Name: __________________________________________________________ Date: __________________________ Period: _________
Earthquakes and Volcanoes Unit Review
Test Details
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50 multiple choice questions (2 pts each)
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30 point group test (lots of critical thinking questions)
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Test worth 130 points
12.1 How and Where Earthquakes Happen
1. What is the epicenter of an earthquake?
2. What is elastic rebound?
3. What are the slowest moving, but potentially most damaging waves called?
4. How do earthquakes relate to plate tectonics?
5. Why do earthquakes usually occur at plate boundaries?
6. Where does the first motion of an earthquake occur?
7. How does Earth’s interior affect seismic direction?
8. What type of seismic wave travels through solids only?
9. Compare and contrast Love waves and Rayleigh waves.
10. What happens if a fault is locked?
11. Compare and contrast P waves and S waves.
12. What are seismic waves?
13. Agree or disagree: The most damaging earthquakes have shallow foci. Explain your answer.
12.2 Studying Earthquakes
14. Look over you “Locating Earthquake Epicenter” worksheet. Be able to determine the distance from
the epicenter using P and S wave arrival times and locate the epicenter using a map.
15. How do scientists find the distance to an epicenter?
16. What is a seismogram?
17. What does the moment magnitude scale measure?
18. What does the modified Mercalli scale measure?
19. Which scale more accurately measures the magnitude of large earthquakes?
20. What is seismology?
21. What is a seismograph?
22. What does the Richter scale measure?
23. Describe the relationship between lag time and distance from an epicenter.
24. A scientist at a seismology station has recorded P waves and S waves emanating from an
earthquake. Can the scientist determine the epicenter of the earthquake? Explain your answer.
12.3 Earthquakes and Society
25. What is a foreshock?
26. What is a seismic gap?
27. Why do scientists monitor natural gas seepage?
28. What is a tsunami?
29. Are earthquake predictions reliable?
30. Agree or disagree: It is a good idea to panic during an earthquake.
31. Agree or disagree: Foreshocks are a good predictor of an earthquake in the near future. Explain
your answer.
13.1 Volcanoes and Plate Tectonics
32. What is magma?
33. What is lava?
34. Explain how the composition of magma affects volcanic eruptions and the flow of lava.
35. What are the 3 major volcanic zones?
36. What is the Pacific Ring of Fire?
37. What happens when an oceanic and continental plate collide?
38. What is volcanism?
39. What is a hot spot?
40. Why does magma rise up through the Earth’s crust?
41. What happens when 2 oceanic plates collide?
42. If the temperature of a rock rises above the melting point of the minerals the rock is composed of,
what happens to the rock?
43. How do volcanoes relate to plate tectonics?
44. What is a volcano?
45. What is a mid-ocean ridge?
13.2 Volcanic Eruptions
46. Describe mafic lava.
47. Describe felsic lava.
48. Thick, sticky magma, high in viscosity and trapped gases cause what type of explosions?
49. Agree or disagree: Although a volcanic eruption can cause massive destruction, its effects can be
contained to the area immediately surrounding the volcano. Explain you answer.
50. What are the 5 types of pyroclastic material?
51. What kind of lava causes quiet eruptions?
52. What events signal a volcanic eruption?
53. What are the 3 volcano cone types?
54. What is a caldera?