Geology
Chapter Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Geology is the scientific study of the Earth, its materials, the processes that shape it, and its history. This course explores the composition and structure of the Earth's crust, the dynamics of plate tectonics, the origins of rocks and minerals, and the forces that sculpt landscapes over time. Students will learn how geologists interpret clues from fossils, rocks, and geologic formations to reconstruct Earths past and assess natural hazards. The course emphasizes both theoretical concepts and the practical skills necessary to analyze geologic evidence, fostering a deeper understanding of the physical world and its ongoing changes.
Recommended Textbook
Natural Disasters 9th Edition by Patrick Leon Abbott
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Chapter 1: Natural Disasters and the Human Population
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Sample Questions
Q1) The growth rate of the world population equals ______________.
A)the birth rate plus the death rate
B)the birth rate minus the death rate
C)the death rate minus the birth rate
D)None of these are correct.
Answer: B
Q2) The locations of the worst dollar-loss disasters for the insurance industry present a very different picture than the list of worst locations for fatalities in the last three decades of the twentieth century.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Today,the world growth rate for human population is rapidly declining.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) When carrying capacity decreases,populations collapse in mass die-offs.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Page 3
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Chapter 2: Internal Energy and Plate Tectonics
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Sample Questions
Q1) The rates of plate movement are comparable to those of human fingernail growth.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The slide-past motions of long transform faults occur in all but which of the following?
A)In the northeastern Pacific as the Queen Charlotte fault,located near a sparsely populated region of Canada.
B)Along the San Andreas Fault in California with its famous earthquakes.
C)At the southwestern edge of the Pacific Ocean where the Alpine fault cuts across the South Island of New Zealand.
D)Where the Indian subcontinent touches Asia.
Answer: D
Q3) When data from the Earth's magnetic field locked inside seafloor rocks became widely understood,skeptics around the world were convinced that seafloor spreading occurs and that the concept of plate tectonics is valid.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Earthquake Geology and Seismology
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Sample Questions
Q1) The point where a fault first ruptures underground is known as the epicenter.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) The _________ waves' motion is similar to S waves,except it is from side-to-side in a horizontal plane roughly parallel to the Earth's surface.
A)Rayleigh
B)P-
C)Love
Answer: C
Q3) _________ waves travel only through solids;on reaching liquid or gas,the _______ wave energy is reflected back into rock or is converted to another form.
A)S-
B)P-
C)Rossby-
D)QAnswer: A
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Chapter 4: Plate Tectonics and Earthquakes
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Q1) The greatest earthquakes in the world occur _____________.
A)where plates collide with each other
B)where plates separate from one another
C)where plates slide past each other
D)in the interiors of individual plates
Q2) The North Anatolian fault in Turkey is a 1400 km-long fault zone made of numerous subparallel faults that split and combine,bend and straighten,and there is reason to expect major earthquakes to occur progressively farther to the west,ever closer to Istanbul.
A)True B)False
Q3) The compressional movements at subduction zones and continent-continent collisions generate the largest tectonic earthquakes and they affect the widest areas. A)True
B)False
Q4) The deadliest earthquake in recent times occurred in 1976 in Tangshan,China,causing the deaths of at least 240,000 people.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: Earthquakes Throughout the United States and Canada
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Sample Questions
Q1) The creeping movements along some segments of the San Andreas fault are shown by millimeters per year of offset of sidewalks,fences,buildings,and other features.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Nevada has several gaps in the belt of historic seismicity,suggesting residents in these seismic gaps may be in for some future earthquakes.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The New Madrid earthquakes are apparently related to ______________.
A)an old buried transform fault
B)an old buried rift zone
C)an old buried subduction zone
D)an old buried hazardous waste dump
E)an old buried plume
Q4) The duration of shaking in 1985 in Mexico City was decreased due to seismic energy being trapped within the soft sediments.
A)True
B)False
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Volcanic Eruptions: Plate Tectonics and Magmas
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Sample Questions
Q1) Over 80 percent of Earth's magma extruded through volcanism occurs at oceanic spreading centers.
A)True
B)False
Q2) __________ are steep-sided,symmetrical volcanic peaks built of alternating layers of pyroclastic debris capped by high-viscosity andesitic to rhyolitic lava flows that solidify to form protective caps.
A)Stratovolcanoes
B)Scoria cones
C)Shield volcanoes
D)Calderas
Q3) If the magma cools and solidifies below the surface,it crystallizes as volcanic rocks.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Airborne pyroclasts have their finest grains settle down from the atmosphere first,closest to the volcano,followed by progressively coarser material at greater distances away.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Volcano Processes and Deadly Events
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Q1) At Mt.St.Helens,about 60 people were killed in 1980,primarily by pyroclastic flows and effects related to lateral blast.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Magma at spreading centers is low-temperature,low-viscosity,and basaltic,with easy escape of gases,providing all the factors that promote the peaceful eruption of magma.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The energy behind the 1902 pyroclastic flow that destroyed St.Pierre came from
A)the blast of the volcano
B)gravity
C)gas escaping from pieces of airborne pyroclastic material,creating a "popcorn" effect
D)All of the choices are correct.
Q4) In Icelandic-type eruptions,low viscosity,low-volatile content lava erupts peacefully.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 8: Tsunami Versus Wind-Caused Waves
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Sample Questions
Q1) Removal of coral reefs along some stretches of the Indian Ocean coastline greatly reduced local damage from the 2004 tsunami.
A)True
B)False
Q2) There is little threat of a tsunami striking the east coast of the United States.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Earthquake-related tsunami are created by sub-sea fault movements with pronounced vertical offsets of the sea floor.Such movements occur most commonly along __________________.
A)oceanic transform faults
B)seafloor spreading centers
C)subduction zones
D)continental rift zones
E)hotspot island chains
Q4) Most tsunami are generated in the Pacific Ocean basin.
A)True
B)False
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Page 10
Chapter 9: External Energy Fuels Weather and Climate
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Sample Questions
Q1) The process of changing from a solid to a gas is referred to as ________________.
A)evaporation
B)gasification
C)sublimation
D)condensation
Q2) Glass is opaque to _________ radiation.
A)long-wavelength
B)short-wavelength
C)both short- and long-wavelength
D)neither short- nor long-wavelength
E)You can see through glass,so it is transparent to all radiation
Q3) The transport of energy in moving air masses is often experienced as severe storms,moving cold air equatorward and hot air poleward,with much heat carried by water vapor.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Adiabatic effects include expansional cooling or compressional warming.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Tornadoes, Lightning, Heat, and Cold
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Q1) Conditions necessary to turn an ordinary thunderstorm into a tornado-spinning monster include _______________.
A)a low-altitude,northerly flow of warm,humid,tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico
B)a cold,dry air mass moving down from Canada or out of the Rocky Mountains at > 50 mph
C)jet-stream winds racing east at speeds in excess of 150 mph
D)All of the choices are correct.
E)a low-altitude,northerly flow of warm,humid,tropical air from the Gulf of Mexico and a cold,dry air mass moving down from Canada or out of the Rocky Mountains at > 50 mph only
Q2) In the United States,more lightning deaths occur in _______ than any other state.
A)Texas
B)Florida
C)Illinois
D)Indiana
E)Ohio
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Chapter 11: Hurricanes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Of the disaster scales discussed in the book (Richter,Modified Mercalli,Fujita,Saffir-Simpson)
A)all use larger numbers to describe larger disasters.
B)all use smaller numbers to describe larger disasters.
C)some use smaller numbers and some use larger numbers to describe larger disasters.
D)some use alphabetic abbreviations and some use numbers to denote the size of disasters.
Q2) The main influences on tropical cyclone paths include all but which of the following?
A)Trade winds blow the tropical cyclone toward the west.
B)The Coriolis effect adds a curve to the right that progressively increases in strength with increasing distance to the equator.
C)Hurricane paths vary depending on the size and position of the Bermuda High.
D)Hurricane paths vary depending on the size and position of the Bermuda Triangle.
E)Trade winds blow the tropical cyclone toward the west and hurricane paths vary depending on the size and position of the Bermuda Triangle influence the path of a tropical cyclone.
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Chapter 12: Climate Change
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Q1) The major factors in glacial periods lasting tens of millions of years appear to be
A)having one or more large continental masses near the poles.
B)oceanic circulation that is more longitudinal (north-south)than latitudinal (east-west).
C)oceanic circulation that is more latitudinal (east-west)than longitudinal (north-south).
D)Both having one or more large continental masses near the poles and oceanic circulation that is more longitudinal (north-south)than latitudinal (east-west)are correct.
E)Both having one or more large continental masses near the poles and oceanic circulation that is more latitudinal (east-west)than longitudinal (north-south)are correct.
Q2) The CO<sub>2</sub> from the early Earth's atmosphere is stored in physical form in several ways,but over 99 percent of that CO<sub>2</sub> is now chemically tied up in clays.
A)True B)False
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Floods
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Q1) Most flood-related deaths in the United States are caused by flash floods,and about 50 percent of these deaths are vehicle-related.
A)True
B)False
Q2) With respect to channelization,straightening the channel
A)increases the gradient of the stream bottom,making the water flow faster
B)decreases the gradient of the stream bottom,making the water flow slower
C)increases the gradient of the stream bottom,making the water flow slower
D)decreases the gradient of the stream bottom,making the water flow faster
E)None of these are correct.
Q3) If a stream has a meandering section,that section is most likely to be ________________.
A)in its upstream section near its source or sources
B)in its downstream section,near its mouth
C)in its upstream section near its source or sources or in its downstream section,near its mouth
D)braided
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Chapter 14: Fire
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Sample Questions
Q1) In effect,fire is the photosynthesis reaction in reverse.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Pyrolysis of cellulose produces which of the following?
A)methanol (wood alcohol)vapor
B)water vapor
C)fatty deposits
D)chlorophyll
E)coal
Q3) The most intense fires occur in ________________________.
A)dense temperate-zone forests
B)grasses that have broad,exposed surfaces
C)sparse organic litter
D)shrubs containing high contents of natural oils
Q4) Fire hazards are smallest in those regions with the biggest climatic differences between their wet and dry seasons.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: Mass Movements
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Q1) Water molecules can attach their positive sides against clay minerals because clay surfaces are also positively charged.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The sum of all the underlying causes can push a slope to the brink of failure,and then an immediate cause may trigger the movement.Triggers for mass movements include ______________.
A)heavy rains
B)earthquakes
C)thawing of frozen ground
D)the construction projects of humans
E)All of these choices are correct.
Q3) Catastrophic subsidence into sinkholes tends to occur more often in areas underlain by ________________.
A)acidic freshwater flowing through limestone
B)basic freshwater flowing through limestone
C)acidic saltwater flowing through sandstone
D)basic freshwater flowing through sandstone
E)basic saltwater flowing through sandstone
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Chapter 16: Coastal Processes and Hazards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Newtons Law states that force is proportional to
A)Mass times velocity
B)Mass times acceleration
C)Mass squared
D)Mass times speed of light squared
Q2) Longshore drift:
A)acts like an offshore river
B)is reduced by beach construction
C)is enhanced by beach restoration
D)is too far off shore to be a concern
E)does not exist in cliffy regions
Q3) When waves reach shallow water their velocity is controlled by:
A)water fluidity
B)water salinity
C)water volatiles
D)water depth
E)water chemistry
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Chapter 17: Impacts With Space Objects
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Q1) Evidence demonstrating that the crater in Arizona formed by meteorite impact includes all but which of the following?
A)The crater is steep-sided and closed
B)The rim of surrounding rock was created by uplifting the horizontal sedimentary-rock layers of the region and tilting them away from the crater
C)Little hills of rock outside the crater rim are inverted piles of the rock sequence exposed in the crater walls
D)Huge blocks of limestone are strewn around outside the crater
E)A 550-ton spherical piece of nickel-iron metallic meteorite was found in the bottom of the crater
Q2) A comet's tail is produced by the charged particles of the solar wind acting on comet ices.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Space debris that collides with the Earth comes primarily from fragmented asteroids and secondarily from comets.
A)True
B)False
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