question

Which of the four spheres of Earth is the most extensive?

answer

Geosphere

question

The Principle of ______ states that the physical, chemical, and biological processes at work shaping the Earth today have also operated in the geologic past.

answer

Uniformitarianism

question

What is the accepted age of the Earth?

answer

4.6 billion years

question

What percentage of the Earth is covered by oceans?

answer

71%

question

The Four Spheres on Earth operate independently from each other: True or False

answer

False

question

What is the date of formation of the universe?

answer

13.7 billion years ago

question

Which of the following materials can be used to make interpretations about the nature and composition of the interior of the Earth?

answer

Slivers of crustal and mantle rocks exposed at the surface, meteorites, diamond-bearing pipes

question

What is the age of the oldest rocks discovered on the planet?

answer

4 billion years old

question

The interior of the Earth is divided into roughly spherical layers separated by density: True or False

answer

True

question

What property of the crust allowed it to form as the exterior of Earth?

answer

Materials that make up the crust are less dense and rose to the top

question

If the temperature in the Earth generally increases with depth, how is it possible that the Inner Core is a solid?

answer

The pressures in the core are immense and keep it in a solid state in spite of the temperature

question

Which layer of the Earth is the thinnest?

answer

Crust

question

Which layer of the Earth is the thickest?

answer

Mantle

question

What is the definition of the asthenosphere?

answer

A soft, low-velocity layer in the Upper Mantle

question

The _______ is a layer of liquid nickel and iron believed to be responsible for generating the Earth's magnetic field

answer

Outer Core

question

The lithosphere is the layer in the interior of the Earth that is just below the crust: True or False

answer

False

question

Crystallization can produce metamorphic rocks

answer

False

question

External processes driven by solar energy can create the materials necessary for sedimentary rocks: True or False

answer

True

question

In what two areas are the youngest mountain ranges found today?

answer

The Circus-Pacific belt and Southern Europe/Asia

question

A ________ is a part of the craton that is covered by a thin veneer of sedimentary rocks

answer

Platform

question

What is the name of the supercontinent proposed by Alfred Wegener?

answer

Pangaea

question

Although the jigsaw-puzzle fit of the southern continents was noted, opponents of Continental Drift argued that, even if continental displacement had occurred, a good fit between the continents today would be unlikely. What geological evidence did they cite to support this claim?

answer

Wave erosion and coastal deposition have changed the shape of the continents

question

What is the direction of motion that produces Divergent Boundaries

answer

Two plates pull apart from each other

question

What is the direction of motion that produces Transform Boundaries

answer

Two plates slide past each other

question

What is the direction of motion that produces Convergent Boundaries

answer

Two plates move toward each other

question

Why are the mid-ocean ridges higher in elevation than the surrounding ocean floor?

answer

Warmer material near the ridge is less dense, so floats higher on the mantle

question

A location where continental rifting is occurring today is ____________

answer

East African Rift Valley

question

Oceanic Lithosphere will get thicker the farther it gets from the mid-ocean ridge: True or False

answer

True

question

At a ________, one colliding plate will be forced beneath another because of differences in density.

answer

Subduction Zone

question

Which type of convergence will result in a continental volcanic arc?

answer

Oceanic-Continental

question

Which type of convergence will result in a volcanic island arc?

answer

Oceanic-Oceanic

question

What is a a real-world example of a Oceanic-Continental convergent boundary

answer

North American & Juan de Fuca Plates

question

What is a a real-world example of a Oceanic-Oceanic convergent boundary

answer

Pacific & Phillippine Plates

question

What is a a real-world example of a Continental-Continental convergent boundary

answer

Indian & Eurasian Plates

question

Where are the majority of transform faults located?

answer

On the ocean floor offsetting segments of oceanic ridge

question

What is a mantle plume?

answer

An upwelling of hot material from the Earth's interior that is cylindrical in shape

question

________ is when iron particles in lavas align their magnetic fields with magnetic north, preserving a record of that pole's location at that moment in time.

answer

Paleomagnetism

question

Along which tectonic boundary is ridge push going to be most important?

answer

Divergent Boundary

question

Which factor contributes the most toward plate motion?

answer

Slab Pull

question

In which layer of the Earth does the convection necessary for plate motion occur?

answer

Mantle

question

A rock can be composed of almost entirely one mineral: True or False

answer

True

question

Which are the three primary ways minerals can form?

answer

Crystallization of molten material, precipitation, biological processes

question

Crystallization of molten rock will produce ________ rock

answer

Igneous

question

________ refers to a mineral's intensity of reflected light.

answer

Luster

question

Which identification technique would be best to identify calcite?

answer

Effervescence

question

________ is defined as a mineral's resistance to scratching

answer

Hardness

question

Define the tenacity of a mineral

answer

Resistance to breaking or deforming

question

Color is a reliable identification technique for mineral: True or False

answer

False

question

What is the mineral name for table salt?

answer

Halite

question

Ferromagnesian minerals have a higher specific gravity than nonferromagnesian minerals: True or False

answer

True

question

Which ferromagnesian mineral is believed to constitute up to 50% of the mantle

answer

Olivine

question

Ignoring color, what is the best method to distinguish between potassium feldspar and plagioclase feldspar?

answer

Striations

question

Ferromagnesian minerals are those that contain a great deal of ________

answer

Magnesium and Iron

question

Silica tetrahedra are able to link into long chains that share oxygen ions through the process of ________.

answer

Polymerization

question

The ________ are the mineral class that accounts for more than 90% of the Earth's crust.

answer

Silicates

question

Only eight elements make up the vast majority of rock-forming minerals. Which of the following elements is not one of the eight?

answer

Sulfur

question

Graphite and diamonds are polymorphs because both are made up of carbon atoms.: True or False

answer

True

question

Polymorphs are minerals that will have two identical mineral structures, but different chemical compositions: True or False

answer

False

question

The addition of ________ influences a mineral's color.

answer

Trace elements

question

________ states that the angles between equivalent faces of crystals of the same mineral are always the same

answer

Law of Constancy of Interfacial Angles

question

Example of a Single-Chain silicate mineral

answer

Pyroxene

question

What three components make up most magmas?

answer

Liquid Portion, Solid Portion, Gaseous Portion

question

What was the rate of cooling and the environment of formation for an extrusive igneous rock?

answer

Fast because it was erupted from a volcano

question

Mineral crystals that form early in the crystallization process will have better-developed crystal faces than later crystals: True or False

answer

True

question

Which mineral class makes up most igneous rocks?

answer

Silicates

question

What is the geological definition of texture?

answer

Size and shape of mineral grains in the sample

question

What creates the small holes found in a vesicular texture?

answer

Volatiles

question

________ is a felsic igneous rock with a meringue-like vesicular texture created by small shards of volcanic glass.

answer

Pumice

question

Which is the following statements best describes the relationship between pressure and melting point in the Earth's Interior?

answer

Higer melting points are determined by higher pressures

question

What is the term used to describe increased temperature with depth in the Earth?

answer

Geothermal gradient

question

What role will water play in generating magma?

answer

Water will lower the melting temperature of the rock, allowing it to melt

question

Temperatures will decrease with increasing depth into the Earth: True or False

answer

False

question

Partial melting will occur when continental collisions occur, thickening the crust and forcing some rocks to a depth where melting can occur: True or False

answer

True

question

________ describes how an entire suite of silicate minerals can form from a single basaltic magma as it cools and crystallizes.

answer

Bowen's Reaction Series

question

________ describes the formation of one or more secondary magmas from a single parent magma.

answer

Magmatic Differentiation

question

The partial melting of a mafic magma would produce what composition of igneous rocks?

answer

Intermediate

question

Which of the following statements best describes the formation of secondary magmas?

answer

Iron-rich minerals will form in a cooling magma, which leaves the remaining melt with a more andesitic composition

question

A ________ is a tabular, concordant pluton that is nearly horizontal and forms when magma exploits a weakness between sedimentary layers.

answer

Sill

question

A ________ is a mushroom-shaped pluton that forms by injecting magma between sedimentary strata, forcing the upper layers to arch upward.

answer

Laccolith

question

Concordant plutons cut across existing structures while discordant plutons are parallel to existing features: True or False

answer

False

question

how do dissolved gases drive volcanic eruptions?

answer

Confining pressure decreases on a rising magma, allowing gas bubbles to expand and fracture the magma. This further decreases pressure on the magma and will result in an explosive event.

question

_______ is a material's resistance to flowing.

answer

Viscosity

question

Which of the following lavas make up 90% of the total volume of lava on Earth?

answer

Basaltic

question

________ is/are pulverized rock, lava fragments, and ash erupted from a volcano.

answer

Pyroclastic Materials

question

Which of the following choices best explains the difference between a crater and a caldera?

answer

A crater is a small, funnel-shaped depression; A caldera is a large depression that has a diameter of over 1 km.

question

What interpretations can be made about the maturity of a volcano where most eruptions occur from basal fissures and there are a number of parasitic cones along the volcano's flanks?

answer

Mature volcano

question

With the exception of volcanoes associated with a subduction zone, most volcanic islands are ________ volcanoes.

answer

Shield

question

In order to cover such large expanses of seafloor, shield volcanoes erupt ________ lava.

answer

Basaltic

question

Which volcanoes have flanks with the steepest angle of repose (between 30° and 40°)?

answer

Cinder Cones

question

Based on the structure of the cone and the rock making it up, what interpretations can be made about the gas content of eruptions from cinder cone volcanoes compared to those of shield volcanoes?

answer

More gas than shield volcanoes

question

The Ring of Fire is a narrow zone of composite cone volcanoes rimming the ________ Ocean.

answer

Pacific

question

What kind(s) of lava are most closely associated with composite cones?

answer

Andesite

question

What is the driving force behind pyroclastic flows?

answer

Gravity

question

What kind of volcano is most closely associated with pyroclastic flows?

answer

Composite Cone

question

An example of a volcanic caldera that formed from the collapse of a magma chamber after large volumes of material were erupted is ________.

answer

Yellowstone

question

What kind of volcanic hazard can be triggered by the collapse of a lava dome?

answer

Pyroclastic Flow

question

Along which tectonic boundary will chains of composite cone volcanoes be located?

answer

Convergent Boundary

question

What type of lava is produced at a divergent plate boundary?

answer

Basaltic

question

How is magma generated along convergent plate boundaries?

answer

Fluids are boiled out of the subducting plate, which lower the melting point of the surrounding mantle

question

GPS units, satellites, and lasers are some of the tools used to monitor ________ of the volcanic flanks, which indicates magma accumulating in the magma chamber.

answer

Inflation

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