Deck 1: An Introduction to Geology and Plate Tectonics

Question 1

The inference that the Earth had been created in 4004 B.C.E.was attributed to James Ussher who ________.

A)carefully counted the generations and "begats" in the Bible
B)was a religious crackpot whom nobody believed
C)had this revealed to him by the Archangel Gabriel in a divine dream
D)was the Irish geologist to first attempt absolute dating of rocks

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Compared to the age of Earth accepted as correct today, how did 17th and 18th century proponents of catastrophism envision the Earth's age?

A)They believed Earth to be much older than it really is.
B)They were right on the money, give or take a few million years.
C)They believed Earth to be a few hundred years younger than it really is.
D)They accepted Bishop Ussher's calculation but explained the differences in landforms and geology by violent catastrophes.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

________ used the Bible to calculate that the Earth was created in 4004 B.C.E.

A)Saint Torquemada
B)Bishop Ussher
C)Father Hutton
D)Brother Lyell

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The principle goal of physical geology is to study ________.

A)ongoing natural processes and the products they create
B)mankind and the environment
C)Earth's evolution with time
D)physical processes that affect the earth and its resources as opposed to chemical or biologic processes

Question 5

Sir William Edmond Logan was appointed the first Director of The Geological Survey of Canada in 1842 and is noted for his observations and maps of ________.

A)sandstones in Nunavut
B)granites in Saskatchewan
C)gold in Prince Edward Island
D)coal beds in Wales, Nova Scotia, and copper deposits in Ontario

Question 6

Which one of the following observations and inferences is most consistent with the idea of uniformitarianism?

A)Sand rolls along a stream bottom at the same rate every hour, every day, year in, year out.
B)The number of erupting volcanoes is constant throughout geologic time, so this is not a big influence on changing climates.
C)Meteorite impacts always occur at regular intervals and this has forced biologic evolution.
D)Mountains are dissolved and/or eroded mechanically one ion and one mineral grain at a time and carried down to the sea.

Question 7

What are the basic differences between the disciplines of physical and historical geology?

A)Physical geology is the study of fossils and sequences of rock strata; historical geology is the study of how rocks and minerals were used in the past.
B)Historical geology involves the study of rock strata, fossils, and geologic events, utilizing the geologic time scale as a reference; physical geology includes the study of how rocks form and of how erosion shapes the land surface.
C)Physical geology involves the study of rock strata, fossils, and deposition in relation to plate movements in the geologic past; historical geology charts how and where the plates were moving in the past.
D)None; physical geology and historical geology are essentially the same.

Question 8

________ includes the study of how rocks and minerals form and change according to physical, chemical, and biologic processes which affect everything from Earth's internal structures and tectonic plates to landscape evolution and crystal forms.

A)Physical geology
B)Historical geology
C)Manifest destiny
D)Catastrophism

Question 9

The biggest driving force for natural resource development is ________.

A)local needs for employment and viable industry
B)the size of the deposit
C)exponential population increase and human expectations for goods and profits
D)finding local deposits to meet each country's needs

Question 10

The idea that all of the tremendous geologic changes in Earth's history were concentrated in a few brief millennia is termed ________.

A)uniformitarianism
B)gradualism
C)catastrophism
D)Ussherism

Question 11

A geologic understanding of natural resources includes ________ of extraction or usage for water, soil, metallic, non-metallic, and energy resources.

A)the conditions of formation and the environmental impact
B)the economic value and geographic location
C)the size of deposits and cost
D)the current corporate or political objective and most expedient means

Question 12

________, a popular natural philosophy of the 17th and early 18th centuries, was based on a firm belief in a very short geologic history for Earth.

A)Ecospherism
B)Exoschism
C)Uniformitarianism
D)Catastrophism

Question 13

In geologic theory, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, landslides, floods, and tsunamis are all ________.

A)exceptions to the theory of uniformitarianism
B)unique phenomena that can neither be predicted nor understood
C)naturally recurring geologic hazards from ongoing physical processes
D)divine punishments sent to discourage us of our evil ways

Question 14

Canada's highest mountain is ________.

A)Mount Logan 5959 m elevation in the southwest corner of Yukon
B)Mount Waddington in the Coast Mountains of B.C.
C)Mount Rundle in the Canadian Rockies
D)Mount Washington on Vancouver Island

Question 15

The word "Geology" is derived from Greek meaning ________.

A)discourse of the Earth
B)rocks form all lands
C)the logic of rocks
D)geographic theology

Question 16

________ involves the study of Earth's origin and development through time based on sequences of strata, fossils, and geologic events, utilizing the geologic time scale as a reference.

A)Physical geology
B)Historical geology
C)Catastrophism
D)Uniformitarianism

Question 17

Why is Mt.Vesuvius considered so hazardous?

A)It is constantly erupting.
B)People fear that it may imminently repeat the type of ash eruptions that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 C.E..
C)It is made of very steep unstable ash deposits that are always generating landslides.
D)The city of Naples and Bay of Naples surround it so that any renewal of activity threatens people.

Question 18

Which one of the following is a logical consequence of the rapidly growing human population?

A)Everybody will have much more fun because parties will be larger and more frequent.
B)Competition for nonrenewable natural resources will intensify.
C)Terrestrial, aquatic, and marine habitats will be unaffected by the rapid growth.
D)Reduced government regulation and spending and the application of new technologies will increase living standards and lessen environmental concerns.

Question 19

________ is often paraphrased as "the present is the key to the past."

A)Biblical prophecy
B)Uniformitarianism
C)Aristotelian logic
D)Catastrophism

Question 20

Earth's human population now is best described by which one of the following statements?

A)just beginning to approach the world's population before the Second World War
B)larger than it has ever been and increasing at a very high rate
C)larger than it has ever been but will stabilize within the next 10 years
D)increasing very rapidly in advanced, western countries and falling rapidly in third-world areas such as Latin America and Africa

Question 21

That fossil organisms succeed one another in an orderly and definite sequence is ________.

A)the law of superposition
B)the law of the geologic time scale
C)the Phanerozoic principal
D)the principal of fossil succession

Question 22

Most geologic processes like erosion, sedimentation, uplift, and plate motion ________.

A)take place gradually but given the vastness of geologic time add up to big effects
B)occur quickly in fits and starts, but mostly nothing is happening
C)take place during cataclysmic floods and violent upheavals that transform Earth
D)take place gradually but don't add up to much change in the long run

Question 23

Which of the following is closest to the currently accepted age of the Earth?

A)100,000 years
B)10 billion years
C)5 billion years
D)5 million years

Question 24

Compared to the age of the Universe of about 14 billion years, the currently accepted age of Earth is about ________ years as determined by using radioactivity for dating rocks and minerals.

A)4)6 thousand
B)4)6 billion
C)5)4 million
D)13.7 billion

Question 25

Early during Earth's history what two things contributed heat that led to the internal melting and formation of the core?

A)a hotter proto-sun and the burning off of Earth's early hydrogen atmosphere
B)tidal forces and friction between moving unconsolidated meteorite debris
C)kinetic energy of impacts from nebular debris and decay of radioactive elements
D)chemical reactions between early unstable elements

Question 26

Fossils of armour headed fishes and trilobites would be found in marine sedimentary rocks of ________.

A)the lower part of the Paleozoic Era
B)the Carboniferous Period
C)the Proterozoic Eon
D)the Mesozoic Era

Question 27

The acceptance of the 18th century concept of uniformitarianism inevitably led to the acceptance of ________.

A)Darwin's theory of evolution
B)an extremely old age for the Earth
C)Ussher's calculations
D)a geologic evolution for Earth that was free from catastrophes

Question 28

The law of superposition establishes ________.

A)the absolute age of any strata
B)the relative ages in a layered sedimentary or volcanic sequence
C)the oldest deposits are always on top
D)why the oldest rocks are never found in the bottoms of deep canyons

Question 29

"The physical, chemical and biological processes that operate today have operated throughout geologic time" is a restatement of James Hutton's theory of ________.

A)catastrophism
B)gradualism
C)recidivism
D)uniformitarianism

Question 30

The Phanerozoic Eon corresponding to the age of complex multicellular life as recorded in fossils encompasses ________.

A)roughly the last 12% of Earth history
B)only the first 50 million years of the Cambrian Period
C)the first 4.6 billion years of Earth history
D)only the latest 56 million years of Earth history

Question 31

"The present is the key to the past" is the uniformitarian concept that ________.

A)geologic processes give rise to the same types of products and features
B)rivers, seas, mountains, etc.are perpetual features of an unchanging landscape
C)each mountain that is eroding today to produce river sediment has always done so
D)the rates of geologic processes (erosion, sedimentation, volcanism)are invariant

Question 32

The ________ division of the geologic time scale is an era of the Phanerozoic Eon.

A)Paleocene
B)Paleozoic
C)Permian
D)Proterozoic

Question 33

The ________ proposes that the bodies of our solar system formed at essentially the same time from a rotating cloud of gases and dust.

A)Big Bang theory
B)Plate Tectonics theory
C)Nebular theory
D)Heliocentric theory

Question 34

________ was an a Scottish physician and farmer who wrote Theory of the Earth and is credited with being the father of modern geology because he was the first to promote the theories of uniformitarianism and the vastness of geologic time.

A)Charles Lyell
B)William Stokes
C)James Hutton
D)James Ussher

Question 35

Which sequence is in the correct order through time for "fossil succession" assuming strata successively from: Late Precambrian, Cambrian, Silurian, Jurassic, Tertiary

A)multicelled organisms, hardbodied marine invertebrates, first land plants, dinosaurs, mammals
B)flowering plants, birds, reptiles, first trees, first fishes, blue green algae
C)one-celled organisms, first fishes, first amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs
D)land plants, insects, marine plants, trilobites, humans

Question 36

Which of the following best describes the fundamental concept of superposition?

A)Strata with fossils are generally deposited on strata with no fossils.
B)Older strata generally are deposited on younger strata without intervening, intermediate age strata.
C)Older fossils in younger strata indicate a locally inverted geologic time scale.
D)Any sedimentary deposit accumulates on older rock or sediment layers.

Question 37

The ________ theory is the leading hypothesis that describes the formation of the Sun, Earth, and other planets of the solar system.

A)planoassemblar
B)nebular
C)astrostellar
D)solar flareup

Question 38

________ was the first to clearly formulate the concept of uniformitarianism.

A)Charles Darwin
B)Charles Playfair
C)James Hutton
D)Sir James Ussher

Question 39

The Earth's core was formed from ________.

A)a massive nickle iron asteroid that was the nucleus upon which Earth condensed
B)high density radioactive carbon
C)the left over nickle and iron that would not fit into the earlier formed crust and mantle
D)molten iron and nickle that separated from silicates and sank due to its higher density

Question 40

The Precambrian (Hadean, Archean and Proterozoic Eons)accounts for ________.

A)the first 88% of Earth history and the geologic time scale
B)the segment of geologic time prior to uniformitarianism taking effect
C)all of the periods after the Permian
D)the first 8% of Earth history

Question 41

A typical rate of lithospheric (tectonic)plate movement is ________.

A)2 metres per year
B)0)1 centimetres per year
C)20 metres per year
D)5 centimetres per year

Question 42

Why did Sir Edward Bullard's 1960's fit of the 900 m bathymetric contour show some areas of overlap between South America and Africa ?

A)Inaccurate bathymetry was all that was available to him prior to our modern multibeam sonar techniques.
B)Large volumes of sediment have accumulated in the deltas and fans from the Congo, Amazon, Parana, and Rio de Plata rivers to outbuild the continental shelves and slopes.
C)Massive erosion has modified the entire coastlines since 200 Ma so it is a wonder they still fit so well.
D)The work was actually done by a graduate student and Bullard never checked the details before he published it.

Question 43

Which of the following paleoclimatic evidence supports the idea of the late Paleozoic super continent in the Southern Hemisphere?

A)lithified loess deposits in the deserts of Chile, Australia, and Africa
B)tillites in South Africa and South America
C)thick sediments in the Amazon and Congo deltas of South America and Africa
D)cold water fossils in the deep-water sediments of the South Atlantic abyssal plain

Question 44

According to Wegener, where was southern Africa located during the Late Paleozoic?

A)up by the north pole
B)30° south of the equator
C)along the equator
D)over the south pole

Question 45

Pangaea was ________.

A)a large, ocean basin that opened in the Triassic and closed in the Paleocene
B)a large, Precambrian shield area in Africa and South America that broke apart late in the Proterozoic Eon
C)a huge mountain range that formed when Africa pushed northward into Europe in Eocene time
D)a super continent that formed in the late Paleozoic and broke apart in Triassic time

Question 46

The early geologic process that formed the primitive: atmosphere, crust, mantle and core within the first few million years of Earth history was ________.

A)absolution
B)chemical differentiation or segregation
C)meltdown
D)stratification

Question 47

The ________ forms the relatively cool, brittle plates of plate tectonics.

A)asthenosphere
B)lithosphere
C)astrosphere
D)eosphere

Question 48

New seafloor is created at ________ plate boundaries.

A)convergent
B)divergent
C)transform
D)hot spot

Question 49

What was Wegener's dramatic paleoclimatic evidence linking all of the southern hemisphere continents between 300 and 220 million years ago?

A)massive crossbedded red sandstones suggesting former tropical deserts
B)massive reef limestones in Alberta and the Eastern Arctic
C)tropical Carboniferous coal swamps across the Northern Hemisphere, particularly the Eastern U.S.and central Europe, where the fossil trees lacked annual growth rings
D)striated and grooved bedrock overlain by Paleozoic tillites in South American and African areas now within 30° of the equator

Question 50

Wegener's supercontinent that began to break up about 200 million years ago was named ________.

A)Gondwanaland
B)Laurasia
C)Pangaea
D)Rodinia

Question 51

Paleontologic evidence for the existence of Pangaea comes from ________, a cold-loving, sub-polar, fossil fern with large seeds that was widely distributed throughout the Late Paleozoic of: Africa, Australia, India and South America

A)Platanus acerifolia
B)Glossopteris
C)Halitosis
D)Mesosaurus

Question 52

Today, of all the continents, ________ is closest to the same geographic position it occupied during the Late Paleozoic.

A)India
B)South America
C)Australia
D)Antarctica

Question 53

________ was never proposed as evidence supporting the existence of the Pangaea supercontinent.

A)Geometric fit between South America and Africa
B)Islands of Proterozoic rocks along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
C)Late Paleozoic glacial features
D)The Glossopteris flora

Question 54

Tethys was ________.

A)a large, ocean basin that opened in the Triassic and closed in the Paleocene
B)a large, Precambrian shield area in Africa and South America that broke apart late in the Proterozoic Eon
C)a huge mountain range formed when Africa pushed northward into Europe in Eocene time
D)a super continent that formed in the late Paleozoic and broke apart in Triassic time

Question 55

Consider the tectonic plates on either side of an oceanic-ridge boundary.How are the plates moving with respect to the boundary?

A)sliding along it
B)moving toward it
C)moving away from it
D)falling into it

Question 56

What paleoclimatic evidence disproved worldwide cooling as a cause for the "tropical glaciations" between 300 and 220 million years ago?

A)massive crossbedded red sandstones suggesting former tropical deserts
B)massive reef limestones in Alberta and the Eastern Arctic
C)tropical Paleozoic coal swamps across the Northern Hemisphere, particularly the Eastern U.S.and central Europe
D)tropical paleosols and laterites in Antarctica

Question 57

What age plant and animal fossils were identical for the southern hemisphere continents, causing Wegener to hypothesize Pangaea?

A)Hadean and Earliest Archean
B)Early and Late Proterozoic
C)Late Paleozoic and Early Mesozoic
D)Late Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic

Question 58

The northern extension of North America's great Paleozoic Appalachian mountain belt is now found in ________.

A)the Caledonides of the British Isles and Scandinavia
B)the rugged landscape of Western Greenland
C)the Alps of Southern Europe
D)the Mid Atlantic Ridge north of Iceland

Question 59

In the early part of the 20th century, ________ argued forcefully for continental drift.

A)Karl Wagner
B)Edwin Rommel
C)Alfred Wegener
D)Alfred the Great

Question 60

________ was an aquatic, carnivorous reptile that was found both in eastern South America and southern Africa; lending support to the idea of a former land connection.

A)Anomalocaris
B)Arbustosaurus
C)Glossopteris
D)Mesosaurus

Question 61

The ________, about 100 km thick, is the coldest, most rigid, and most brittle layer in the Earth.

A)lithosphere
B)asthenosphere
C)mesosphere
D)inner core

Question 62

The ________ is the thinnest layer of the Earth.

A)crust
B)outer core
C)mantle
D)inner core

Question 63

The two layers inside the Earth which contain significant amounts of molten material are ________.

A)asthenosphere and outer core
B)crust and inner core
C)crust and mesosphere
D)mesosphere and inner core

Question 64

Shallowest to deepest, the primary compositional layers within the Earth are ________.

A)crust, mantle and core
B)lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesosphere, outer core, inner core
C)basalt, crust, mantle, asthenosphere, core
D)sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous

Question 65

The San Andreas fault in California and the Alpine fault in New Zealand are good examples of ________.

A)convergent margins between oceanic plates
B)emergent ocean basins
C)divergent oceanic crust
D)transform faults that cut continental crust

Question 66

In addition to the dominant iron and nickle, the core is thought to contain ________.

A)minor amounts of heavy metals such as gold, lead, and uranium
B)large resources of diamonds
C)minor amounts of oxygen, silicon and sulphur
D)major amounts of oxygen, silicon and sulphur

Question 67

In correct order from the centre outward, Earth includes which units?

A)core, inner mantle, outer mantle, crust
B)inner core, outer core, mantle, crust
C)inner core, crust, mantle, hydrosphere
D)core, crust, mantle, hydrosphere

Question 68

The ________ is thought to be the only molten, metallic portion in the Earth's interior.

A)inner core
B)lithosphere
C)mantle
D)outer core

Question 69

As a self-contained planet, Earth is divided into several interacting systems called ________.

A)the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere, and biosphere
B)the aerosphere, aquasphere, terrasphere, and ecosphere
C)the geosphere, atmosphere, cryosphere, and gaiasphere
D)the solid earth, the liquid earth, the gaseous earth and the living planet

Question 70

The asthenosphere is actually a part of the ________ of the Earth.

A)outer core
B)crust
C)inner core
D)mantle

Question 71

On the average, lithospheric plates are ________ thick.

A)l km
B)10 km
C)l00 km
D)1000 km

Question 72

The ________ is not a part of the Earth's physical environment.

A)geosphere
B)astrosphere
C)hydrosphere
D)atmosphere

Question 73

The Mantle extends from < 100 km to about ________ and is bounded at both its top and bottom by ________.

A)600 km, layers of molten rock
B)2900 km, layers of markedly different chemical composition
C)290 km, the asthenosphere
D)2900 km, material of identical composition but contrasting temperature

Question 74

The oceanic crust is made of mafic rock called ________ and is about ________ thick on average.

A)basalt, 7 km
B)marine sedimentary rocks, 25 km
C)basalt, 70 km
D)granite, 35-40 km

Question 75

The composition of the core of Earth is thought to be ________.

A)basalt
B)granite
C)peridotite
D)iron-nickel alloy

Question 76

Shallowest to deepest, the primary layers within the Earth as defined by contrasting physical properties are ________.

A)lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesosphere, outer core, inner core
B)crust, mantle, core
C)basalt, crust, mantle, asthenosphere, core
D)sedimentary, metamorphic, igneous

Question 77

The mantle is made of dense rock ________ called ________.

A)<3.0 g/cm³, basalt
B)<2.9 g/cm³, granite
C)~3.3 g/cm³, peridotite
D)>3.4 g/cm³, shergottite

Question 78

Observing Earth from beyond the moon's orbit, the most apparent features are ________.

A)vast areas of ocean and swirling cloud patterns
B)the boundaries between the continents and the oceans
C)white polar ice caps, green rain forests and brown deserts
D)plumes of erupting volcanoes

Question 79

Of the hydrosphere, 97% is contained in ________.

A)glaciers
B)lakes and streams
C)the oceans
D)groundwater

Question 80

The continental crust is heterogeneous but is predominantly made of ________ and averages ________ thick.

A)basalt, 7 km
B)granite, 35 km
C)metasedimentary rocks, 600 km
D)granite, 3.5 km