The surface features of ________ are known only through satellite radar mapping.
A) Jupiter
B) Mercury
C) Venus
D) Mars
Intrusive igneous rocks are often characterized as coarse-grained because ________.
A) the pressures at depth cause them to have a rough texture
B) the slow cooling at depth allows large crystals to grow
C) the uplift process that exposes the rock fractures them and makes them rough
D) small holes from escaping gases leave them rough and course
Which of the following is an economically important sedimentary rock?
A) marble
B) coal
C) pumice
D) calcite
The length of daylight on the Moon is about ________.
A) 24 hours
B) 48 hours
C) two weeks
D) one month
E) one year
Recrystallization during metamorphism causes grains to grow longer in the ________.
A) direction of maximum differential stress
B) direction perpendicular to the compressional stress
C) direction parallel to the compressional stress
D) horizontal direction
A major difference between coal and oil/gas is ________.
A) coal forms in deep marine environments and oil/gas form in shallow marine
environments
B) coal forms in shallow marine environments and oil/gas form in swamps
C) coal forms in swamps and oil/gas form in marine environments
D) coal forms on land from dinosaurs and oil/gas form from ancient fish
Axial precession is sometimes called the precession of equinoxes because it results in a
gradual shift, relative to the celestial background, of the position where the sun crosses
the celestial equator at the equinox. Astrology is a mythology based on things like your
“sign” which refers to the position of the sun in the celestial zodiac (the 12
constellations along the ecliptic) on your birthday. This system was established almost
two thousand years ago. If this mythology were true (and you believe your horoscope)
can you use the dates for your “sign” based on this 2000 year old system?
A) Yes, the dates are fixed; your sign is your sign.
B) Yes, any changes are insignificant in 2000 years.
C) No, although the precession shifts the equinox position, the other zodiac positions do
not change because they are fixed to the celestial sphere.
D) No, because 2000 years is almost 1/12, or one full sign shift, in the zodiac, so the
2000 year old signs are off by almost one full sign.
Over time as erosion lowers the landscape a river valley will typically ________.
A) deepen into a bigger and bigger canyon, like the Grand Canyon
B) become steeper and discharge increases in the streams
C) become narrower but with a lower gradient, entrenching meanders
D) become broader and lower gradient
Earth hits its perihelion position in January. Solar radiation is proportional to the
distance squared between the sun and the earth, so why isn’t it hot in “winter” at
perihelion?
A) It is; it is called summer in the Southern Hemisphere, and there is just a time lag for
the Northern Hemisphere.
B) Precession modifies the effect as the earth wobbles on its axis.
C) The ellipticity of the orbit is small, so the affect is small; seasons are caused by tilt of
the earth’s orbit.
D) None of these is correct.
Which of the following is not a criterion for defining something as a mineral?
A) Naturally occurring
B) Hard
C) Generally inorganic
D) Orderly crystalline structure
Degenerate matter can have densities 1 million times greater than the density of water,
and they achieve this density by ________.
A) fusing all of their atoms into super atoms with very high atomic numbers
B) compressing all of the electrons so that they are close to the nucleus
C) forming ions that bond electrostatically so that there volume is very small
D) converting the atomic nucleus to a small volume with high mass by expelling all
neutrons
When warm moist air moves over a cold surface, ________ fog may result.
A) advection
B) radiation
C) steam
D) upslope
Tornadoes of F1 to F2 in strength account for ________.
A) most of the property destruction caused by tornadoes
B) most of the deaths by tornadoes
C) most of the tornadoes observed
D) most of the weird phenomena ascribed to tornadoes
In an overturned fold, the beds have rotated ________.
A) more than 180 degrees
B) more than 90 degrees
C) more than 45 degrees
D) 100 to 150 degrees
The composition of the earth’s inner core is thought to be ________.
A) basalt
B) granite
C) peridotite
D) solid iron-nickel alloy
The eye of a hurricane is ________.
A) the portion with the highest wind speeds
B) warmer than the rest of the storm
C) along the leading edge of the storm
D) the area of most intense rainfall
Use the figure below to answer the following questions.
In the figure, the stress on block ‘Y‘ is ________.
A) shear
B) folding
C) tensional
D) compressional
What would have happened to the earth if it were 10% closer to the sun?
A) Our atmosphere would consist mainly of carbon dioxide.
B) Our atmosphere would consist mainly of nitrogen.
C) Liquid water and the water cycle would not exist.
D) Our sun would have burned out after a few hundred million years so life would not
evolve.
When viewing the planets, Mars appears to move backwards, or retrograde, because
________.
A) it is rotating around the sun slower than the earth’s rotation
B) it is rotating around the sun faster than the earth’s rotation
C) it is rotating at approximately the same speed but its orbit is more elliptical than the
earth’s rotation
D) it is rotating at approximately the same speed but its orbit is more circular than
earth’s orbit
A continental Polar (cP) air mass that originates in Siberia and is subsequently altered
to ________ when crossing the north Pacific
A) cP
B) mP
C) cT
D) mT
The Great Oxygen Event marks the time, approximately 2.5 billion years ago, when
________.
A) there was enough oxygen in the atmosphere to support a major burst of life on Earth
B) there was a massive volcanic eruption that lead to a very rapid increase in oxygen
levels on Earth
C) there was a cataclysmic weather event that absorbed most of the oxygen in the
atmosphere and locked it into iron deposits in the oceans
D) there was significant oxygen in the atmosphere
E) photosynthesis was clearly established and producing oxygen.
This fog results from adiabatic cooling.
A) advection
B) radiation
C) steam
D) upslope
Approximately how much more energy is released in a 6.5 Richter magnitude
earthquake than in one with a Richter magnitude of 5.5?
A) 900 times
B) 10 times
C) 100 times
D) 30 times
The exchange of energy between the surface of the earth, the atmosphere, and space
causes ________.
A) topography
B) temperature
C) weather
D) glaciers
What would have happened to the earth if it were 10% farther from the Sun?
A) Our atmosphere would consist mainly of carbon dioxide.
B) Our atmosphere would consist mainly of nitrogen.
C) Liquid water and the water cycle would not exist.
D) Our Sun would have burned out after a few hundred million years so life would not
evolve.
The figure above is an oblique Google earth image from southwestern North America
looking approximately north. The view is approximately 50km across. The area is a
classic area of normal faulting.
This area represents what type of mountain system
A) Fault block mountains
B) Andrean type mountains
C) Collisional orogen
D) Strike-slip mountains
A(n) ________ system is one in which energy moves freely in and out, but no matter
enters or leaves the system.
A) closed
B) open
C) feedback
D) equilibrated
Which of the following is not a major factor controlling glacial erosion?
A) ice thickness
B) rate of glacial ice movement
C) strength of the glacial ice near its base
D) character of the surface beneath the glacier
Most marine animals live near the surface of the ocean because of ________, which
supports photosynthesis by marine algae that form the basis of the food chain.
A) sunlight
B) air
C) warmer temperatures
D) thermocline
Why do geologists use the radiometric age of meteorites as a guide to age of the solar
system?
A) The meteorites have been isolated in the cold vacuum of space since their formation,
so they have seen no significant heating since the time of their formation.
B) The geologists are guessing because they yield some of the oldest radiometric ages.
C) The meteorites date the time of formation of a dead planet and don’t have anything
to do with the age of the solar system.
D) The meteorites have compositions close to Earth materials, so we assume they
formed at the same time.
As the temperature of a radiating surface is increased ________.
A) the total amount of energy emitted increases
B) a larger portion of the energy is radiated at longer wavelengths
C) a larger portion of the energy is radiated at shorter wavelengths
D) both A and B
E) both A and C
We now live in the ________ era.
Evidence that Gondwana formed near the South Pole include ________.
A) paleomagnetic data from the region
B) identification of cold temperature mammals
C) penguin fossils
D) evidence of continental glaciation
The texture of an igneous rock ________.
A) is controlled by the composition of magma
B) determines the color of the rock
C) is caused by leaching
D) records the rock’s cooling history
The water table is ________.
A) a boundary between unsaturated bedrock and an underground river
B) a boundary between unsaturated bedrock below and saturated bedrock above
C) an underground mass of partly saturated rock
D) a boundary between saturated rock below and unsaturated rock above