Geology exam 2: Knapp USC – Flashcards
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Which of the following environments is an example of a continental environment?
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Alluvial
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What is limestone made of?
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Calcite
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What is metasomatism?
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a change in the bulk composition of a rock during metamorphism
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What type of metamorphism is caused by igneous intrusions?
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contact metamorphism
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Which of the following rocks represents the highest metamorphic grade?
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Gneiss
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Which of the following processes will cause metamorphism?
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All of the above
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At what type of plate tectonic boundary would you expect shearing forces to occur?
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transform
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What determines whether a rock deforms in a brittle fashion versus a ductile fashion?
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Temperature, rate of deformation, and rock type
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Which of the following statements about rock deformation is false?
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Rocks under low surrounding pressure are more likely to deform ductilely than rocks under high surrounding pressure.
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Which of the following is used by geologists to determine the relative ages in a rock sequence?
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Stratigraphy Fossils Cross-cutting relations
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Which is the most likely parent rock of marble?
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limestone
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Purely tensional stresses associated with a _________ plate boundary will generate a _______ fault.
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divergent; normal
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When did the Mesozoic era begin?
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250 Million years ago
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Which planet is closest in size to the Earth?
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Venus
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Under intense pressure and high temperature, hydrogen atoms combine to form helium. This process is called _____________.
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nuclear fusion
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Current evidence indicates that the Moon was produced by:
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The collision of a Mars-sized body with Earth.
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Which list places the four inner planets in order of increasing distance from the Sun?
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Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
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Which is older, the intrusion or the fault?
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intrusion
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Units A, B, C, D, E, and F are sedimentary rocks; Unit G is granite
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??
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Which principle did you use to identify the oldest rock unit?
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superposition
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When considering the effects of faulting on the lithosphere, it is clear that normal faults serve to effectively:
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thin and extend the crust.
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What is the dominant type of bonding in minerals?
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Ionic bonding
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Burial of sediments results in __________.
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increasing pressure and increasing temperature
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What type of sediments are accumulations of solid fragments produced by weathering?
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Clastic
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Which of the following environments is an example of a shoreline environment?
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deltaic
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Sedimentary processes take place ________
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At or near the Earth's surface
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By the time sediments reach the ocean basins, they have become:
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well rounded and well sorted
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Which mineral is commonly used to determine a metamorphic P-T path?
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Garnet
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Which of the following tectonic settings will be coolest at 30-km depth?
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Stable Continental Lithosphere
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Which is the type of metamorphism with the highest pressure and lowest temperature from the choices below:
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shock
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Phyllite is a rock of which type of metamorphism:
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low grade
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What type of fault is depicted in the cross section above?
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normal
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The dip of a unit represents the:
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angle at which the bed inclines from the horizontal
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What type of material undergoes smooth, continuous plastic deformation?
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Ductile
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Which of the following statements best describes the behavior of rocks during deformation?
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Brittle materials deform by faulting, whereas ductile materials deform by folding.
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What is a thrust fault?
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a low-angle reverse fault
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An anticline is a sequence of folded rocks with the youngest rocks on the inside of the fold.
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False oldest in the inside
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The difference between a fault and a joint is that _________.
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rocks on either side of a fault have moved, whereas rocks on either side of a joint have remained stationary
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Which of the following statements about rock deformation is false?
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Rocks under low surrounding pressure are more likely to deform ductilely than rocks under high surrounding pressure.
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Reverse faults form in response to ______ forces.
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Compressive
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The study of the layers in sedimentary rock is known as _________.
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Stratigraphy
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When did the faulting occur?
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?
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What is the relative timing between faulting and intrusion of the granite?
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?
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The principle of superposition states that __________.
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undisturbed sedimentary layers get progressively younger from bottom to top
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Which of the following is the best statement of the principle of original horizontality?
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Sediments are deposited as horizontal layers.
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The absolute age of a geologic event in the rock record is __________.
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the number of years that has elapsed between the event and the present day
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The shortest time division on the geologic time scale is a(n) _________.
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epoch
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The half-life of a radioactive isotope is ______________.
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?
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Radiometric dating is possible if a rock contains a measurable amount of ___________.
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both daughter and parent atoms
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Which of the following is the largest division of geologic time?
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eons
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The hypothesis that explains the formation of the solar system is referred to as _____.
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nebular hypothesis
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What caused dust and condensing material to accrete into planetesimals?
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gravitational attraction and collisions
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The four inner planets are ________________.
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small, rocky, and relatively lacking in volatile elements.
