Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology, 11e (Tarbuck)
Chapter 23 Energy and Mineral Resources
23.1 Multiple-Choice Questions
1) A ________ is an economically important material that can be replenished over a short time
span to be used again.
A) Renewable resource
B) Fossil Fuel
C) Raw material
D) Nonrenewable resource
2) A ________ is an economically important material that cannot be replenished in a reasonable
time frame, so once it has been consumed, there will not be any more.
A) Recycled material
B) Renewable resource
C) Nonrenewable resource
D) Plastic
3) Which of the following is not a fossil fuel?
A) Coal
B) Bauxite
C) Natural Gas
D) Petroleum
4) Which of the following regions is not an important coal mining location in the United States?
A) Idaho
B) Pennsylvania
C) Wyoming
D) West Virginia
5) Which naturally occurring substance in coal is released through combustion to create acid
rain?
A) Nitrogen
B) Uranium
C) Oxygen
D) Sulfur
E) All of the above
6) How does the burning of fossil fuels affect the environment?
A) Greenhouse gases are released, which raises global temperatures
B) Acid rain is produced
C) Particulates are released into the atmosphere, which collect on ice caps and glaciers to absorb
more heat
D) Increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere leads to ocean acidification
E) All of the above
7) Together, ________ and ________ provide more than 60% of the energy consumed in the
United States.
A) Uranium; Hydroelectricity
B) Coal; Nuclear Power
C) Natural gas; Wind Power
D) Oil; Coal
8) Which type of coal is typically found in associated with tight, highly folded strata?
A) Bituminous
B) Lignite
C) Peat
D) Anthracite
9) Although the United States has only about 6% of the world’s population, it uses approximately
________ of the world’s total annual energy production.
A) 12%
B) 20%
C) 30%
D) 50%
10) Which of the following fossils fuels is the “cleanest” for the environment in the sense that it
is most likely to have the lowest sulfur content and the smallest volume of solid ash residue?
A) Natural gas
B) Anthracite coal
C) Heavy, asphalitic crude oil
D) Lignite
11) The largest crude oil reserves currently in production are found:
A) On land in Texas
B) In the deeper waters of the Gulf of Mexico
C) In eastern and central Saudi Arabia
D) On the continental slope in the North Sea
12) ________ are mixtures of clay, sand, and bitumen.
A) Tar Pits
B) Oil Sands
C) Oil Shales
D) Gas Hydrates
13) Lake Athabasca, central Canada, is the world’s largest commercially developed deposit of
which fossil fuel?
A) Anthracite coal
B) Natural gas
C) Petroleum
D) Tar sands
14) The Green River Formation of Wyoming is contains rich oil shales. In what geologic
environment were these shales deposited?
A) Coastal swamps deposited during the Pennsylvanian Period on an ancient shoreline
B) On the bottom of two shallow, Eocene Epoch lakes
C) In a shallow marine environment at the edge of the continental shelf during the Pleistocene
Epoch
D) In an eolian dune field during the Jurassic Period
15) What radioactive material is the main fuel used to produce nuclear energy?
A) Uranium-238
B) Uranium-235
C) Lead-207
D) Thorium-232
16) Which process releases energy from radioactive materials to produce nuclear power?
A) Nuclear fission
B) Nuclear fusion
C) Gasification
D) Nuclear bombardment
17) Yucca Mountain is a site in Nevada that was proposed as a site to store ________ until the
project was defunded in 2010.
A) Natural gas
B) Nuclear waste
C) Sequestered carbon
D) Oil reserves
18) Where is the location of the world’s largest tidal electricity power plant?
A) The California coast north of San Francisco
B) The mouth of the Amazon River in Brazil
C) The mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana
D) The Rance River estuary in Brittany, France
19) Which form of renewable energy is produced by power plants in The Geysers, California and
Larderello, Italy?
A) Hydroelectric power
B) Solar power
C) Tidal energy
D) Geothermal power
20) Where was the location of the first large-scale commercial geothermal electrical facility in
the United States?
A) The Geysers, California
B) Oak Ridge, Tennessee
C) Hot Springs, Arkansas
D) Mammoth Lake, California
21) Photovoltaic cells are used to generate ________ energy.
A) Tidal
B) Nuclear
C) Solar
D) Hydroelectric
22) Which country has the greatest installed capacity of wind turbines worldwide?
A) United States
B) Germany
C) China
D) Australia
23) The first geothermal electrical plants in the world were constructed in ________ in 1904.
A) Japan
B) New Zealand
C) Italy
D) Mexico City
24) Which of the materials below are examples of biomass fuel?
A) Ethanol
B) Coal
C) Oil
D) Hot water
25) Which of the following minerals does not form as a result of magmatic segregation?
A) Beryl
B) Quartz
C) Feldspar
D) Diamond
26) Magmatic segregation occurs when ________.
A) Light mineral 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
27) Which igneous rock will form through crystallization in a fluid-rich environment with
enhanced ion-migration?
A) Gabbro
B) Pegmatite
C) Diorite
D) Migmatite
28) ________ is a high-pressure ultramafic rock, often containing diamonds, that is carried to the
surface in tapered volcanic pipes.
A) Pegmatite
B) Migmatite
C) Kimberlite
D) Platinum
29) Which of the following is not a hydrothermal solution deposit?
A) Oceanic ridge deposit from hydrothermal activity
B) Magmatic Segregation
C) Vein deposits
D) Disseminated deposits
30) How can contact metamorphism result in the deposition of ore deposits?
A) Ore molecules are dissolved in hot water, which mixes with cold groundwater to change
composition
B) Hot, mineral-rich water exits the seafloor, resulting in instant precipitation of minerals
C) Hot magma burns the country rock, which experiences a mineral phase change
D) Hot fluids in contact with the country rock can result in chemical reactions that facilitate the
migration of metallic ions
31) Vein- or fissure-filling deposits of metallic ores such as gold or silver are common in
________.
A) Rocks of a contact-metamorphic zone that formed around a shallow granite pluton
B) Pyroclastic materials erupted from a stratovolcano
C) Impact structures from meteorites
D) Rocks that form in high-pressure subduction zones
32) Prolonged tropical weathering of specific kinds of bedrock can produce deposits of which
ore?
A) Gold
B) Iron
C) Magnetite
D) Aluminum
33) What mineral is refined to produce aluminum for economic use?
A) Potassium Feldspar
B) Bauxite
C) Chalcopyrite
D) Lignite
34) Which mineral’s chemical decomposition will produce acidic water that can percolate
through the soil and result in secondary enrichment of copper and other ore deposits?
A) Hematite
B) Bauxite
C) Pyrite
D) Galena
35) What is the definition of a placer deposit?
A) Sorting of particles by a current according to specific gravity
B) Emplacement of hydrothermal fluids into a fracture
C) Concentration of minor amounts of metals in soil via weathering
D) Metallic deposit near the base of a black smoker due to precipitation
36) Nonmetallic minerals used for abrasives include ________.
A) Topaz and Fluorite
B) Talc and gypsum
C) Apatite and Hematite
D) Diamond and garnet
37) Which mineral resource is the main component for plaster and drywall?
A) Diamonds
B) Calcite
C) Gypsum
D) Talc
38) What is the main mineral source of phosphorous in phosphate fertilizers?
A) Topaz
B) Nitrate
C) Kaolinite
D) Apatite
23.2 True/False Questions
1) Coal is still an important domestic heating fuel, particularly in the northeastern United States.
2) Uranium is considered to be a fossil fuel.
3) A cap rock is a porous, permeable rock that will yield petroleum and natural gas.
4) Coal forms from ancient plant remains originally deposited in swamps and marshes. The
original energy content of the coal was derived from the sun.
5) Cap rocks over reservoirs of petroleum and natural gas are nonporous and impermeable.
6) Oil sands are associated with sandstones, shales, and limestones.
7) Tar sand deposits are similar to those of coal beds interbedded with sandstones.
8) 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.
9) The concentrations of nuclear material and the design of nuclear power plants are such that
nuclear power plants cannot explode like an atomic bomb.
10) Renewable energy sources such as wood and gas hydrates can regenerate and be sustained
indefinitely.
11) The use of renewable energy has been increasing for the last forty years and is expected to
continue to rise.
12) A mineral deposit may lose its profitability due to economic changes such as rising
production costs and stock market volatility.
13) Black smokers are results of hydrothermal activity at ocean ridges.
14) Black smokers along the Juan de Fuca Ridge are responsible for massive iron oxide deposits.
15) The gold deposits that started the California Gold Rush of 1848 were in the form of placer
deposits in Sutters Creek.
16) Limestone is the most versatile and widely used nonmetallic mineral resource because it can
be used for both building and industrial purposes.
17) Salt, sulfur, and fertilizers are three examples of nonmetallic mineral resources that are
building materials.
23.3 Short Answer Questions
1) In what environment will the plant and animal remains necessary to generate oil accumulate?
2) Provide an example of a good reservoir rock for oil and natural gas.
3) Provide an example of a good cap rock for oil and natural gas deposits.
4) List three concerns/hazards related to the practice of hydraulic fracturing or fracking.
5) The most common type of gas hydrate is ________.
6) How are oceanic gas hydrates produced?
7) The nuclear power plant in ________, U.S.S.R., suffered a catastrophic nuclear accident in
1986. This event is still regarded as the world’s worst nuclear disaster.