Barrier islands are more common along the Atlantic Coast than the Pacific Coast.
Composite cones are also known as stratovolcanoes.
Rip currents are the result of tidal variations.
Glaciers are a single, solid piece of ice that flows from the Zone of Accumulation to the
Zone of Saturation.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), there is a
90-99% probability that increases in global temperatures are due to the increase in
human-generated greenhouse gases.
Solifluction occurs during the warmer months of the melt season.
Based on its slow rate of spreading, the East Pacific Rise has a gradual profile with
gently sloping sides.
Fine-grained particles or iron oxide accounts for red, yellow, and brown colors in soil
horizons.
Graphite and diamonds are polymorphs because both are made up of carbon atoms.
The mantle is composed of pure nickel and iron.
In a series of stream terrace levels, the oldest terrace is the one that is lowest in
elevation.
In semiarid to arid regions, groundwater is considered a nonrenewable resource because
it isn’t replaced at the same rate as it is withdrawn.
Due to their size, stream gravels need a swift current to be transported, whereas sands
need a current with less energy.
A rock can be composed of almost entirely one mineral.
External processes driven by solar energy can create the materials necessary for
sedimentary rocks.
Due to the lack of chemical weathering, there is a great deal of clay-sized sediment in
desert areas.
Both energy and matter will flow in and out of an open system.
A vertical succession of soil horizons is called a soil profile.
Wind is the most powerful agent of erosion in a desert.
A tsunami is a tidal wave.
A hypothesis can never be changed or modified.
Slow forms of mass wasting such as creep and solifluction are considered slow because
they are restricted to gentle slopes and cannot achieve a high velocity.
The water in the majority of wells cannot rise above the level of the water table on its
own.
A geode contains minerals that form through biological processes.
By putting events in order, scientists can use the order to determine how long ago
certain geologic events took place.
Limestone is the most versatile and widely used nonmetallic mineral resource because
it can be used for both building and industrial purposes.
Consider the definition of a mineral. Why would a synthetic gemstone fail this
definition and not be considered a true mineral?
Detrital sedimentary rocks are classified according to clast size, whereas chemical
sedimentary rocks are classified based on their dominant minerals.
The process of refining oil shales will produce higher yields of gasoline and heating
oils, whereas the refining of light, sweet crude oil from the North Sea produces lower
yields that are of lower quality.
Chalk is a soft, porous rock composed of the hard parts of microscopic marine
organisms.
Mature soils are characteristic of steep slopes.
Creep is the most widespread mass-wasting process.
Polymorphs are minerals that will have two identical mineral structures, but different
chemical compositions.
The continental shelf is composed of which material(s)?
A) Granitic crust covered with sedimentary rocks
B) Basaltic crust
C) Clay sediments and sands
D) Ophiolites
Where was the earliest seismograph developed?
A) China
B) Japan
C) Italy
D) United States
What is the name for the stream feature in this image?
A) Cutbank
B) Oxbow lake
C) Point bar
D) Incised meander
What three components make up most magmas?
A) Silicon, potassium feldspar, and muscovite
B) Water, melted rock, and solid crystals
C) Lava, ash, and gas
D) Liquid portion, solid portion, gaseous portion
What is a suture?
A) A landmass accreted to a continent through subduction
B) The zone where two continents are welded together
C) The region of a mid-ocean ridge where it is bisected by a transform boundary
D) A fold-and-thrust belt created through convergence
Which of the following best explains the formation of a medial moraine on a glacier?
A) A gravel pile that marks periods of glacial readvancement
B) A ridge of debris carried down the center of glacial ice
C) Sands and gravels that fill a subglacial stream channel
D) A ridge of debris carried along the sides of an advancing glacier
What is a mantle plume?
A) The magma that rises up from the mantle at a divergent plate boundary
B) Material rising up from a subducting plate going through partial melting
C) A form of batholith composed of ferromagnesian materials
D) An upwelling of hot material from the Earth’s interior that is cylindrical in shape
For what reason might the nuclei of atoms break apart in radioactivity?
A) There are too many neutrons in the nucleus.
B) Electrons are being shared by two adjacent atoms.
C) Forces that bind protons and neutrons together are weak.
D) Protons are being exchanged between atoms.
Lava solidifying during a period of reverse polarity will align the magnetic fields of its
iron particles toward the ________ pole.
A) East
B) West
C) North
D) South
________ is the concept that describes how the Earth was shaped by sudden, violent
events over a short period of time.
A) Uniformitarianism
B) Catastrophism
C) Neptunism
D) Differentiation
Because of the low relative mass, the gravitational attraction on the moon is ________
that of the Earth.
A) 1/2
B) 1/4
C) 1/6
D) 1/8
What kind of wave motion is visible in this image?
A) Circular orbital motion
B) Breaking wave
C) Rip current
D) Longshore current
What substance is responsible for the increasing concentrations of nitrous oxide in the
atmosphere?
A) Coolants in refrigerators
B) Fertilizers
C) Fossil fuels
D) Nuclear waste
One defining characteristic of minerals is that they are found in a solid state in nature.
Which of the following minerals is an exception to this rule, naturally occurring in a
liquid state at room temperature?
A) Diamond
B) Ice
C) Carbon
D) Calcite
What kind of geothermal feature is visible in this image?
A) Hot spring
B) Artesian well
C) Geyser
D) Subsidence
A ________ texture includes coarse phenocrysts surrounded by a phaneritic
groundmass.
A) pegmatitic
B) porphyritic
C) glassy
D) aphanitic
A ________ slide is type of mass wasting process where the surface of rupture is a
concave-upward curve and descending material exhibits downward and outward
motion.
A) translational
B) fall
C) rotational
D) horizontal
The Denali Pipeline in ________ was designed to withstand displacement from
earthquakes in order to prevent oil spills.
A) California
B) Hawaii
C) Alaska
D) Mexico
What sedimentary structure is present in this photo?
A) Mudcracks
B) Graded bedding
C) Ripplemarks
D) Cross-bedding
What is the definition of the focus?
A) The exact location on the fault where slippage occurs
B) The location where three monitoring stations overlap
C) The location on Earth’s surface directly above the point of slippage
D) The build-up of potential energy in a new location after an earthquake
Scientific knowledge of many events of the Precambrian is limited because ________.
A) metamorphism altered and deformed many rocks
B) plate tectonics consumed many of the oldest tectonic plates
C) many ancient rocks have been eroded
D) any ancient rocks have been covered by a mantle of sediments
E) metamorphism, plate tectonics, erosion, and sediments account for the limited
knowledge of Precambrian events
What are slickensides?
A) Joints made as an igneous rock cools and contracts
B) Fractures made in a rock as a result of tensional stress
C) Folded rocks along a convergent boundary
D) Polished and striated surfaces made on fault blocks
Which moraine marks the furthest extent of glacial ice?
A) Lateral moraine
B) Medial moraine
C) Recessional moraine
D) Terminal moraine
What type of lava is produced at a divergent plate boundary?
A) Rhyolitic
B) Andesitic
C) Basaltic
Which of the following minerals does not form as a result of magmatic segregation?
A) Beryl
B) Quartz
C) Feldspar
D) Calcite
What are the two types of continental margins?
A) Transform and divergent
B) Trenches and rifts
C) Continental shelves and slopes
D) Passive and active
What sedimentary structure(s) can you identify in the above image?
A) Ripplemarks and graded bedding
B) Graded bedding
C) Ripplemarks
D) Cross-bedding and graded bedding
Match the correct label to the type of gaining/losing stream.
A) Losing stream (connected)
B) Gaining stream
C) Losing stream (disconnected)
1.
2.
3.
Which country has the greatest installed capacity of wind turbines worldwide, creating
more than 114,000 megawatts of electricity in 2014?
A) United States
B) Germany
C) China
D) Australia
________ metamorphism is responsible for the emplacement of metallic ore veins.
A) Contact
B) Burial
C) Hydrothermal
D) Subduction zone
In radioactive decay, an unstable ________ isotope will decay into a stable ________
isotope.
A) ion; carbon
B) parent; daughter
C) daughter; parent
D) neutron; ionized
Which of the following terms describes the increasing downward force on basal rocks
as a mountain continues to grow?
A) Isostacy
B) Delamination
C) Accretion
D) Gravitational collapse
Compare and contrast the three types of volcanoes (shield, cinder cones, and composite
cones). Make sure to comment on the differences in size, shape, and slope angle.
Imagine you are at the beach, building a sandcastle. Dry sand cannot hold a form, so the
addition of water is necessary to build the castle. However, too much water will destroy
the sandcastle and cause the sand to flow away in a slurry. This is similar to the role
pore water has on sediments in a slope. What role does water play to maintain a slope?
What role does water play to cause mass wasting of the slope?
What is the difference between a pyroclastic flow and a pyroclastic surge (aka surges)?
Two unknown minerals are placed before you for identification. You decide to test each
mineral’s hardness. Mineral A will scratch a piece of glass. Mineral B will not. Which
mineral is harder? How do they compare to the specific hardness of the glass?
Compare seamounts and guyots. How do the two features differ?
Evaluate the following statement: “Continental ice sheets generally subdue their
landscapes, whereas alpine glaciers accentuate them.”
The acceptance of plate tectonics after the initial rejection of continental drift has been
described as a scientific revolution. Explain why plate tectonics was so revolutionary
and what tools were used to bring it about.
Explain how groundwater can sustain streams even during a long drought.
A stonemason has shaped a block of marble into a perfect cube with dimensions of 2
feet by 2 feet by 2 feet.
An order has arrived that the original cube must be broken down into eight cubic pieces
of marble, all of the same dimension of 6 square feet per cube. What is the total surface
area of the marble now?
What are three ways barrier islands can form?
What visual evidence do scientists have to support the fact that Jupiter is the
fastest-rotating planet in the solar system?
The Upper Mississippi River and the Lower Mississippi River have very different
stream morphologies due in part because of the geology of the two regions. What is the
basic geology of each region (What material is the river flowing over?), how does the
geology control the river, and what is the morphology of the river as a result?
Slate and phyllite are similar in appearance. How can the foliation and the shine be used
to tell them apart?
Fine particles such as clays and silts are often flat and platy in shape. Evaluate their
ability to be transported by wind based on this shape.
Explain why even small changes in sea level will have a profound effect on human
civilizations.
How does air pressure change with elevation in the atmosphere? Why does air pressure
change with elevation in the atmosphere?
Explain how the greenhouse effect works and how it warms the atmosphere.
Igneous and metamorphic rocks do not form with voids or pore spaces where
groundwater can reside. However, these rocks can often both store and transport
groundwater. What voids would make up the secondary porosity of igneous and
metamorphic rocks?