Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology, 11e (Tarbuck)
Chapter 1 An Introduction to Geology
1.1 Multiple-Choice Questions
1) Which one of the following is a natural disaster?
A) A hurricane forming in the Atlantic Ocean
B) A landslide striking San Francisco
C) A volcano erupting in the Aleutian Islands
D) An earthquake occurring in the Mojave Desert
2) Which culture recorded the earliest writings about topics such as fossils, earthquakes, and
gemstones?
A) Roman Empire
B) Renaissance Europe
C) Ancient China
D) Ancient Greece
3) Which of the following is not a geologic hazard?
A) Poor construction materials resulting in a cracked foundation
B) Volcanic eruptions sending lava flows toward a city
C) Deforestation on a floodplain increasing the severity of river floods
D) Climate change leading to sea level rise
4) The Principle of ________ states that the physical, chemical, and biological processes at work
shaping the Earth today have also operated in the geologic past.
A) Catastrophism
B) Plate Tectonics
C) Creationism
D) Uniformitarianism
5) What is the accepted age of the Earth?
A) 6,000 years
B) 1 million years
C) 4.6 million years
D) 4.6 billion years
6) ________ was in important 18th century scientist who developed the idea of
Uniformitarianism to explain the slow, steady changes responsible for shaping the Earth.
A) Charles Lyell
B) Isaac Newton
C) James Hutton
D) Charles Darwin
7) What percentage of the Earth is covered by oceans?
A) 50%
B) 17%
C) 80%
D) 71%
8) Which of the following is not one of the jobs of the atmosphere?
A) Energy exchanges between the surface and outer space, creating weather and climate
B) Lessening the effects of weathering on the geosphere
C) Protection from ultraviolet radiation and the intensity of the Sun
D) Providing air for respiratory processes in the biosphere
9) Which of the four spheres of Earth is the most extensive?
A) Geosphere
B) Atmosphere
C) Hydrosphere
D) Biosphere
10) What is the date of formation of the universe?
A) 4.6 billion years ago
B) 10 billion years ago
C) 13.7 billion years ago
D) 8.7 billion years ago
11) Which of the following materials can be used to make interpretations about the nature and
composition of the interior of the Earth?
A) Meteorites
B) Diamond-bearing pipes
C) Slivers of crustal and mantle rocks exposed at the surface
D) All of the above
E) None of the above
12) What is the definition of differentiation?
A) Separation of materials based on density
B) Categorization based on chemical formulas
C) Mixing of materials to produce a new compound
D) Divisions of planets based on constituent materials
13) What is the age of the oldest rocks discovered on the planet?
A) 6,000 years old
B) 4.6 million years old
C) 4 billion years old
D) 4.6 billion years old
14) What property of the crust allowed it to form as the exterior of Earth?
A) Magma at the surface cooled and crystallized before anything in the interior
B) Materials that make up the crust are less dense and rose to the top
C) Churning and upheaval in the interior thrust crustal rocks toward the surface
D) Meteorites impacting Earth deposited this material at the surface
15) What provides us with the most information about the interior of the Earth?
A) Borehole data
B) Erupted materials
C) Satellite imagery
D) Seismic energy waves
16) A research team is studying the velocity of seismic waves in various types of rock. Using
explosives, they create small explosions to study how fast the energy waves will travel. Using
the data below, infer which rocks are higher in density and which are lower in density:
Rock A: 7 km/s
Rock B: 5.9 km/s
Rock C: 7.2 km/s
Rock D: 6.1 km/s
Rock E: 6.25 km/s
A) Rock C
B) Rocks B & D
C) Rocks B, D, & E
D) Rocks A & C
17) If the temperature in the Earth generally increases with depth, how is it possible that the
Inner Core is a solid?
A) Temperatures increase to a certain point before leveling off below the melting point of the
core
B) The pressures in the core are immense and keep it in a solid state in spite of the temperature
C) The material the Inner Core is composed of cannot melt at temperatures generated on Earth
D) The Inner Core is shedding the heat so quickly that melting does not have time to occur
18) Which layer of the Earth is the thinnest?
A) Crust
B) Mantle
C) Outer Core
D) Inner Core
19) Which layer of the Earth is the thickest?
A) Crust
B) Mantle
C) Outer Core
D) Inner Core
20) What is the definition of the asthenosphere?
A) A portion of the atmosphere that blocks UV radiation
B) A soft, low-velocity layer in the Upper Mantle
C) The transition zone between the Mantle and the Outer Core
D) The portion of the Hydrologic Cycle that describes how plants contribute their respiration
21) The ________ is a layer of liquid nickel and iron believed to be responsible for generating
the Earth’s magnetic field.
A) Crust
B) Mantle
C) Outer Core
D) Inner Core
22) In what two areas are the youngest mountain ranges found today?
A) The Circum-Atlantic belt and Southern Europe/Asia
B) Western South America and the Appalachians of North America
C) The Circum-Pacific belt and Southern Europe/Asia
D) Scandinavia and Eastern Africa
23) A ________ is a part of the craton that is covered by a thin veneer of sedimentary rocks.
A) Shield
B) Continental Shelf
C) Platform
D) Plateau
1.2 True/False Questions
1) Historical geology describes geological processes that operate on the Earth.
2) Geologic hazards are natural processes.
3) Archbishop James Ussher used the Bible to construct a chronology to date the creation of the
Earth to 46,000 B.C.
4) Before a hypothesis can become an accepted part of scientific knowledge, it must pass
objective testing and analysis.
5) A hypothesis can never be changed or modified.
6) The majority of the hydrosphere is found in the atmosphere in the form of water vapor.
7) The four spheres on Earth operate independently from each other.
8) Both energy and matter will flow in and out of an open system.
9) The interior of the Earth is divided into roughly spherical layers separated by density.
10) The lithosphere is the layer in the interior of the Earth that is just below the crust.
11) Crystallization can produce metamorphic rocks.
12) External processes driven by solar energy can create the materials necessary for sedimentary
rocks.
13) A craton is the interior of a continental mass that has been undisturbed for the last 1 billion
years.
1) Which three sciences contribute knowledge and principles that geologists use to understand
the natural world?
2) ________ is the doctrine that describes how the Earth was shaped by a series of great
catastrophes over a short period of time.
3) Illustrate how can soil be considered a part of all four atmospheres.
4) Express the definition of the Earth System in your own words.
5) List three examples of subsystems or cycles of the Earth System.
6) Are humans part of the Earth System? List your evidence.
7) What were the three basic divisions of the interior of the early Earth?
8) What was the source for the early atmosphere? Explain the process by which it developed.