Unit 4-6 Exam Study questions

his exam contains 32 multiple-choice and true-false questions covering content from Units 4-6. it includes topics such as: The Geosphere, Energy and the Enviroment, and Ecology.

Which one of the following is a metamorphic rock?

Slate

Which of the follow is considered to be a solution to erosion?

All of these are correct

In what part of Florida are phosphates predominantly mined?

Central Florida (Polk, Hillsborough, Manatee, Hardee County)

A transform plate boundary is characterized by….

a deep, vertical fault along which two plates slide past one another in opposite directions

The rock____ is a description of how one rock may be transformed into another kind of rock through various internal and external processes.

Cycle

What kind of rocks contain fossils?

Sedimentary

New oceanic lithosphere is formed at….

divergent boundaries by submarine eruptions and intrusions of basaltic magma

What makes up about 70% of Earth's total volume as it relates to Earth's structure?

Mantle

Which layer in a soil profile is considered to be the sub-soil layer?

The B Horizon

The resistance of a mineral to scratching or abrasion is known as…

Hardness

The downslope movement of rock or soil due to the influence of gravity is….

Mass Wasting

was a supercontinent that existed in the late Paleozoic era of geologic time.

Pangea

Which of the following was missing from Alfred Wegener's hypothesis?

paleomagnetic data from ocean crust

What occurs during ammonification?

) Bacteria creates nitrite, and then it is oxidized into nitrate.

What are the three Distinct layers of Earth?

core, mantle, crust

Due to the arrangement of weaker bonds in their crystal lattice, the tendency of certain minerals to break along smooth, parallel planes is known as….

Cleavage

Obsidian is characterized by its___ texture.

Glassy

What occurs during nitrogen fixation?

Nitrogen enters the soil and is converted to ammonia or nitrate.

How does carbon enter the ocean?

Both are correct

Gravel would most likely exist in the___ of a river.

bed load (rolls along the bottom)

Which fossil fuel is most abundant in the crust of North America?

Coal

Which renewable energy resource was the first industrial energy resource?

Hydropower

All of the following are renewable energy sources EXCEPT:

nuclear Power

Which of the following energy resources rely on the moon's gravitational pull on the earth?

Tidal energy

Which of the following does not involve solar energy?

geothermal energy

Which of the following contribute to acid rain?

Coal

A home that is built with windows facing south that maximizes the capture of sunlight during the fall and winter months, but also has an overhang that blocks out sunlight during the spring an summer months uses:

passive solar energy

Which of the following is defined as the study of energy transformations?

thermodynamics

Which mountain was identified through the Nuclear Waste Policy Act as a safe, permanent, underground storage site for nuclear waste?

Yucca Mountain

In fluidized-bed combustion of coal, what is mixed with coal to remove sulfur oxides?

Limestone

Wood and fossil fuels are rich in stored____chemical energy.

Potential

Benefits of dams include all of the following except:

increasing habitat quality for native fishes.

The worst nuclear accident ever to happen at a nuclear power plant, before Japan 2011, occurred at:

Chernobyl, Ukraine

Photovoltaic solar cells are:

wafers of crystalline silicon treated with metals that absorb solar radiation and generate electricity

A great advantage of placing turbines in the Gulf Stream to generate electricity is

Equipment to capture energy is very inexpensive

Which of the following statements about hydropower is true?

Building a dam changes the natural flow of a river, which destroys plant and animal habitats.

All of the following are clean coal technologies except:

Turbines

Which renewable energy resource only produces oxygen as a waste by product.

Biomass energy

The major reason that global energy consumption is increasing is that:

developing countries are using more energy as they improve their standard of living

the upper layer of the earth's mantle, below the lithosphere, in which there is relatively low resistance to plastic flow and convection is thought to occur.

Asthenosphere

A rigid layer made up of the uppermost part of the mantle and the crust.

Lithosphere

States that Earth's lithosphere is broken into huge, moving slabs of rock driven by motions in the mantle

Theory of Plate Tectonics

A dense sphere of solid iron and nickel at the center of Earth

Inner Core

A layer of molten iron and nickel that surrounds the inner core of Earth

Outer Core

The portion of the earth's crust that primarily contains granite, is less dense than oceanic crust, and is 20-50 km thick

Continental Cr

Thinner, more dense, younger crust making ocean floor

Oceanic Crust

a recurring current in the mantle that occurs when hotter, less dense material rises, cools, and then sinks again. This current is believed to be one of the driving forces behind tectonic plate movement.

Mantle Convection

a current caused by the rising of heated fluid and sinking of cooled fluid

Convection Current

Alfred Wegener believed landmasses of Earth once fit together to form single landmass called "Pangaea"; landmasses "drifted" to where they are today; theory disregarded due to lack of evidence

Continental Drift Theory

A plate boundary where two plates move toward each other.

Convergent Boundary

The process by which oceanic crust sinks beneath a deep-ocean trench and back into the mantle at a convergent plate boundary.

Subduction

Plates move toward each other. Neither gets subducted. Mountains form.(Himalayas)

Convergent Boundary (Continental to Continental)

A plate boundary where two plates move away from each other.

Divergent Boundary

A plate boundary where two plates move past each other in opposite directions.

Transform Boundary

a naturally occurring, inorganic solid that has a crystal structure and a definite chemical composition

Mineral

A solid that is made up of crystals in which particles are arranged in a regular, repeating pattern

Crystalline Solid

A measure of the ability of a mineral to resist scratching.

Hardness

The way a mineral reflects light from its surface

Luster

the splitting of a mineral along smooth, flat surfaces

Cleavage

when a mineral breaks apart in an irregular way

Fracture

ratio of a mineral's weight compared with the weight of an equal volume of water

Specific gravity

ratio of a mineral's weight compared with the weight of an equal volume of water

Density

rock that forms when magma cools and solidifies

Igneous Rock

A type of rock that forms from an existing rock that is changed by heat, pressure, or chemical reactions.

Metamorphic Rock

A type of rock that forms when particles from other rocks or the remains of plants and animals are pressed and cemented together

Sedimentary Rock

A molten mixture of rock-forming substances, gases, and water from the mantle

Magma

The metamorphic rock texture in which mineral grains are arranged in planes or bands.

Foliation

The metamorphic rock texture in which mineral grains are arranged in planes or bands.

Weathering

The process by which wind, water, ice, or gravity transports soil and sediment from one location to another

Erosion

minerals that contain silicon and oxygen and usually one or more other elements

Silicates

Describes magma or igneous rock that is rich in feldspars and silica and that is generally light in color.

Felsic

describes magma or igneous rock that is rich in magnesium and iron and that is generally dark in color

Mafic

coarse-grained, crystals are large enough to be seen w/out a microscope, formed by slow cooling (intrusive)

Phaneritic

Rapid cooling at earth's surface results in tiny mineral crystals that can only be seen under a microscope.

Aphanitic

describing an igneous rock composed of both large and small crystals

Porphyritic

The mechanical breakup of rock caused by the expansion of freezing water in cracks and crevices

Frost Wedging

a mechanical weathering process characterized by the splitting off of slab-like sheets of rock

Sheeting

Sea spray or salty groundwater penetrates crevices and pore spaces in rocks

As the water evaporates, salt crystals form and enlarge the crevices

Salt crystal growth

disintegration resulting from plants and animals

Biological Activity

a very weak acid formed in solution when carbon dioxide dissolves in water.

Carbonic Acid

solution process with water as the solvent

Hydration

A type of mass movement that occurs when a mass of material moves down a curved slope

Slump

the slow downhill movement of weathered rock material

Creep

the sudden movement of rock and soil down a slope

landslide

the downslope movement of rock, regolith, and soil under the direct influence of gravity

Mass Wasting

when the wind picks up dirt and dust and moves it from one place to another

Wind Erosion

Picking up and removal of sand & dust by wind

Deflation (Erosional process)

A layer of coarse pebbles and gravel created when wind removed the finer material.

Desert P

Any large mass of ice that moves slowly over land

Glacier

the movement of carbon from the nonliving environment into living things and back

Carbon Cycle

The transfer of nitrogen from the atmosphere to the soil, to living organisms, and back to the atmosphere

Nitrogen Cycle

A type of landscape in rainy regions where there is limestone near the surface, characterized by caverns, sinkholes, and valleys

Karts Topography

Which layer of the Earth generates the planet’s magnetic field?

Outer Core

The lithosphere is composed of what

The uppermost mantle and crust

Which plate boundary creates new oceanic crust?

Divergent

Which rock type forms from cooling magma or lava?

Igneous

A coarse-grained igneous rock with large crystals most likely formed:

Slowly below ground

What process turns loose sediment into solid rock?

Lithification