EES 105 Review Questions for Test 3
1. Which of the following factors help determine whether a volcanic eruption will be violent or relatively
quiescent?
a. amount of dissolved gas in the magma
b. temperature of the magma
c. composition of the magma
d. all of these
e. only amount of dissolved gas in the magma and temperature of the magma
2. The most violent volcanic activity is associated with ____________.
a. fissure eruptions
b. shield volcanoes
c. flood basalts
d. cinder cones
e. composite cones
3. Spreading center volcanism most generally produces rocks that are ____________.
a. granitic in composition
b. basaltic in composition
c. andesitic in composition
d. ultramafic in composition
e. none of these
4. The igneous activity in the Yellowstone region can be classified as ____________ volcanism.
a. intraplate
b. spreading center
c. subduction zone
d. intracrustal
e. geothermal
5. Which of the following lists magma types in order of decreasing viscosity (i.e., the most viscous listed
first)?
a. basaltic, andesitic, granitic
b. basaltic, granitic, andesitic
c. granitic, andesitic, basaltic
d. granitic, basaltic, andesitic
e. andesitic, granitic, basaltic
6.
The Sierra Nevada of California is composed primarily of this igneous structure.
a. batholith
b. laccolith
c. stock
d. dike
e. sill
7. Atolls may be described as __________.
a. coral reefs paralleling a nearby coast
b. coral reefs surrounding a lagoon
c. a flat-topped submergent seamount
d. coral reefs separated from the main-land by a shallow lagoon
e. a small reef growth in a lagoon
8. Which of the following is associated with mid-ocean ridges?
a. rift zones
b. mountainous topography
c.
greater heat flow than occurs in other parts of the world
d.
volcanic structures
e.all of the above
9. The gently sloping submerged surface extending from the shoreline toward the deep ocean is termed
the __________.
a. continental shelf
b. continental slope
c. continental rise
d. submarine canyon
e. ocean basin
10. The Mercalli scale rates earthquake intensity by determining ____________.
a. the amount of damage to structures
b. the maximum motion recorded on seismic instruments
c. the number of faults in a region
d. the heights of tsunami
e. none of the above
11. The mechanism by which rocks store and eventually release energy in the form of an earthquake is
referred to as ____________.
a. elastic rebound
b. seismic rebound
c. fault displacement
d. stress fracture
e. deformation
12. A 6.5 Richter magnitude earthquake releases _________ times more energy than a 4.5 Richter
magnitude earthquake.
a.
10
b. 30
c. 60
d. 90
e. 900
13. The distance between a seismological recording station and the earthquake source is determined from
the ____________.
a. calculation of the earthquake magnitude
b. intensity of the earthquake
c. length of the seismic record
d. arrival times of P and S waves
e. measurement of the amplitude of the surface waves
14. S-waves are not transmitted through this Earth layer.
a. continental crust
b. oceanic crust
d. mantle
e. low velocity zone
c.
outer core
15. The average composition of the oceanic crust is thought to be approximately that of ____________.
a. granite
b. basalt
c. peridotite
d. iron
e. iron and other rock components
16. The average composition of the continental crust most closely approximates that of ____________.
a. granite
b. basalt
c. peridotite
d. gabbro
17. The man who pioneered the continental drift hypothesis was ____________.
a. J. Tuzo Wilson
b. Harry Hess
c. D.H. Matthews
d. Fred Vine
e. Alfred Wegener
18. Pangaea is ____________.
a. another name given the Alaskan earthquake of 1964
b. a portion of the mid-Atlantic ridge
c. a German word for "plate tectonics"
d.
a name of a fossil found in both Africa and South America that led scientists to believe these
continents were once connected
e. the name of a supercontinent
19 Mount St. Helens is associated with a(n) ____________ boundary.
a. divergent
b. convergent (oceanic--oceanic)
c. convergent (continental-continental)
d. convergent (oceanic-continental)
e. transform fault
20. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an example of a(n) ____________ boundary.
a. divergent
b. convergent (oceanic-oceanic)
c. convergent (continental-continental)
d. convergent (oceanic-continental)
e. transform fault
21. The African rift valleys are associated with a(n) ____________ boundary.
a. divergent
b. convergent (oceanic-oceanic)
c. convergent (continental-continental)
d. convergent (oceanic-continental)
e. transform fault
22. It was learned from the Deep Sea Drilling Project that the oceans are ___________.
a. Precambrian age in the oldest regions
b. Pleistocene age in the oldest regions
c. about the same age as the continents
d. much older than the continents
e. oldest adjacent to the continents and youngest at the ridges
23.
If you wanted to draw the boundaries of active lithospheric plates on a globe, which of the following
maps would give you the most complete information? A map showing ____________.
a. active volcanoes
b. mid-oceanic ridges
c. earthquake distribution
d. the edges of continental shelves
e. the global distribution of hot spots
24. The Hawaiian Islands are located where the Pacific plate is ____________.
a. diving under the North American plate
b. being thrust over the North American plate
c. separating from the North American plate
d. migrating over a hot spot
e. diving under Japan
25. In the plate tectonics model, Earth's outer shell consists of about ____________ individual plates.
a. 3
b. 5
c. 20
d. 50
e. 100
26. Most of the world's deep-ocean trenches are located within the ____________.
a. Atlantic Ocean
b. Pacific Ocean
c. Indian Ocean
d. Antarctic Ocean
e. small ocean basins, such as the Gulf of Mexico
27. The subdivisions of the geologic time scale that represent the greatest expanse of time are called
____________.
a. epoch
b. era
c. period
d. stage
e. none of the above
28. The era of "recent life" is the _________ era.
a. Cenozoic
b. Precambrian
d. Mesozoic
e. none of the above
29. An unconformity is a(n) ____________.
a. layer of sedimentary rock
c. layer of rock with very unusual fossils
c.
Neolithic
b. gap in the rock record
d. intrusion
e. none of the above
30. Fossils, which denote particular short periods of time in the geologic past, are referred to as
____________.
a. environmental indicators
b. fossil discriminators
c. Huttonian fossils
d. index fossils
e. none of the above
31. The percentage of radioactive atoms that decay during one half-life ____________.
a. is always the same
b. continually decreases
c. continually increases
d. depends upon the particular isotope in question
e. none of the above
32. When tilted or folded sedimentary rocks are overlain by more flat-lying strata, a(n) ____________ is
present.
a. disconformity
b. angular unconformity
c. nonconformity
d. conformity
e. none of the above
33. When the rock above a fault plane moves down relative to the rock below, a ____________ fault has
occurred.
a. reverse
b. strike-slip
c. transform
d. normal
e. none of the above
34. The mountains of the Basin and Range Province are examples of ____________.
a. fault block mountains
b. volcanic mountains
c. folded mountains
d. domed mountains
e. none of the above
35. Faults having primarily vertical movement are called ____________ faults.
a. strike-slip
b. transform
c. oblique-slip
d. dip-slip
e.
vertical
36. The San Andreas fault is an example of a(n) ____________ fault.
a. strike-slip
b. normal
c. oblique-slip
d. dip-slip
e. overturned
37. A graben is bounded by _________ faults.
a. normal
b. oblique
d. compressional
e. strike-slip
c.
thrust
38. Which of the following combinations should favor folding rather than faulting?
a. high temperature and low confining pressure
b. low confining pressure and low temperature
c. high confining pressure and low temperature
d. high temperature and high confining pressure
39. Compressional stress can result in the formation of ____________.
a. thrust faults
b. reverse faults
c. rift valleys
d. horsts and grabens
e. thrust faults and reverse faults