Introduction to Geology Exam 2 (white) Review - AppState

Which part of the Wilson Cycle represents our current configuration for most of the Earth's continents and oceans?
a ) super-continent
b ) rifting of most continents
c ) expansion of most ocean basins
d ) closure of most ocean basins

c

The evidence of ancient (completely eroded) mountain ranges is/are:
a ) metamorphic rocks as roots
b ) folding and faulting
c ) clastic wedge of sediments derived from erosion
d ) all of the above

d

The principle of uniformitarianism can be summarized as follows:
a ) All things are exactly the same now as they always have been
b ) The present is the key to the past
c ) The past is the kay to the present
d ) Things have changed greatly and violently through geologic time

b

The difference between uniformitarian ism and actualism is:
a ) whether or not fossils are involved
b ) rates and intensities compares to scales of human observation
c ) one is real and the other is a theory
d ) they are synonyms (there is no difference)

b

In an example of cross cutting relationships the event doing the "cutting" (intrusion, erosion, folding, faulting) is:
a ) younger than the thing it cuts
b ) older than that thing it cuts
c ) harder than the thing it cuts
d ) softer than the thing it cuts

a

There is a portion of African rock (continent) attached to the eastern margin of North Carolina
a ) True
b ) False

a

What Eon is between the Archean and Phanerozoic?
a ) Jurassic
b ) Proterozoic
c ) Precambrian
d ) Cambrian

b

What Era is between the Paleozoic and Cenozoic?
a ) Triassic
b ) Mesozoic
c ) Precambrian
d ) Campainian

b

The Numerical Age for boundary the start of the Paleozoic is:
a ) 1.5 billion years
b ) 542 million years
c ) 245 million years
d ) 65 million years

b

When we encounter a layer in a sedimentary rock that represents missing time (erosion or nondeposition) what is it called?
a ) indiscretion
b ) hudu
c ) unconformity
d ) intrusion

c

The Wilson Cycle records:
a ) water evaporating from the ocean and precipitating
b ) formation and breakup of super continents
c ) rise and fall of sea level
d ) formation of uncomformities

b

The Piedmont of North Carolina formed during:
a ) the formation of the super continent Rodinia
b ) the breakup of the super continent Pangea
c ) multiple collisions with microcontinents in the Paleozoic
d ) the erosion of the Appalachian Mountains (sediment)

c

Geologic time units are of the which duration:
a ) Eons - 1 billion years, Eras - 100 million years, Periods - 10 million years
b ) There is no set duration for any of the geologic time units

a

Which geologic province is Boone located in?
a ) Valley & Ridge
b ) Piedmont
c ) Blue Ridge
d ) Appalachian Plateau

c

T/F The early Mesozoic (triassic Basins) near Durham and Raleigh, NC formed as rifts from the time when the Super Continent Pangea broke up.
a ) True
b ) False

a

A convergent plate boundary with Continental & Continental crust will produce a tectonic setting similar to:
a ) the Aleutian Island Chain, off Alaska
b ) the Andean Mountains in South America
c ) the Hawaiian Islands
d ) the Himalayan Mountains in Asia

d

The Theory of Continental Drift was originally rejected because:
a ) the geology of Antartica was unknown
b ) a mechanism could not be provided to explain how the continents moved
c ) it would require too much time
d ) plant fossils and coal beds line up on continents across ocean basins

b

Gondwana was/were:
a ) the oldest known fossils from southeastern Australia
b ) a supercontinent in the southern hemisphere at the end of the Paleozoic
c ) Earth's dwarf moon, discovered in 1967
d ) the name of Alfred Wegner's research ship

b

Which of these statements is true?
a ) continental crust is thinner than oceanic crust
b ) continental crust has a more mafic composition than oceanic crust
c ) continental crust is thicker than oceanic crust
d ) oceanic crust is composed of mostly quartz and feldspar

c

The Atlantic Coast of North America is currently a(n):
a ) collision plate margin
b ) divergent plate margin
c ) passive continental margin
d ) active continental margin

c

Which best describes the shape of the floors of the ocean basins in their middle (between spreading centers& subduction zones or continents)?
a ) broad flat plains, but with many chains of sea mountains sticking up
b ) flat, but with scattered deep holes/depressions
c ) undulating like folded paper
d ) flat and smooth from the accumulation of billions of years of sediment

a

Why does oceanic crust always subduct beneath continental crust?
a ) oceanic crust is thicker than continental crust
b ) continental crust is less dense than oceanic crust
c ) oceanic crust is felsic
d ) all of the above

b

New oceanic crust forms at:
a ) converge plate boundaries with subduction zones
b ) divergent plate boundaries
c ) converge plate boundaries with continent-continent collision
d ) thrust and reverse faults, but not normal faults

b

The Principle of Superposition states that in an undisturbed sequence of rocks, the oldest layers will be located:
a ) on the top
b ) on the bottom
c ) in horizontal layers
d ) as inclusions within younger rocks

b

Why do we not have rocks of the oceanic crust preserved on Earth that date to the time of the origin of the Earth?
a ) our methods for dating rocks do not extend that far back in time
b ) we just have not found those rocks yet
c ) the oldest rocks will be at the very bottom of the ocean
d ) rocks from the origin of the Earth have been recycled/destroyed through subduction zones.

d

The definition of a "tectonic plate" can be characterized as:
a ) a cohesive block of continental crust
b ) a combination of thin and thick continental crust and oceanic crust
c ) a rigid block of the upper mantle, covered by relatively thin crust
d ) a portion of the plastic asthenosphere, representing a mantle block

c

Which one of these is not a fundamental type of plate margin?
a ) divergent
b ) subvergent
c ) convergent
d ) tranform

b

If a radiometric method is used to age date a grain in a sedimentary rock, the age obtained will indicate:
a ) the date at which the sedimentary particle was deposited
b ) the date at which the particles lithified (hardened) to form a sedimentary rock
c ) the date at which grain was originally formed int he parent igneous/metamorphic rock
d ) there are no minerals in sedimentary rocks that can be used for radiometric dating

c

New continental crust (felsic or intermediate) forms at:
a ) divergent plate boundaries
b ) converge plate boundaries with subduction zones
c ) converge plate boundaries with continent-continent collision
d ) all of the above

b

A curved chain of volcanic islands (on oceanic crust) formed above a subducting (melting) oceanic plate is an example of:
a ) a mantle plume
b ) a linear group of islands like Hawaii
c ) an atoll = circular reef
d ) an island arc

d

Which one of these was not used as an argument that present day southern continents were once adjacent and formed a super continent (evidence for continental drift)?
a ) the shape/edges of the continents aligned like jig-saw puzzle
b ) the distribution of fossil plant fossils is similar on presently distant continents
c ) the sunken (lost) continents matched perfectly between modern ones
d ) the vertical sequence of lat Paleozoic rocks is the same on each continent

c

The unifying theory of Plate Tectonics was developed independently by Dr. Keith Seramur in the 1960s.
a ) True
b ) False

b

In general, a unifying theory of science:
a ) Explains seemingly unrelated observations in a field of science
b ) Eliminates the need for subdisciplines within a field of science
c ) Brings all countries/cultures together under a single, shared language for better communication with a scientific discipline
d ) Provides a single equation or theorem to a scientific process

a

Which of the following statements is true?
a ) radioactive properties of an atom are dictated by its number of electrons
b ) radioactivity is the result of energy (rays and/or particles) resulting from the change of unstable parent atoms to stable daughter atoms
c ) radioactivity is always lethal and will all kinds of organisms
d ) radioactivity was invented in the 1600s

b

In the 1800s, geologist knew that the Earth must be much older than 6,000 years because:
a ) They had dated the rocks using the decay of radioactive elements
b ) The Bowens Reaction Series required time to form
c ) Observed rates of sedimentation and erosion called for much more time to have passed
d ) They had newly discovered dinosaur fossils

c

Given a rock that contains a radioactive isotope with a half-life of 1,000 years; that contains 50% parent and 50% daughter isotopes, what is the age of the rock?
a ) 500 years
b ) 1,000 years
c ) 2,000 years
d ) 4,000 years

b

Given a rock that contains a radioactive isotope with a half-life of 2,000 years; that contains 75% parent and 25% daughter isotopes, what is the age of the rock?
a ) 100 years
b ) 500 years
c ) 1,000 years
d ) 2,000 years

c

If a crystal has 12.5% of its parent isotope, how old is the crystal expressed in half-lives?
a ) 1/2 years
b ) one years
c ) two years
d ) three years

d

In general, radiometric age dating, the calculations are based on:
a ) ratio of unstable parent isotopes to stable daughter isotopes present the host rock
b ) the ratio of daughter isotopes naturally in the rock to those that have been added for calibration
c ) the number of ions in the parent rock
d ) the intensity of radioactive energy given off by a mineral

a

The most common method for determining the age of a dinosaur (Mesozoic) fossils is Carbon-14 dating.
a ) True
b ) False

b

Which of the following examples should you avoid, if you wish to determine the time at which a granite formed using radiometric dating?
a ) a granite that has weathered at the surface
b ) a granite with an internal fault plane
c ) a granite that includes some amphibole
d ) a granite with white feldspar

a

Which of these events created the first (oldest) Mountain building even in the Appalachians?
a ) a formation of the super continent Pangea
b ) the formation of the super continent Rodinia
c ) the rifting and breakup of the super continent Rodinia
d ) the rifting and breakup of the super continent Pangea

d