Geology 1403 Final Exam

Physical Geology

Examines the materials composing the earth and seeks to understand the many processes that operate underneath

physical

Issues addressed by __________ geology: Resources, natural hazards, and world population growth

Uniformitarianism

___________ is the idea that geological processes operating at the present time are very similar to those operating in past geological time; "present is the key to the past"

Catastrophism

__________ states that earth as we see it is a result of catastrophic events

Theory

A well-tested and widely accepted view that the scientific community agrees best explains certain observable facts is known as a _________

Hypothesis

_________ is an untested explanation

Continental crust

The type of crust forming the land surface is the _____________

Asthenosphere

The part of the earths interior that allows for the movement of the crustal plates is the __________

True

True or False: according to the theory of plate tectonics the earth's rigid outer shell is composed of several plates

subduction zone

A ___________ _________forms when oceanic crust collided with continental crust

B

Which of the following is NOT part of the definition of a mineral?
A.it must be naturally occurring and inorganic in origin
B.it must have a pretty color
C. It must have a definite chemical composition
D.it must be a solid
E. It must have an ordered internal molecular structure

Luster

The Appearance of a mineral in reflected light

Magma

Igneous rocks are rocks that crystallize from ___________.

Lava

________ is molten rock that is exposed on the earth's surface

slowly

Igneous rocks that have cooled ________ contain crystals large enough to be easily seen with the naked eye

rapidly

Igneous rocks that have cooled ____________ contain very small crystals that can barely been seen or can't be seen at all with the naked eye

Felsic

An igneous rocks that contains light-colored minerals probably has a ___________ composition

Basalt

A very dark-colored igneous rock is most likely _______

True

True or false: the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii is a good place to see magma erupting at the earth's surface

Ring of Fire

A great many volcanoes are found around the rim of the pacific plate in what is known as the:

cinder cone

A ________ ________ is usually fairly small in diameter, roughly triangular in profile with fairly steep sides, and primarily composed of cinders

shield volcano

a broad, domed volcano with gently sloping sides, composed primarily of basaltic lava that has been accumulated; Ex: Mauna Loa- earth's largest _______ volcano; Kilauea: Hawaii's most active volcano

BCD

What are you most likely to find on the slopes of an active volcano? (Choose all that apply; answer with all letters together-no spaces)
A. Starbucks
B. Lava flows
C. Ash
D. Pyroclastic material

BCD

Which is true about basaltic magmas?
(Choose all that apply; answer with letters all together-no spaces)
A.they are very viscous
B. They cause non explosive volcanic eruptions
C. They do not emit a lot of volcanic ash into the atmosphere
D. They are usually found forming mid ocean ridges

Mechanical

Processes that break down rocks into smaller pieces through the effects of such things as frost wedging, sheeting, salt-crystal growth, and biological activity, are known as ___________ weathering

Chemical

_________ weathering changes the composition of a rock; process of oxidation is a major process of this type of weathering

water

The most important agent in chemical weathering is _______

Detrital

_________ sedimentary rocks are usually classified by the size of their mineral grains

C

From large grained to smallest, which of these rock series are in the correct order?

A. Sandstone, conglomerate, shale, siltstone
B. Conglomerate, shale, siltstone, sandstone
C. Conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone, shale
D. Shale, siltstone, sandstone, conglomerate

Chemical

__________ sedimentary rocks can often form as the result of the evaporation of water

Lithification

The geologic process in the rock cycle by which loose sediments ultimately become solid rocks is called ___________

C

Which of the following is NOT a chemical sedimentary rock?
A. Rock salt
B. Limestone
C. Sandstone
D. Chert

A

Which of the following is NOT a sedimentary rock texture?
A. Phaneritic
B. Detrital
C. Chemical
D. Organic

True

True or false: heat, pressure, differential stress, and/or chemically active fluids drive metamorphic reactions in rocks

Which of these is a sedimentary rock?
A. Conglomerate
B. Pumice
C. Rhyolite
D. Obsidian

Foliated and nonfoliated

The 2 types of metamorphic rock TEXTURES are _________ and __________

regional

__________ metamorphism Usually occurs over large regions sometimes hundreds of miles across; associated with mountain building

contact

____________ metamorphism is the changes in rock caused by heat from a nearby magma body

parent rock

The original rock that undergoes metamorphism to create a metamorphic rock is known as the

True

True or false: new minerals are never created in the process of metamorphism

B

From smallest to largest grained, which of these metamorphic rock series are in correct order?
A. Sandstone, conglomerate, shale, siltstone
B. Slate, Phyllite, schist, gneiss
C. Phyllite, slate, schist, gneiss
D. Gneiss, slate, schist, phyllite

False

True or false: the 2 kinds of geological dating are numerical dating and relative age dating

A

Which of these techniques is NOT used for relative age dating
A. Measuring radioactive isotopes
B. Principle of superposition
C. Fossil content of rocks
D. Principle of original horizontality

True

True or false: Decay of radioactive minerals in certain rocks is very useful in determining their actual ages.

Principle of Superposition

The principle that states:
The oldest rocks are always at the bottom is the ________ ___ ____________

fault

A ______ is a fracture in the earth's crust along which displacement has occurred

Earthquakes

The sudden movement of large block of rock on either side of a fault causes __________

True

True or false: primary seismic waves can move through a liquid, but secondary seismic waves cannot.

transform

The San Andreas fault in California is an example of a __________ plate boundary

False

True or false: tsunamis are never caused by earthquake activity

3

What is the minimum number of seismic recording stations it takes to locate the epicenter and focus of an earthquake?

active

A continental margin that contains a subduction zone is known as a passive/active continental margin?

True

True or false: the longest mountain range on earth is the mid ocean ridge

Pillow lavas

Magma that is extruded into the cold ocean forms

C

Which of these subsea features are listed in order of shallowest water depth to deepest?
A. Continental rise, abyssal plain, continental shelf, continental slope
B. Abyssal plain, continental rise, continental slope, continental shelf
C. Continental shelf, continental slope, continental rise, abyssal plain
D. Mid ocean ridge, continental slope, abyssal plain, continental shelf

Top

On most, if not all government issued maps, topographic or otherwise, the north direction is at the _____.

blue

All water features like lakes, rivers, and oceans are indicated on a topographic map with the color __________

Contour lines

On a topographic map, the ______________ represent the points of equal of elevation along each line

A 7.5 minute quadrangle represents how much area of a degree of latitude and longitude
A.
B.
C.
D.

True

True or false: Hachure marks along the inside of an enclosed or circular contour line represent a depression on the land

upstream

When contour lines cross stream valley, the contours form a v that always points ________

False

True or false: each and every contour line always has the lines elevation marked on it

Gravity

The agent most responsible for mass movement of materials on the earth is

False

True or false: mass movement on the earth's surface is always rapid

B

Which of the following is NOT a mass movement process?
A. A slide
B. A talus slope
C. A flow
D. A fall

landslide

In the program about the oso Washington disaster that we watched in lab, the event was a

water

_____ has an important role in mass wasting by lubricating earth materials and adding weight to those materials

hydrologic cycle

Precipitation, run off, and evaporation are apart of the __________ __________

Drainage

Common _________ patterns of interconnected networks of streams include patterns like dendritic, radial, and rectangular patterns

angle of repose

the steepest angle at which loose material/particles remain stable without sliding downslope

Liquifaction

Process in which Intense ground shaking during earthquakes can cause water saturated surface materials to lose their strength and behave as fluid like masses that flow

False

True or false: about 98% of the earth's water is freshwater and available for drinking, washing, and agricultural irrigation

True

True or false: individual drainage basins are separated from one another by drainage divides

water table

The imaginary surface that reflect the level of the saturated zone of ground water

Porosity

The amount of space between bedrock, sediment, and soil is called ______

Permeability

Ability of rock or soil to allow water to flow through it

Aquifer

A water bearing zone or formation underground is called a(n) _______

True

True or false: the discharge that flows through an aquifer in a given place can be determined by Darcy's law

artesian well

A well that flows under natural pressure to above the level of an aquifer

shoreline

The line that marks the contact between land and sea

Wavelength

The horizontal distance measured between the crest of one ocean wave and the next is called the _________

Rip currents

When you go swimming on the beach at Galveston, beware of currents known as ____ ________

True

True or false: Galveston is a good example of a barrier island

D

What type of hard stabilization is Galveston best known for?
A. Ground
B. Seawalls
C. Jetties
D. All of the above

desert

An arid area that usually gets less than 10 inches of rain per year

intermittent

Most streams in deserts are dry most of the time and are said to be ephemeral or ____________

dunes

In deserts, piles of loose sand often form mounds or ridges known as _____

Desert pavement

When the wind in a desert blows away most of the smaller size particles on the surface, it leaves behind the larger pebbles, forming a _______________

water

Most erosion in deserts is caused by the effects of

glacier

A thick mass of ice that often forms over long periods of time and sometimes over large areas

ABC

Alpine glacier features formed by glacial erosions include:
(Choose all that apply- answer with no spaces)
A. GlAcial valleys
B. Horns
C. Cirques
D. Alluvial fans

Loess

Wind blown silt deposited during the last Ice age is known as ______

B

Features formed when ice sheets retreated at the end of the last age include all of these except:
A. Drumlins
B. Playa lakes
C. Kettles
D. Eskers

True

True or false: an indication of past ice ages includes poorly sorted deposits of sediments that form rocks caller tillites

The sun

The earth's climate system derives its energy from

True

True or false: there are many connections between the earth's geology and its climate

Greenhouse

The earth's atmosphere plays an important role in the regulation of its temperature. This is called the ___________ effect

carbon dioxide

One of the prime agents controlling the greenhouse effect is the gas ________ ________

increasing

Since the late 1950s, when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have been measured at the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii, the amount of CO2 has been __________.

retreating

Since the late 1800s, glaciers in the alps and elsewhere on the earth have been __________.