During the late Paleozoic, the present-day North America, Europe, western Asia,
Siberia, and perhaps China formed the northern continent of ________.
A) Gondwanaland
B) Laurasia
C) Greenland
D) Africa
E) none of the above
We know the age of the lunar highlands from ________.
A) dating of lunar rocks collected by Apollo missions
B) dating of lunar maria basalts collected by Apollo astronauts, and extrapolated back
in time by relative chronology
C) dating of earth rocks, and correlating to lunar events
D) age estimates from cratering rates
Chemical sedimentary rocks form from materials ________.
A) carried in solution
B) too fine to see without a microscope
C) that form weak bonds with oxygen
D) all of the above
Jupiter’s moon Io is thought to be the volcanically active world in our solar system.
What is the inferred source of heat?
A) Very high abundances of radioactive elements have been detected on the planet.
B) Io has a strong magnetic field as does Jupiter, so as Io moves through Jupiter’s
magnetic field, large electrical currents are generated, which heat the planet.
C) Io is close to Jupiter, and the strong tidal forces on planet produce frictional heating
of the planet.
D) It is a mystery; it should be very cold because it is the same size as the moon but far
from the sun.
When the moon appears as a thin crescent in the evening sky, just after sunset, the lunar
phase is ________.
A) new moon
B) between new moon and first quarter
C) between first and second quarter
D) between second and third quarter
Which of the following is emplaced over millions of years to form a composite
intrusive complex?
A) dike
B) sill
C) laccolith
D) batholith
In the Northern Hemisphere, the winds associated with a low pressure system (cyclone)
blow ________.
A) clockwise and toward the center
B) counterclockwise and toward the center
C) clockwise and outward from the center
D) counterclockwise and outward from the center
Air may best be described as ________.
A) an element
B) a compound
C) a mixture
D) none of these
By applying the law of superposition, ________ dates can be determined.
A) conventional
B) radiometric
C) relative
D) both relative and radiometric
The thermocline or area of rapid temperature change in the ocean is important because
________.
A) different chemical compositions form at different temperatures
B) it forms a barrier to many types of marine life that can only exist within certain
temperature ranges
C) the ability for the ocean to dissolve CO2 from the atmosphere is dependent on
temperature over a range of depths.
D) it controls the climate and rate of evaporation and precipitation near the oceans.
E) none of the above
You take a block of granite and heat it to 1000 degrees Kelvin, and it glows bright red.
If you then heat it to 1200 Kelvin, how might it look different?
A) It would be brighter and more white.
B) It would be much brighter and red.
C) It would be about the same brightness but white.
D) None of the above; it would have melted, and once it melts, it will no longer emit.
Solar rays will strike the Tropic of Capricorn at an angle of 90 degrees on ________.
A) June 21
B) March 21
C) September 21
D) December 21
________ are small, extraterrestrial particles that glow brightly and burn up as they
travel through Earth’s atmosphere.
A) Asteroids
B) Microcomets
C) Mesocoronas
D) Meteoroids
Deserts such as the Great Basin, Gobi, and Takla Makan are examples of ________.
A) chinook deserts
B) subtropical deserts
C) rainshadow deserts
D) monsoon deserts
Continental tropical air masses are most prominent in what part of North America?
A) the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico
B) the Pacific Northwest
C) the Midwestern United States and Canada
D) the Southeastern United States
The height, length, and period of a wave depend upon ________.
A) the length of time the wind has blown
B) the wind speed
C) the fetch
D) all of these
If a yellow star is moving away from us very rapidly, what color will it appear to be?
A) purple
B) bluish purple
C) reddish orange
D) greenish blue
The most rapid type of mass movement is a ________.
A) slump
B) lahar
C) rock avalanche
D) debris flow
Because surface winds circulate around a midlatitude cyclone, why do they move from
west to east across North America?
A) The winds aloft, particularly the jet stream, move from west to east and steer the
storm system.
B) The continental polar air mass that “pushes” the cold front drive the storm east.
C) The storm is forced toward the warm arm mass, which “pulls” the storm toward it to
the east.
D) The Bermuda high in the Atlantic ocean forces circulation it, which steers the storm
systems in North America.
Which of the following statements apply to the asthenosphere, but not the lithosphere?
A) zone in the upper mantle that deforms by plastic flowage
B) cool, rigid layer of crust and upper mantle that forms the tectonic plates
C) deforms mainly by brittle fracturing and faulting
D) partial melting of rising granitic plumes produces huge volumes of basaltic magma
As magma approaches the surface, water contributes to the explosive potential of the
eruption because ________.
A) water has a large heat capacity, which allow it to keep the magma hot enough to
explode
B) water dissociates to hydrogen and oxygen at high temperatures but reacts violently at
decreasing pressures to produce explosive eruptions
C) water has a lower density in its solid phase than its liquid phase which makes it
explode when pressure decreases
D) water dissolved in magma flashes to steam as pressure decreases, and the volume
increase leads to an explosive potential
What did the Mars rover Opportunity discover on Mars that relates to questions about
the existence of water on Mars?
A) The rover found liquid water emerging from a spring, freezing to ice.
B) The rover found ice in the soil.
C) The rover found sedimentary rocks that contained minerals that could only have
formed by precipitation from water.
D) The rover found no evidence of water ever having been on Mars.
Which one of the following are the three most abundant gases in the dry atmosphere?
A) oxygen, argon, carbon dioxide
B) argon, carbon dioxide, nitrogen
C) carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen
D) nitrogen, oxygen, argon
Igneous rocks with an andesitic composition ________.
A) are denser than basaltic compositional rocks
B) make up most of the sea floor
C) are denser than granitic compositional rocks
D) are found primarily in continental interiors
Planetesimals, asteroid-size objects, form during the early history of the solar nebula
due to ________.
A) collisions of particles of ice, metal, and rocky material rotating about the protosun
B) vortices in the rotating disc associated with the protosun
C) the formation of comets in the outer parts of the solar nebula
D) the break-up of the solar nebula as it cools and contracts
An isolated remnant of wave erosion is a ________.
A) spit
B) jetty
C) groin
D) sea stack
The United States spans ________.
A) from the tropics to temperate zones
B) from the tropics to the arctic
C) from the temperate zone to the arctic
D) the middle latitudes
E) the entire range of the Northern Hemisphere
The layer of the Sun that radiates most of the light that reaches Earth is called the
________.
A) ionosphere
B) corona
C) photosphere
D) chromosphere
E) megasphere
In the movie “Volcano” basaltic lava flows are shown running down flat streets at
speeds faster than humans could run. From your knowledge of magma viscosity, is this
realistic?
A) Yes, the viscosity of basalt magma is similar to water so it would flow at comparable
rates.
B) No, the viscosity of basaltic magma is much higher than water, and thus, would flow
much slower than water.
C) No, the viscosity of basaltic magma is much higher than water, and thus, would flow
much faster than water.
D) There is no way of knowing because basaltic magmas can have viscosities similar to
water or higher depending on temperature and fluids, and thus there isn’t enough
information.
Which of the following geologic observations would not bear directly on working out
the sequence of geologic events in an area?
A) inclusions of sandstone in a granite pluton
B) a well-exposed dike of basalt in sandstone
C) the feldspar and quartz contents of a granite
D) an unconformity between a granite and sandstone
The Appalachians were formed by three phases of ________ orogeny.
A) collisional
B) Andean
C) rifting
D) transform
Bowl-shaped depressions in bedrock at upstream ends of alpine glacial valleys are
called ________.
Low and narrow offshore, emergent ridges of sand that parallel the coast are called
________.
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the
relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit
the pattern.
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the
relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit
the pattern.
Give the term of ocean floor sediment for each phrase.
calcareous ooze
Planets in the making are referred to as ________.
Fill in the missing rock names on the chart below.
Refer to the figure below, captured from Google Earth, for the following questions.
The line of volcanos at C is called a ________.
Why are coastal and mountainous regions often much more windy than other locations
at similar latitudes? Also, from this and earlier chapters on meteorology, are there other
weather characteristics that are perhaps unique or different for these areas?
There has been some political discussion in the past few years about whether we are
experiencing “Global Climate Change.” How would you evaluate this debate?
Use Figure 21.26 below to help explain the difference between the sidereal and synodic
month.
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the
relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit
the pattern.
The ________ climate is also referred to as a Mediterranean climate.
Briefly explain how magnetic patterns on the seafloor support Plate Tectonic theory.
Manganese nodules are an example of ________ sediment.
Use one of the following five terms to fill in the blanks for the questions below:
Continental crust, Asthenosphere, Mantle, Lithosphere, Oceanic crust
________ averages 35 to 40 km in thickness.