Exam 3 Geology

The Tohoku Japan earthquake was a magnitude _______ and killed ~30,000 people mostly due to __________________.

9.0, tsunami wave

The San Andreas fault and the Haiti fault both produce high magnitude earthquakes along ______________ faults.

transform/strike-slip

Both Japan and Haiti experienced powerful and devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Both of these countries lie on transform plate boundaries. (True or False)

False

P waves are the first and most destructive groundshaking seismic waves. (True or False)

False

What is the S-P interval?

The difference between arrival times of the primary waves and the shear waves.

As P-waves travel they cause rock to compress and expand while S-waves cause rock to move up/down & side to side. (true or false)

True

The New Madrid Seismic Zone that runs under the Mississippi River is an area of more frequent than average earthquakes because it is

a failed rift

Due to their flat-top morphology, Harry Hess named these flat-topped undersea volcanoes Guyots after ______________________.

the Geology building at Princeton University

A guyot was once an atoll and an atoll was once a volcanic island. (true or false)

True

During WWII, the once-classified technology equipped on the USS Cape Johnson to measure water depth and detect enemy submarines and was

sonar

Which plate tectonics scientist is buried on the Greenland ice sheet?

Alfred Wegener

According to the bedrock stratigraphic columns from Gondwanaland continental landmasses, during which time period was there extensive igneous activity?

Jurassic

Harry Hess ________________________.

- served as a naval commander in the Pacific during World War II

- discovered guyots, seamounts & deep-sea trenches using SONAR

- was a Princeton University oceanographer.

Which floral fossil is found on all of the Gondwanaland continental landmasses?

Glossopteris

Which is the larger feature? Mt. Everest, Himalaya Mountains or Mariana Trench, northwestern Pacific Ocean.

Mariana Trench

Which of the following is the deepest seafloor feature?

Trench

The northernmost portion of Pangaea is called Laurasia. (True or False)

True

Seafloor stripes can be found on either side of all midocean ridges. (true or false)

True

The Juan de Fuca ridge and the Gorda ridge are broken apart by a ________________ at location D.

Transform Fault/Strike-Slip

A basalt forming at a volcano near the equator today will take on a magnetic vector that

- points toward magnetic north pole

- is oriented parallel to the Earth's surface

Which are younger geologic features: continents or oceans?

oceans

The mid-ocean ridge:

- is a linear, undersea volcanic mountain range

- is an area of tensional stress & normal faulting

- is where the youngest ocean crust is formed

- has a depression/notch at the top.

- is an active plate margin

Seafloor stripes ___________.

- are strips of normal and reversed polarity in the ocean floor basalts

- are symmetrical in age on either side of a midocean ridge

- are symmetrical in polarity signal on either side of a midocean ridge

Currently, the north Atlantic Ocean is __________ while the north Pacific Ocean is _____.

opening, closing

Apparent polar wander is when the Earth's magnetic polarity direction reverses/flips 180 degrees. (true or false)

false

The Earth's geographic pole is in the same location/position as the Earth's magnetic pole. (true or false)

false

The easternmost margin of the North American plate is at:

Mid-Atlantic Ridge

The Atlantic Ocean began to open during the

Jurassic

Which of the following is the only direct evidence of plate tectonics and plate movement.

GPS

Which pole never moves from it's latitudinal (geographic) position?

geographic pole

When looking at the eastern continental ridge, what type of tectonic margin is it?

a passive plate margin

A guyot was once a(an):

seamount, volcanic island, atoll

Select the order of formation, from youngest to oldest, of an oceanic hotspot volcano.

Seamount, volcanic island, atoll, guyot

January 12, 2010 Haiti experienced a magnitude ________ earthquake resulting in >__________ deaths.

7.0, 200,000

In Port Au Prince, Haiti, on top of what building does Purdue U. professor Eric Callais put a GPS satellite marker to track plate movement?

police station

How long was the segment of the fault that ruptured in the Jan. 2010 Haiti earthquake?

50 km

The San Andreas fault in CA runs from northern CA down to Mexico. Approximately how fast do the plates move at this fault location?

1 inch/year

In 1994, the M. 6.7 North Ridge Earthquake occurred killing ______ people and resulting in ________ in damage.

60, $20 billion

February 27, 2010, a M8.8 ___________ earthquake occurred at Santiago, Chile, South America.

megathrust fault

The Feb. 27, 2010 M8.8 Chile earthquake was ~_________x larger than the Jan. 10, 2010 M7.0 Haiti earthquake.

500

At Chile, South America, the Nazca plate __________ the South American plate, producing high magnitude earthquakes.

subducts under

The 2004 Indian Ocean megathrust earthquake and tsunami was a magnitude _____ and killed ~__________ people.

9.3, 250,000

One of the largest threats of megathrust earthquakes where subduction occurs is tsunami waves being produced. (true or false)

True

What is the name of the megathrust fault located just off the coast of Oregon state, Washington state and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada?

Cascadia Fault

Marine geologist, Chris Goldfinger at the Oregon State University looks at _____________________ to count past earthquakes in the Pacific Northwest?

Marine sediment core records

When one part of a fault ruptures (displaces) energy is released from that location and transferred to another part of the fault line. (true or false)

True

According to this video, at what speed to P-waves travel?

15,000 miles/hr

Which seismic wave is most responsible for ground shaking?

S Wave

The California Seismometer Network has ________ seismometers connected to alert local residents of an imminent earthquake.

400

What is special/unique about the building being constructed in Oregon to help save and rescue up to 1000 local residents from an incoming tsunami wave?

it is built on concrete reinforced stilts

The Feb. 2010 M 8.8 Chile earthquake was the ______ largest earthquake on record.

5th

By how much had the tectonic plates moved (displaced) during the Jan. 2010 Haiti earthquake?

30 cm

Which two tectonic plates are Haiti and the Dominican Republic situated on?

North American Plate & Caribbean Plate

On the Richter scale, a magnitude increase of one (e.g., magnitude 5 to magnitude 6) requires a _________________ and _______________.

10x increase in S-wave peak amplitude , a 32x increase in energy released

The southernmost portion of Pangaea is called ___________.

Gondwanaland

In 1915, Alfred Wegener proposed the idea of

continental drift

Mid-ocean ridges are where ocean crust is created.Deep-sea trenches are where ocean crust is destroyed. (true or false)

True

What type of volcano is Hawaii?

oceanic hot spot volcano

What type of volcano is Yellowstone?

continental hot spot volcano

What type of plate is Iceland?

divergent plate boundaries

What type of volcano is Mt. St. Helens?

subduction zone volcano

Seismograms vs. Seismographs

Seismograms are the instruments and Seismographs are the records

Magnetic Reversal

a switch in the direction of Earth's magnetic field so that the magnetic north pole becomes the magnetic south pole and the magnetic south pole becomes the magnetic north pole.

Apparent Polar Wander

paleomagnetism signal in ancient rocks appears as though the magnetic poles have wandered

During which time period do Gondwanaland rock strata reveal glacial deposits, indicative of ancient ice ages?

Carboniferous

The fossil bones of the freshwater-loving reptile __________ was found in Permian-age Gondwanaland continents of South America and Africa.

Mesosaurus

Volcanism occurs at continent-continent convergent plate boundaries. (true or false)

false

At which of the following plate boundaries do volcanoes not form? SELECT ALL THAT APPLY

continent to continent convergent and transform boundaries

The volcanic hot spot island of Iceland is split between two major tectonic plates: the _________________ plate and the ______________ plate that are splitting apart at a rate of ~1 inch/year.

Norther American and Eurasian Plate

As continental Africa moves north toward Europe, which tectonic plate is being uplifted to the top of the Alps mountain range?

African Plate

What is the name of the early planetary body that collided with Earth resulting in the creation of the moon?

Theia

~20 million years ago, the Pacific plate began sliding beneath the Caribbean plate causing what feature to form by ~3 million years ago?

Isthmus of Panama

The 12,000-mile-long undersea volcanic mountain range that runs through the Atlantic Ocean from the sub Antarctic Ocean up to the Arctic Ocean is called the _____________________.

mid Atlantic ridge

The discovery of matching trilobite fossils on either side of the Atlantic Ocean matches New York state up with (country name), Africa.

Morocco

Which mineral inside of granite do scientists use to date ancient rocks like granite?

zircon

In 1912, German meteorologist Alfred Wegener formed the theory of _______________to explain matching freshwater fossils on either side of the salty Atlantic Ocean.

continental drift

According to the theory of Continental Drift, how often do continents rip apart and collide together? Approximately every _________________ years.

200 million

What term describes an ancient continent that is small and buoyant, a "raft of rock" that floats above the mantle?

craton

The Colorado river flows from Southwestern Colorado, through the Grand Canyon in Arizona and ends in the:

Gulf of California

What is the approximate predicted temperature of the Earth's core?

10,000 degrees Fahrenheit

What is the name given to the supercontinent geologists predict to form in the next 250 million years?

Pangaea Ultima

~250 million years ago, the Pacific plate collided with the North American plate causing the land in northern Arizona to uplift into a high flat area called a _____________.

plateau

~50 million years into the future, what do scientists predict will happen to the Mediterranean Sea?

it will close, forming a new mountain chain called the Mediterranean mountains

Which common igneous rock type is buoyant and made up of light elements such as Oxygen, Silicon & Aluminum?

granite

In this video, a geologist inspects a Permian age rock layer at the top of the Grand Canyon, ~7,000 ft above sea level, that includes which type of fossils?

marine sea fossils

~250 million years ago, the supercontinent Pangaea existed coinciding with the largest mass extinction event called the Permo-Triassic extinction. The formation of a supercontinent is proposed to have _______________ extreme climatic effects.

more

~1 Billion years ago, a supercontinent by the name of ____________ existed on Earth.

Rodinia

Continental India is currently colliding north into continental Asia at rate of ~ 2 inches/year producing which mountain range?

The Himalayas

Which seismic wave can't travel through a liquid?

S Waves

Which seismic wave can travel through anything? (solid, liquid, gas)

P Waves

Which seismic wave is faster, S Wave or P Wave?

P Wave

Focus Point

where rupture occurs and energy released

Epicenter

the point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus point of an earthquake

What stress occurs at deep sea trenches?

Compressional stress/subduction zones

What are the 3 types of convergent boundaries?

1. Oceanic-oceanic (Volcanic Archs, Marianna Trench)

2. Oceanic-continental (Cascades, Andes)

3. Continental-continental (Himalayas)

Exotic Terrane

an area of rock that doesn't belong on continental land

Accretionary Wedge

an island of build up junk (sediment rocks) formed due to subduction

What is the largest threat of trenches and subduction zones?

Tsunami Waves

Early Divergent Rift Margins

Rivers & linear freshwater lakes flow and pool in this normal-fault hanging wall depression. Also areas of upwelling magma & young active volcanism (ex: E. African Rift Valley, Rio Grande Rift Valley, Basin & Range Province). New Madrid Seismic Area is an ancient buried failed rift zone.

Adolescent Divergent Rift Margins

Linear salty seas, development of mid-ocean ridges down the middle (ex: Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Gulf of California) and continued volcanism, basalt sea floor.