physical science exam 1

A major cause of the differences in elevation between ocean basins and continents is

Density

All of the following are possible steps of scientific investigation, except for

Assumption of conclusions without prior experimentation or observation

Earthquakes are natural disasters. Which branch of the earth sciences studies, the impact of the phenomenon on coastal environments?

Geology

Hurricanes and tornadoes are natural disasters. Which branch of the earth scientist studies the origin of these phenomena.

Meteorology

Incorrect order from the center outward, earth include includes, which units?

Inner core, outer core, mantle, crust

In the Proto, solar system, nebula, gravity, pool matter, together to form larger bodies. As they collided, what happened to these bodies?

Immense heat was released within the colliding bodies has gravitational potential energy was converted to heat

Oceanography includes the study of

All of the above: the effect of oceans and climate, ocean animals, the ocean floor, chemistry of seawater

Oh, sonography is the study of the oceans and geology is the study of earth, so what is meteorology?

The study of the atmosphere

Science is based on the assumption, that nature behaves in a (blank) and (blank) manner

Consistent; predictable

The (blank) explains how our solar system probably formed from a giant cloud of gases and dispersed, solid particles

Nebula theory

The largest of earth spheres is the (blank)

Geosphere

The primary goal of earth science is

To identify the patterns in nature and to use that information to predict the future

What are the basic differences between the disciplines of physical and historical geology?

Historical geology involves the study of rock strata, fossils, and geological events, utilizing the geologic time scale as a reference; physical geology includes the study of how rocks form, and of how erosion shaped the land surface

An atom’s mass number is 13 and it’s atomic number is six. How many neutrons are in its nucleus

Seven

An elements atomic mass is defined by the number of (blank) in the nucleus the nucleus

Both protons and neutrons

Atoms that show electrons have a (blank) bond

Covalent

The bond between sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl) to perform halite (salt) is a (blank) bond

Ionic

The most common group of rock forming minerals is

The silicates

The strong tendency of certain minerals to break along, smooth, parallel planes is known as

Cleavage

Element 17 (Cl) and 9 (F)

Are chemically similar because they lie directly below each other on the periodic table

What mineral is the hardest known substance in nature?

Diamond

When electrons are shipped amongst all atoms, the resulting bond is a (blank) bond

Metallic

Which of the following defines a mineral and a rock?

In a mineral, the constituent atoms are bonded in a regular, repetitive, internal structure; a rock is a lithified or consolidated aggregate of different mineral grains

Which of the following is correct for isotopes of the same element?

The atoms have different numbers of neutrons, and the same number of protons

which of the following is not a criterion for defining something as a mineral?

Hard

Which of the following is not a fundamental particle found in atoms?

Selectron

Which of the following is not true for minerals?

They can be a liquid solid or gas

Which two elements combined to make one of the most common rock forming minerals in the crust?

Silicon and oxygen

A porphyritic texture where large crystals are embedded in a matrix of small crystal may form win

A magma that has partially crystallized slowly moves to a different location where it then cools rapidly

Basaltic rock make up most of the

Seafloor

For geologist, the most important characteristics of a sedimentary rock is its

Layering

High heat and high pressure will lead to (blank) rocks

Metamorphic

Igneous rock is formed

By crystallization of magma

Mountain building causes metamorphism because

All of the above

Sedimentary rocks compromise approximately (blank) percent of earths outermost 10 miles

Five 5

The common source of pressure during the compaction of sediments is (blank)

The weight of the settlements deposited above the compacting settlements

The first step in turning a rock into a sediment is

Weathering alters the rock

The texture of an igneous rock

Records, the rocks cooling history

What is the difference between magma and lava?

It is just a name change and lava is what magma is called if it reaches the surface of earth

What is the most common place for sediment to be deposited?

Oceans

Which igneous texture is characterized by two distinctively different crystal sizes

Porphyritic

Why do crystals in a magma stop growing during cooling?

They run out of room to expand

Why does magma rise toward earth surface?

Because it is less dense than the material around it

A transform boundary is characterized by (blank)

A deep vertical fault along with two plates, slide past one another in opposite directions

Deep ocean trenches are surficial evidence for

Sinking of ocean lithosphere into the mantle at a subduction zone

New York and London are on two separate places so the distance between the cities is(blank)

Increasing

Plate tectonic boundaries were first identified by (blank)

Mapping earthquakes and volcanoes

The Hawaiian island emperor seamount chain formed as a result of ()

Hotspot activities

The Himalayan mountains are the tectonic product of a (blank) between (blank) and Eurasia that began 50 million years ago and still continues

Collision; India

The asthenosphere is the second layer of earth, characterized by (blank)

Soft rocks that flow easily

The lithosphere is the outer layer of the earth characterized by (blank)

Hard rocks that break

The molten material that is generated above the subducting slab (blank)

Contribute some material to form volcanoes good

Wegener thought that (blank)

There was once one big continent that laid broken into several pieces

What is GPS (global positioning system) used for in the study of plate tectonics?

It measures velocity of a plate

What is true of the apparent polar wandering?

There is only one magnetic pole and it is the continents that wonder

When two continents converge, (blank)

The settlements tracked between them are pushed up and deformed to make a mountain range

((Blank))) were never proposed as evidence supporting the existence of Pangea

Islands of pre-Cambrian rocks along the mid Atlantic Ridge

A tsunami can occur (blank.)

When an earthquake occur occurs in the seafloor like along an oceanic plate boundary

Earthquake prediction is (blank)

Somewhat good for very long time statistical analysis based on ideas like mapping seismic gaps

In North America, the highest potential for large tsunami is in the coastal regions of (blank)

The Pacific Coast in Hawaii

In elastic rebound theory what must occur to produce an earthquake?

Enough stress must build up overtime on a fault to overcome friction

In the open ocean tsunami’s travel at about the same speed as a

Commercial airliner

Major earthquakes often followed by somewhat small events, known as

Aftershocks

Make rust between subducting oceanic crust, and an overriding plate are a potential source of tsunami’s because…

The earthquakes on these faults are underwater and could displace a large amount amounts of water from the oceans

Most earthquakes occurred along (blank) plate boundaries

Convergent

Overall, this type of seismic wave is the most destructive

Surface wave

P waves…

Are faster than S waves and surface waves

S waves can travel through…

Solid media only

The (blank) scale is an earthquake magnitude scale is based on the energy released by the earthquake

Richter

The next large earthquake on the San Andreas Fault zone in California is considered likely to be…

In southern California because it has been nearly 300 years since the last major earthquake in that area

The position on earth surface directly above the earthquake source is called the …

Epicenter

When an earthquake occurs energy radiates in all directions from a source. The source is also referred to as the…

Focus

As magma approaches the surface water contributes to the explosive potential of the eruption because…

Water dissolved in magma flashes to steam as pressure decrease decreases, and the volume increase leads to an explosive potential

Most of the active volcanoes on land are located in a belt known as the…

Ring of fire

Mount Pelée on Martinique is an example of an…

Composite volcano

Paricutin volcano in Mexico is an example of a

Cinder cone

The Columbia Plateau in the north Northwestern United States is an excellent example of…

Flood basalts

The most dangerous of volcano types is that…

Strato volcano

The viscosities of magmas (blank) with in increasing percentages of silica

Increase

Volcanic activity in Yellowstone National Park is related to…

Intraplate hotspot volcanism

Which of the following best describes Shiprock, a famous volcanic feature in New Mexico

The eroded remains of a volcanic pipe and radiating dikes

Which of the following best describes melting of the mantle at subduction zones that leads to island arc volcanoes?

Water released from the subducting plate, decreases the melting temperature in the mantle above the down, going plate to generate magnus from the overlying mantle wedge

Which of the following factors help determine whether volcanic eruption will be violent or relatively quiescent?

All of these: composition of the magma, amount of dissolved gas in the magma, temperature of the magma

Which of the following statements best describes the big Hawaiian volcanoes?

They are situated in the interior of a large pacific plate above a hotspot deep in the mantle

Which of the following shows the correct order(left to right) of decreasing magma viscosity in order of composition?

rhyolite, andesite, and basalt

(Blank) magma is the most abundant type of magma erupted on earth.

Basaltic

Island arcs in Andean type mountains are both examples of mountains formed by (blank)

Subduction

Most active false pose a risk to society because they can potentially produced (blank)

Earthquakes

Mountain building, uplift rocks against the force of gravity, raising their potential energy, which requires work by the Earth system. Based on the relative motion of fault blocks, what type of fault would you expect to require more energy than the other others?

Thrust

Orogenesis refers to the formation of (blank)

Mountains

Subduction occurs when (blank) rocks are forced beneath ((blank) rocks.

Oceanic; continental or oceanic

The Appalachian Mountains may have once been as lofty as the Himalayan Tibetan mountain belt is today. Why are they not this high now?

They formed long ago and erosion, has beveled them to their present low elevation

The Appalachians were formed by three phases of (blank) orogeny

Collision

The Rocky Mountains of Western North America were produced in an orogeny called the (blank).

Laramide orogeny

The San Andreas fault in California and the Alpine fault in New Zealand are examples of (blank).

Strike slip faults

The Sierra Nevada mountains of California and the Teton mountains of Wyoming ranges are example of (blank)

Fault, blocks uplift, by tertiary to quaternary normal faulting

What is the major difference between a subduction zone and a collision mountain chain?

A subduction zone has active volcanism

What is the modern theory for orogenesis (mountain building)?

Plate tectonics theory