Chapter 16: Earth’s Surface

All of the choices are correct.

People have found the principle of uniformity difficult to accept because they had difficulty

All of the choices are correct.

The way a given rock responds to a stress depends on

cannot return to its original shape when the stress is relieved.

A rock that experiences plastic strain in response to stress

rupture or break under stress.

Earthquake waves are produced when rocks

The location of the focus of an earthquake can be pinpointed by seismic readings from two stations.

Which of the following statements about earthquakes is false?

epicenter

The point directly above the ground where initial rock movement occurs along a fault during an earthquake is called the

produces 100 times as much ground movement.

Compared to an earthquake of magnitude 5, an earthquake of magnitude 7

compressional folding

Which of the mountain-building processes is most responsible for the features of the Rocky Mountains?

faulting and upthrust.

The Sierra Nevada in California is a classic example of

iron oxides.

The red soils of Oklahoma and Georgia are due to the presence of

weathering, erosion, transportation

Which sequence of processes occurs in the correct order?

mechanical and chemical breakup of rocks.

Weathering involves the

delta.

When a stream flows into a body of water it often forms a

quartz

Which of the following materials is least susceptible to chemical weathering?

True

In general, rocks are better able to withstand being squeezed than being pulled apart.

steep gradient and a V-shaped valley

A stream in its youth exhibits which of the following sets of characteristics?

erosion

Picking up small pieces of smashed rock is called

chemical weathering.

Dissolving a rock in acid is the equivalent of

transportation

Carrying rock fragments to a new location is called

moraines

Deposits of bulldozed rocks that remain after a glacier melts are called

rocks sculpted by wind abrasion.

Ventifacts are

True

The idea underlying the principle of uniformity is that past geologic processes were very much similar to those of the present.

False

Acid rain is strictly a man-made phenomenon resulting from the heavy industrialization of the eastern United States.

True

The limestone caves of Kentucky and New Mexico were formed by the chemical weathering of limestone by carbonation.

True

Weathering is the process that must occur before erosion can take place.

True

Each higher number on the Richter scale represents a 30-fold increase in the amount of energy released in an earthquake.

False

Most earthquakes originate deep below the crust because the pressures there are enormous.

True

In a "normal" fault, the hanging wall moves downward relative to the foot wall.

False

Deeply buried rocks easily break when subject to stress, forming faults or joints.

True

In general, a deep-trough-shaped fold in sedimentary rock layers is called a syncline.