Which ocean has the greatest average depth?
A) Atlantic
B) Pacific
C) Indian
D) Arctic
Thunder and lightning are associated with these clouds.
A) cirrostratus
B) cumulonimbus
C) altostratus
D) cirrus
What two chemical elements are most abundant in the deep interior of the earth?
A) iron and magnesium
B) magnesium and oxygen
C) hydrogen and helium
D) silicon and oxygen
Light elements like hydrogen and helium form a large percentage of the outer planets
and Sun is made up primarily of hydrogen. Why are these elements nearly absent from
the inner planets?
A) The Sun captured all of the hydrogen during its formation.
B) These light elements are blown away from the inner planets by the solar wind.
C) It is a mystery that has never been solved by science.
D) Hydrogen and helium have all been bound up by chemical reactions on the inner
planets and are held in rock.
Faunal succession recognized in the sequence of fossils in stratified sedimentary rocks
was a key concept that led to ________.
A) the concept of evolution of life on Earth
B) continental drift
C) sea floor spreading
D) Catastrophism and evidence the world was once covered with water
Continental shields and platforms represent ________.
A) sites where continents collide, analogous to warriors clashing shields
B) names given to Paleozoic mountain belts
C) sedimentary basins with inland seas shaped like a shield, like Hudson’s bay
D) areas in the interior of continents that have not experienced mountain building for
billions of years
Which one of the following is most likely to be associated both with impact craters and
with volcanic calderas that originate by collapse?
A) outwardly radiating, fragmental, bright, surface streaks
B) sharp rims that rise well above the surrounding area far away from the edge of the
depression
C) sharp, central peaks that rise above the floor of the depression
D) landslides and other mass wasting movements along the walls of the depression
When a mass of cold air collides with a mass of warm air, what happens?
A) The cold air is warmed and the warm air is cooled by their mixing.
B) The cold air rises above the warm air.
C) The warm air rises above the cold air.
D) The boundary between the two air masses keeps them separate, and they do not
interact in any way.
How does deforestation by fire or human activity contribute to mass wasting?
A) It allows excess rainfall runoff to erode the landscape, triggering mass wasting.
B) It kills tree roots that help hold the slopes in place, allowing mass movement.
C) It allows the wind to blow across the slopes, imparting a stress that triggers
landslides.
D) It allows farming activity that exposes soil to erosion and mass wasting.
Geologists may choose to lick a mineral to identify it. What mineral is the geologist
expecting with this test?
A) a sulfide bearing rock which will taste like rotten eggs
B) NaCl (halite) or KCl (sylvite)
C) None, it clears the dust off the sample so he/she can see if more clearly.
D) None, they are clearing the hydrochloric acid from the sample to rerun a test for
calcite.
Which of the following is the poorest absorber of solar radiation?
A) oxygen
B) water vapor
C) nitrogen
D) ozone
Venus has dense clouds and thick atmosphere, yet there is no evidence for water on the
surface. Why?
A) It is hard to know because the clouds obscure the surface and only a few probes have
survived landing.
B) Water could not survive as liquid water on the surface because it is too hot.
C) The water has all been taken up in minerals on the surface due to weather long ago
because of high chemical weathering rates.
D) The water is bound up as sulfuric acids and other acids in the atmosphere.
________ is the volume of voids or open space in a rock or unconsolidated material.
A) Permeability
B) Space yield
C) Porosity
D) Saturation index
Cepheid Variables are stars whose brightness varies in a predictable manner so that the
absolute magnitude of the star can be determined, and this allows the ________ of the
star to be determined.
A) size
B) distance from Earth
C) velocity
D) direction of motion
E) composition
In 2011 snow melt and heavy rains in the upper Missouri River drainage basin produced
record runoff that led to extensive flooding in lower Missouri River valley, despite the
construction of numerous large flood control dams built on the river in the mid 20th
century. What type of failure in an artificial flood control system is this an example of?
A) Insufficient levee construction downstream of the dams
B) A flood outside the design capabilities of the dam system overwhelmed the capacity
of the reservoirs forcing opening of flood gates, exacerbating the downstream impact of
the flooding
C) Bad planning by the water managers who cared more about power production than
downstream flooding
D) It was not a failure; the dam system worked as planned. It was poor planning by the
downstream government agencies.
Chemical weathering would be most effective ________.
A) in a warm, dry climate
B) in a cold, dry climate
C) in a warm, humid climate
D) equally in any kind of climate
Obsidian exhibits a ________ texture.
A) fine-grained
B) glassy
C) coarse-grained
D) porphyritic
________ describes the total sediment load transported by a stream.
A) Capacity
B) Discharge
C) Competence
D) Hydro-load factor
Which one of the following concerning mid-ocean ridges is false?
A) They are sites for submarine eruptions of basaltic lava.
B) They are where young lithosphere is added to the edges of spreading, oceanic plates.
C) Terrigenous sediment coverings are very thin or absent.
D) Sediments include thick siliceous ooze deposits and sandy turbidite beds.
Concerning the distribution of land and water, which of the following statements is
true?
A) The percentage of land and water is about the same in both the Northern and
Southern Hemispheres.
B) The Southern Hemisphere has much more water surface than the Northern
Hemisphere.
C) The Northern Hemisphere has much more water surface than the Southern
Hemisphere.
D) None of the above is true.
The earliest astronomical records appear to have been made by the ancient Chinese,
Egyptians, and Babylonians in order to ________.
A) predict future positions of celestial objects to identify good or “lucky” dates for
various important events
B) determine who should be sacrificed or promoted based on heavenly signs at their
birth
C) predict the best dates for traveling, particularly by boat, and where to build temples
D) determine when to plant crops or hunt animals based on seasonal changes
If “fair” weather were approaching, the pressure tendency would probably be
________.
A) steady
B) rising
C) falling
D) none of these
Advective fogs form when warm, moist air moves over a cool surface so this type of
fog is likely to be common in ________.
A) desert areas near water where air is heated during the day and then the ground cools
quickly
B) cities where moisture is added to the air by watering systems
C) the western coast of the U.S. where the ocean water is usually cooler than the air
D) the eastern coast of the U.S. where the ocean water is usually warmer than the air
In the interior of continents the earth’s crust is typically about 40km thick and the
elevation is near sea level. Most earth materials expand when heated, lowering their
density. During rifting continental margins are heated but cool as sea floor spreading
moves offshore from the continent. Thus, basic isostasy suggests that after rifting, a
continental margin will ________.
A) uplift
B) subside
C) remain near sea level
D) rise slowly as erosion removes uplifted rocks
Which of the following is a tidal current?
A) spring tide
B) flood tide
C) ebb tide
D) both flood and ebb tide
The viscosities of magmas increase with increasing percentages of silica.
Why do crystals in a magma stop growing during cooling?
A) They run out of space.
B) They run out of heat.
C) They become too dense to grow.
D) The pressure from rocks above becomes too great and the magma stops growing
crystals.
The very large, lava-covered areas of the Moon are called maria.
Our detailed knowledge of the glacial cycles and their duration is based primarily on
________.
A) ice cores
B) seafloor sediments
C) land sediments
D) climate records
The ________ day is the time it takes for Earth to make one complete rotation with
respect to a star other than our Sun.
A) equinox
B) sidereal
C) synodic
D) zodiacal
E) Julian
Why were planets called “wanderers” by early Astronomers?
A) They move in random paths across the sky due to their complex orbits around the
Sun.
B) They move relative to the stars.
C) They move relative to the moon because of their orbits around the earth.
D) They move relative to the North Star, but not other stars.
Which of the following describes the light reflecting and transmission characteristics of
a mineral?
A) luster
B) color streak
C) virtual absorption
D) fluorescence
The unsaturated zone above the water table is also known as the ________.
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.
Volcanoes are generally not preserved in the geologic rock record because the upper
part of the volcano is eroded away. However, the igneous rocks associated with
volcanoes are often found preserved in the rock record as layers of volcanic rock and
associated intrusions. How could you infer what type of volcano erupted in a given area
based on the type of volcanic deposits? Give specific examples and briefly discuss if
some materials may be linked to different types of volcanoes.
Located adjacent to red on the electromagnetic spectrum, and having a longer
wavelength, is ________ radiation, which we cannot see but which we can detect as
heat.
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.
Visible light emitted from the celestial bodies is only a small part of an array of energy
called ________ radiation.
The apparent westward drift of the planets as compared to the background stars is
called ________ motion.
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.
Discuss the features and characteristics of the Sun? Are they thought to be unique to the
Sun or are they typical of other stars? How do any of these structures relate to the
process of nuclear fusion which is thought to produce the Sun’s energy?
Which has more of an impact on density in the oceans in general, temperature or
salinity?
When warm moist air moves over a cold surface, ________ fog may result.
Although it was not discussed in Chapter 4, what are some preventive measures that can
be done to reduce or lessen the impact of mass wasting? (Hint: Think about the controls
and triggers of mass wasting.)
Evaluate the following statement, addressing what parts, if any, are right and which are
wrong:
Jointing in rocks does not affect the flow of groundwater at depths greater than 10-20m
because all fractures close below that depth. Jointing is important, however, to
engineers interested in stability of slopes and locating structures because joints can
slide or open under gravitational forces on slopes.
Describe the concept of “red shift” and how this observation relates to theories that the
universe is expanding.
A stream flowing into a sinkhole is called a(n) ________.
Compared to nearby places at lower elevations, sites with ________ climates are cooler
and usually wetter.