) a pseudomorph (false form) of fluorite from replacement of a salt, potassium
chlorite, that grows in octahedral crystals
C) the growth of fluorite in caves and is the form the crystals grow in the open cavern
D) cutting a larger crystal along four perfect cleavage planes, forming a cleavage
fragment
Granitic batholiths typically form over time intervals of ________.
A) tens of thousands of years
B) hundreds of thousands of years
C) millions of years
D) billions of years
If solar flares pose a danger to orbiting spacecraft and astronauts, how much warning is
there for the danger?
A) There is no warning; the radiation arrives at the same time as the feature is observed
because they all travel at the speed of light.
B) The primary danger is from high energy particles that travel at the speed of the solar
wind 500km/s, so there is ample warning of 3-5 days.
C) The danger is from high energy particles moving thousands of km per second, so the
warning is a few hours.
D) The danger is primarily from emission of neutrinos, which move at just below the
speed of light; hence the warning is only a few seconds after a feature is observed.
Comets are made up primarily of ________.
A) iron-nickel alloys
B) silicate minerals, like rocks on Earth
C) frozen hydrogen
D) frozen water, carbon dioxide, and methane
The principle of cross-cutting relationships which states that a geologic feature that cuts
across another feature must be younger than the feature it cuts is important because
________.
A) it provided a tool for sorting out the relative timing of various geologic events
B) it provided a way to recognize if rocks had been deformed
C) it showed that igneous rocks were younger than sedimentary rocks
D) it allowed geologists to correlate rock units over large distances
All of the following are possible indicators that creep is occurring except for ________.
A) tilted fences or power line poles
B) an extremely thick soil profile
C) curved tree trunks
D) cracks in roads or sidewalks
Climate-feedback mechanisms ________.
A) enhance climate models
B) complicate climate models
C) support climate models
D) disagree with climate models
E) have nothing to do with climate models
Haiti is a mountainous island nation that has terrible problems with landslides. Which
of the following explanations would best explain the problem?
A) Climate change has increased weathering rates on the island.
B) The area is hit by numerous tropical cyclones.
C) Most of the forests have been cut down for charcoal, leaving barren slopes subject to
mass wasting during heavy tropical rainstorms and earthquakes.
D) The corrupt government has made poor roads subject to slope failure.
Fluorescence is a characteristic of ________.
A) emission nebulae
B) dark nebulae
C) planetary nebulae
D) reflection nebulae
E) blue nebulae
When Hurricane Katrina was a category 5 hurricane at its peak strength, the air pressure
in the eye of the storm was 902mb. Near the earth’s surface, the air pressure falls off at
roughly 100mb per kilometer. So if you had an uncorrected altimeter in the eye of
Katrina at sea level (not a good place to be), what altitude would it have read?
A) 10,000 m
B) 2010 m
C) 1020 m
D) 115 m
Which of the following is not a product of the chemical weathering of potassium
feldspar?
A) silica
B) potassium ions
C) iron oxide
D) clay
At the head of a delta, the major channel splits into smaller channels that follow
different paths to the sea. These smaller channels are known as ________.
A) endotributaries
B) exotributaries
C) distributaries
D) cotributaries
Deep sea trenches are important features for plate tectonic studies because ________.
A) they are sites where oceanic lithosphere is formed
B) they are sites where two plate move past each other horizontally
C) they are sites where the oceanic lithosphere is consumed into the mantle
D) none of the above
Most deformation occurs along plate boundaries because ________.
A) that is where the molten material makes it easy to deform rock
B) the plates are in constant motion and as a result the boundaries are where they
interact
C) the plates were broken along their boundaries so that is where they are weakest
D) plates are rigid in their interior but the boundaries are in the asthenosphere.
Hubble’s law states that galaxies are receding from us at a speed that is proportional to
their ________.
A) distance
B) orientation
C) volume
D) mass
Which of the following layers in the earth has the highest density?
A) Lithosphere
B) Asthenosphere
C) Lower mantle
D) Outer Core
The earth formed approximately ________ years ago.
A) 5,000
B) 11,000,000
C) 4,600,000,000
D) 13,700,000,000
E) 33,200,000,000,000
During the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the movement of the Pacific Plate was
approximately ________.
A) 1 cm
B) 10 cm
C) 1 meter
D) 10 meters
E) 100 meters
The Tibetan plateau is high above sea level because ________.
A) there are many active faults across Tibet that produce internal crustal thickening and
uplift
B) the extrusion of East Asia has produced structures that thicken the crust under Tibet,
producing regional uplift
C) a giant fault beneath Tibet raises it up relative to adjacent areas
D) crustal thickening over millions of years has produced a thick crust that stands high
due to Isostasy
Three laws of planetary motion were discovered by ________.
A) Johannes Kepler
B) Galileo
C) Tycho Brahe
D) Nicolaus Copernicus
The ________ is an example of an active, continent-continent collision.
A) Arabian Peninsula slamming into North Africa under the Red Sea
B) westward movement of the South American plate over the Nazca plate
C) northern movement of Baja California and a sliver of western California toward the
Hawaiian Islands
D) northward movement of India into Eurasia
A ________ flood occurs when heavy rain strikes a mountainous area.
A) regional
B) flash
C) monsoon
D) quick
Which of the following minerals is a silicate?
A) hematite
B) feldspar
C) calcite
D) halite
The wet tropics are limited to areas ________.
A) where the trade winds bring moisture
B) below 1000 meters of elevation
C) that have mountainous regions of forest
D) where the humidity averages more than 70%
E) where the temperature is always above 35oC
Which one of the following statements concerning volcanic blocks and bombs is true?
A) Blocks are broken fragments of solid rocks; bombs have smaller sizes than lapilli.
B) Bombs are guided to Earth by laser beams; blocks fall anywhere.
C) Bombs are ejected as magma lumps; blocks are ejected as solid fragments.
D) Bombs and blocks are both smaller than lapilli and cinders.
Why is productivity low in tropical regions?
A) because there is too much sunlight
B) because the low density of the water makes it hard for plankton to float near the
surface
C) because the thermocline acts as a barrier to the mixing of surface and deep waters
D) because the deep waters are too warm to maintain a healthy biomass
E) All of the above are problems.
Which of the following is an essential characteristic of an index fossil?
A) The organism lived only in specific environments such as beaches or estuaries.
B) The organism only lived for a short period of geologic time.
C) The fossils are exceptionally abundant and well preserved.
D) The fossils occur in deep-water marine sediments, but the organism actually lived in
the sunlit, surface layer of the ocean.
Why is the molten metallic outer core and the magnetic field important to life on Earth?
A) If we did not have the molten core and the magnetic field, the earth would not have
plate tectonics and would be covered entirely by water.
B) If we did not have the molten core and the magnetic field, the atmosphere would be
very different with either too much ammonia and methane or too little oxygen and
water.
C) If we did not have the molten core and the magnetic field, we would be bombarded
by cosmic rays that would strip away our atmosphere.
D) If we did not have the molten core and the magnetic field, we would be bombarded
by meteorites and we would not be able to hold the moon in orbit.
The subarctic climate is often referred to as ________.
A) the polar express
B) the taiga climate
C) frozen land
D) steppes
E) tundra
What is the difference between the coastline and shoreline?
A) The coastline is the landward limit of ocean-related landforms, and the shoreline is
the ephemeral line that marks the interface between land and sea.
B) The coast is the landward limit of ocean-related landforms, the coastline is the line
that separates the coast from the shore, and the shoreline is the ephemeral line that
marks the interface between land and sea.
C) The shoreline is the landward limit of ocean-related landforms, and the coastline is
the interface between land and sea.
D) The shoreline is the low-tide line, and the coastline is the high-tide line.
During the early Paleozoic era, South America, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, India, and
perhaps China comprised the vast southern continent of ________.
A) Europe
B) Laurasia
C) Gondwanaland
D) Antindia
E) Pangaea
The major role of thermal energy (heat) in metamorphism is ________.
A) reducing the strength of rocks so that stress can be an effective agent of change
B) increasing the processes of dissolution and flow of different minerals
C) driving chemical reactions that lead to recrystallization
D) providing energy for the physical changes that occur during metamorphism
Which one of the following statements is not true of tornadoes?
A) occur most frequently in the spring of the year
B) usually occur along the warm front of a mid-latitude cyclone
C) most common in the Midwest and Great Plains
D) associated with cumulonimbus clouds
Deserts and steppes occur at middle latitudes because of ________.
A) subsiding air currents
B) rising air currents
C) high temperatures
D) mountains that block the moisture and long distances from the oceans