Geol 101: Physical Geology
Spring 2001
EXAM 3
Make sure you fill in your student ID number correctly in the space provided on the scantron form
(do not include the dash and do not leave any spaces). Also write your name in the box provided.
Make sure you have all 8 pages of the exam questions.
For each question, select the best answer and fill in your choice on the scantron form.
ONLY USE A SOFT PENCIL ON THE SCANTRON FORM!!
1. The bed load of sediment transported by wind moves by:
A. surface creep and saltation
B. saltation and suspension
C. surface creep and suspension
D. saltation and hopping
E. saltation only
2. Abrasion can cause stones lying on a desert floor to form
A. yardangs
B. ventifacts
C. blowouts
D. desert pavements
E. inselbergs
3. In a sand dune, the shallow side is the (1) ________ and the steep side is the (2) ________.
A. (1) slip face; (2) repose face
B. (1) leeward slope; (2) windward slope
C. (1) windward slope; (2) leeward slope
D. (1) leeward slope; (2) slip face
E. none of the above
4. The horns of a (1) _______ dune point towards the direction the wind blows from, whereas in a
(2) _________ dune they point in the direction the wind is blowing towards.
A. (1) transverse; (2) longitudinal
B. (1) barchan; (2) barchanoid
C. (1) transverse; (2) parabolic
D. (1) parabolic; (2) barchan
E. (1) parabolic; (2) star
5. Deserts that form because moist air is unable to pass over a mountain range are called:
A. subtropical deserts
B. coastal deserts
C. polar deserts
D. continental interior deserts
E. rainshadow deserts
6. A glacier that flows out of a small bowl-shaped depression near the top of a mountain side is a:
A. cirque glacier
B. valley glacier
C. fjord glacier
D. piedmont glacier
E. continental glacier
7. Greenland and Antarctica contain 95% of all glacial ice in the form of:
A. ice caps
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B.
C.
D.
E.
ice sheets
ice bergs
ice shelves
ice ice baby
8. Glacier movement is:
A. very rapid, with the fastest flow occurring at the base of the glacier
B. very slow, with the fastest flow occurring at the base of the glacier
C. very slow, with the fastest flow occurring in the middle of the glacier's upper surface
D. very slow, with the fastest flow occurring along the edges of the glacier's upper surface
E. very slow, with ice moving at the same speed everywhere in the glacier
9. Glacial deposition forms asymmetrical hills called (1) _______ whereas erosion forms asymmetrical hills
called (2) _______.
A. (1) roches moutonées; (2) drumlins
B. (1) drumlins; (2) roches moutonées
C. (1) roches moutonées; (2) kames
D. (1) kames; (2) drumlins
E. (1) drumlins; (2) eskers
10. Which of the following features is not formed by glacial erosion:
A. horns
B. cirques
C. arêtes
D. U-shaped valleys
E. all of the above are formed by glacial erosion
11. What type of moraine forms in the middle of a glacier where two valley glaciers joined together?
A. medial moraine
B. lateral moraine
C. terminal moraine
D. recessional moraine
E. ground moraine
12. How many cycles of ice ages were there during the Pleistocene glaciation, which ended 10,000 years ago?
A. 1
B. 10
C. 20
D. 50
E. 100
13. How much of the Earth was covered in ice during the last ice age?
A. 1%
B. 10%
C. 20%
D. 30%
E. 100%
14. ________ is an example of a proglacial lake that formed at the edge of a Pleistocene ice sheet:
A. Lake Bonneville
B. Lake Missoula
C. Great Salt Lake
D. Lake Chad
E. Lake Tahoe
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15. Milankovitch Cycles are a suggested cause of ice ages caused by the tilt and precession of the Earth on
a time scale of (1) ________ years and by the eccentricity of Earth's orbit at the time scale of
(2) __________ years.
A. (1) 1,000 - 2,000; (2) 5,000
B. (1) 1,000 - 2,000; (2) 50,000
C. (1) 10,000 - 20,000; (2) 50,000
D. (1) 10,000 - 20,000; (2) 1 million
E. (1) 20,000 - 40,000; (2) 100,000
16. Which of the following statements about rock deformation is false?
A. a differential stress causes deformation in rocks
B. a uniform stress can cause the volume of a rock to decrease
C. stress leads to strain
D. fracturing is an example of ductile deformation
E. all rocks have a limit to their strength
17. Stretching of rocks and the development of joints is due to:
A. tensional stress
B. compressional stress
C. shear stress
D. uniform stress
E. none of the above
18. The outer parts of the crust exhibit (1) _______ deformation whereas deeper down, rocks exhibit
(2) ________ deformation.
A. (1) ductile; (2) brittle
B. (1) brittle; (2) ductile
C. (1) brittle; (2) elastic
D. (1) elastic; (2) brittle
E. (1) plastic; (2) ductile
19. Which of the following structures is most likely to form when there is a high strain rate and low
temperatures and pressures?
A. folds
B. fractures
C. plastic flow
D. bending
E. dikes
20. An example of a plate boundary fault in California is the:
A. Juan de Fuca subduction zone fault
B. New Madrid fault
C. San Andreas fault
D. Seattle fault
E. San Francisco fault
21. If a fault plane is dipping, the block of rock above the fault plane is the (1) _______ and the block
below the fault plane is the (2) __________.
A. (1) footwall; (2) hanging wall
B. (1) footwall; (2) fault scarp
C. (1) fault scarp; (2) footwall
D. (1) hanging wall; (2) fault scarp
E. (1) hanging wall; (2) footwall
22. Grabens and horsts forms in regions of tensional stresses where ________ develop.
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A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
strike-slip faults
oblique slip faults
reverse faults
normal faults
thrust faults
23. A vertical fault that shows features crossing the fault being displaced to the right across the fault is
a/an (1) ________ fault with a (2) ________ component of slip.
A. (1) strike-slip; (2) right-lateral
B. (1) strike-slip; (2) left-lateral
C. (1) normal; (2) right-lateral
D. (1) oblique slip; (2) left-lateral
E. (1) oblique slip; (2) dip-slip
24. In folds, rocks that warp downwards are called (1) _______ and rocks that warp upwards are called
(2) _________.
A. (1) synclines; (2) monoclines
B. (1) synclines; (2) anticlines
C. (1) anticlines; (2) synclines
D. (1) anticlines; (2) monoclines
E. none of the above
25. The imaginary surface that passes through the center of a fold, between the two fold limbs is called a/an:
A. fold axis
B. axial trace
C. plunge
D. axial plane
E. monocline
26. How many people have been killed by earthquakes in the past 4,000 years?
A. 15,000
B. 130,000
C. 270,000
D. 2.7 million
E. 13 million
27. Which of the following is not a major influence on the cause of earthquakes?
A. friction
B. elastic energy buildup
C. ductile deformation
D. tectonic stresses
E. faults
28. Where did the largest fault slip amount ever recorded along a fault during an earthquake occur?
A. California
B. Missouri
C. Pacific Northwest
D. India
E. Alaska
29. The majority of earthquakes occur:
A. in the continental interiors
B. along the tectonic plate boundaries
C. around the circum-Pacific belt
D. both B and C above
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E. all of the above
30. Seismic waves are recorded by an instrument called a (1) _________ and the record that the
instrument generates is called a (2) ____________.
A. (1) seismograph; (2) seismometer
B. (1) seismograph; (2) seismogram
C. (1) seismometer; (2) seismograph
D. (1) seismogram; (2) seismograph
E. (1) seismogram; (2) seismometer
31. The epicenter of an earthquake is:
A. the location along the fault where the earthquake rupture starts
B. the depth inside the crust where the earthquake occurs
C. the distance between the P-wave and S-wave arrivals
D. the point on the Earth's surface directly above the earthquake focus
E. sometimes at the Earth's surface, but not always
32. The deepest earthquakes occur at a depth of about:
A. 700 km
B. 300 km
C. 70 km
D. 30 km
E. 7 km
33. The first seismic wave to arrive after an earthquake is a (1) _____ wave called the (2) _________.
A. (1) surface; (2) P-wave
B. (1) surface; (2) S-wave
C. (1) body; (2) P-wave
D. (1) body; (2) S-wave
E. (1) body; (2) Rayleigh
34. How many seismograph stations are required to determine the location of an earthquake epicenter?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5
35. The measure of the energy released during an earthquake is the _________.
A. intensity
B. amplitude
C. wavelength
D. wave arrival time
E. magnitude
36. A M9.0 earthquake occurred along the coast of the Pacific Northwest in the year:
A. 10,000 BC
B. 8,000 BC
C. 1500
D. 1700
E. 1900
37. The intensity of an earthquake:
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A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
is variable depending on the distance from the earthquake epicenter
is the same everywhere for an earthquake of a certain magnitude
is a measure of the amount on energy released
will be the same for all earthquakes with an identical magnitude
none of the above
38. Which of the following is not an earthquake hazard?
A. fire
B. ground fissures
C. tsunami waves
D. lahars
E. landslides
39. The bending of waves through different rock layers is called (1) ___________ whereas the bouncing
of waves off of layer boundaries is called (2) ______________.
A. (1) wave refraction; (2) wave interference
B. (1) wave refraction; (2) wave reflection
C. (1) wave reflection; (2) wave refraction
D. (1) wave amplitude; (2) wave reflection
E. (1) wave amplitude; (2) wave refraction
40. We know that the outer core is liquid because:
A. S-waves cannot penetrate through the outer core
B. P-waves speed up considerably through the outer core
C. we have drilled down this far
D. it is the source of all magma
E. peridotite must be liquid at that depth
41. The boundary between the crust and the mantle is called the:
A. lithosphere
B. low-velocity zone
C. Moho
D. asthenosphere
E. none of the above
42. The principle of isostacy indicates that:
A. tectonic plates have stopped moving around
B. icebergs are denser than water
C. oceanic crust must subduct beneath continental crust
D. continental crust is the same thickness everywhere
E. the crust extends deepest below the highest mountains
43. Energy derived from the heat flow rising out of the Earth is called:
A. hydroelectric energy
B. hydrothermal energy
C. geothermal energy
D. thermometric energy
E. radioactive energy
44. A compass spins at the north pole because:
A. it is too cold for a compass to work properly
B. the magnetic declination changes through time
C. the magnetic field direction constantly reverses
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D. the magnetic field is inclined vertically with respect to the surface
E. because of the UFO hovering above you
45. The oldest oceanic crust is:
A. 4.5 billion years old
B. 4 billion years old
C. 180 million years old
D. 1.8 million years old
E. 6000 years old
46. An example of a passive continental margin is:
A. the west coast of the USA
B. the east coast of North and South America
C. the mid-Atlantic ridge
D. the Cascadia subduction zone
E. none of the above
47. Which of the following regions of the ocean floor is the flattest?
A. abyssal plains
B. ocean trenches
C. ocean ridges
D. continental slope
E. continental rise
48. Seafloor spreading occurs at:
A. abyssal plains
B. ocean trenches
C. ocean ridges
D. continental slopes
E. continental rises
49. The deepest parts of the oceans are in the:
A. abyssal plains
B. ocean trenches
C. ocean ridges
D. continental slopes
E. continental rises
50. Oceanic crust is made up of:
A. granite
B. basalt
C. gabbro
D. both A and B above
E. both B and C above
BONUS QUESTIONS
51. A seif dune is another name for a:
A. barchan dune
B. longitudinal dune
C. parabolic dune
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D. transverse dune
E. star dune
52. What is likely to happen to a glacier in which the amount of ablation exceeds the amount of
accumulation?
A. it will advance
B. it will retreat
C. it will form a valley glacier
D. it will deposit erratics
E. the glacier will not be affected
53. Strain rate refers to:
A. how fast deformation occurs in rocks
B. the type of stress causing deformation
C. rock deformation in ductile material
D. the amount of energy released during an earthquake
E. none of the above
54. A fold that forms a circular pattern of rocks with the youngest rocks in the middle is called a/an:
A. anticline
B. syncline
C. monocline
D. basin
E. dome
55. The order in which seismic waves will arrive at a seismograph station is:
A. Love waves; Rayleigh waves; P-waves; S-waves
B. S -waves; P-waves; Love waves; Rayleigh waves
C. P-waves; Love waves; Rayleigh waves; S-waves
D. P-waves; S-waves; Rayleigh waves; Love waves
E. P-waves; S-waves; Love waves; Rayleigh waves
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