________ are former river valleys that were oriented parallel to the direction of ice flow
and were scoured deeper by advancing glacial ice.
A) Hanging valleys
B) Paternosters
C) Finger lakes
D) Kettle lakes
What was the approximate increase in global temperature during the 20th century?
A) 0.5C
B) 0.8C
C) 1.0C
D) 1.5C
Which of the following locations has a coastline famous for its depositional features
such as barrier islands?
A) Northern California
B) Baja Peninsula, Mexico
C) Oregon
D) North Carolina
What is the term that describes the bright halo of a comet created when escaping gases
carry dust away from the comet’s surface?
A) Coma
B) Comma
C) Corona
D) Cosmos
________ is the downslope movement of rock, regolith, or soil under the direct
influence of gravity.
A) Mass wasting
B) Erosion
C) Weathering
D) Dissolution
If a back-arc basin is associated with a volcanic island arc, what tends to develop there?
A) Submarine trench
B) Wide continental shelf
C) Long, linear sea
D) Rift valley
The ________ refers to a huge expansion in biodiversity 530 million years ago, which
also marks the first appearance of invertebrate organisms.
A) Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event
B) Cambrian Explosion
C) Rise of Reptiles
D) Great Dying
In which location on a continent would one be likely to find young mountain belts (less
than 100 million years old)?
A) In the center of the continent
B) On the continental shield
C) On the stable platform
D) Along the margins of the continent
Magmatic segregation occurs when ________.
A) light minerals crystallize early and migrate through fractures in rock
B) heavy minerals crystallize early and settle to the lower part of the magma chamber
C) high-pressure conduits carry crystals to the surface
D) hot, metal-rich fluids migrate through fractures in rock
Silica tetrahedra are able to link into long chains that share oxygen ions through the
process of ________.
A) isolation
B) precipitation
C) fission
D) polymerization
How will compressional force change a rock body?
A) Stretch and thin the rock.
B) Fracture the rock and grind the pieces alongside each other.
C) Shorten and thicken the rock.
D) The rock will not change.
What percentage of the energy used by the industrial sector is from petroleum?
A) 71 percent
B) 23 percent
C) 40 percent
D) 20 percent
X marks the site of oil drums that were illegally buried by the Shay-Dee Oil
Corporation. These oil drums have begun leaking and the leaking oil has flowed
downslope to the stream below, contaminating the stream. Which stream drainage
basins would be affected by this oil?
A) B alone
B) C and A
C) D, C, and A
D) All drainage basins
Which scientist is credited with developing the law of superposition?
A) James Ussher
B) Charles Lyell
C) James Hutton
D) Nicholas Steno
Which of Earth’s major extinctions was the most extensive, eliminating 70 percent of all
terrestrial organisms and up to 95 percent of marine organisms?
A) Cambrian Explosion
B) Permian Extinction
C) Cretaceous Extinction
D) Late Devonian Extinction
What kind of stress is deforming this block?
A) Shear
B) Compression
C) Tension
Which of the following statements best describes the relationship between pressure and
melting point in the Earth’s Interior?
A) Higher pressure leads to lower melting points.
B) Melting points of rocks are not dependent on changes in pressure.
C) Higher melting points are determined by higher pressures.
Which one of the following locations would be most likely to have the mass wasting
process visible here? (Note: The region is underlaid by permafrost.)
A) Siberia
B) Colorado
C) Japan
D) Kansas
A ________ is a cone-shaped structure created by successive eruptions of volcanic
materials such as lava or pyroclastic materials.
A) caldera
B) volcanic cone
C) crater
D) fumarole
What is stratigraphic correlation?
A) Dividing up rock layers into new ones based on mineral content
B) Matching up rocks of similar age in different regions
C) Putting events in order from first to last
D) Matching up continental coasts based on matching shapes
A ________ is the interior of a continental mass that has been relatively undisturbed for
the last 600 million years.
A) mountain belt
B) margin
C) craton
D) shield
What erosional features, marked A and B, are visible in this figure?
A) Feature A is a headland and B is a sea cave.
B) Feature A is a spit and B is a Baymouth bar.
C) Feature A is a stack and B is a sea arch.
D) Feature A is a wave-cut bench and B is a spit.
Which of the following ice bodies is an example of alpine glaciation?
A) Valley
B) Ice Sheet
C) Ice Cap
D) Iceberg
In which decade was the theory of plate tectonics developed?
A) 1940s
B) 1960s
C) 1970s
D) 1990s
What is the most important agent of chemical weathering?
A) Salt
B) Heat
C) Wind
D) Water
________ is the process by which a rock changes form or mineral content as a result of
environmental changes such as heat and pressure.
A) Rifting
B) Precipitation
C) Metamorphism
D) Foliation
A(n) ________ is a smooth, polished rock that has been abraded by the wind.
A) blowout
B) bajada
C) inselberg
D) ventifact
Why doesn’t interior drainage, such as the drainage that develops in deserts, flow out of
the desert?
A) The water flows underground.
B) The water fills large lakes.
C) The water evaporates.
D) The water freezes.
What is the definition of magma mixing?
A) When magma mixes with fluids to become more dilute
B) When rising magma melts surrounding country rock and incorporates it
C) When one rising magma will overtake a second and the two intermix
D) When magma incorporates more dissolved gases
A stream is cutting into a valley wall. Which of the following is the most likely trigger
for a mass wasting event?
A) The stream will saturate the slope and generate a mudflow.
B) The stream erodes the toe of the slope, which results in the slope becoming
oversteepened.
C) Upslope trees will be removed, reducing slope strength.
D) The stream will deposit extra sediment on the slope, increasing the weight on the
slope.
Which of the following minerals is nota ferromagnesian mineral?
A) Olivine
B) Potassium feldspar
C) Pyroxene
D) Biotite mica
Match the mechanical weathering process with the correct definition.
1. Frost wedging
2. Salt crystal growth
3. Sheeting
4. Biological activity
A) Expansion of ice forces a rock apart
B) Mineral crystal development forces a rock apart
C) Reduction of pressure on a pluton results in concentric layers breaking off
D) Living materials break down a rock
Using the figure of the volcano, identify the following features: lava flow, vent, conduit,
and magma chamber. Match the correct term with the correct letter.
A) Magma chamber
B) Lava flow
C) Conduit
D) Vent
1. A
2. B
3. C
4. D