What is the major difference between the crust and the lithosphere?
A) The crust is cool and the lithosphere is hot.
B) The crust is located above the lithosphere.
C) The crust is located between the lithosphere and the asthenosphere.
D) The crust is compositionally distinct from the mantle, but the lithosphere is the rigid
part of the crust and mantle.
E) The crust is the rigid part of the earth and the lithosphere will flow.
It is thought that submarine canyons on the continental slope have been generated by
________.
A) streams when sea level was much lower than it is today
B) streams when sea level was much higher than it is today
C) a submarine glaciations
D) turbidity currents
Which of these lunar features is the oldest?
A) maria basins
B) lunar highlands
C) rayed craters like Copernicus
D) lunar soil
Compare and contrast the patterns of life in the Paleozoic Era to the Mesozoic Era.
What are the major differences between these two eras? Are there similarities or similar
trends?
The process of converting a liquid to vapor is termed ________.
A) evaporation
B) sublimation
C) condensation
D) melting
One significant difference between an ionic bond, where electrons are taken from one
atom and added to another atom, and a covalent or metallic bond, where electrons are
shared, is ________.
A) ionic bonds are stronger than covalent or metallic bonds
B) ionic bonds produce ions but covalent and metallic bonds do not produce ions
C) ionic bonds make a material more malleable than covalent and metallic bonds
D) ionic bonds do not result in the attraction of oppositely charged atoms, but covalent
and metallic bonds do
Angles are important when looking at which physical properties of minerals?
A) cleavages
B) color streaks
C) bands of different luster
D) conchoidal fractures
Why did Galileo’s observation that Venus showed phases like the moon indicate that the
geocentric theory of the solar system was not possible?
A) It demonstrated that Venus orbited earth like the moon, but both had to orbit the sun.
B) It demonstrated that Venus could not be in orbit around earth between earth and the
sun because it shows “full” and “new” phases that would never occur with geocentric
geometry.
C) It showed that Venus had to have a highly elliptical orbit that nearly crosses earth’s
to produce phases like the moon.
D) It was not an important observation supporting heliocentric theory, but it did work
out to be consistent with the theory.
Why is the Moment magnitude scale favored over the Richter magnitude scale?
A) The moment magnitude carries the calculated values out to more decimal places so it
is more precise.
B) The Richter magnitude is based on older models of seismographs that are no longer
used to record earthquakes.
C) The Richter magnitude always underestimates the amount of energy released by an
earthquake.
D) The Moment magnitude measures the total energy released by an earthquake.
A geologist working in an area finds gravels with gentle dips of about 5 degrees. She
finds a large outcrop where these gravels are overlain by tephra with prominent layers
that dip 35-40 degrees. What is the history of this area?
A) Basalt flows formed after a series of gravels were deposited, covering the local
terrain, and built a shield volcano.
B) After the gravel was deposited, a large composite cone was built on the area.
C) Before the gravel was deposited, a cinder cone formed in this area.
D) After the gravel was deposited, a cinder cone formed in the area.
The ________ were the dominant trees of the Mesozoic era.
The North American Cordillera formed as a result of ________.
A) the subduction of the Atlantic basin beneath North America
B) the subduction of the Pacific basin beneath North America
C) the evolution of the San Andreas Fault zone
D) the growth of the Appalachian Mountains
In Hurricane Katrina, the storm came ashore heading almost due north and the eye
passed between the towns of Slidell, Louisiana and Waveland, Mississippi. Slidell, LA
suffered heavy flooding and moderate wind damage while Waveland, MS was totally
destroyed without a single building standing within 200m of the coastline. Both cities
experienced the eyewall of the storm where the winds are strongest, so why was the
destruction so different?
A) Slidell was just lucky and experienced a temporary lull in the storm.
B) Waveland caught the right front quadrant of the storm, with maximum storm surge
and wind.
C) Slidell must be a sheltered coastline, or protected behind a levee system.
D) Waveland must have been at a lower elevation than Slidell.
At the start of the Paleozoic, North America ________.
A) had abundant life
B) had no plants or animals
C) did not exist
D) was a large number of small fragments that had not yet collided
E) was mountainous and dry
Why has it been so difficult to examine the surface of Venus with unmanned probes?
A) The atmosphere is so cloudy that it interferes with radio wave signals from earth,
making communication with a probe difficult.
B) The Venesian magnetic field is so strong it destroys electronics on the probes.
C) Solar radiation is so intense that probes are lost before they reach Venus.
D) The air pressure at the surface is equivalent to a water depth of nearly 1km on Earth,
and temperatures are very high, which tends to destroy the probes.
What would happen if the temperature were cooled to 15oC?
A) decrease in relative humidity and evaporation of 4 grams of water
B) increase in relative humidity and evaporation of 4 grams of water
C) decrease in relative humidity and condensation of 4 grams of water
D) increase in relative humidity and condensation of 4 grams of water
Which method best describes how the geologic time scale, which was developed
through fossil successions in sedimentary rocks, was tied to absolute time even though
sedimentary rocks cannot usually be dated directly by geochronology?
A) Geologists estimated time through sedimentation rates, then using those rates
together with maximum ages of underlying rocks that are datable, to extract a time
interval and rate for deposition of the sedimentary rocks.
B) Geologist used things like volcanic ash beds, interbedded volcanic rocks,
cross-cutting intrusive igneous rocks, etc. in sedimentary sections with a known fossil
succession, and this age was extrapolated globally.
C) Geologists recently developed a technique to directly date sedimentary rocks,
solving the problem.
D) Geologists realized that there were many other cosmogenic isotopes besides Carbon
14 that allow the dating of sediments, and this has allowed the dating of sedimentary
rocks.
The ________ refers to the sum total of all life on Earth.
A) hydrosphere
B) atmosphere
C) biosphere
D) geosphere
An air mass from the Gulf of Mexico is labeled ________.
A) cP
B) mP
C) cT
D) mT
Where will the North Star be, relative to the celestial coordinates, 12,000 years from
now?
A) Right where it is now; it isn’t going anywhere.
B) Several degrees from the North Pole position, with Vega as the North Star.
C) 23 1/2 degrees away from the pole, due to precession.
D) None of these is correct.
Fast moving currents of air found near the top of the troposphere are called ________.
A) jet streams
B) chinooks
C) mesocyclones
D) El Nio
The black sand beaches in Hawaii are comprised of ________.
A) fragments of black coral
B) fragments of basaltic volcanic rock
C) fragments of obsidian glass
D) ground up bottle and other debris placed there by Hawaii tourist bureaus. There is
not natural sand in Hawaii because there is no quartz
Oceanic ridges represent ________ percent of the earth’s surface.
A) 5
B) 10
C) 20
D) 30
Which of the following is not a hypothesis for how life began?
A) Methane and hydrogen sulfide from deep-sea hydrothermal vents and hot springs
like those at Yellowstone National Park provided the necessary materials.
B) Asteroids and comets brought amino acids to Earth.
C) Outgassing and related volcanic materials brought proto amino acids to the surface
of the earth.
D) Methane and ammonia in the early atmosphere combined with the help of lightning
or ultraviolet light to produce the first amino acids.
At first quarter it is approximately ________ week(s) until the new moon.
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
Which of the following is not a significant factor triggering mass wasting events?
A) heavy rainfall
B) earthquake
C) forest fire
D) mine tailings filling a valley
A major difference between Catastrophism and Uniformitarianism is ________.
A) Uniformitarianism does not allow for catastrophic events while Catastrophism is
based on the assumption that they are the major forces of change in the earth
B) Catastrophism requires all changes on earth be due to unpredictable events that
cannot be explained while Uniformitarianism proposes that all events are predictable
C) Uniformitarianism explains the young age of the earth by suggesting that while
processes have not changed over time, the rates of processes may vary significantly
D) Catastrophism supports rapid changes on the earth and a young age of the earth
while Uniformitarianism requires long times for changes to be significant and thus a
very old earth
Overall, this type of seismic wave is the most destructive.
A) P wave
B) S wave
C) surface wave
D) tsunami
Which one of the following is not related to chemical weathering?
A) decomposition
B) frost wedging
C) hydrolysis
D) oxidation
Erosional retreat of a(n) ________ leads to enlargement and extension of a wave-cut
platform in the inland direction.
A) wave-cut tombolo
B) wave-cut cliff
C) wave-cut barrier beach
D) offshore, wave-cut, breakwater bar
How do glaciers acquire their load of sediment?
A) Sediments are deposited on glaciers by streams that flow into the glaciers.
B) Sediments are plowed up into the glacier by the front terminus of the glacier as it
moves downhill.
C) Sediments are plucked off the rocks at the base and sides of the glacier.
D) Sediments fall off the cliffs surrounding the glacier and move through crevasses to
the base of the glacier.
E) All of the answers describe major contributors to the glacial sediment load.
Crevasses (deep fractures or cracks) form because ________.
A) not all of the ice in a glacier moves downhill at the same rate in the glacier
B) as the glacier moves over irregular topography the bottom of the glacier (known as
the zone of fracture) cracks and the cracks propagate upward to the surface of the
glacier
C) as the glacier moves over irregular topography, the brittle upper layer or zone of
fracture is subject to tension and cracks above the ductile layer
D) as the glacier moves over irregular topography, cracks can form anywhere in the
glacier but they are called “crevasses” only if they are near the surface
E) there is not always the same amount of ice available in all areas so cracks form when
the ice tries to move and fill in empty parts of the glacier