Quiz 1: Introducing Geology, the Essentials of Plate Tectonics, and Other Important Concepts
Geology/Geography/Oceanography/Atmospheric Sciences
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Q 4Q 4
While the reserves of petroleum hydrocarbons within the United States are limited, other geologic resources (iron, aluminum, copper, and tin) are available in great abundance.
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Q 11Q 11
Most convergent plate boundaries coincide with the crests of submarine mountain ranges called mid-oceanic ridges.
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Q 12Q 12
Plate tectonics regards the lithosphere as divided into segments (plates) that are in horizontal motion.
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Q 14Q 14
Convergent boundaries, due to their geometry, are the sites of the largest earthquakes on Earth.
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Q 17Q 17
Rocks formed at high temperatures and under high pressure deep within the Earth and pushed upward by tectonic force are stable in their new environment.
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Q 18Q 18
Rocks brought to the earth's surface by internal processes are worn down, and eroded by surficial processes.
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Q 21Q 21
The Earth's system that includes the oceans, rivers, lakes, and glaciers of the world is called the _______.
A) biosphere
B) hydrosphere
C) atmosphere
D) geosphere
E) solid Earth
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Multiple Choice
Q 22Q 22
The _____ and the Alpine Fault of New Zealand are examples of transform plate boundaries.
A) New Madrid Fault of Arkansas
B) Choctaw Fault of Oklahoma
C) San Andreas Fault of California
D) East African Rift
E) Rio Grande Rift
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Multiple Choice
Q 23Q 23
A ______ is a huge ocean wave usually caused by a displacement of the sea floor and commonly associated with massive earthquakes.
A) S-wave
B) tidal wave
C) tsunami
D) seiche
E) breaker
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Multiple Choice
Q 24Q 24
A ___ is a hot, turbulent mixture of expanding gases and volcanic ash that flows rapidly down the side of a volcano.
A) pyroclastic cloud
B) mud flow
C) lava flow
D) pyroclastic flow
E) hyaloclastic flow
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Multiple Choice
Q 25Q 25
Eruptive activity at the summit of the Nevada del Ruiz volcano in Colombia in 1985 caused snow and ice to melt, generating a ___ that killed 23,000 people in the village of Armero.
A) gas cloud
B) mud flow
C) lava flow
D) pyroclastic flow
E) hyaloclastic flow
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Multiple Choice
Q 26Q 26
To understand geology one must understand how the solid Earth interacts with water, air, and living organisms. For this reason, it is useful to think of Earth as being part of a ____.
A) hydrosphere
B) system
C) trend
D) group
E) formation
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Multiple Choice
Q 27Q 27
Among other things, geologists are employed as __.
A) petroleum geologists
B) environmental geologists
C) marine geologists
D) hydrogeologists
E) All of the answers are correct.
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Multiple Choice
Q 28Q 28
Rock deep within the Earth is _____ and ______.
A) hot; heat flows inward toward Earth's center.
B) cool; heat flows in toward Earth's center
C) hot; heat flows out toward Earth's surface
D) the same temperature throughout the earth; heat flow is not an important consideration
E) unknown; we can only guess about conditions there
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Multiple Choice
Q 29Q 29
Earth's external heat engine is driven by __.
A) solar power
B) residual cosmic radiation from the Big Bang
C) the decay of radioactive isotopes
D) tides
E) meteor impacts
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Q 31Q 31
The Earth's interior heat engine works because hot buoyant material deep within the Earth _______ while cold denser material _______.
A) moves upward; moves downward
B) contracts and sinks; expands and rises
C) contracts and rises; expands and sinks
D) expand and sinks; contract and rises
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Multiple Choice
Q 32Q 32
The _______ is the most voluminous of the Earth's three major concentric zones.
A) core
B) mantle
C) lithosphere
D) asthenosphere
E) crust
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Q 33Q 33
Listed from Earth's center outward, the three concentric zones of Earth are the __.
A) crust, mantle, core
B) mantle, crust, core
C) core, crust, mantle
D) mantle, core, crust
E) core, mantle, crust
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Multiple Choice
Q 34Q 34
A _____ is a scientific concept that has been tested and is in all likelihood true.
A) concept
B) hypothesis
C) theory
D) scenario
E) belief
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Multiple Choice
Q 35Q 35
_______ are geological forces generated inside the Earth.
A) Surficial forces
B) Electrochemical forces
C) Tectonic forces
D) Inertial
E) Celestial
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Q 36Q 36
Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, floods, and tsunamis are all examples of:
A) earth-altering processes.
B) earth hazards.
C) geologic resources.
D) geospheric processes.
E) geologic hazards
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Multiple Choice
Q 37Q 37
The _______ collectively make up the lithosphere.
A) the crust and the whole mantle
B) the crust and the uppermost part of the mantle
C) the crust and asthenosphere
D) the upper and lower mantle
E) the asthenosphere and the upper mantle
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Multiple Choice
Q 38Q 38
The ____ is soft and therefore flows more readily than the underlying mantle.
A) crust
B) asthenosphere
C) lithosphere
D) core
E) plate
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Multiple Choice
Q 39Q 39
A hypothesis that passes repeated tests ultimately becomes __.
A) a guess
B) an observation of a phenomenon
C) a first, tentative idea to explain a phenomenon
D) a theory
E) a proven law of nature
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Multiple Choice
Q 40Q 40
After data have been analyzed, tentative explanations or solutions called _____ may be proposed.
A) a guess
B) an observation of a phenomenon
C) hypotheses
D) a concept that has been tested reproducibly and is likely to be true
E) a proven law of nature
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Multiple Choice
Q 41Q 41
Plate tectonics is a unifying idea that helps explain where and why there are ___ on Earth.
A) earthquakes
B) volcanoes
C) mountain belts
D) oceanic ridges and trenches
E) All of the answers are correct.
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Multiple Choice
Q 42Q 42
The two major types of crust are oceanic crust and __.
A) continental crust
B) lithosphere
C) convergent crust
D) thin crust
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Multiple Choice
Q 43Q 43
Earth can be visualized as a giant machine driven by which of the following engines?
A) solar and internal
B) regional and local
C) expanding and condensing
D) surficial and heat
E) buried and exposed
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Multiple Choice
Q 44Q 44
The concept of plate tectonics regards the earth's ___ as broken into a number of ___ that are in motion relative to each other.
A) crust; plates
B) mantle; plates
C) asthenosphere; plates
D) lithosphere; plates
E) plates; lithosphere
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Q 45Q 45
A _____, by scientists definition, is something that has been overwhelmingly verified.
A) hypothesis
B) guess
C) prediction
D) theory
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Q 46Q 46
Plates are known to be moving away from each other __.
A) across mountain ranges like the Himalayan Mountains
B) across subduction zones
C) across mid-ocean ridges
D) across the stable interior of continents
E) along transform faults
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Multiple Choice
Q 47Q 47
A _______ boundary occurs where plates move towards one another.
A) convergent
B) concurrent
C) rift
D) abutting
E) transform
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Q 48Q 48
The _____ of old seafloor takes place at convergent boundaries.
A) destruction
B) creation
C) production
D) erosion
E) extinction
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Q 49Q 49
The North American plate is moving ____.
A) north
B) south
C) west
D) east
E) nowhere, it's fixed
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Multiple Choice
Q 50Q 50
Where a subducting plate slides beneath the lithosphere, melting takes place and a(n) ____ is created.
A) plate
B) ocean trench
C) seamount
D) sedimentary rock
E) coral reef
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Multiple Choice
Q 51Q 51
Sedimentary rock that becomes deeply buried may be transformed by heat and pressure into _______ rock.
A) soil
B) igneous
C) granite
D) metamorphic
E) All of the answers are correct.
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Multiple Choice
Q 52Q 52
The product of the breakdown of surface rocks by weathering and erosion is __.
A) lava
B) magma
C) sediment
D) quartz
E) ash
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Multiple Choice
Q 53Q 53
With the cementation of loose particles sediment becomes ______.
A) molten
B) metamorphic
C) lithified
D) igneous
E) basalt
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Multiple Choice
Q 54Q 54
_______ takes place where moving water, ice, and wind loosen and remove material on the continents.
A) Burial
B) Metamorphism
C) Melting
D) Subsidence
E) Erosion
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Multiple Choice
Q 55Q 55
Disintegration of rock at Earth's surface may be facilitated by water __.
A) flowing on the surface in streams and as runoff
B) frozen in a glacier that is flowing over the surface
C) moving through near-surface pores and fractures
D) present as vapor in the atmosphere
E) All of the answers are correct.
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Multiple Choice
Q 56Q 56
A(n) ___ may eventually be formed as layers of sediment are buried by subsequent layers of sediment.
A) igneous rock
B) metamorphic rock
C) sedentary rock
D) sedimentary rock
E) foliated rock
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Multiple Choice
Q 57Q 57
The best geologic data currently available indicates that Earth is approximately ___ years old.
A) 4,550
B) 4,550,000
C) 4,550,000,000
D) 4,550,000,000,000
E) 4,550,000,000,000,000
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Multiple Choice
Q 58Q 58
Which of the following lifeforms appeared first in the geologic record?
A) dinosaurs
B) mammals
C) plants
D) fishes
E) reptiles
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Multiple Choice
Q 59Q 59
Fossil evidence indicates that complex life forms, capable of generating easily fossilized hard parts like shells or bones, have existed in abundance on Earth since approximately ___ years ago.
A) 5,440
B) 544 thousand
C) 544 million
D) 5,440,000,000
E) 544,000,000,000
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Multiple Choice
Q 60Q 60
Fossil evidence indicates that dinosaurs became extinct approximately ___ years ago.
A) 65 thousand
B) 650 thousand
C) 6,500,000
D) 65 million
E) 650,000,000
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Multiple Choice