Geol 101: Physical Geology
Spring 2006
EXAM 3
Write your name out in full on the scantron form and fill in the corresponding
ovals to spell out your name. Also fill in your student ID number in the space
provided. Do not include the dash and do not leave any spaces. Make sure you
have all 8 pages of the exam. There are 55 questions. For each question, select
the correct answer and fill in your choice on the scantron form. You MUST use
pencil on the scantron form!
1.
In December 2004, a M9.0 earthquake generated a tsunami that ultimately
killed about 283,000 people around the rim of the Indian Ocean. The
earthquake itself occurred in this country:
A. India
B. Thailand
C. Sri Lanka
D. Indonesia
E. Sumatra
2.
It is believed that another magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit the continental
United States in the year 1700, also producing a tsunami. Where did this
earthquake occur?
A. along the San Andreas fault of California
B. southern Alaska
C. in the New Madrid region of Missouri
D. in the current location of Salt Lake City, Utah
E. in the Pacific Northwest
3.
The process of creep along faults is when:
A. faults produce one long continuous earthquake
B. faults have low amounts of friction along them so they slide all
the time
C. slow-slipping faults start to slip faster and faster until an
earthquake occurs
D. faults start to behave in a ductile manner
E. there is not enough tectonic stress available to produce an
earthquake
4.
5.
The largest earthquake ever felt in the United States during historic times, as
well as being the second largest earthquake ever recorded, was:
A. in southern Alaska in 1964
B. in San Francisco in 1906
C. in Idaho in 1983
D. in Charleston, South Carolina in 1886
E. off the coast of Chile in 1960
The epicenter of an earthquake is:
A. the location along a fault where the earthquake rupture starts
B. the point from which body waves radiate into the surrounding
rocks
C. the point on the Earth's surface directly above the earthquake
focus
D. exactly the same as the focus of an earthquake
E. sometimes at the Earth's surface, but not always
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6.
Seismic waves are recorded by an instrument called a (1) _________ and the
record of the earthquake 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
7.
The first seismic wave to arrive from an earthquake is:
A. the S-wave
B. the P-wave
C. the Love wave
D. the Rayleigh wave
E. variable from earthquake to earthquake
8.
Which of the following types of waves is unable to pass through any liquid?
A. P-waves
B. sound waves
C. water waves
D. primary waves
E. S-waves
9.
How many seismograph stations are required to determine the location of an
earthquake epicenter?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5
10.
The largest earthquake ever recorded was the 1960 Chile earthquake, which
had a moment magnitude of:
A. M 8.9
B. M 9.0
C. M 9.2
D. M 9.5
E. M 10.0
11.
The intensity of an earthquake:
A. is variable depending on the distance to the epicenter
B. doesn’t change for an earthquake, no matter how far away it was
C. is measured using the moment magnitude scale
D. will be the same for all earthquakes having an identical
magnitude
E. none of the above
12.
The intensity of the 2001 Nisqually earthquake (M6.8) near Seattle was far
less than that of the 1994 Northridge earthquake (M6.7) near Los Angeles
because:
A. Seattle is not as heavily populated as Los Angeles
B. Los Angeles has earthquakes more often
C. buildings in Seattle are designed better than those in Los
Angeles
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D. the focus of the Nisqually earthquake was much deeper than at
Northridge
E. Seattle is closer to the water, which absorbed a lot of the
seismic waves
13.
Which of the following is an accurate description of liquefaction?
A. when ground shaking causes water-saturated sediment to act like
quicksand
B. when a shift of the ocean bottom produces a giant wave at the
surface
C. when earthquakes cause waterlogged mountain slopes to produce
landslides
D. when seismic waves get amplified in loose sediments, causing
more shaking
E. when a ground fissure opens at the surface during an earthquake
14. The average density of the Earth is 5.5 g/cm3 whereas the average
density of surface rocks is 2.5-3.0 g/cm3. This information alone can
only tells us that:
A. the Earth is comprised of many layers with different densities
B. the deep interior of the Earth must have a density greater than
5.5 g/cm3
C. the deep interior of the Earth must have a density less than 5.5
g/cm3
D. the deep interior of the Earth must have a density less than 2.5
g/cm3
E. measurements of surface rock densities must be inaccurate
15. The process whereby seismic wave paths get bent as they pass across a
boundary from one layer into a layer with a different density is:
A. wave reflection
B. wave refraction
C. wave rays
D. wave interference
E. wave shadowing
16.
When seismic waves from an earthquake reach the boundary between the mantle
and the liquid outer core:
A. all of the body waves get refracted
B. all of the body waves get reflected, but none are refracted
C. all P-waves stop because they are unable to move through the
outer core
D. all S-waves vanish because they cannot move through a liquid
E. all P-waves speed up as they pass into the outer core
17. Because the outer core is liquid:
A. the inner core is liquid
B. S-wave velocities decrease suddenly at the edge of the outer
core
C. P-waves are unable to pass through the outer core
D. an S-wave shadow zone exists at greater than 105° away from an
earthquake focus
E. a P-wave shadow zone exists at greater than 140° away from an
earthquake focus
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18. The boundary between the crust and the mantle is called the:
A. Mojo
B. Jomo
C. Ohno
D. Moho
E. SloMo
19. The correct order of features on the continental margins in the direction of
increasing water depth is:
A. continental shelf - continental rise - continental slope
B. continental slope - continental shelf - continental rise
C. continental slope - continental rise - continental shelf
D. continental rise - continental slope - continental shelf
E. continental shelf - continental slope - continental rise
20. Which of the following portion of the ocean floor is the flattest?
A. abyssal plains
B. ocean trenches
C. ocean ridges
D. continental slope
E. continental rise
21. The east coast of North America is a/an (1) __________ continental margin
because (2) ___________.
A. (1) active
(2) it is right along a tectonic plate boundary
B. (1) active
(2) it is far from a tectonic plate boundary
C. (1) passive
(2) it is right along a tectonic plate
boundary
D. (1) passive
(2) it is far from a tectonic plate boundary
E. (1) passive
(2) it is characterized by earthquakes and
volcanoes
22.
The correct order of the 4 layers of rock types that make up oceanic crust,
from top to bottom is:
A. pillow basalts – sediments – gabbro – sheeted dike complex
B. pillow basalts – sheeted dike complex – gabbro – sediments
C. sediments – pillow basalts – sheeted dike complex – gabbro
D. sediments – pillow basalts – gabbro – sheeted dike complex
E. sheeted dike complex – gabbro – pillow basalts – sediments
23. The oceanic
America but
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
tectonic plate that used to exist off the west coast of North
which has long since been subducted, was the:
Juan da Fuca plate
Farallon plate
Cocos plate
Pacific plate
Nazca plate
24. The collective term for all the processes responsible for the creation of
mountains is:
A. orogenesis
B. collision
C. subduction
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D.
E.
oregonation
erogeny
25. The Cascades mountain range is a good example of:
A. a volcanic arc
B. the effects of subduction
C. the effects of mountain building along a compressive plate
boundary
D. volcanoes along an Andean-type plate margin
E. all of the above
26. The pile of sediments scraped off the top of an ocean plate where it begins
to subduct is called:
A. a trench
B. a forearc
C. an accretionary wedge
D. a backarc
E. a turbidity current
27. When a microcontinent collides with a larger continent, it gets added to the
edge of the continent and is then referred to as a/an:
A. accreted continent
B. terrane
C. island arc
D. accretionary wedge
E. mountain range
28.
The main driving force behind mass wasting is:
A. water
B. ice
C. wind
D. gravity
E. human stupidity
29.
The angle of repose of most sediment is approximately:
A. 0°
B. 60° - 90°
C. 45° - 60°
D. 25° - 40°
E. there is no limit to the angle of repose
30.
What ultimately triggered a massive landslide in Peru in 1970 that killed
25,000 people in the town of Yungay?
A. road construction
B. removal of vegetation
C. heavy rainfall
D. river erosion
E. an earthquake
31.
The type of landslide that involves slow sliding of sediment above a
concave slip surface is called a:
A. slump
B. rock slide
C. mudflow
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D.
E.
debris avalanche
creep
32.
All air-saturated sediment flows are called (1)________ whereas all watersaturated sediment flows are called (2)_________:
A. (1) granular flows
(2) slurry flows
B. (1) granular flows
(2) mudflows
C. (1) debris flows
(2) slurry flows
D. (1) slurry flows
(2) viscous flows
E. (1) slurry flows
(2) granular flows
33.
All water on earth moves from one storage or transportation system to
another, forming a hydrologic cycle. These storage or transportation systems
are called (1)________ and the amount of time that a water molecule spends in
any one of them is (2)________.
A. (1) hydrospheres
(2) dependent on whether the water is
liquid, solid or gas
B. (1) hydrospheres
(2) completely random
C. (1) aquifers
(2) impossible to determine
D. (1) reservoirs
(2) approximately a few weeks
E. (1) reservoirs
(2) called the residence time
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
About 99% of all liquid fresh water on Earth is stored:
A. in the oceans
B. in swamps
C. in the ice caps
D. underground
E. in rivers
The amount of water that flows down a river channel over some length of
time is called the:
A. discharge
B. stream load
C. channel gradient
D. flow velocity
E. capacity
All sediment deposited by rivers is called:
A. regolith
B. a point bar deposit
C. bed load
D. alluvium
E. a floodplain deposit
The process whereby the point bar of a meandering stream gradually grows
out into a river channel as the channel migrates sideways due to erosion of
the cut bank, is called :
A. vertical accretion
B. downcutting
C. natural levee growth
D. oxbow cutoff
E. lateral accretion
The type of delta that forms the classic delta shape () when viewed from
above is called a:
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A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
39.
40.
bird’s foot delta
tide-dominated delta
stream-dominated delta
wave-dominated delta
tri-delt
Rivers that flow across the surface of a delta are called (1)________
whereas rivers that flow into larger rivers are called (2)________.
A. (1) distributaries
(2) tributaries
B. (1) distributaries
(2) braided streams
C. (1) tributaries
(2) distributaries
D. (1) tributaries
(2) braided streams
E. (1) braided streams
(2) tributaries
A continental divide is:
A. a mountain chain separating rivers that flow into different
oceans
B. a mountain chain separating drainage basins emptying into the
same ocean
C. a high standing area inside a drainage basin
D. a boundary between two different patterns of river drainage
E. a mountain range representing a divergent plate boundary
41. The type of river drainage that resembles the shape of veins in a leaf is
called:
A. dendritic
B. rectangular
C. trellis
D. radial
E. deranged
42.
An example
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
of a long, elongate lake (or lakes) produced by glacial retreat:
Great Salt Lake
Finger Lakes
tarns
Lake Chad
Glacial Lake Missoula
43. Stream piracy is a direct result of:
A. incised meandering
B. downcutting
C. lateral erosion
D. headward erosion
E. drunken bandits on river barges
44.
Precipitation that falls onto the Earth’s surface first (1) ________ into
the regolith, then (2) _______ downwards through the (3) _________ into the
(4) ________.
A.
(1) percolates (2) infiltrates
(3) zone of aeration
(4)
saturated zone
B.
(1) infiltrates
(2) percolates
(3) unsaturated zone
(4) water table
C.
(1) transpires
(2) percolates
(3) saturated zone
(4) water table
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D.
E.
(1) evaporates
(2) percolates
(4) saturated zone
(1) percolates
(2) infiltrates
(4) head gradient
(3) unsaturated zone
(3) water table
45. If a well is dug into a confined aquifer, the water will rise up inside the
well to the level of the __________, even if this level is above ground
level.
A. water table
B. perched water table
C. artesian pressure surface
D. aquiclude
E. aquifer
46.
The only two places on Earth that have continental glaciers today are:
A. the north pole and the south pole
B. Greenland and Iceland
C. Alaska and Antarctica
D. Antarctica and Greenland
E. Siberia and Antarctica
47.
Most ablation in a glacier occurs:
A. at night
B. as the glacier recedes
C. in the zone of accumulation
D. near the terminus of the glacier
E. during ice ages
48.
Which of the following glacial features is an erosional feature that is
created by the glacial process called plucking?
A. U-shaped valley
B. drumlin
C. arête
D. fjord
E. roche moutonnée
49.
A bowl-shaped depression carved into the side of a mountain by a glacier is
called a:
A. horn
B. cirque
C. arête
D. tarn
E. truncated spur
50.
The type of moraine produced in the middle of a glacier that formed where
two glaciers flowed together is:
A. lateral
B. medial
C. terminal
D. ground
E. recessional
BONUS QUESTIONS
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51.
In 1811 and 1812, a series of up to 5 large magnitude earthquakes (the
largest possible a M8.1), hit this region of the United States:
A. New Madrid, Missouri
B. San Francisco, California
C. Charleston, South Carolina
D. Anchorage, Alaska
E. Hebgen Lake, Montana
52.
The planet Mercury has a magnetic field because:
A. it has a liquid core
B. it has magnetic minerals that stay magnetic at temperatures
above the Curie point
C. it has a magnetic solid iron-nickel core
D. all planets have magnetic fields when they form
E. the giant domino effect
53.
The Mississippi River delta is an example of a:
A. bird’s foot delta
B. stream-dominated delta
C. tide-dominated delta
D. wave-dominated delta
E. both A and B above
54.
Which of the following depositional features is best described by the
definition: “Rounded hills of till, shaped like inverted teaspoons, with
the steep side facing the direction the glacier came from.”
A. erratic
B. esker
C. kame
D. roche moutonnée
E. drumlin
55.
Special question for people who came to class on Friday, March 10th. The
best rock band ever, and who once sang about a volcano on Mars:
A. The Rolling Stones
B. Pink Floyd
C. Dave Matthews Band
D. Pixies
E. Vanilla Ice
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