Learn: APSC 151 - midterm

Compared to the age of the Universe of about 14 billion years, the currently accepted age of Earth is

about ________ years as determined by using radioactivity for dating rocks and minerals.

A) 4.6 thousand

B) 4.6 billion

C) 5.4 million

D) 13.7 billion

B

The ________ division of the geologic time scale is an era of the Phanerozoic Eon.

A) Paleocene

B) Paleozoic

C) Permian

D) Proterozoic

B

The Earth's core was formed from ________.

A) a massive nickel iron asteroid that was the nucleus upon which Earth condensed

B) high density radioactive carbon

C) the left over nickel and iron that would not fit into the earlier formed crust and mantle

D) molten iron and nickel that separated from silicates and sank due to its higher density

D

Pangaea was ________.

A) a large, ocean basin that opened in the Triassic and closed in the Paleocene

B) a large, Precambrian shield area in Africa and South America that broke apart late in the Proterozoic Eon

C) a huge mountain range that formed when Africa pushed northward into Europe in Eocene time

D) a super continent that formed in the late Paleozoic and broke apart in Triassic time

D

The oceanic crust is made of mafic rock called ________ and is about ________ thick on average

A) basalt, 7 km

B) marine sedimentary rocks, 25 km

C) basalt, 70 km

D) granite, 35-40 km

A

The composition of the upper mantle of Earth is thought to be

A) basalt

B) granite

C) peridotite

D) iron-nickel alloy

C

Which one of the following statements is not correct?

A) Metamorphic rocks may melt to magma.

B) Sedimentary rocks may weather to igneous rocks.

C) Magmas crystallize to form igneous rocks.

D) Igneous rocks can undergo metamorphism

B

________ rocks form by crystallization and consolidation of molten magma

A) Sedimentary

B) Indigenous

C) Primary

D) Igneous

D

________ rocks always originate at the surface of the Earth.

A) Secondary

B) Igneous

C) Metamorphic

D) Sedimentary

D

The top of the asthenosphere is closest to the surface ________.

A) along a mid-ocean ridge

B) along the length of a deep mantle plume

C) along a transform fault

D) along a subduction zone

A

Deep ocean trenches are surficial evidence for ________.

A) rifting beneath a continental plate and the beginning of continental drift

B) sinking of oceanic lithosphere into the mantle at subduction zones

C) rising of hot asthenosphere from deep in the mantle

D) transform faulting between an oceanic plate and a continental plate

B

Plates are sliding past one another horizontally along a ________ plate boundary.

A) Transform

B) convergent

C) divergent

D) subduction

A

The true colour of a mineral as seen in its powdered form is called it's ________.

A) Birefringence

B) chatoyancy

C) iridescence

D) streak

D

Which one of the following minerals has the greatest hardness on the Mohs hardness scale?

A) Feldspar

B) calcite

C) gypsum

D) topaz

D

Which of the following best defines a mineral and a rock?

A) A rock has an orderly, repetitive, geometric, internal arrangement of minerals; a mineral is a lithified or

consolidated aggregate of rocks.

B) A mineral consists of its constituent atoms arranged in a geometrically repetitive structure; in a rock, the atoms are randomly bonded without any geometric pattern.

C) In a mineral the constituent atoms are bonded in a regular, repetitive, internal structure; a rock is a lithified or consolidated aggregate of minerals.

D) A rock consists of atoms bonded in a regular, geometrically predictable arrangement; a mineral is a consolidated

aggregate of different rock particles.

C

When elements or compounds combine in the same proportions but in more than one structural

arrangement, relative to each other, those mineral structures are called ________.

A) Amorphous

B) bimorphs

C) isotopes

D) polymorphs

D

Which of the following will react readily with acids such as hydrochloric?

A) calcite

B) quartz

C) diamond

D) talc

A

The ion at the centre of a silicon-oxygen tetrahedron is surrounded by ________.

A) 4 oxygen ions

B) 6 oxygen ions

C) 4 sodium ions

D) 6 sodium ions

A

Which of the following minerals are silicates?

A) hematite, magnetite, and corundum

B) muscovite, hornblende, and plagioclase

C) calcite, aragonite, and dolomite

D) anhydrite, gypsum, and barite

B

What is the name of dark-coloured mica?

A) Calcite

B) biotite

C) quartz

D) olivine

B

Which one of the following mineral groups exhibits a sheet-like silicate structure?

A) Carbonates

B) pyroxenes

C) clays

D) feldspars

C

Which of the following minerals crystallize early in Bowen's reaction series?

A) Biotite

B) quartz

C) olivine

D) muscovite

C

Mafic rocks like basalt and gabbro ________.

A) are major constituents of the continental crust

B) are very low in their iron and magnesium contents

C) form mainly in continental mountain belts

D) make up most of the ocean floor and volcanic island chains

A

Name the texture that requires a magnifying glass or microscope to see individual mineral grains

A) Aphanitic

B) porphyritic

C) phaneritic

D) pegmatitic

A

In general, which of the following types of magma will be more likely to erupt explosively?

A) a highly viscous felsic magma

B) a relatively low viscosity mafic magma

C) an intermediate andesitic magma with a low water content

D) a very fluid komatiitic magma

A

Which one of the following is made of abundant pyroclastic materials?

A) rhyolite dome

B) basaltic shield volcano

C) composite volcano or stratovolcano

D) fissure-related flood basalts

C

The aphanitic equivalent of granite is

A) Rhyolite

B) andesite

C) basalt

D) komatiite

A

Which kind of eruptive activity is most likely to be highly explosive?

A) lava flows from a large shield volcano on an oceanic island

B) fissure eruptions feeding lava to flood basalt accumulations

C) eruptions of big, continental margin, composite volcanoes

D) lava flows from a large cinder cone complex

C

Which one of the following statements is the best description of erosion?

A) disintegration and decomposition of rocks and minerals at the surface

B) movement of weathered rock and regolith toward the base of a slope

C) the process by which weathered rock and mineral particles are removed from one area and transported

elsewhere

D) the combined processes of leaching, eluviation, and mass wasting

C

________ is the dissolution or decomposition of minerals and rocks

A) Chemical weathering

B) Hydrolysis

C) Mechanical weathering

D) Rendering

A

What two factors speed up rates of chemical reaction and weathering in rocks and soils?

A) low temperatures; very dry

B) low temperatures; very moist

C) high temperatures; very dry

D) warm temperatures; very moist

D

What is the drop in water surface elevation divided by the distance the water flows?

A) stream discharge

B) hydraulic capacity

C) hydrologic resistance

D) stream gradient

D

A stream begins at an elevation of 200 metres and flows a distance of 400 kilometres to the ocean. What

is the average gradient?

A) 2 m/km

B) 2 km/m

C) 0.5 m/km

D) 0.5 km/in

C

Which statement below best describes how narrow valleys form?

A) Stream water dissolves the bedrock along a narrow swath of soluble bedrock.

B) Stream cuts vertically along soft fault gouge.

C) Streams tend to flow down abandoned mine shafts.

D) Stream cuts vertically, but valley sides cave in due to weathering and mass wasting

A

A radial drainage pattern would most likely develop ________.

A) on an active, growing volcano

B) in areas underlain by horizontal strata

C) in areas where the bedrock is cut by sets of fractures at right angles

D) in areas of folded and tilted strata with varying resistances to erosion

A

The process of turning a sediment into a sedimentary rock is called ________.

A) Conglomeration

B) crystallization

C) lithification

D) redeposition

C

Which of the following best describes bedded gypsum and halite?

A) detrital sedimentary rocks

B) varieties of dolostone

C) varieties of coal and peat

D) evaporites; chemical sedimentary rocks

D

________ is typically formed by metamorphism of a mature sandstone.

A) Marble

B) Slate

C) Amphibolite

D) Quartzite

D

What type of environment is typified by brittle deformation?

A) deep burial with great confining pressure

B) intermediate depths with long slow heating and gradual strain rates

C) shallow, low temperature settings with high strain rates

D) shallow very high temperature settings as in contact metamorphism

C

The main direct geologic effect(s) of glaciers is (are) to ________.

A) erode the continental landscape and to transport and deposit sediments

B) reduce high latitude marine sedimentation by reducing biologic productivity

C) warm the global climate by absorbing more solar radiation

D) raise global sea level by depressing the crust

A

What glacial landform is responsible for a large portion of the water resources for metropolitan Toronto?

A) the remnants of glacial Lake Bonneville

B) the drumlin field near Guelph and Peterborough

C) the Oak Ridges moraine and its included channel fills of coarse glacial outwash

D) pingoes and blocks of buried ice mined from glacial sediments between Toronto and Muskoka

C

Drumlin fields contain ________.

A) smooth, tapering, asymmetric ridges of till usually formed and shaped beneath a continental ice sheet

B) bowl-shaped depressions eroded largely by frost action and glacial plucking

C) mounds of outwash deposited by meltwater streams at the snout of a glacier

D) smooth, striated, bedrock ridges shaped and polished by a glacier's erosive action

A

What are the three types of differential stress in the Earth's lithosphere?

A) compression, shear, and tension

B) confined, unconfined, and directed

C) hydrostatic, lithostatic, and vibratory

D) upwards, downwards, and sideways

A

A syncline is ________.

A) a fold in which the older central strata dip away from the axis

B) a fold with only one limb

C) a fold in which older flanking strata dip toward the axis

D) a paralytic drunken fold characterized by recumbent limbs

C

Due to tectonic compression, the Andes in central Chile are narrowing by 40mm/yr across a current

width of 200km. Over the next 1000 years the additional contractile (compressive) strain will be:

A) 0.0002

B) 0.04 percent

C) 0.02mm

D) 1/80th

A

A 1 litre jar full of lead pellets is melted down and cooled to form 750ml of solid lead. What was the

porosity of the original jar of pellets?

A) 33%

B) 0.25

C) 250 ml

D) 3:1

B

A 10cm cube of basalt is compressed 1mm in the vertical direction by a large compression machine. The

Elastic Modulus of Basalt is 80000MPa. How much stress in MPa does the machine apply over the cube's

upper surface?

A) 800

B) 0.4

C) 80

D) 80000

A

A cylindrical rock sample with a diameter of 50mm fails under a vertical compressive load (aligned with

the cylinder) of 98kN. What is its compressive strength in MPa?

A) 500

B) 5

C) 50

D) 4900

B

Two joint planes in a rock cliff intersecting in a line pointing down and out of the cliff face form:

A) Toppling Failure

B) Planar Sliding Failure

C) Slump Failure

D) Wedge failure

D

Which of the following is not a physical property?

A) Boiling Point

B) Stiffness

C) Reactivity

D) Magnetism

C

A cube of rock with a horizontal joint plane in the middle is being tested. At a normal stress of 1 MPa applied to the joint plane, an appled shear stress of 1MPa is achieved before slip failure. For a friction coefficient of 0.5, what is the shear strength achieved at a normal stress of 3MPa.

A) 3 MPa

B) 1.5 MPa

C) 2 MPa

D) 0.5 MPa

C

Water pressure acting on a joint plane in a mass of rock

A) Increases the cohesion

B) Decreases the Cohesion

C) Reduces the effective normal stress acting on the solid area of joint contact

D) Reduces the material friction coefficient

C

Which of these is not an effective way to stabilize a slope failure in rock?

A) Drainage of Water from the slope

B) Building a rock pile above the Slope

C) Retaining Walls

D) Mechanical Stabilization

B

Draping Mesh over a rock slope

A) Prevents major circular slump failure

B) Prevents rock blocks from moving

C) Catches small blocks of falling rock and redirects them into a ditch

D) Holds back water within the slope

C

Rotational Slump Failures occur in

A) Strong layered rock

B) Massive hard rock slopes

C) Soil or weathered rock masses

D) Sensitive clay slopes

C

Which of the following statements is not true?

A) An Earthquake is a vibration caused by rapid release of energy

B) An Earthquake always results in a break in the Earth's surface

C) An Earthquake's energy is derived from the release of shear strain

D) An Earthquake creates more vibration amplitude in soil than in rock

B

If an earthquake occurred 2400 km away from a seismic station, how long after the earthquake would

the station detect the arrival of a P-wave travelling at 8000m/s?

A) 5 minutes

B) 3 minutes

C) 30 second

D) 5000 seconds

A

The Mercalli Scale is a scale from ________.

A) 1 to 12 that rates the energy required for faulting to occur

B) 1 to 10 that rates the energy released by an earthquake

C) I to XII that rates the structural damage due to an earthquake

D) I to X that rates the total energy released during the main quake and all aftershocks

C

Approximately how much more energy is released in a 6.5 Richter magnitude earthquake than in one

with magnitude 5.5?

A) 3200 times

B) 100 times

C) 32 times

D) 10 times

C

Why was building damage so extensive in the 1985 Mexico City quake?

A) The epicentre was right in the city.

B) The Richter magnitude was 8.8, and the focus was only 25 kilometres from the city.

C) Much of the city is built on lake silts and former

swampland that amplified the incoming surface waves.

D) The steel frame buildings were rigid and lacked the flexibility to withstand lateral swaying during even a

moderate magnitude quake.

C

Which periods did not end with a Mass Extinction?

a) neo-archean

b) cretaceous

c) silurian

d) permian

C

Mafic rocks like basalt and gabbro ________________

a) form mainly in continental mountain belts

b) are major constituents of the continental crust

c) are very low in their iron and magnesium contents

d) make up most of the ocean floor and volcanic islands chains

A

A _______ is a near surface, intrusive, igneous rock body that results from local inflation of a horizontal sill

a) laccolith

b) batholith

c) volcanic neck

d) dike

A

What is the direct control on whether a volcano will erupt violently or quietly send out a few flows^

a) what the total volume of the volcano has at time of the eruption

b) the duration of the quiet interval since its last violent eruption

c) the composition of the magma, its temperature, and dissolved gas content

B

The process of turning a sediment into a sedimentary rock is called _____________

a) lithification

b) redeposition

c) conglomeration

d) crystalization

A

Which of the following sedimentary rocks would you expect to have originally been deposited by fast-moving streams?

a) mudstone

b) oolitic limestone

c) wacke

d) conglomerate

D

Normal and reverse faults are characterized mainly by ___________

a) horizontal slip

b) oblique slip

c) strike slip

d) dip slip

C

The best isotope for dating early human settlements in North America after the last ice age would be

a) Uranium - 235/238

b) Potassium-40

c) Rubidium-87

d) Carbon-14

D

Diedrichs license plate says:

a) GEOENG85

b) I

C

A reserve is

a) an aggregate of minerals that are of value

b) a mass of minerals that can be extracted and used

c) a confirmed portion of a mineral deposit that can be extracted at a profit

d) an anomalous concentration of metallic minerals

C

Which of the following is not true about Block Caving Mining

a) initial costs and risks are very high

b) operation of a developed mine is inexpensive

c) the ore mines itself once fracture initiates

d) there is a lot of flexibility to adapt to geological suprises

B

Diamonds are found in rare ultramafic volcanic pipes called

a) pyroclastite

b) rhyolites

c) kimberlite

d) volcanite

C

A void where ore is moved from the surrounding rock mass is called a

a) drift

b) stope

c) shaft

d) raise

B

The rich orebodies near Sudbury formed as the result of

a) an asteroid impact

b) a super-volcano

c) tectonic rifting

d) placer deposition

A

Which of the following foundation materials is most stable during earthquake shaking?

a) sand and mud

b) bedrock

c) unconsolidated moist soil

d) water-saturated sand

B

Rock slides are caused by

a) intersecting sets of joints planes

b) intact blocks of rock on steep joint or bedding planes

c) overhanging rock blocks

d) poor quality rock or soil under heavy rainfall

C

DNAPLS

a) adhere to the soil particles

b) travel down until they hit an aquitard

c) dissolve into the groundwater

d) float on the water table

B

What portion of canada's drinking water is supplied by groundwater aquifiers?

a) half

b) 80%

c) one tenth

d) 30%

D

Three types of groundwater contaminants are

a) soluble, dense insoluble, light insoluble

b) PCB, ANCPL, DULPL

c) biological, radiogenic, stratispheric

d) caustic, respiratory, contact

A

Which materials are listed in ascending order of density?

a) pumice, granite, iron, gold

b) gold, mantle rock, iron, pumice

c) wood, quartz, chalk, lead

d) salt, platinum, sandstone, cement

A

Which of the following stress situations results in folding of flat-lying sedimentary strata?

a) vertically directed, extensional or stretching stresses

b) horizontally directed, compressive stresses

c) vertically oriented digital stresses

d) horizontally directed, extensional stresses

B

Which platy, parallel mineral grains are the most visual aspect of foliated metamorphic rock?

a) micas

b) quartz

c) feldspars

d) carbonates

A

_________ forms from the metamorphism of limestone or dolostone

a) migmatite

b) amphibolite

c) quartzite

d) marble

D

What is the major source of heat for contact metamorphism?

a) deep burial and heat from Earth's interior

b) heat from a nearby magma body

c) heat from grinding and shearing on faults

d) heat from the spontaneous decomposition of micas and feldspars

B

What type of environment is typified by brittle deformation?

a) deep burial with great confining pressure

b) shallow, low temperature settings with high strain rates

c) shallow very high temperature settings as in contact with metamorphism

d) intermediate depths with long slow heating and gradual strain rates

B

Bone Fish were the stars of the animal kingdom during the _____________ period

a) holocene

b) devonian

c) pescacene

d) precambrian

B

Which of the following is not a trigger for mass wasting

a) rainfall

b) over-steepening of slopes

c) earthquake

d) regional drought

D

In the search for oil, seismic exploration is primarily looking for

a) hydrocarbon signatures

b) changes in porosity

c) fluid concentrations

d) geological and stratigraphic structure

C

In order to replace the energy needs of the planet with biodiesel from soy beans we would need

a) the entire land surface of the earth

b) a landmass equal to the USA

c) 6 million hectares of land

d) minimal space as this fuel has a very small footprint

A

LNAPLS are

a) associated with gas station leaks

b) less soluble than 25g/m3

c) contaminants with S.G.

D

The first living cells to appear in the archean has what key components?

a) organelles, DNA

b) chloroplasts, flagellum

c) closed phospholipid layer, RNA

d) phospholipid layer, mitochondria

C

Which reservoir of the hydrosphere has the largest fraction of earth's liquid freshwater?

a) lakes and reservoirs

b) groundwater

c) glaciers and ice sheets

d) soil moisture

C

One possible catalyst for the early genesis of RNA molecules could be:

a) olivene crystals

b) cytoplasm

c) phospholipid capsules

d) montmorillonite clay

D

The elastic rebound theory for the origin of earthquakes was first proposed by ____________ following the ____________ earthquake.

a. Reid; 1906, San Francisco

b. Giuseppe; 1925, Pizza Lake

c. Richter; 1989, Loma Prieta

d. Mohorovicic; 1964, Anchorage

A

When an earthquake occurs, energy radiates in all directions from its source. The source is also referred to as the __________.

a. inertial point

b. epicenter

c. focus

d. seismic zone

C

Which one of the following statements is correct?

a. P waves travel through solids; S waves do not.

b. P and S waves travel through liquids, but P waves do not travel through solids.

c. S waves travel through solids and P waves travel through liquids.

d. P and S waves travel through liquids, but S waves do not travel through solids.

C

____________ have the highest velocities.

a. Primary waves

b. Secondary waves

c. Surface waves

d. Refracted S waves

A

Which one of the following is true regarding tsunamis?

a. they travel as deep-water waves at speeds greater than surface seismic waves but slower than S

waves

b. their wave heights decrease and wavelengths increase as they move into shallower water

c. they are started by fault-induced, horizontal shifts in the sea floor that suddenly propel great masses

of water in opposite directions

d. they occur in the open ocean, wavelengths are many miles or kilometers and wave heights are only

a few feet

D

The amount of destruction caused by earthquake vibrations is affected by __________.

a. design of structures

b. intensity and duration of the vibrations

c. nature of the surface material

d. all of these

D

On a typical seismogram, ____________ will show the highest amplitudes.

a. P waves

b. S waves

c. surface waves

d. body waves

C