10 SIO Final Exam, Wednesday Mar. 18 2009 VERSION
FEBRUARY
1) Glacial ice exhibits ________ behavior near the top, but _________ behavior beneath a depth of 60 meters a) brittle; ductile b) ductile; brittle c) solid; liquid d) plastic; elastic 2) Valleys carved by glaciers tend to be shaped like the letter _________, wheras valleys carved by water tend to be shaped like the letter _________. a) "V"; "U" b) "V"; "C" c) "U"; "V" d) "V"; "I" 3) When sea level rises, causing the ocean to fill a glacially carved valley, a(n) _________ results. a) estuary b) tarn c) fjord d) ford e) lexus 4) Two greenhouse gases are _______. a) oxygen and nitrogen b) carbon dioxide and methane c) methane and nitrogen d) oxygen and carbon dioxide 5) There is a correlation in Earth history between warm periods and _______. a) relatively large amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere b) low sea level c) glaciation at low latitudes d) excessive weathering of silicate rocks 6) What does the oil window describe? a) the opening of an oil well b) the time interval during which oil formed c) temperature and depth range at which oil can exist d) the time of day oil can be pumped out of the ground
7) What are the three main arguments against the use of nuclear power? a) high costs, extremely limited resources, security issues b) high costs, emission of greenhouse gases, limited resources c) emission of greenhouse gases, limited resources, security issues d) security issues, accidents, radioactive waste disposal 8) Which of these are two renewable energy resources? a) coal and nuclear b) oil and gas c) oil and hydroelectric d) hydroelectric and wind e) solar and nuclear 9) Because it can be split easily into thin sheets and is impermeable, _______ is commonly used to make roofing tiles. a) limestone b) sandstone c) gneiss d) slate 10) The stereotypical gold rush prospector panning for gold in a stream bed is an example of exploiting _____ a) magmatic deposits b) placer deposits c) residual mineral deposits d) sedimentary deposits 11) Which gas is most abundant in Earths atmosphere? a) nitrogen b) oxygen c) carbon dioxide d) argon 12) When water vapor condenses heat is _____ a) released b) absorbed 13) Deserts can be found in cold regions. a) true b) false 14) Native metals are considered minerals. a) true b) false
15) The most expansive hot deserts on Earth occur a) in the tropics, at or near the equator b) in the subtropics, between 20 and 30 north or south of the equator c) in the temperate zone, between 30 and 50 north or south of the equator d) in the polar regions north or south of the equator 16) The density of seawater decreases with? a) increasing temperature and increasing salinity b) decreasing temperature and increasing salinity c) increasing temperature and decreasing salinity d) decreasing temperature and decreasing salinity 17) If a material is porous, it_____ a) will be permeable as well b) will be impermeable c) may be permeable or impermeable 18) Compared to water in streams, groundwater flows much slower. a) true b) false 19) Greenhouse gases do not readily transmit _____. a) ultraviolet radiation b) infrared radiation c) radio waves d) x rays 20) Sinkholes are a concern for residents whose dwellings are constructed atop a) sandstone b) limestone c) shale d) granite 21) The stream gradient of most rivers _____ a) is greater near the source than near the mouth b) is greater near the mouth than near the source c) does not change significantly as the river flows downstream d) is greater for a meandering stream than for any other type 22) What is the capacity of a stream? a) the total length of a stream b) the total quantity of sediments it can carry c) the total quantity of water it can normally carry d) the total quantity of water during the flood stage
23) Where in the stream do we find the highest flow speed? a) at the bottom b) at the sides c) near the top center d) speed is the same everywhere 24) About how much of Earths water can we find in the oceans? a) 95% b) 50% c) 10% d) 1% 25) Approximately how much of Earths surface is covered by land? a) 50% b) 30% c) 10% d) 90% 26) Smelting is a technique applied to _______. a) native metals b) ore minerals c) quarried stone 27) Most of the hydrocarbons within oil and natural gas are derived from the breakdown of once-living _____ a) plankton b) dinosaurs c) terrestrial plants d) mammals 28) Aggressive housing development can cause mass movements by a) over-steepening slopes b) installing adequate drainage c) adding mass to the head of a slope d) all of the above e) only a) and c) 29) The immediate cause of incidents of mass movement is _____ a) friction b) gravitation c) electromagnetic attraction d) magnetism
30) Ephemeral streams _____ a) have flowing water either episodically or during a portion of the year b) consist of a series of intertwined channels that are overloaded with sediment c) have a main channel that is highly sinuous (curvy) d) are those that steal water from other streams, which they intersect 31) What evidence indicated that an impact on the Yucatan peninsula was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago? a) the remains of many dinosaurs in that area clearly indicate that they were running rapidly away from the exact point of the impact when they died b) gravity, magnetic, topographic and seismic data reveal a buried ring-like structure beneath the Yucatan peninsula. The crater has been dated to that time c) unusually high level of radioactivity and heat flow has been found in that area d) remains of dinosaurs in that area were riddled by small fragments of an asteroid 32) The oldest rocks found on Earth are about how old? a) 4000 years b) 400,000 years c) 400 million years d) 4 billion years 33) Where do we find the oldest rocks? a) ocean floor b) continental rifts c) volcanoes d) continental cratons 34) Once an ancient mountain range is destroyed by erosion, it leaves no detectable record, and therefore geologists can never learn of its past existence. a) true b) false 35) The principle of uniformitarianism implies that _____ a) all ancient landforms and geogreaphy looked identical to the modern world b) physical processes, such as erosion, weathering, and deposition, which we observe today, were also active in the geologic past c) igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks are uniformly distributed at Earths surface d) physical processes, such as erosion, weathering, and deposition, which we observe on Earth, are also active on other planets 36) Which of these is NOT used for hydroelectric power generation? a) reservoirs b) wind c) rivers d) oceans
37) Walking across an eroded and now exposed syncline, the youngest rocks are found a) near the rim b) near the center 38) What is orogenic collapse? a) a collapsing volcano forming a caldera b) the formation of a sinkhole c) mountains collapsing under their own weight d) the calving of icebergs 39) Baked contacts are useful for_____ a) determining absolute age of a rock b) determining relative age of a rock c) absolutely nothing 40) In an undisturbed sequence of sedimentary rocks, layers younger overlay older layers, according to the principle of _______. a) superposition b) original continuity c) original horizontality d) uniformitarianism 41) The Cretaceous Period ended a) 65 million years ago b) 248 million years ago c) 4.5 billion years ago d) 545 million years ago 42) If, during an earthquake, a hanging wall slides downward relative to a footwall, the fault is termed _____ a) strike-slip fault b) thrust fault c) reverse fault d) normal fault 43) Which of these seismic waves is the first to arrive at a seismic station? a) surface waves b) radio waves c) compressional waves d) shear waves
44) What happens during liquefaction? a) generation of a tsunami b) shaken loose or water-saturated sediments behave like a liquid c) rocks in the fault are ground up and melt d) subduction of water 45) In Geology, a joint is what? a) a naturally occurring crack in a rock b) the axis of a fault along which the rock is most sharply bent c) a crack along which rock has slid and caused an earthquake d) something illegal 46) An episode of mountain building is termed a(n) _____ a) phylogeny b) orogeny c) aureole d) slickenside 47) An anticline is_____ a) a dome-like structure that is shaped like the roof of a football stadium b) a sinkhole c) an arch-like fold in which the limbs dip down from the hinge d) an arch-like fold in which the limbs dip up from the hinge 48) In our current understanding of the big bang, _____ a) Earth is much older than the rest of the Universe b) the Universe is considerably older than Earth c) Earth and the Universe formed at about the same time d) there is no way of knowing how old the Universe might be 49) The sun produces its energy by fusion? a) true b) false 50) As the Universe evolved, _____ a) hydrogen concentration has increased through the fission of helium atoms b) hydrogen concentration has increased through the fusion of helium atoms c) the number of hydrogen atoms has likely remained constant d) hydrogen has been lost through fusion to form helium within stars 51) What is the source of the Earths magnetic field? a) magnetism is a property of all spinning bodies. b) a large deposit of iron ore in northern Canada c) convective flow in the liquid outer core d) convecting magma in the mantle
52) Most of the Earths iron can be found in the crust. a) true b) false 53) The Moon is what type of celestial body? a) star b) planet c) satellite d) asteroid e) comet 54) San Diego is located on the _____ a) North American plate b) Pacific plate c) San Andreas fault 55) What process inside Earth allowed us to measure seafloor spreading? a) conductive cooling b) freezing of the solid inner core c) reversal of Earths magnetic field d) alternating ocean currents 56) Metamorphism turns limestone into granite. a) true b) false 57) A magma can be formed within the Earth by _____. a) decompression (drop in pressure) b) addition of heat c) addition of volatiles d) all of the above 58) Of the three primary forms of subaerial volcanoes, _____ have the most gently sloping sides, due to the low viscosity of the basaltic lavas which form them a) stratovolcanoes b) cinder cones c) shield volcanoes 59) What makes volcanic eruptions explosive? a) large amounts of low-viscosity lava escapes too quickly b) large amounts of gases are trapped when viscous lava clogs the vent c) the amount of magma generated in the magma chamber is too low d) lava flows out continuously
60) Mt. Fuji in Japan is an example of a _____ a) stratovolcano b) shield volcano c) cinder cone d) atoll 61) Tsunamis _______. a) speed up and grow in height as they approach land. b) slow down and grow in height as they approach land. c) speed up but become smaller as they approach land. d) speed and height do not change as they approach land. 62) We know the Earths outer core is liquid because a) it is the principal source of magma. b) a recent drill hole to the core provided the proof. c) the core does not transmit shear waves. d) of the refraction of seismic waves at the Moho. 63) At a subduction zone, the downgoing plate a) is always made of oceanic lithosphere b) is always made of continental lithosphere c) can be made of either 64) Which are the two principal mechanisms that drive plate tectonics? a) bombardment and accretion b) ridge push and slab pull c) expansion and contraction d) heating and melting 65) As compared to the asthenosphere, this lithosphere is_____ a) cooler and more able to flow b) hotter and more able to flow c) cooler and less able to flow d) hotter and less able to flow 66) The lowermost layer of Earths atmosphere, which sustains life and exhibits weather, is a) mesosphere b) ionosphere c) thermosphere d) troposphere
67) The Wadati-Benioff zone is a belt of earthquakes found _____ a) within an otherwise stable continental interior b) within an overriding plate at a subduction zone c) within a downgoing plate at a subduction zone d) along mid-ocean ridges 68) Which of these are polymorphs of Carbon? a) diamond and quartz b) diamond and graphite c) quartz and graphite d) quartz and olivine 69) Saltation of sand involves _______. a) spherical grains rolling along the surface of dunes b) grains hopping into the air, traveling for a short distance, and returning to the ground c) grains being carried long distances (up to tens of kilometers) by strong gusts of wind d) the mixture of quartz sand with salt, which forms from the evaporation of rainwater 70) Which of these is the most abundant mineral class in Earths crust? a) carbonates b) halides c) sedimentary rocks d) silicates e) evaporates 71) Which are the three basic rock types? a) limestone, sandstone, travertine b) basalt, granite, gabbro c) evaporites, organic, inorganic d) sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic 72) The oldest basalts on the ocean floor are about _____ years old a) 50 thousand b) 4 billion c) 200 million d) 2.5 million 73) Which of these describe igneous rocks with different silica content? a) pahoehoe and aa b) mafic and silicic c) lapilli and cinder d) intermediate and andesitic
74) The grain size of an igneous rock is determined primarily by_______? a) its mineral composition b) its volatile content c) its pressure during formation d) how rapidly it cooled during crystallization 75) Hotspot volcanism occurs at _____ a) Yellowstone and Hawaii b) Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Vesuvius c) Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Shasta 76) How do sedimentary rocks form? a) in Earths interior, just before volcanic eruptions b) when a rock is squeezed and heated c) deposition and compaction of eroded and transported material d) freezing from melt 77) What is a conglomerate? a) large clasts cemented together b) a type of limestone c) a certain type of fossil d) any sedimentary rock 78) Coal is what type of rock? a) igneous b) metamorphic c) sedimentary d) none of the above 79) Which two parameters are on the axes of a phase diagram? a) silica content and water b) temperature and pressure c) silica content and temperature d) viscosity and temperature 80) A buried body of shale is subjected to differential stress, causing clay minerals to realign and producing slate. This is an example of _____ a) diagenesis b) metamorphism c) erosion d) weathering