Earth Systems Review

1
Earth Systems Review

• Fall Semester

2
Which of the following is neutrally charged?

• A. An ion c. a compound
• B. An electron d. a proton

3
Atoms combine when

• Their outer electron shells are filled.
• Their electrons are shared or transferred.
• The number of protons and neutrons is the same.
• The number of electrons and protons is the same.

4
Compounds with low boiling points have

• A. Metallic bonds
• c. ionic bonds
• B. Covalent bonds
• d. no chemical bonds

5
Minerals that form from magma form as the result
of

• Crystallization
• evaporation
• Precipitation
• condensation

6
The mineral barite (BaSO4) is a(n)

• Oxide
• silicate
• Carbonate
• sulfate

7
Color is often not a useful identification
property because

• Some minerals are colorless
• The same mineral can be different colors
• Different minerals can be different colors
• Some minerals are single elements

8
What is a minerals streak?

• The resistance to being scratched
• The color of the mineral in powder form
• The way in which the mineral reflects light
• The way the mineral reacts to hydrochloric acid

9
A particular mineral breaks like a piece of glass
does. Which of these describes the breakage?

• Cleavage
• hardness
• Metallic luster
• fracture

10
Mineral properties depend on composition and

• Structure
• luster
• Cleavage
• streak

11
Which of the following is NOT one of the three
major types of rocks?

• Anthracite
• igneous
• Metamorphic
• sedimentary

12
Which of the following forms as the direct result
of surface processes?

• Metamorphic slate
• Igneous basalt
• Magma
• Intrusive granite

13
Which of the following would not be a major
process in the formation of sedimentary rock?

• Erosion
• melting
• Deposition
• compaction

14
The formation of igneous rock is powered by

• The sun
• the rock cycle
• Erosion
• the Earths internal heat

15
A fine-grained igneous rock forms

• Deep within the Earth
• From magma
• As the result of slow cooling
• As the result of quick cooling

16
Cementation often occurs directly after Earth
materials are

• Eroded
• weathered
• Intruded
• deposited

17
Ripple marks likely indicate that the rock formed

• Underground
• under a glacier
• In water
• from magma

18
A major process in the formation of clastic
sedimentary rock is

1. Contact with magma
2. Cementation
3. Hardening
4. Foliation

19
Metamorphic rock that have a banded appearance
due to the alignment of minerals are called

• Foliated
• nonfoliated
• Clastic
• glassy

20
Which rock is made of the smallest sediments?

• Shale
• conglomerate
• Breccia
• sanstone

21
The breaking down and changing of rocks at or
near Earths surface is called

• Mass movement
• sheet erosion
• Weathering
• uplift

22
Which of the following is NOT a cause of
mechanical weathering?

• Dissolving
• frost wedging
• Unloading
• burrowing

23
In which type of climate does chemical weathering
occur most rapidly?

• Cold, dry
• cold, wet
• Warm, dry
• warm, wet

24
Organic matter in soil is also called

• Regolith
• humus
• Talus
• loam

25
A soils texture is determined by its

• Water content
• Mineral composition
• Thickness
• Particle sizes

26
In soils with distinct soil horizons, the topmost
zone is the

• Parent material
• A horizon
• B horizon
• C horizon

27
Human activities that remove plants covering the
soil cause soil erosion to

• Decrease
• Stay the same
• Increase
• Increase briefly, then stop

28
Which of the following does NOT usually trigger
mass movements?

• Growth of native vegetation on slopes
• Formation of oversteeped slopes
• Saturation of surface materials with water
• Vibration of the ground during an earthquake

29
When a block of material moves downward along a
curved surface, the process is called

• A rockslide
• a rockfall
• A slump
• an earthflow

30
Which of the following best describes a mudflow?

1. Movement too slow to be observed directly
2. Material moving down slope as a thick fluid
3. Material falling freely through the air
4. Sudden movement along a flat, inclined surface

31
The energy for the water cycle comes from the

• Ocean
• sun
• Atmosphere
• soil

32
How does the water move from plants to the
atmosphere?

• Infiltration
• transpiration
• Condensation
• precipitation

33
By what process do streams and rivers move
material?

• Weathering
• mass wasting
• Erosion
• infiltration

34
A rivers discharge is generally greatest

• At its source
• On its floodplain
• At its mouth
• At the sides of its channel

35
When do streams and rivers deposit sediment?

• When their velocity decreases
• When they are in the midst of flooding
• When their velocity increases
• When they plunge over waterfalls

36
A streams drainage basin is all the water that

1. Flows into it
2. Infiltrates from it to the ground
3. Is removed from it for drinking water
4. Is within 100 km of its channel

37
What is a streams bed load?

1. Material that moves along the bottom
2. Material that is carried in solution
3. Material that floats on its surface
4. Material that is carried in suspension

38
Where is groundwater located?

• Zone of aeration
• Zone of reduction
• Zone of saturation
• Zone of distribution

39
Water in an artesian well

• Dries up after a short amount of time
• Rises on its own under pressure
• Has been contaminated by salt water
• Is heated by cooling igneous rocks

40
Caverns form when rocks such as limestone are
dissolved by a mixture of water and

• Carbonic acid
• nitrogen
• Ammonia
• sulfur dioxide

41
Which of these landforms is characteristic of an
area with karst topography?

• Mountains
• sinkholes
• Drumlins
• canyons

42
Approximately how many earthquakes are strong
enough to be felt each year worldwide?

• 500
• 1,000
• 10,000
• 30,000

43
What is the location on the surface directly
above the earthquake focus called?

• Epicenter
• fault
• Magnitude
• moho

44
The rigid layer of Earth that includes the entire
crust and the uppermost part of the mantle is
called the

• Asthenosphere
• mesosphere
• Lithosphere
• moho

45
The instrument that records earthquakes is called

• A seismogram
• a seismologist
• Seismology
• a seismograph

46
Which region has the most earthquake activity?

• Central Europe
• eastern North America
• Central Africa
• edge of the Pacific Ocean

47
The point at which an earthquake begins is called

• A foreshock
• the epicenter
• The focus
• the moho

48
To find the epicenter of an earthquake, what is
the minimum number of seismic stations that are
needed?

• 3
• 9
• 5
• 2

49
What scale do scientists today use MOST OFTEN to
express the magnitude of an earthquake?

• Richter scale
• tsunami scale
• Moho scale
• moment magnitude

50
What is the weaker, hotter zone beneath the
lithosphere that allows for motion of Earths
rigid outer shell?

• Crust
• asthenosphere
• Outer core
• inner core

51
Alfred Wegener is best known for what hypothesis?

1. Plate tectonics
2. continental drift
3. Sea-floor spreading
4. subduction

52
What is the name given by Wegener to the
supercontinent he proposed existed before the
current continents?

• Euroamerica
• Atlantis
• Pangaea
• Panamerica

53
Support for Henry Hess hypothesis of sea-floor
spreading did NOT include

1. Magnetic striping in the ocean floor rock
2. Granitic rock in the ocean floor
3. Earthquake patterns in subduction zones
4. The age of the ocean floor rock

54
Most of Earths earthquakes, volcanoes, and
mountain building occur

• In the center of continents
• In the Himalayas
• At plate boundaries
• At volcanic island arcs

55
Complex mountain systems such as the Himalayas
are the result of

• Oceanic-oceanic convergence
• Oceanic-continental convergence
• Continental volcanic arcs
• Continental-continental convergence

56
Which of the following mountain ranges was NOT
the result of continental-continental convergence?

• Himalayas
• Appalachians
• Andes
• Alps

57
What is the type of plate boundary where two
plates move together, causing one of the slabs of
lithosphere to descend into the mantle beneath an
overriding plate?

• Oceanic-continental convergence
• Divergent
• Transform fault
• Continental-continental convergence

58
Most deep focus earthquakes occur near

• Rift valleys
• mid-ocean ridges
• Transform fault boundaries
• trenches

59
One of the main objections to Wegeners
hypothesis of continental drift was that he was
unable to provide an acceptable

• Rate of continental drift
• Date of continental drift
• Mechanism for continental drift
• Direction of continental drift

60
Underground igneous rock bodies are called

• Lava flows
• plutons
• Volcanoes
• calderas

61
The greatest volume of volcanic material is
produced by

• Eruptions of cinder cones
• eruptions of shield volcanoes
• Eruptions of composite cones
• eruptions along ocean ridges

62
The most explosive type of volcanic activity is
associated with

• Cinder cones
• sills
• Composite cones
• shield volcanoes

63
A magmas viscosity is directly related to its

1. Depth
2. Age
3. Color
4. silica content

64
What are the pulverized rock, lava, ash, and
other fragments ejected from the vent of a
volcano called?

• Sills
• craters
• Pahoehoes
• pyroclastic material

65
Which type of volcano consists of layers of lava
flows and pyroclastic material?

• Composite cone
• cinder cone
• Shield volcano
• laccolith

66
The hotter of two types of basaltic lava commonly
forms

• Aa flows
• pahoehoe flows
• Pyroclastic flows
• lapilli flows

67
What is the very large depression at the top of
some volcanoes called?

• A vent
• a lava plateau
• A volcanic neck
• a caldera

68
When silica-rich magma is extruded, ash, hot
gases, and larger fragments propelled from the
vent at high speeds may produce which of the
following?

• A lava plateau
• a lahar
• A pahoehoe flow
• a pyroclastic flow

69
What feature may form in an intraplate area over
a rising plume of hot mantle material?

• A hot spot
• a dike
• A subduction zone
• an ocean ridge

70
What principle states that the physical, chemical
and biological laws that operate today have also
operated in the geologic past?

• Uniformitarianism
• theory of evolution
• Principle of original horizontality
• law of superposition