VERSION Q
General Geology Section 004
TEST 4
November 29, 2006
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GENERAL GEOLOGY SECTION
TEST 4
November 29, 2006
Vestion Q
For each of the following select the best answer. The test is worth 110 points.
1. Ground water entering a stream produces a(n) _______ stream.
a. receiving
c. losing
b. influent
d. none of these
2. Which type of sedimentary rock would be most permeable, assuming that there is no cement
clogging the pores in the rock?
a. mud
c. limestone with large solution channels
b. diorite
d. poorly-sorted gravel
3. The elevation of a water table in an unconfined aquifer generally ________ during and
immediately after the rainy season.
a. rises
c. falls
b. remains at the same level
d. related to the water level in a confined aquifer
4. Which rock, with the given porosities, would make the best aquifer?
a. shale – 30%
c. mudstone – 20%
b. sandstone – 18%
d. granite – less than 1
5.
Counting tree rings or varved sediments from a lake provides:
a. relative time
c. radiometric dates
b. absolute time
d. geologic time
6. The rocks in the area around the University are about ___________years old.
a. 30,000
c. 3,000,000
b. 300,000,000
d. 300,000,000,000
7. Typically, _______ of the annual precipitation of rain and snow percolates downward into the
ground-water system.
a. 1-20%
c. 20-40%
b. 40-60%
d. 60-80%
8. Permeability is the measure of ______.
a. how much of the rock volume is composed of the pore spaces between solid grains
b. the viscosity of the fluid
c. the percentage of pore space filled with water
d. how easily a fluid can pass through a rock
9. An aquifer is a body of:
a. saturated rock or sediment through which water can move easily
b. rock or sediment that retards the flow of ground water
c. rock or sediment that is impermeable
d. rock or sediment that has 50% of its pores filled with water.
10. Wet muds (clays) and shales are often__________________.
a. very porous and permeable
c. very porous but not very permeable
b. not very porous but very permeable
d. not very porous or permeable
11. In a sequence of metamorphic rock units, dating the lowest one as 570 million years old
establishes the age of a dike as:
a. 570 million years old
c. older than 570 million years
b. younger than 570 million years
d. cannot be “dated” with this information
12. If a conglomerate contains granite boulders, then the conglomerate is _______the granite
batholith..
a. younger than
c. the same age as
b. older than
d. a formation with
13. A(n) ________ is a particular type of contact in which an erosional surface that was once
established on exposed igneous or metamorphic rock has subsequently been buried by younger
sedimentary or volcanic rock.
a. disconformity
c. nonconformity
b. angular unconformity
d. basal conglomerate
14. The surface level of a lake atop an unconfined aquifer is __________.
a. generally well below the level of the water table immediately surrounding the lake
b. at approximately the same elevation as the local water table
c. generally well above the level of the water table immediately surrounding the lake
d. no direct relationship between lake level and water-table level
15. When water is pumped out of an unconfined aquifer through a well faster than ground water can
replace the pumped water, a _______ develops in the water table.
a. cone of depression
c. ground water mound
b. confined aquifer
d. artesian well
16. A 500 year old tree is killed in a fire 100 years ago. Scientists using C-14 (an isotope of carbon)
determine the date of the _________ as _________years.
a. age of the tree… ….500
c. age of the tree.… ….100
b. death of the tree… …100
d. death of the tree… …500
17. The following statement is an example of what principle? Within a sequence of undisturbed
sedimentary rocks, the layers get younger going from bottom to top.
a. original horizontality
c. superposition
b. cross-cutting
d. all of the above
18. Which of the following is not associated with an unconfined aquifer?
a. direct recharge from meteoric water
c. zone of saturation
b. an impermeable layer above and below
d. water table
19. Given the options below, a septic system that discharges into ____ provides the best filtration of
bacteria in the discharge.
a. sandy soil
c. clay soil
b. gravel
d. fractured limestone
20. All earthquake activity ceases at 670 miles (about 430 miles) because rocks below that level:
a. are too dense
c. behave brittle
b. behave plastically
d. do not transmit body waves
21. The point at which the rocks first break along a fault is the ______ of the earthquake.
a. scarp
c. epicenter
b. focus
d. trace
22. The block overlying an inclined fault plane is the:
a. footwall
c. hanging wall
b. strike-slip face
d. epicenter
23. A bed that dips north 45 degrees east, must strike:
a. due west
c. south 45 degrees west
b. north 45 degrees east
d. north 45 degrees west
24. The half life of the carbon-14 isotope is 5730 years. If there were 8 billion atoms of C-14 in a
particular organism at the time it died, how many atoms of C-14 would there be in the remains
of that organism 11,460 years after it died?
a. 1 billion
c. 2 billion
b. 3 billion
d. 4 billion
25. The general name for a contact that was once an erosional surfaces but now bounds two
geological formations is a(n) ________.
a. basal conglomerate
b. unconformity
b. igneous contact
d. normal fault
26. Why are deep focus earthquakes concentrated in subduction zones?
a. because subduction zones redirect earthquakes into the earth
b. this is where descending plates sink into the mantle against another plate
c. because this is where all faults originate
d. softer rocks in subduction zones cause faults to sink to deep depths here
27. The fact that there are zones within Earth that do not propagate S seismic waves tells us what
about the interior of Earth?
a. it is comprised of a variety of different rock types
b. a large part of the core is liquid
c. there are voids within Earth
d. the propagation of seismic waves is sporadic
28. The sequence of thickness of the Earth’s zones from thinnest to thickest is _____.
a. crust, core, mantle
c. mantle, core, crust
b. core, crust, mantle
d. crust, mantle, core
29. Temperature increases with depth within the _________.
a. crust
c. mantle
b. core
d. the entire Earth
30. The mantle is about ___________ kilometers thick. Multiply kilometers by 0.62 to convert to
miles.
a. 29
c. 2,900
b. 29,000
d. 290,000
31. A ______ is a fracture in bedrock along which movement has taken place.
a. joint
c. fault
b. strike
d. crack
32. In a normal fault, the hanging wall has moved ___________ relative to the footwall.
a. up
c. down
b. side to side
d. horizontally
33. Two seismic stations can
a. provide three possible locations for the epicenter
b. provide two possible locations for the epicenter
c. locate the focus
d. locate the epicenter
34. Which of the following would NOT be characteristic of an anticline:
a. beds dip away from the axial plane (nose)
b. horizontal limbs
c. oldest beds in the center
d. up fold
35. If the surface exposures of folded beds resemble horseshoes, then the folds must be:
a. isoclinal
c. overturned
b. plunging
d. recumbent
36. Which of the following would NOT describe a thrust fault:
a. hanging wall moves up
c. foot wall moves down
b. upper plate overrides lower plate
d. high angle fault plan
37. What is the most common type of major mountain ranges?
a. fold
c. fault block
b. erosion
d. none of the above
38. The diameter of Earth’s core is determined by calculations based on _____.
a. P and S wave shadow zones
c. deep drill holes
b. meteorite compositions
d. heat flow
39. The similarity of seismic wave velocities between oceanic crust and upper mantle suggest that
the mantle is composed of rocks.
a. granite
c. basalt
b. ultramafic
d. metamorphic
40. The point at which the rocks first break along a fault is the ______ of the earthquake.
a. scarp
c. epicenter
b. focus
d. trace
41. 85% of total earthquake energy release is by:
a. surface waves
c. deep focus earthquakes
b. intermediate focus earthquakes
d. shallow focus earthquakes
42. In a well drilled into a dipping, confined aquifer to a depth just below the water table, the water
level in the well _____________________.
a. will rise above the level of the water table
b. will rise to the ground surface, but will not flow
c. will not rise above the level of the water table
d. will not rise above the base of the well
43. Tsunamis differ from wind-generated waves by:
a. shorter wavelength
b. greater amplitude in deep water
c. longer wavelength
c. global position
44. The principle of continents being in buoyant equilibrium is called:
a. subsidence
c. isostacy
b. bouncing
d. asthenosphere
45. The boundary that separates the crust from the mantle is the _______.
a. mantle discontinuity
c. Morhorovicic discontinuity
b. lithosphere discontinuity
d. shadow zone
46. Water enters the ground water system by ___________.
a. transportation
c. infiltration
b. evaporation
d. discharge
47. Porosity is the:
a. percentage of a rock’s volume that is openings
b. capacity of a rock to transmit a fluid
c. the ability of a sediment to retard water
d. percentage of permeability
48. Folds in a rock show that the rock behaved in a _________ manner.
a. plastic
c. brittle
b. liquid
d. all of the above
49. The Ozark Mountains were produced by:
a. erosion
c. folding
b. faulting
d. block faults
50. Perched water tables are ____________.
a. at the same elevation but isolated from the main water table
b. the zone of mixing at the water table
c. the unsaturated zone above the water table
d. higher than and isolated from the main water table
SLIDES
SLIDES
SLIDES
SLIDES
SLIDES
51. This is an aerial view of stream channels. What type of fault occurs here?
a. right-strike slip
c. left-strike slip
b. normal
d. reverse
52. What feature is shown near the center of this slide?
a. anticline
c. syncline
b. normal fault
d. reverse fault
53. This is a view of San Francisco from the Pacific Ocean. The left side of the city is moving into
the Pacific Ocean relative to the right side because of the San Andreas fault system. This is a
_____________ fault.
a. reverse
c. normal
b. right-strike slip
d. left-strike slip
54. What type of unconformity is shown in this slide?
a. nonconformity
c. angular unconformity
b. disconformity
d. triconformity
55. What is shown in this slide?
a. right-strike slip
b. normal
c. left-strike slip
d. reverse