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When did the Big Bang occur?
A) 3.8 billion years ago
B) 4.6 billion years ago
C) 7.8 billion years ago
D) 13.7 billion years ago
The ________ of a continent consists of a core area of Precambrian rocks exposed at
the surface with no overlying cover materials.
A) shield
B) platform
C) rift zone
D) plateau
An urban legend that states that all it would take is one good, strong earthquake for
California to fall off into the sea. Is this true? Explain why this may or may not be the
case.
How many planets are in our solar system?
A) 5
B) 8
C) 10
D) 13
What is the name of this rock?
A) Slate
B) Quartzite
C) Schist
D) Gneiss
What kind of streamflow is present in this image?
A) Braided flow
B) Laminar flow
C) Turbulent flow
D) Overland flow
A ________ fault is created when the hanging wall moves up relative to the footwall.
A) strike-slip
B) normal
C) reverse
D) graben
________ is a moon of Saturn.
A) Io
B) Tethys
C) Ganymede
D) Europa
Which model of convection describes how the interior is divided into several levels of
convection cells?
A) Layer cake model
B) Whole-mantle convection
C) Plume model
D) Differentiation model
Unbending a paper clip wire is an example of what kind of deformation?
A) Brittle deformation
B) Ductile deformation
C) Elastic deformation
D) Shear deformation
What is the angle of repose?
A) The angle of the slip plane from a slide
B) The steepest angle at which a material remains at rest
C) The angle of an inclined rock layer measured from a horizontal line
D) The angle of plunge into the interior
This image shows the gradient of the water table between Well A and Well B. Please
note that the label for each well also displays the elevation of the water table in that
well. Using the information present in the figure, calculate the hydraulic gradient of this
cross section.
A) 8 m/km
B) 11.7 m/km
C) 21.9 m/km
D) 32 m/km
________ will form as sediment collects between the accretionary wedge and the
volcanic arc.
A) Deep-ocean trench
B) Continental shelf
C) Back-arc basin
D) Forearc basin
Metamorphic facies derive their names from those metamorphic rocks specifically
formed from a ________ parent.
A) basaltic
B) granitic
C) shale
D) obsidian
Match the rock with the appropriate category of sedimentary rock. (The choices may be
used more than once.)
A) Organic
B) Detrital
C) Chemical
1. Sandstone
2. Chert
3. Shale
4. Bituminous coal
5. Rock salt
6. Coquina
Which tectonic plates are responsible for the majority of seismic activity in the
Alpine-Himalayan Belt, extending through the Mediterranean Sea and through the
Himalayas?
A) African, Antarctic, and Eurasian plates
B) Eurasian, North American, and Pacific plates
C) North American, South American, and Cocos plates
D) Eurasian, African, and Indian plates
What is the term used to describe increased temperature with depth in the Earth?
A) Decompression melting
B) Convection cells
C) Geothermal gradient
D) Hydrothermal alteration
The only continental ice sheets left on Earth today are in Greenland and Antarctica.
Kilauea is a volcano created by ________.
A) intraplate volcanism
B) subduction
C) rifting
D) shear forces
Which of the following scenarios could result in the exposure of the feature in this
image?
A) Rising sea level floods this part of the shoreline.
B) Longshore currents deposit sand.
C) Rip currents remove beach deposits.
D) Tectonic activity raises the landscape.
Faults form in ________ temperature-________ pressure environments.
A) low-; low-
B) high-; high-
C) high-; low-
D) low-; high-
What mineral substance makes up most geyser deposits?
A) Travertine
B) Sandstone
C) Sinter
D) Obsidian
The largest shield volcano in the solar system is ________ and is located on ________.
A) Maat Mons; Venus
B) Olympus Mons; Mars
C) Mauna Kea; Earth
D) Sif Mons; Venus
A(n) ________ is a sharp, knife-edged ridge that forms between two valley glaciers.
A) horn
B) arte
C) col
D) moraine
The points on this figure mark the locations of groundwater observation wells. The
numbers refer to the elevation of the water table above sea level. Using this
information, determine the direction of groundwater flow in this region. Assume that
the top of the figure is north.
A) Northeast
B) West
C) South
D) Southwest
Thermal springs known as ________ are often associated with oceanic ridges, where
hot water containing dissolved minerals gushes from the seafloor.
A) hot springs
B) geysers
C) black smokers
D) ophiolites
Can parent rock features such as sedimentary structures and fossils survive low-grade
metamorphism?
A) Yes, because the shells of the organisms are strong enough to withstand directed
pressure.
B) No, because the sediments and organic materials will be melted.
C) Yes, because such features can withstand low temperatures and pressures but will be
destroyed in higher metamorphic grades.
D) No, because even low-grade pressure is too much for such delicate features.
The Hubbard Glacier in North America is an example of which kind of glacier?
A) Valley
B) Ice Sheet
C) Piedmont
D) Cirque
The inner core is believed to rotate independently from the outer layers of Earth. Why is
this possible?
A) The immense interior pressures generate rotation.
B) The inner core is separated from the mantle by the liquid outer core and can spin
freely.
C) Radioactive decay generates spin.
D) Frictional drag pushes the inner core at a different rate than the rest of the planet.
You are trying to determine the age of a lava flow using an isotope with a half-life of
1.5 million years. If the sample has gone through four half-lives, what is the age of the
rock?
A) 1.5 million years
B) 6 million years
C) 375,000 years
D) 5 billion years
How is a volcanic neck different from a volcanic pipe?
A) Volcanic necks are longer and bring materials up from the mantle.
B) Volcanic pipes connect to shallow magma chambers.
C) Volcanic pipes are shorter.
D) Volcanic necks are shorter and connect to shallow magma chambers.
