Geo 1000- Geology in Cinema, University of Utah, Midterm

What drives plate movement?

Convection, internal heat, and radioactivity

How fast is north America moving away from Europe?

3 to 4 centimeters a year

Why do we have the northern lights?

lighting up in the earth's magnetic field

Why is Earth a giant magnet?

spinning metal in the core of the earth

Describe earthquake waves

P wave first and fastest, then the S wave, then two other surface waves, they travel through the earth and slow down when they hit liquid

How many seismograph machines does it take to measure an earthquake?

3

Why isn't the inner core liquid?

Pressure is so intense in the center of the inner core that it can't be liquid

What was the name of the ship in the movie the core?

Virgil

What 3 major types of boundaries are between plates?

Convergent, divergent and transvergent

Who figured out plate tectonics?

Alfred Wegener

What evidence did Wegener use for Pangea?

Same fossils and rock types on both continent sides, continents fit together

What kind of plate boundary recycles?

Convergent in a subduction zone

How do you determine how far away an earthquake is?

Distance between the hit of P waves, S waves and surface waves

Why do earthquakes kill more people in 3rd world countries?

Construction of buildings

What is the epicenter of an earthquake?

The center of the earthquake on the crust

The Oregon and Washington coast have experienced many tsunamis in the past. How do we know this?

Tsunami deposits

How do we know we are expecting a tsunami in Oregon and Washington?

A subduction zone

What factors determine the destruction of a building in an earthquake?

How strong the earth is, how close you are to the earthquake, what it's built on and what it's made of

How do you find the best earthquakes?

Plate boundaries and faultlines, specifically subduction zones

In 2010 there was an earthquake in Haiti that killed more people than any other 7 earthquake, why?

The poor construction of buildings

What happens when wet dirt starts shaking?

Liquefaction

In 1812, there was an earthquake in Missouri that rang bells in Philadelphia, why?

The geology between Missouri and Philadelphia is flat, allowing the waves to move through them

Describe the movement of wind on waves, which way does it move?

The wind moves things forward and it rebounds backwards

What is the main difference between wind waves and tsunami waves?

The height

What are the signs of a tsunami?

An earthquakes and receding tide

How long does it take a tsunami to cross the Pacific Ocean?

24 hours

How long does it take a tsunami to cross the Atlantic Ocean?

8 hours

How does a buoy tell you when a tsunami is coming?

A sensor which senses the depth of the ocean tells us

Why did the tsunami in the Impossible kill so many people?

No warning, poor building standards, no preparedness for medical help

What was the biggest tsunami ever?

The tsunami caused by the meteor that hit Mexico and killed the dinosaurs, 300 meters

What actually happens in a tsunami?

Earthquake, water receding, series of tsunami waves of varying sizes

What do we call warning buoys?

DART

What part of the world was devastated the most by the Japanese tsunamis of 2011?

Northeastern Japan

What caused the Boxing Day tsunami?

An earthquake in a subduction zone that caused a pop up creating a huge ripple

What is the ring of fire?

Subduction zones, aka volcanos, surrounding the Pacific Ocean

What were the warning signs for Pinatubo and Mt. St. Helens going off?

Gases releases, deformation of the mountain, movement of lava, harmonic tremor

You can usually outrun lava but not?

Pyroclastic flow and lahar mudflows

What are the kinds of lava?

Ah ah, slow lava, 'ugly' and pahoehoe, faster lava

Where does one go to find volcanoes on earth?

Spreading zones, hot spots and subduction zones

How to melt rocks, create lava?

Increase heat, add water, decrease pressure

What are the types of volcanoes?

Shield and strata, strata is cooler

More people are killed by lava bombs or pyroclastic flows?

Pyroclastic flows

What boundaries don't have volcanoes?

Transform boundaries

What is a caldera?

The large hole at the top of a volcano formed when the roof of a volcano's magma chamber collapses.

How much more intense was Yellowstone than Mt. St. Helens?

1000 times

How often is there an impact on earth? (meteor)

Every 100 million years

How many things are we tracking in space?

10,000

Where do comets come from?

The Oort cloud

Look at the moon, what do you see?

Holes aka impact craters

Why aren't impact craters on the moon black?

They are made of basalt (ocean floor rocks)

Why does the moon have evidence of impacts?

The moon has no erosion or plate tectonics

What is a comet?

A dirty snowball

What is a meteor?

A piece of rock space debris that burns up in space

What are the two important types of meteors?

Iron nickel and condroits or 'rocky' meteors

What is the name of the crater caused by the impact that killed the dinosaurs?

Chicxulub

How big was the tsunami caused by the Chicxulub impact?

300 meters

What is a meteorite?

a fragment of an asteroid from the solar system that has fallen to Earth's surface (doesn't burn up)

What is a comet's ion tail?

a 'coma' made up of dust and gas

How often does Halley's comet come to earth?

every 75 years

How do we image the interior of the Earth?
(a) By measuring how seismic waves speed up and slow down within the interior
(b) By using a camera that can see through rock
(c) By measuring the chemistry of volcanic rocks
(d) By measuring changes in Earth's magnetic field

a

2. What is the order of seismic wave speeds from fastest to slowest:

P-waves, S-waves, Surface waves

How do we know that the outer core is liquid?
(a) Because shear waves do not travel through the outer core.
(b) Because pressure waves do not travel through the outer core.
(c) Because shear waves travel through the outer core at a slower speed.
(d) Because pressure waves speed up when they travel through the outer core.

a

What drives plate tectonics?
(a) Convection
(b) Earth getting rid of its internal heat
(c) Heavy rocks sink, light rocks rise
(d) All of the above

d

Which is not evidence of continental drift?
(a) The coastlines of the Americas fit well with the coastlines of Europe and Africa.
(b) The fossils of species that lived millions of years ago and could not swim are found on both sides of the Atlantic.
(c) Ancient peoples were found to have lived on both sides of the Atlantic.
(d) Volcanic rocks of similar chemistry are found on both sides of the Atlantic.

c

Continent-Oceanic Crust Collision

SUBDUCTION

How was Hawaii created?

hot spots, ocean-ocean subduction

The 2011 Tohoku, Japan earthquake occurred at what type of plate boundary?
(a) Mid-ocean ridge
(b) Transverse fault
(c) Subduction zone
(d) Passive margin

c

The Haiti earthquake killed more people that any previous M7 earthquake because:
(a) The earthquake occurred very close to a densely populated area
(b) Very poor building practices
(c) All of the above

c

Which factor(s) influence the level of earthquake shaking?
(a) The magnitude of the earthquake
(b) The distance from the earthquake
(c) The local geology
(d) All of the above

d

The maximum shaking associated with the 2011 M9 Tohoku, Japan earthquake was how much larger than the maximum shaking during the 2010 M7 Haiti earthquake?
(a) 2 times
(b) 10 times
(c) 100 times
(d) 200 times

d

Which of the following best describes the movement of water in a deep-water wind wave?
A.Forward-backward
B.Side-Side
C.Up-Down
D.Circles

d

Which of the following produces the largest, most devastating tsunami?
A.Underwater earthquakes
B.Underwater landslides
C.Asteroid impacts
D.Donald Trump

c

Open ocean tsunami waves are different from wind waves in all the following ways except:
A.Their great height
B.Their long wavelength
C.Their great speed
D.The amount of water moved by each wave

a

Tsunami can cause extreme damage to coastal areas because of
A.The huge height of breaking tsunami waves
B.Their long wavelength and prolonged 'surge' of water onshore
C.The tendency for sets of several large waves to arrive in sequence
D.All of the above

d

The largest tsunami waves produced by the Tohoku earthquake affected
A.Northeastern Japan, immediately west of the earthquake epicenter
B.Southern Japan, near the port of Nagasaki
C."The Pipeline", on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii
D.Indonesia

a

The LituyaBay tsunami, which produced the largest recorded 'run-up' of a tsunami wave, was produced by'
A.An asteroid impact
B.An earthquake
C.A landslide
D.A nuclear weapons test

c

The impact of a 10 km asteroid in the Caribbean Sea 65 million years ago triggered tsunami wave as high as
A.10 meters
B.100 meters
C.1000 meters

b

If you are at the sea shore and see the water level drop rapidly by several meters, you should
A.Gather shells from the exposed tide flats
B.Take shelter in a large building
C.Immediately and rapidly retreat inland and to higher ground

c

Which of the following is not a typical location for volcanism?
(a) Subduction zones
(b) Strike-slip faults
(c) Mid-ocean ridge
(d) Hotspots

b

Which of the following will not promote melting?
(a) Increase temperature
(b) Increase pressure
(c) Increase water content

b

Where do stratovolcanoes get there name from?
(a) Robert Strato who discovered them
(b) Because of their location around the ring of fire
(c) Because they are comprised of alternating layers of pyroclastic and lava flows

c

Which of the following observation is a common precursor to a volcanic eruption?
(a) Harmonic tremor
(b) Rapid ground deformation
(c) Rapid increase in sulfur or carbon dioxide
(d) All of the above

d

Volcanic mudflows are
(a) Streams of superheated mud that emerge from volcanic vents
(b) Rapidly moving 'rivers' carrying a mixture of water and loose volcanic debris
(c) Another name for lava flows consisting of aa and clinker

b

Which volcanic hazard is the most dangerous to people living near a volcanic eruption?
(a) Lava flow
(b) Ash Fall
(c) Earthquake
(d) Pyroclastic Flow

d

Which volcanic hazard is the most dangerous to people living far from a volcanic eruption?
(a) Lava flow
(b) Ash Fall
(c) Earthquake
(d) Pyroclastic Flow

b

Volcanic ash is similar to the ash in your fireplace?
(a) True
(b) False

b

Pluto is no longer considered a planet because:
(a) It is too small
(b) Is too far away from the Sun
(c) Has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit

c