The resistance of a mineral to abrasion is known as ________.
A) luster
B) cleavage
C) streak
D) hardness
The angle of the noon sun varies by ________ degrees each year.
A) 15
B) 23.5
C) 47
D) 73.5
E) It is different in different places.
Which of the following lists the rocks in the order of increasing grain size and
increasing grade of metamorphism?
A) phyllite, slate, schist
B) schist, slate, phyllite
C) slate, phyllite, schist
D) slate, schist, phyllite
Sedimentary rocks comprise approximately ________ percent of Earth’s outermost 10
miles.
A) 5
B) 15
C) 30
D) 50
________ would have the largest capacity to naturally remove sewage pollutants.
A) Fractured granite
B) Well-sorted, coarse gravel
C) Slightly clayey sand
D) Limestone with solution channels and caverns
The study of spectroscopy was begun by ________.
A) Albert Einstein
B) Sir Isaac Newton
C) Galileo
D) George Hale
E) Niels Bohr
Horn Island is a small island about 10 km offshore from Biloxi, Mississippi, that is
about 20 km long and 1 km wide. What are features like Horn Island called?
A) beaches
B) reefs
C) sand spits
D) barrier islands
If you fall into a crevasse, what is the maximum depth you are likely to fall?
A) 10 meters
B) 25 meters
C) 50 meters
D) 100 meters
The single most important erosional agent is ________.
A) running water
B) wind
C) ice
D) waves
Oceanic island arcs are similar to continental volcanic arcs in that ________.
A) oceanic island arcs form on continents when oceanic lithosphere is subducted
B) oceanic islands arcs form by the same mechanism as continental arcs
C) continental arcs make islands that are arc-shaped
D) major continental mountain ranges formed from island arcs
Why do the planets “drift” east relative to the stars and then move west for periods of
time?
A) They are moving in separate orbits around the sun as it goes around the earth,
producing the periodic backtracking.
B) They are moving in large elliptical orbits, so when observed from Earth, their motion
changes depending on whether they are near or far from the sun at a given time.
C) They are moving in the same rotation sense as the earth around the sun, but as the
earth moves faster (or slower, depending on the planet) the motion appears to be
backwards.
D) They don’t move, they stay fixed relative to the stars.
Which of the following plates is getting significantly smaller?
A) Pacific
B) North America
C) Africa
D) Eurasia
________ organisms live on or in the ocean bottom.
A) Nektonic
B) Planktonic
C) Scavenging
D) Benthonic
E) none of these
Shield volcanos form from what type of magma?
A) high viscosity aa basalt magmas
B) low viscosity rhyolite magmas
C) low viscosity basalt magmas
D) high viscosity rhyolite magmas
Volcano A erupts rocks with SiO2 content ranging from 49% to 52% whereas volcano
B, 100km away, erupts materials with SiO2 content of 62-68%. Which statement best
characterizes these two volcanos?
A) Both volcanos are shield type volcanos that are characterized by quiescent eruptions.
B) Both volcanos are violent, explosive volcanos that spread ash continent wide.
C) Volcano A is likely to be a supervolcano with violent eruptions, whereas volcano B
is probably a shield volcano with quiescent eruptions.
D) Volcano A is probably a shield volcano with typically quiescent eruptions, whereas
Volcano B is likely a stratovolcano characterized by violent, explosive eruptions.
As an erosional process, how is mass wasting unique compared to wind, water, and ice?
A) Mass wasting affects particles of all sizes whereas the others affect only smaller
particles.
B) Mass wasting does not require a transporting medium.
C) Mass wasting affects much larger geographic areas than does wind, water, and ice.
D) All of the above make mass wasting unique compared to wind, water, and ice.
Why are humid middle-latitude climates with severe winters not found in the Southern
Hemisphere?
A) It is too warm in the Southern Hemisphere to have severe winters.
B) Mountains block the flow of moist air in the Southern Hemisphere.
C) The Southern Hemisphere is dominated by warm winds.
D) The Southern Hemisphere is dominated by oceans.
E) Coastal regions in the Southern Hemisphere are mostly volcanic.
Submarine canyons found on the continental slope are believed to have been created
________.
A) by rivers during the ice age
B) by faulting
C) because of a plate plunging into the mantle
D) none of these
When a mineral fractures along a cleavage plane, what does this suggest about the
crystal structure of the mineral?
A) The atoms are arranged in a simple orderly arrangement with uniform bonding.
B) The crystal structure contains planes along which chemical bonding is much weaker
than other directions.
C) The crystal grows only planar faces that become weak zones that form cleavage.
D) The crystal contains warped planes called twin planes that weaken the crystal
structure and allow it fracture along a planar surface, causing cleavage.
The primary agent of contact metamorphism is ________.
A) folding
B) heat
C) stress
D) strain
What is the right ascension and declination for Polaris, the North Star?
A) RA 0 hr, D 0 degrees
B) RA 0 hr, D 80 degrees
C) RA indeterminate, D 90 degrees
D) RA 90 hr, D -90 degrees
Metamorphism occurs when a rock ________.
A) experiences conditions that include high temperatures
B) experiences conditions that include high pressures
C) experiences conditions that are significantly different from those that formed the
rock
D) experiences conditions that are similar to those that formed the rock
When subjected to a differential stress, a very “brittle” material, like glass, will
________.
A) not bend at all. It will only break.
B) deform by breaking or elastic bending
C) flow or shear if the stress is large enough
D) flow under low to moderate stress conditions
Confining pressure is where ________.
A) forces are applied equally in all directions
B) forces are applied from the top and the bottom equally
C) pressure is applied in a cubic region
D) pressure is parallel to the bedding planes
An identifying characteristic of convergent boundaries is ________.
A) linear mountain chains on the seafloor
B) long linear valleys with faults along the sides
C) deep, linear trenches in the seafloor
D) seamounts and atolls on the seafloor
What volcanic events formed Crater Lake, Oregon? When did they take place?
A) A powerful explosion blew away the top of a stratovolcano 10 million years ago.
B) The crater of a large, extinct cinder cone filled with water 5 million years ago.
C) Landslides and volcanic mudflows dammed the Mazama River 500 years ago.
D) Caldera collapse followed major ash and pyroclastic-flow eruptions 6000 years ago.
This cloud type is confined to the middle height range.
A) cirrostratus
B) cumulonimbus
C) altostratus
D) cirrus
Closely spaced isobars indicate ________.
A) high pressure gradient and high winds
B) high pressure gradient and likely gusty winds
C) geostrophic conditions
D) low pressure gradient and weak gusty winds
Which of the following volcano types are short lived volcanos that last a few days to
months and then shut down?
A) shield volcano
B) cinder cone
C) lava dome
D) composite volcano
We know from the Apollo missions and unmanned probes that the moon’s surface is
covered with loose, unconsolidated material with a texture similar to soil on earth. How
did this material form on the moon?
A) The same as Earth, but soils are ancient from a time when the moon still had an
atmosphere and water.
B) The loose material is mostly micrometeorite fragments and ejecta from impact
craters, so is very different from soil on Earth.
C) The material is produced by spalling from rock surfaces caused by the extreme
heat-cold cycles as the moon rotates through a 1 lunar day, or approximately one Earth
month.
D) The material is mostly volcanic ash ejected from volcanos that are no longer active.
All of the following are evidence supporting the theory of plate tectonics except for
________.
A) changes in the Moon’s orbit due to shifting plates
B) ocean floor drilling
C) hot spots
D) paleomagnetism
________, a moon orbiting Jupiter, has an unusually smooth, uncratered, ice-covered
surface.
A) Phobos
B) Titan
C) Miranda
D) Europa
The planets are “wanderers” in the night sky because they move relative to the stars.
However, there movement is limited to the plane of the solar system, which is disk
shaped. So relative to the celestial coordinate system, how do the planets actually move
across the sky?
A) They move along the celestial equator.
B) The move perpendicular to the celestial equator.
C) The move along the zodiac.
D) They follow wobbling paths related to the precession of equinoxes.
Use the Periodic table below to answer the following questions:
The columns of the periodic table divide atoms by their ________.
A) number of valence electrons
B) atomic mass
C) number of protons
D) number of neutrons
A popular modern theory for the origin of the Earth-Moon system is that the early Earth
collided with another planet the size of ________.
In recent years there has been more discussion of droughts in places like eastern Texas,
which is not considered a desert, than in southern Arizona which clearly is a desert.
Does this mean that arid environments are changing and it would be better to invest in
farm land near Phoenix, Arizona, than near Austin, Texas, for long term financial
security?
Two weather stations lie along a latitude line. The eastern station records a pressure of
1021mb, the western station records 1015mb. The 1020 isobar is closest to which
station?
Give the term that best answers each phrase.
massive, gently sloping volcanoes built of successive, basaltic lava flows
Structures called ________ are built parallel to the shoreline to protect boats from the
force of large breaking waves.
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.
What is the value of long range earthquake prediction?
Antarctica’s ice represents approximately 65% of the earth’s fresh water supply and
many populated regions need that water. Should we develop a program to mine
Antarctica’s ice and redistribute it to areas where it is needed? Explain your answer.
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 apparent shift in the position of a nearby star when viewed from extreme points in
Earth’s orbit six months apart is called ________.
Based on the examples and discussion in Chapter 4, what is the relationship of climate
to weathering, both chemical and mechanical? Also, are certain climates more
susceptible to certain types of weathering? Why or why not?
The convective flow of liquid, metallic iron in the ________ is thought to generate
Earth’s magnetic field.
Saturn’s moon Titan has rain like earth, but the rain is ________, not water.
The amount of energy released during a nuclear reaction was established by the
well-known scientist named ________.
A(n) ________ is a circular to elliptical, closed depression in karst areas.
According to your textbook, soil is an interface between Earth’s spheres, and all life
owes its existence to soil. Explain why soil is considered to be so important.
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.