Lunar regolith breccia contains crystalline rock fragments and glassy fragments formed
by meteorite impacts.
A system with an environmental lapse rate of 5oC/1000 m and a dry adiabatic of 10C is
stable.
The most abundant sedimentary rock is shale.
Till is an unsorted sediment deposited directly from the melting glacial ice; stream
action is not involved.
Glaciation has only been recorded for the Quaternary period of the earth’s history
demonstrating that the cause of the Ice Ages is the earth’s orbit moving farther from the
Sun.
The vast majority of Earth scientists are involved in either extraction of mineral
resources or energy.
The lithosphere and asthenosphere are layers of Earth defined by their composition.
Salinity is the most important factor in the process of photosynthesis.
The two main types of A climates are wet tropical climates and tropical wet and dry
climates.
When air sinks, it compresses and warms.
Dew point is the temperature at which the air is saturated.
In a mature middle-latitude cyclone, the warm front precedes the cold front.
Sir Isaac Newton was convicted of heresy for supporting the Sun-centered view of the
universe.
Elevated wave-cut platforms in Southern California are evidence that this coastal area is
emergent.
The Colorado River is an example of a large wash.
When sea ice forms in high latitudes, the sea ice has ________.
A) lower salinity than the ocean waters it forms from
B) higher salinity than the ocean waters it forms from
C) the same salinity as the ocean waters it forms from
D) It depends on the temperature. If conditions are far below freezing, the salinity is the
same as the adjacent seawater; if it is close to freezing, the ice is essentially fresh water
The earliest seismographs were designed by the Chinese nearly 2000 years ago to
measure ________.
A) the magnitude of an earthquake
B) the intensity of an earthquake
C) the direction to the earthquake focus
D) the depth of an earthquake focus
Glaciers will not form near the equator because the Sun is too strong in that area.
Kepler’s third law states that the planet’s orbital period squared is equal to its mean solar
distance cubed. Consequently, the solar distances of the planets can be calculated when
their periods of revolution are known. The orbital period of Jupiter is 12 years, what is
its distance from the sun in astronomical units?
A) 12
B) 5.2
C) 530
D) 16.1
The most common Precambrian fossils are ________, layered mounds of calcium
carbonate.
A) prokaryotes
B) chert
C) trilobites
D) eukaryotes
E) stromatolites
The dominant life forms during the Cenozoic Era were ________.
A) reptiles and gymnosperms
B) fish and amphibians
C) mammals and angiosperms
D) prokaryotes and eukaryotes
This air mass may produce an occasional “nor’easter” in the winter.
A) cP
B) mP
C) cT
D) mT
The Trellis drainage pattern shown below develops ________.
A) in areas of relatively uniform surface materials
B) on isolated volcanic cones or domes
C) on highly jointed bedrock
D) in areas of alternating weak and resistant bedrock
E) in areas of folded and fractured domes
Which of the following is not an example of a foliation in a metamorphic rock?
A) compositional banding
B) bedding planes and strata
C) parallel alignment of flattened pebbles
D) parallel alignment of platy or flat minerals
A natural, meandering, river channel is modified into a more or less straight and
smooth, canal-like channel. Which of the following statements is correct?
A) The natural channel had a lower gradient and less friction than the modified channel.
B) The straight channel has a higher gradient and more friction than the natural channel.
C) The natural channel had a lower gradient and higher friction than the straight
channel.
D) All of the above statements are true.
The humid subtropical climate dominates the ________ United States.
A) central
B) southeastern
C) western
D) northeastern
E) southwestern
Which igneous texture is characterized by two distinctively different crystal sizes?
A) fine-grained
B) glassy
C) coarse-grained
D) porphyritic
How do calcareous oozes form?
A) The particles are precipitated in warm surface waters and sink to the bottom.
B) The particles are precipitated by bottom-dwelling organisms.
C) The particles are precipitated in the water column below the depth of sunlight
penetration and then sink to the bottom.
D) The particles settle out from calcite-rich turbidity currents at depths greater than
15,000 feet.
The amount of energy released during a nuclear reaction was established by ________.
A) Albert Einstein
B) Sir Isaac Newton
C) Galileo
D) George Hale
E) Niels Bohr
In the proto-solar system nebula, gravity pulled matter together to form larger bodies.
As they collided, what happened to these bodies?
A) Oblique collisions caused individual bodies to spin.
B) The objects broke apart to form asteroids, much like a neutron colliding with a heavy
atom produces fission.
C) The objects temporarily broke apart and then reformed into large objects, cooling
rapidly during the breakup period.
D) Immense heat was released within the colliding bodies as gravitational potential
energy was converted to heat.
Planets appear to move ________ each night, but occasionally they appear to stop and
reverse direction.
A) northward
B) southward
C) eastward
D) westward
E) It varies significantly.
Hurricanes and tornados are natural disasters. What branch of the Earth sciences studies
the origin of these phenomena?
A) Meteorology
B) Geology
C) Oceanography
D) Astronomy
Compared to places at lower elevations, highland climates are usually cooler and
________.
A) less changeable
B) wetter
C) sunny
D) dryer
E) none of the above
What is the most abundant element in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn?
A) helium
B) ammonia
C) nitrogen
D) hydrogen
Earthquakes along the San Andreas fault zone, for example, are repetitivethey reoccur
in roughly the same regions over and over againseparated by decades or centuries
because ________.
A) there are areas that are weak and always break when small amounts of energy are
applied to them
B) stress continues to build up all the time and when it is great enough to overcome
friction there will be an earthquake and then the process will start over again
C) faults are always moving or creeping so an earthquake will occur whenever two
sides meet that have the right properties for an earthquake
D) plate boundaries move at regular rates so the interactions across plate boundaries are
predictable and regular
A soil that has nearly equal amounts of clay, silt and sand is called ________.
A) loam
B) lane
C) clayey
D) rich
Compared to Earth’s atmosphere, the atmosphere of Mars has surface pressures that are
________.
A) 3 times those on Earth; major gases are water vapor and carbon dioxide
B) 0.1 times those on Earth; major gases are water vapor and carbon dioxide
C) one-half those on Earth; main gases are methane and nitrogen
D) 1.5 times those on Earth; main gases are methane and nitrogen
When a stream is in a v-shaped valley running on bedrock, the stream is ________.
A) well above base level
B) at base level
C) below base level
D) responding to a rise in base level
The energy that drives surface ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream comes from
________.
A) salinity variations
B) Coriolis effect
C) prevailing winds
D) density differences
Dark Silicates have a specific gravity of 3.2 to 3.6 and are composed primarily of silica
tetrahedral and ________.
A) iron and magnesium
B) aluminum and magnesium
C) aluminum and sodium
D) potassium and calcium
E) potassium and iron
Which one of the following structures is built to protect boats from large breaking
waves?
A) jetty
B) groin
C) breakwater
D) seawall
Mountain building causes metamorphism because ________.
A) mountains are heavy and they compress the rocks under them.
B) mountains are heavy and they push shallow, cool rocks to depths where they get
heated
C) mountains form by the gradual buildup of material that comes from other areas and
this can produce an uneven pressure on rocks
D) all of the above
You live in a seismically active area and there are steep mountain slopes that show
evidence of past large landslides. A geologist uses radiocarbon dating and determines
that all of the landslides are 1000 +/- 5 years old. He also determines that there is an
active fault in the area that moved in the last 1000-2000 years but he can’t date it
precisely. Which of the following is a reasonable conclusion?
A) Radiocarbon dating is not a good dating technique or it could separate the ages of
the slides.
B) There was probably an earthquake ~1000 years ago.
C) There must have been a major drought 1000 years ago that triggered the landslides.
D) There must have been people in the area 1000 years ago, and they cut down the trees
that were dated for determining the age of the landslide.
Desert pavement is the result of ________.
A) deflation
B) abrasion by windblown sand
C) erosion by running water
D) intense chemical weathering
A ________ is an intrusive, igneous rock body that is tabular and concordant.
A) laccolith
B) dike
C) pluton
D) sill
The Sahara and Australian deserts (among others) are associated with the ________.
A) subtropical high
B) equatorial low
C) subpolar low
D) polar high
Sinkholes and karst topography are a clear indication that ________.
A) the groundwater is moving through cracks in the rock
B) the groundwater is moving through a limestone and forming caves that periodically
collapse
C) the area has been subjected to past meteorite bombardments and groundwater is
moving through the fractured rock
D) there is nothing unusual; these features occur everywhere there is fast motion of
groundwater in the subsurface
Use the Periodic table below to answer the following questions:
Atoms that share electrons have a(n) ________ bond.
A) covalent
B) ionic
C) partial
D) metallic
What kind of weathering involves only a reduction in the sizes of bedrock, regolith, and
mineral particles?
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.
________ include all organisms that drift with ocean currents.
The figure above shows a popular area for North American tourists in winter, the
Caribbean region. Match the term to the letter on the Figure.
Island arc
Match the name of the tectonic feature with the Figure.
Hot spot
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.
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.
hydrosphere biosphere atmosphere
solid earth
Toward the end of the Mesozoic era, the ________ orogeny formed the southern ranges
of the Rocky Mountains.
The figure above shows a popular area for North American tourists in winter, the
Caribbean region. Match the term to the letter on the Figure.
Accretionary Wedge
Valleys that lead from the continental shelf into deeper waters are known as ________.
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.
The gently sloping submerged surface extending from the shoreline toward the deep
ocean is termed the ________.
The only planet in the solar system whose axis of rotation lies close to its equatorial
plane is ________.