Geos 1000, Exam II
Spring, 2011
Multiple choice. Choose the one best answer.
1. Which of the following terms best describes the rocky outer layer of the Earth?
A) asthenosphere
B) biosphere
C) atmosphere
D) lithosphere
E) hydrosphere
2. Which type of plate boundary results from two or more plates coming together?
A) convergent
B) divergent
C) transform
D) hot spot
E) ridge
3. Which of the following locations is the best example of continental crust colliding with
continental crust?
A) Himalayas
B) Java
C) Hawaii
D) Aleutian Islands
E) Iceland
4. The scientific study of earthquakes and seismic waves is known as _______.
A) seismograph
B) seismogram
C) seismology
D) vulcanology
E) tectonics
5. The _______ is the point on the surface directly above the point of an earthquake.
A) epicenter
B) focus
C) elastic rebound
D) tsunami
E) xenolith
6. The _______ is the Earth's rocky, outermost layer.
A) mesosphere
B) asthenosphere
D) atmosphere
E) lithosphere
C) Moho
7. What is the difference between magma and lava?
A) the chemical composition
B) the amount of water that each holds
C) lava reaches the surface and magma does not
D) the amount of molten rock with or without pyroclasts
E) the amount of dissolved gases and suspended crystals
8. The Hawaiian Islands are composed of what type of volcanoes?
A) shield
B) stratovolcanoes
C) cinder cones
D) flood basalts
E) none of the above
9. The degree to which a substance resists flow is known as _______.
A) magma
B) composition
C) tephra
D) fumaroles
E) viscosity
10. The composition of most magma is 40%-75% ________ by weight.
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A) silicates
D) magnesian minerals
B) oxides
C) aluminums
E) none of the above
11. _______ igneous rocks are composed of dark-colored minerals rich in magnesium and iron.
A) felsic
B) mafic
C) intrusive
D) vesicular
E) extrusive
12. Molten rock that reaches the Earth's surface is known as _______.
A) magma
B) tephra
C) plutonic
D) pyroclasts
E) none of the above
13. Which of the following is the name for a fine-grained, felsic igneous rock?
A) granite
B) basalt
C) andesite
D) pumice
E) rhyolite
14. The smallest type of tephra is known as _______.
A) lapili
B) volcanic ash
C) agglomerates
D) pyroclasts
E) calderas
15. Fine grained igneous rocks have a(n) _______ texture.
A) aphanitic
B) phaneritic
C) porpyritic
D) glassy
E) vesicular
16. Partially decayed organic matter in soil is called _______.
A) humus
B) sand
C) kaolin
D) clay
E) slurry
17. _______ is the extremely slow downslope granular flow of regolith.
A) solification
B) slump
C) slides
D) creep
E) flow
18. A permanent body of ice, consisting largely of recrystallized snow and showing evidence of
movement under the pull of gravity is known as _______.
A) a glacier
B) mass wasting
C) creep
D) debris avalanche
E) none of the above
19. The uppermost soil horizon that contains mostly organic matter is known as the _____
horizon.
A) A
B) E
C) B
D) O
E) none of the above
20. Sediment that is moved along the bottom of a stream is known as _______.
A) suspended load
B) dissolved load
C) bedload
D) clay
E) sand
21. A sediment that is made of relatively coarse mineral grains is known as _______.
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A) clay
D) kaolin
B) soil
E) saltation
C) sand
22. A _______ involves a rotational movement of rock or regolith.
A) fall
B) creep
C) flow
D) slump
E) slides
23. A type of chemical weathering in which minerals react with dissolved oxygen in water is
known as _______.
A) frost wedging
B) oxidation
C) root wedging
D) acid rain
E) ion exchange
24. When all the grains in a rock are roughly the same size, the rock is said to be _______.
A) well rounded
B) well sorted
C) well weathered
D) angular
E) clastic
25. A sedimentary rock formed by the evaporation of lake or seawater is known as a(n) _______.
A) sandstone
B) shale
C) eolianite
D) turbidite
E) evaporite
26. When gravel becomes lithified, _______ is formed.
A) conglomerate
B) shale
C) sandstone
D) siltstone
E) evaporate
27. _______ is the reduction of pore space in sediment as a result of the weight of the overlying
sediments.
A) evaporation
B) compaction
C) cementation
D) lithification
E) accretion
28. Which of the following describes a fine grained rock consisting primarily of clay particles?
A) conglomerate
B) sandstone
C) siltstone
D) peat
E) shale
29. Glacial till is an example of a deposit that is _______.
A) well sorted
B) poorly sorted
C) well rounded
D) moderately rounded
E) spherical
30. A biogenic sediment that forms from the accumulation of plant debris is known as _______.
A) calcite
B) loess
C) sandstone
D) mudstone
E) peat
31. Which of the following is a category of sedimentary rocks formed by the precipitation of
minerals dissolved in a lake, river, or seawater?
A) clastic
B) biogenic
C) chemical
D) turbidites
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32. Which of the following has the fastest seismic wave velocity?
A) P waves
B) S waves
C) Q waves
D) surface waves
E) tsunami
33. Where do you expect to find the deepest earthquakes?
A) mid-ocean ridge
B) divergent boundary
C) transform boundary
D) hot spot
E) subduction zone
34. The coarse grained ignesous rock with the same composition as basalt is known as:
A) gabbro
B) diorite
C) andesite
D) granite
E) rhyolite
35. A soil horizon located at depth where materials leached from higher horizons accumulates:
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) E
E) F
True-False. (Red is true and black is false)
36. The Hawaiian Islands are a result of the Pacific Plate passing over a hot spot.
37. As rocks cool, they become denser and sink into the mantle.
38. The Andes Mountains are a good example of oceanic–oceanic collision.
39. The part of the Earth's interior near the surface where rocks are close to the melting point is
known as the asthenosphere.
40. Rocks closer to the spreading centers in the oceans are older than the rocks farther away from
the spreading center.
41. The Himalayas are a good example of oceanic–continental collision.
42. Obduction is the processes where one plate slides under another.
43. The Mid-Ocean Ridge is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean.
44. The Richter Scale measures the damage caused by a given earthquake.
45. The outer core is solid and the inner core is liquid.
46. The crust is thicker under the oceans than it is under the continents.
47. Hawaiian eruptions are extremely violent and produce large pyroclastic flows.
48. Igneous rocks high in feldspars and silicates are known as felsic rocks.
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49. Strato volcanoes are usually found near convergent plate boundaries.
50. A pyroclastic flow is a hot mixture of lava, pyroclastic particles and gases.
51. Basalt magma has a high amount of dissolved gases and is very explosive.
52. Dissolution is a good example of mechanical weathering.
53. Chemical weathering occurs much more rapidly in a climate with high rainfall.
54. A debris flow (avalanche) is a slow, gradual process of mass wasting.
55. The most active mass wasting takes place near divergent plate boundaries.
56. The splitting of rocks due to the repeated freezing and thawing is known as root wedging.
57. The jumping of sediment grains along the stream bed is known as bedload.
58. The uppermost layer of regolith that can support rooted plants is known as soil.
59. In a soil profile, the B and E layers are both layers that are leached.
60. The A horizon is composed almost entirely of decomposing plant matter.
61. Over time with changes in time and pressure peat could become coal.
62. Clastic sediments can be volcanic in origin.
63. Sandstone results from the lithification of clay grains.
64. Coal is classified as a chemical sedimentary rock.
65. Till is a type of light-brown, wind blown sediment.
66. Dissolved load settles to the bottom of a stream as the velocity decreases.
67. Flowing water can transport larger particles than wind.
68. Breccia is similar to conglomerate except that the large particles are angular.
69. Intense volcanism in the Andes occurs because of a hot spot there.
70. Cross bedding forms by leaching of minerals in soils.
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