Quiz 20: Mountain Belts and the Continental Crust
Geology/Geography/Oceanography/Atmospheric Sciences
Q 1Q 1
A Precambrian shield, an area of no sedimentary rocks, covers much of eastern and northern Canada.
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True False
True
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True False
True
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True False
True
Q 4Q 4
The region of a continent that has been structurally stable for a prolonged period of time is called the craton.
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True False
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True False
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True False
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True False
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True False
Q 9Q 9
On the North American continent, the Appalachian Mountains extend from western Canada through the western United States into New Mexico.
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True False
Q 10Q 10
A cycle of splitting of a supercontinent, opening of an ocean basin, followed by closing of the basin and collision of continents is known as a Wilson Cycle.
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True False
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True False
Q 12Q 12
In the Paleozoic Era the North American continent grew westward because of the accumulation of the Cordillera.
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True False
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True False
Q 14Q 14
The Andes Mountains, where the South America Plate overrides the Nazca Plate, are a consequence of ocean-continent convergence.
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True False
Q 15Q 15
Mountain belts are characterized by sedimentary sequences that show little or no deformation.
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True False
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True False
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True False
Q 18Q 18
Seismic studies indicate that continental crust beneath mountains and cratons is essentially the same thickness.
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True False
Q 19Q 19
According to the concept of isostasy, lighter, less dense, continental crust "floats" higher on the mantle than denser oceanic crust.
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True False
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True False
Q 21Q 21
_____ are chains thousands of kilometers long composed of numerous mountain ranges.
A) Mid-oceanic ridge
B) Volcanic arcs
C) Back arcs
D) Valley and Ridge Province
E) Mountain belts
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Multiple Choice
Q 22Q 22
During the last couple of decades, geologist have used a _____ approach to gain insight into the growth and wearing away of mountains.
A) tectonic
B) erosional
C) weathering
D) system
E) climatic
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Multiple Choice
Q 23Q 23
The once deep-seated roots of former Precambrian mountain belts are the _____ rock for the now stable, central part of the continent.
A) cratonic
B) basement
C) core
D) platform
E) isostatic
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Multiple Choice
Q 24Q 24
In many mountainous regions are found ____, which are characterized by large thrust faults stacked one upon another.
A) fold and thrust belts
B) numerous rock types
C) evidence of intrusions
D) patterns of deformation
E) volcanic landforms
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Multiple Choice
Q 25Q 25
____, intermixed granitic and metamorphic rock, may represent those parts of mountain belts that were once at even deeper levels of the crust.
A) Pegmatites
B) Sutures
C) Migmatites
D) Extensional fabric
E) Subduction patterns
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Multiple Choice
Q 26Q 26
Frequent earthquakes, offshore trenches, and active volcanoes perched on top of older rock are all indications of ____.
A) old mountain belts
B) stable craton
C) platform
D) Precambrian shield
E) active mountain ranges
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 27Q 27
Geologists believe that when the thick and high part of a mountain belt becomes too high and gravitationally unstable _____ occurs.
A) massive landslides
B) gravitational collapse and spreading
C) volcanic eruptions
D) rapid downcutting
E) basalt flows
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 28Q 28
In some mountain belts the crust breaks into fault-bounded blocks resulting in _____ mountain ranges.
A) fault-block
B) extremely high
C) extensional
D) isostatically adjusted
E) metamorphic
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Multiple Choice
Q 29Q 29
The _____ is(are) the product of oceanic-continental convergence and Earth's second highest mountain belt.
A) Appalachians
B) Himalayas
C) Andes
D) Basin and Range
E) Sierra Nevada
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Multiple Choice
Q 30Q 30
A _____ is a group of closely spaced mountains or parallel ridges that may show a history of intrusive tectonic activity.
A) volcano
B) mountain range
C) back-arc basin
D) spreading center
E) any uplifted region
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 31Q 31
The continental crust is _______ beneath mountain belts than under the craton.
A) thinner
B) thicker
C) the same thickness
D) more felsic
E) more dense
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 32Q 32
Most of the world's mountains existing today are a result of ____.
A) intense deformation
B) isostasy
C) weathering and erosion
D) intense deformation and isostasy
E) intense deformation, isostasy, and weathering and erosion
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 33Q 33
Extension and normal faulting take place in a mountain range ____.
A) during their early stage of formation
B) when rock at high level flows outward
C) before folding and metamorphism
D) randomly throughout the range's history
E) and is always related to late stage intrusions
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Multiple Choice
Q 34Q 34
The region of a continent that has been structurally stable for a long period of time is called the ______.
A) dome
B) basin
C) Precambrian shield
D) craton
E) mountain range
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Multiple Choice
Q 35Q 35
The _____ resulted from the collision of Asia and Europe.
A) Alps
B) Pyrenees
C) Caledonide Mountains
D) Ural Mountains
E) Himalayan Mountains
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Multiple Choice
Q 36Q 36
The sedimentary sequences that form on passive margins are predominantly ____.
A) shale
B) limestone
C) sandstones
D) andesitic flows
E) shale, limestone, and sandstones
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 37Q 37
Volcanic rocks, mostly _______, accumulate near a convergent plate boundary.
A) shales
B) sandstones
C) granites
D) andesites
E) marbles
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 38Q 38
The Himalayan Mountains formed as the result of ______ convergence.
A) ocean-continent
B) arc-continent
C) ocean-ocean
D) arc-ocean
E) continent-continent
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 39Q 39
A _____ terrane has rock types and ages that do not seem to be related to the rest of the geology of a mountain belt.
A) mixed
B) coupled
C) partial
D) integrated
E) suspect
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 40Q 40
If the San Andreas Fault remains active, Los Angeles will continue northward and crash into ___.
A) Alaska
B) Japan
C) the Imperial Valley
D) British Columbia
E) Hawaii
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 41Q 41
Terranes that can be shown to have traveled great distances are known as _____ terranes.
A) accreted
B) exotic
C) suspect
D) cratonic
E) shield
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 42Q 42
Late stage normal faulting in a mountain range is a result of _______.
A) volcanism
B) igneous intrusions
C) vertical uplift or extension
D) sea-floor spreading
E) geosyncline formation
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 43Q 43
Migmatites must have been transported much higher in the crust during and after ____.
A) normal faulting
B) volcanism
C) emplacement of plutons
D) an orogeny
E) subduction
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 44Q 44
At the close of the Paleozoic, eastern North America was attached to what is now _______.
A) Europe and Asia
B) China and South America
C) India and Antarctica
D) Africa and China
E) Europe and Africa
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 45Q 45
_____ is the detachment of part of the mantle portion of the lithosphere beneath a mountain belt.
A) Delamination
B) Mantle convection
C) Terrane shift
D) Isostatic adjustment
E) Craton formation
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 46Q 46
_____ faults in the Tibetan plateau indicate that gravitational collapse is taking place.
A) Normal
B) Reverse
C) Thrust
D) Strike-slip
E) High-angle thrust
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 47Q 47
________ beneath the Basin and Range helps to explain the extensive rhyolitic and basaltic eruptions that occurred tens of millions of years after the last orogeny.
A) Obduction
B) Delamination
C) Wilson Cycles
D) Subduction
E) Thickening of the continental crust by "rooting"
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 48Q 48
The cycle of splitting of a supercontinent, opening of an ocean basin, followed by closing of the basin and collision of the continents, is known as a ________.
A) Wegener plan
B) Wilson Cycle
C) delamination plan
D) Hess Process
E) Vine-Mathews system
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 49Q 49
A ______ is the source of sedimentary and volcanic material accumulating along a convergent boundary.
A) subduction zone
B) magmatic arc
C) suspect terrane
D) mid-oceanic ridge
E) folded mountain range
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 50Q 50
Continents grow bigger as _______.
A) accretionary wedges form at the margins
B) gravitational collapse and spreading widens the craton
C) mountain belts evolve along their margins
D) uplift and block-faulting takes place
E) isostacy lifts them up
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 51Q 51
Major mountain belts with higher mountain ranges tend to be geologically ___________ relative to those where the mountains are lower.
A) the same age
B) younger than
C) random in age
D) older than
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 52Q 52
Geologists regard most bodies of ultramafic rock as being _______.
A) intrusions formed during the accumulation stage
B) due to gravitational collapse and spreading
C) due to lithospheric delamination
D) areas left by block faulting and uplift
E) mantle material faulted into the crust during orogeny
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 53Q 53
The present ________ represent rejuvenation following uplift in Late Tertiary time.
A) Appalachian Mountains
B) Alps
C) Himalayan Mountains
D) Ural Mountains
E) Sierra Nevada Mountains
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 54Q 54
The system approach regards mountains as the products of three closely interdependent components. Which of the following is not one of those components?
A) plate tectonics
B) meteor impacts
C) climate
D) erosion
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 55Q 55
Of the two major mountain belts in North America, the _______ are in the West.
A) Urals
B) Himalyan
C) Appalachians
D) North American Cordillera
E) Andes
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 56Q 56
A(n) __________ is an episode of intense deformation of the rocks of a region.
A) isostatic adjustment
B) geosyncline
C) orogeny
D) buoyancy event
E) basin to dome event
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 57Q 57
The Grand Canyon, Ozark dome, Black Hills, and Adirondacks expose ________.
A) a fold and thrust belt
B) ophiolites
C) a Precambrian basement
D) an ancient magmatic arc
E) the result of delamination
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 58Q 58
Most of the _____ of the United States has/have a very thin blanket - only 1000 to 2000 meters - of sedimentary rock layers.
A) craton
B) Gulf Coast
C) Rocky Mountain region
D) Oregon-Washington coast
E) Blue Ridge Mountains
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 59Q 59
According to the concept of ____, lighter less dense continental crust "floats" higher on the mantle than denser oceanic crust.
A) delamination
B) gravitational collapse
C) geosynclines
D) block faulting
E) isostacy
Free
Multiple Choice
Q 60Q 60
A(n) _________ mountain range, such as the Basin and Range and Tetons, implies a horizontal extension strain.
A) fault block
B) erosional
C) volcanic
D) fold
E) strike-slip.
Free
Multiple Choice