Semester Exam Review
2014
A fault is ____.
a fracture in the Earth where
movement has occurred
An earthquake’s epicenter is
____.
the place on the surface directly
above the focus
The hypothesis that explains the
release of energy during an
earthquake is called the ____.
elastic rebound hypothesis
Which seismic waves travel most
rapidly?
P waves
Which one of the following
statements is true about P waves?
They travel faster than S waves.
A seismogram shows that P
waves travel ____.
faster than S waves
Which of the following is NOT a
characteristic of S waves?
They temporarily change the
volume of material by compression
and expansion.
Wegener’s continental drift
hypothesis stated that all the
continents once joined together to
form ____.
one major supercontinent
The supercontinent in the
continental drift hypothesis was
called ____.
Pangaea
What hypothesis states that the
continents were once joined to form
a single supercontinent?
continental drift
Which of the following statements
correctly describes the
asthenosphere?
It permits plate motion.
In the plate tectonics theory, the
lithosphere is divided into ____.
7 major plates and many smaller
plates
What kind of plate boundary occurs
where two plates grind past each
other without destroying or
producing lithosphere?
transform fault boundary
A divergent boundary at two oceanic
plates can result in a ____.
rift valley
What type of boundary occurs
where two plates move together,
causing one plate to descend into
the mantle beneath the other plate?
convergent boundary
New ocean crust is formed at
____.
divergent boundaries
Which of the following results when
divergence occurs between two
oceanic plates?
seafloor spreading
An example of a divergent plate
boundary on continental lithosphere
would be ____.
the East African Rift Valley
The Hawaiian Islands were formed
when the Pacific Plate moved over
____.
a hot spot
Highly explosive volcanoes tend
to have what type of magma?
magma with high silica, high
viscosity, and higher gas content
What type of volcano is built almost
entirely from ejected lava
fragments?
cinder cone
The broad, slightly dome-shaped
volcanoes of Hawaii are ____.
shield volcanoes
A volcano that is fairly symmetrical
and has both layers of lava and
pyroclastic deposits is a ____.
composite cone volcano
Structures that form from the
cooling and hardening of magma
beneath Earth’s surface are ____.
plutons
The largest intrusive igneous
body is called a ____.
batholith
What is true about all plutons?
They form below Earth’s surface.
What is the most abundant gas in
the atmosphere?
nitrogen
Which of the following terms best
describes air?
mixture
What is the lowest layer of the
atmosphere?
troposphere
When does the summer solstice
occur in the Northern Hemisphere?
June 21
When does the autumnal equinox
occur in the Southern Hemisphere?
March 21
When energy is transferred to air,
what happens to the particles of air?
They move faster.
On average, how much of the sun’s
energy that reaches Earth’s outer
atmosphere is reflected back into
space?
30 percent
Which term describes the
conversion of a solid directly to a
gas, without passing through the
liquid state?
sublimation
The process by which water vapor
changes directly to a solid is called
____.
deposition
Which of the following refers to the
energy that is stored or released
during a change of state of water?
latent heat
What is the dry adiabatic rate?
10C/1000 meters
The wet adiabatic rate of cooling is
less than the dry rate because ____.
of the release of latent heat
What is true about stable air?
It tends to resist rising.
Which cloud type is best described
as sheets or layers that cover much
or all of the sky?
stratus
Which cloud type consists of
globular cloud masses with a
cauliflower structure?
cumulus
Which term means “rainy
cloud”?
nimbus
Which clouds are often associated
with thunder and lightning?
cumulonimbus
The most abundant element in
Earth’s continental crust (by weight)
is ____.
oxygen
Atoms containing the same numbers
of protons and different numbers of
neutrons are ____.
isotopes