JANUARY VERSION INDICATE THE VERSION NUMBER IN THE MONTH FIELD VERSION JANUARY COLOR IN MONTH JAN VERSION FEBRUARY COLOR IN MONTH FEB, ETC. SIO10 Midterm, Friday Feb. 06, 2009 1) What is planet Earths age? a) about 100,000 years b) about 15 billion years c) about 100 million years d) about 4.5 billion years 2) By what mechanism does the sun produce its energy? a) volcanism b) fission c) fusion d) greenhouse effect e) convection 3) In the geocentric model of the Universe, a) Earth orbits around the Sun b) the Sun orbits around the Earth c) just the Moon orbits around the Earth d) Mercury and Venus orbit around the Sun, but all other planets orbit the Earth 4) Eratosthenes was the first person to accurately estimate the size of Earth. He accomplished this feat by... a) sailing around the world and estimating his average rate of travel b) comparing the length of an Earth day with the distance between the Earth and the Sun c) measuring the severity of the greatest earthquakes d) observing shadows simultaneously cast at two different cities that were separated by a known distance. 5) Aside from Earth, the terrestrial planets are a) Jupiter and the Moon b) Mars and Jupiter c) Mercury, Saturn and Hollywood d) Mars, Venus and Mercury
6) The Moon is believed to have formed a) at the beginning of time. b) from comets. c) when a Mars-size body hit the Earth. d) in the asteroid belt. 7) Earths surface is protected from solar wind and cosmic radiation by a) Earths gravitational field b) A powerful stream of ions emitted by the Sun c) Earths magnetic field d) A large, metallic shield launched into orbit by NASA in the 1960s 8) As compared to continental crust, the rocks that make up oceanic crust are a) more dense b) made of minerals that contain more silica c) more buoyant d) all of the above 9) As compared to the asthenosphere, the lithosphere is a) cooler and more able to flow b) hotter and more able to flow c) hotter and less able to flow d) cooler and less able to flow 10) Which of the following observations suggested that the continents were once joined together in a supercontinent? a) Meteor impact craters are uniformly distributed around the world b) The same fast food restaurants are found all over the world c) Rocks from glaciers are found near the equator d) The continents fit together like jigsaw pieces 11) Marine magnetic anomalies result from sea-floor spreading in conjunction with a) global warming b) magnetic storms on the surface of the Sun c) apparent wander of the magnetic poles d) magnetic polarity reversal
12) As compared to the rocks that make up the crust, Earth as a whole is a) considerably more dense b) considerably less dense c) slightly less dense d) about the same density 13) Which of the following is NOT a plate boundary? a) mid-ocean ridges b) transform faults c) subduction zones d) hot spots 14) Tectonic plates move at rates that are approximately... a) 1 to 5 cm every 1,000 years b) 10 to 100 meters per year c) 1 to 15 meters per year d) 1 to 15 cm per year 15) Most of the pulling force driving plate motion is produced ... a) at mid-ocean ridges b) at collision zones c) in the interiors continental of plates d) at subduction zones 16) How many electrons does 23892U have? a) 238 b) 92 c) 0 17) What are isotopes? a) same element, different number of neutrons b) same element, different number of protons c) same element, different number of electrons 18) Which of these is NOT a mineral? a) diamond b) granite c) graphite d) salt
19) Which of these are polymorphs of Carbon? a) Quartz and Graphite b) Diamond and Graphite c) Diamond and Quartz 20) Why is glass not considered a mineral? a) because it is transparent b) because it is made of organic material c) because it has no orderly crystal lattice 21) Iceland rises above the Atlantic Ocean as a result of a) normal mid-ocean ridge activity b) a submarine hot-spot located within the interior of a plate c) a submarine hot-spot located along a mid-ocean ridge d) subduction of an oceanic plate underneath the continental Eurasian Plate 22) 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 23) Which of the following is a volcanic island arc? a) the Aleutian Islands of Alaska b) the Andes Mountains c) Hawaii d) Mt. St. Helens, Washington 24) Which of these alters the viscosity of lava? a) temperature b) silica content c) both a) and b) d) neither a) nor b)
25) Frost wedging, root wedging, and salt wedging are all examples of... a) metamorphism b) chemical weathering c) physical weathering d) deposition 26) Which of these is NOT a sedimentary rock? a) limestone b) sandstone c) basalt d) halite 27) What process turns limestone into marble? a) melting b) freezing c) metamorphism d) weathering e) sculpting 28) A metamorphic phase diagram depends on what two parameters? a) silica content and water b) temperature and pressure c) Moon and planets 29) Which of the following processes cannot occur in the formation of metamorphic rock? a) realignment of minerals so that they develop a preferred orientation b) segregation of minerals into layers of different compositions c) solid-state rearrangement of atoms or ions to create a new assemblage of minerals d) complete remelting of the rock, followed by solidification to form a new rock 30) In the rock cycle, an igneous rock can be converted into another igneous rock a) true b) false
31) Which type of lava forms shield volcanoes? a) rhyolitic b) andesitic c) basaltic 32) Extrusive rocks have a finer-grained texture than intrusive rocks because a) they cool faster b) they contain more silica c) they cool slower 33) A surface along which rock on opposed sides is offset by sliding during an earthquake is called a a) joint b) fault c) fold d) wall 34) The relationship between stress and strain is that a) stress is a result of strain b) strain is a result of stress c) "stress" and "strain" are exact synonyms d) "strain" is used in everyday speech to connote weariness, but has no meaning in geology 35) Which earthquake intensity scale varies from locality to locality for a single earthquake? a) Richter scale b) Mercalli scale c) seismic-moment scale