Plate Tectonics Final Exam Questions

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  • 1/82 Questions

    Which of the folowing is an example of a sulfide? 

    • Quartz (SiO2)
    • Felsdspar (KAlSi3O8 – NaAlSi3O8 – CaAl2Si2O8)
    • Galena (PbS)
    • Olivine (2 SiO 4)
    • Pyroxine (XY(Si,Al)2O6)
    • Amphibole (RSi4O11)
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About This Quiz

Geology

Plate Tectonics Quizzes & Trivia

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  • 2. 

    Graded Beds are characterized by 

    • Soft sediment

    • Hard sediment

    • Step incline

    Correct Answer
    A. Soft sediment
  • 3. 

    Ozone which occurs in the upper atmosphere, i.e. the stratosphere, is good for us because it helps to protect us from.

    • Ultraviolet radiation

    • Radioactive radiation

    • Cosmic rays

    Correct Answer
    A. Ultraviolet radiation
  • 4. 

    Which is not of the four most abundant element in the human body?

    • Oxygen

    • Carbon

    • Hydrogen

    • Zinc

    Correct Answer
    A. Zinc
  • 5. 

    A few years ago, more snow fell during the winter in Upstate New York than ever before in recorded history (past 400 years). At 18 ka, Upstate New York was buried under glacial ice which probably exceeded 2 km in thickness. Do you think that 18,000 years ago this area had more snow in mid-winter (February) than during the record-setting February a couple of years ago?  At 18 ka, this area had..

    • Three times more snow fall every February

    • Three times less snow fall every February

    • About the same amount of snow fall every February (somewhere between three times more and three times less).

    Correct Answer
    A. About the same amount of snow fall every February (somewhere between three times more and three times less).
  • 6. 

    The second-most-abundant element in Earth's crust is

    • Carbon

    • Silicon

    • Oxygen

    • Iron

    • Aluminum

    Correct Answer
    A. Silicon
  • 7. 

    A wave crest and adjacent troughs are illustrated in Fig. 19. This wave would be part of a series of crests and troughs, i.e., a wave train. Consider a wave train with wave height, H, and wavelength, λ (lambda), which has travelled a distance, D, across the ocean since being generated by a hurricane. Wave base for this wave train would occur at a depth of.

    • λ /2

    • H/2

    • D/2

    • D

    • λ

    Correct Answer
    A. λ /2
  • 8. 

     Earth is differentiated into a core, mantle, and crust. Chemical elements have preferentially migrated into each of these concentric shells during the early "cooking" of Earth. Platinum, gold, and iron are found in the 

    • Iron

    • Gold

    • Platinum

    Correct Answer
    A. Iron
  • 9. 

    Within metamorphic rocks, crystals of micaceous minerals (mostly muscovite and biotite) typically exhibit a metamorphic fabric known as 

    • Oxidation

    • Foliation

    • Lineation

    • Spitication

    • Sporanza

    Correct Answer
    A. Foliation
  • 10. 

    According to Plate Tectonics, most of the Earth's surface consists of rigid pieces (lithospheric plates) which are moving laterally (sliding) with respect to the asthenosphere. These lithospheric plates consist of the 

    • Entire crust and uppermost mantle

    • Upper crust and the top half of the lower crust.

    • Oceans and upper crust

    Correct Answer
    A. Entire crust and uppermost mantle
  • 11. 

     If magma cools too quickly for crystallization of any minerals, the resultant rock is called

    • Magnoid

    • Ovoid

    • Obsidian

    • Phosphate

    Correct Answer
    A. Obsidian
  • 12. 

    Grain sizes of clastic sediment range from coarse gravel down to 

    • Fine clay

    • Fine silt

    • Grime

    • Slime

    Correct Answer
    A. Fine clay
  • 13. 

    Which occured first? 

    • Middle Jurassic

    • Dinosaurs first appeared on Earth

    • Oldest known oceanic crust that remains on the ocean floor

    • First humans appeared on Earth

    Correct Answer
    A. Dinosaurs first appeared on Earth
  • 14. 

    Gelifluction is a type of 

    • Solifluction

    • Mud flow

    • Granular flow

    • Earth flow

    • Debris avalache

    • Pertrusion

    • Disintegration

    Correct Answer
    A. Solifluction
  • 15. 

    Once pores lose their groundwater and collapse, pumping water back into the subsurface will not reverse the resulting subsidence of buildings. However, it should slow it. The world's most voluminous urban example of pumping-induced subsidence has occurred in Mexico City.  Among the following cities or regions in the USA, which one has experienced the most-substantial pumping-induced subsidence?  Choose among

    • Minneaspolis MN

    • Manhattan, NY

    • Denver, CO

    • Bangor, ME.

    • Great Valley of California

    Correct Answer
    A. Great Valley of California
  • 16. 

    The impending glacier-related disaster in Fig. 14 affected one of the following localities in the eighteenth century. The locality which lost one-quarter of its population from 1783 to 1785 was

    • Newfoundland

    • Scotland

    • Ireland

    • England.

    • Iceland.

    Correct Answer
    A. Iceland.
  • 17. 

    The lake in Fig. 16 affects the flow of the river both upstream and downstream from the lake. The lake is said to impose upon the river ... Fig. 16.  Long Profile of River Showing a Lake along its Course  

    • An impasse

    • A local base level

    • A permanent marker

    Correct Answer
    A. A local base level
  • 18. 

    Within the USA, deserts are restricted to the Southwest where the continental crust happens to be deformed due to ubiquitous faults. Many of these faults are exposed as sloping cliffs. With time, the slopes on the fault scarps typically either have become eroded down to bedrock along a smooth surface or else have become covered by coalescing alluvial fans. . The surface of coalescing fans is called 

    • Bajada

    • Pediment

    • Sloping cliffs

    Correct Answer
    A. Bajada
  • 19. 

    Which is the most abundant element in the human body?

    • Oxygen

    • Carbon

    • Hydrogen

    • Nitrogen

    Correct Answer
    A. Oxygen
  • 20. 

     If the seafloor slopes steeply offshore, a reef may occur close to land. Such a reef is called a fringing reef. The most likely place to find a fringing reef, among the following choices, is.

    • North-eastern Australia.

    • Tahiti

    • Belize

    • The Florida Keys

    Correct Answer
    A. Tahiti
  • 21. 

     Wind lifts sand grains primarily by

    • Saltation

    • Impact with small pebbles and granules

    • Creation of thermal differences between air which is trapped beneath the grain and air which immediately overlies the grain.

    Correct Answer
    A. Saltation
  • 22. 

    Which of the folowing is not a type of sulfide?

    • Quartz (SiO2)

    • Galena (PbS)

    • Sphalerite (ZnS)

    Correct Answer
    A. Quartz (SiO2)
  • 23. 

    The global wind pattern includes regions of high pressure and low pressure. The prime factor which maintains a high pressure in the 20-to-30-degree latitudinal belt is the Fig. 18.  Global Wind Patterns on Planet Earth  

    • Descent of air from the upper troposphere

    • Ocean currents just below the surface of the ocean.

    • Greenhouse effect due to elevated concentrations of carbon dioxide

    Correct Answer
    A. Descent of air from the upper troposphere
  • 24. 

    In order for Jupiter to have enough mass that it would have sufficient gravitational attraction to sustain nuclear fusion, as does our Sun, it would need to be   

    • 10 times bigger than the sun

    • 10 times bigger than itself

    • 5 times bigger than the sun

    • 5 times bigger than itself

    Correct Answer
    A. 10 times bigger than the sun
  • 25. 

    Which of the following magama types would most likely accumulate on the continental edge?

    • Basalt is 50% SiO2

    • Andesite is 60% SiO2

    • Rhyolite is 70% SiO2

    Correct Answer
    A. Andesite is 60% SiO2
  • 26. 

    Pyroclastic rocks typically are named for their dominant grain size. For example, a pyroclastic rock which is composed of large and rounded pyroclasts (bombs) is called

    • An agglomerate

    • A rhyolite .

    • A pumice

    • A welded tuff

    • A pyrolate

    Correct Answer
    A. An agglomerate
  • 27. 

    Human survival depends upon the maintenance of agriculturally useful soil. Unfortunately, the amount of useful soil is decreasing every year just as the world's population is increasing. Our global population has recently surpassed 6 billion. Large areas of formerly arable land are being lost to agriculture every year for all of the following reasons except

    • Precipitation of salt from irrigation water

    • Erosion

    • The widespread application of manure

    • Seawater encroachment near coastal cities which pump a lot of groundwater

    Correct Answer
    A. The widespread application of manure
  • 28. 

    Kaolinite is the dominant clay mineral in the uppermost portion of North Carolina soils.  In North Carolina, kaolinite appears to be  ______ because of iron oxide

    • Red

    • White

    • Black

    • Blue

    Correct Answer
    A. Red
  • 29. 

    Which would not be a candidate for carbon-14 dating?

    • Tree stump enclosed within a bed of till which accumulated at the end of the last continental glaciation

    • Partially burnt logs in Neanderthal caves of southern France. It could date seawater at the base of the Marianas trench

    • Shroud of Turin, a garment which is believed by some clerics to have been the burial shroud of Jesus Christ.

    • Fossils of dinosaur bones in northeastern Africa

    Correct Answer
    A. Fossils of dinosaur bones in northeastern Africa
  • 30. 

    Which of the following is not an example of a base-level?

    • Sea level

    • Headwater

    • Surface of a major river at the point where a tributary joins that river

    • Surface of a water body that is filling a reservoir

    • Sea floor

    Correct Answer
    A. Headwater
  • 31. 

    The maximum amount of oxygen gas (O2) that can be dissolved in water at room temperature and pressure is about 10 parts per million (10 ppm). One may express the proportion of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere using the same type of units (ppm). The proportion of oxygen in Earth's atmosphere is roughly 

    • 21 ppm

    • 210,000 ppm

    • 21,000 ppm

    • 2100 ppm

    • 210 ppm

    Correct Answer
    A. 210,000 ppm
  • 32. 

    Written climatic records go back over 1000 years in Japan. It is well documented globally that glaciers expanded from the mid-thirteenth century until the middle of the nineteenth century. This cold period, known as the Little Ice Age, interrupted Scandinavian exploration of North America. Decreasing temperatures killed crops and caused starvation of a substantial Scandinavian settlement in

    • Maine.

    • Massachusetts. .

    • Ontario

    • New Hampshire

    • Greenland

    Correct Answer
    A. Greenland
  • 33. 

    Air which immediately overlies the Earth's surface becomes heated and rises to form large convection cells. Comparable convection cells also characterize the atmosphere at other latitudinal belts. The upper limit reached by convection cells is about 12 km. The intervening portion of the atmosphere generates all of Earth's weather and is called the troposphere. Immediately above that lies the.

    • Thermalsphere.

    • Mesiosphere

    • Tratosphere

    Correct Answer
    A. Tratosphere
  • 34. 

     Earth is differentiated into a core, mantle, and crust. Chemical elements have preferentially migrated into each of these concentric shells during the early "cooking" of Earth. Platinum, gold, and iron are found in the 

    • Core

    • Crust

    • Mantle

    Correct Answer
    A. Core
  • 35. 

    According to Plate Tectonic Theory, subduction of oceanic lithosphere through the asthenosphere occurs more readily after the lithosphere has migrated 1000 km from a spreading center. This is because the oceanic lithosphere has 

    • Cooled and become denser than the asthenosphere

    • Thinned and become able to cut through the asthenosphere.

    • Cracked into small pieces, each of which can penetrate the asthenosphere more readily than can a continuous slab.

    Correct Answer
    A. Cooled and become denser than the asthenosphere
  • 36. 

    Continental crust averages about four times thicker than oceanic crust.  Oceanic crust is denser than continental crust 4.2/2.7 = 1.55 and this makes it sink relative to continental crust.  Given that it sinks, seawater pours onto the low-lying oceanic crust.  The average depth of seawater on top of oceanic crust is 3.7 km, so the average seafloor lies 3.7 km beneath sea-level.  Oceanic crust is denser than continental crust by a factor of about

    • 3.2/2.7 = 1.2

    • 3.5/2.7 = 1.3

    • 3.8/2.7 = 1.4

    • 4.2/2.7 = 1.55

    • 4.5/2.7 = 1.66

    Correct Answer
    A. 3.2/2.7 = 1.2
  • 37. 

    The legend for Fig. 8 shows that the darkest pattern corresponds to "all other components". The three pie charts illustrate relative masses of the components rather than relative volumes or relative numbers of atoms. Within the "other components", the most abundant chemical element (of the following chemical elements) is Fig. 8. Chemical Components in Magma,  from Basaltic to Rhyolitic Magma  

    • Titanium

    • Nickel

    • Copper

    • Lead

    • Hydrogen

    Correct Answer
    A. Titanium
  • 38. 

    Which of the following magama types would most likely accumulate on the seafloor?

    • Basalt is 50% SiO2

    • Andesite is 60% SiO2

    • Rhyolite is 70% SiO2

    Correct Answer
    A. Basalt is 50% SiO2
  • 39. 

     If iron-rich magma erupts into a deep water body, the most common product is 

    • Obsidian

    • Columnar basalt

    • Pillow basalt

    • Exfoliated granite

    Correct Answer
    A. Pillow basalt
  • 40. 

    Consider an outcrop of cross-bedded sedimentary rock.  Cross-beds characterize sandstone that has accumulated when one sand dune overrode another.  This occurs least often 

    • In the desert

    • On the seafloor

    • In the mountains

    Correct Answer
    A. In the mountains
  • 41. 

    The lowest level that a stream can erode the land surface is called the stream's

    • Base level

    • Impasse

    • Meander

    • Floor

    • Hood

    Correct Answer
    A. Base level
  • 42. 

    Phosphate mines are most common in which area of North Carolina?

    • Coastal Plains

    • Piedmont

    • Triangle

    • Raleigh Belt

    • Blue Ridge

    • Eastern Volcanic Belt

    • Western Plains

    Correct Answer
    A. Coastal Plains
  • 43. 

    In the northern hemisphere of Fig. 16, there is a wavy line which stretches all the way from the left side toward the right side of the figure, separating the low-pressure from high-pressure regions. This wavy line most closely corresponds to the 

    • Jet stream. .

    • Tropopause.

    • Mid-latitude inversion

    • Trade winds

    • Horse latitudes.

    Correct Answer
    A. Jet stream. .
  • 44. 

    Sand inherently forms dunes, whether deposited from water or wind.  Dunes generally consist of two surfaces, one inclined upwind and the other (the slip face) downwind.  Deposition on these surfaces produces the sedimentary structure called

    • Cross bedding

    • Graded bedding

    • Dunite

    • Inclinite

    • Windite

    • Slipfite

    Correct Answer
    A. Cross bedding
  • 45. 

    Carbon-fourteen is continuously created in the 

    • Upper atmosphere

    • Lower atmosphere

    • Upper athenosphere

    • Upper stratosphere

    • Lower athenosphere

    Correct Answer
    A. Upper atmosphere
  • 46. 

    Planets which lie near the Sun are called terrestrial planets whereas the others are called jovian planets. These two types differ in both density and diameter. The planet with the greatest density in the entire Solar System is 

    • Mercury

    • Saturn

    • Earth

    • Jupiter

    • Mars

    Correct Answer
    A. Earth
  • 47. 

    Baslatic crust is created when basaltic magama rises from the mantle along 

    • Divergent plates

    • Convergent plates

    • The axial valley

    • The subduction line

    Correct Answer
    A. Divergent plates
  • 48. 

    Which of the following magama types would most likely accumulate on the continental interior?

    • Basalt is 50% SiO2

    • Andesite is 60% SiO2

    • Rhyolite is 70% SiO2

    Correct Answer
    A. Rhyolite is 70% SiO2
  • 49. 

    The third-most-abundant element in Earth's crust is

    • Carbon

    • Silicon

    • Oxygen

    • Iron

    • Aluminum

    Correct Answer
    A. Aluminum

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