Historical Geology
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
Historical Geology explores the origin and development of the Earth and its life forms from the planets formation through the present day. This course examines the principles and methods geologists use to interpret Earths history, including the study of rocks, fossils, and stratigraphic layers. Students will investigate the major events of Earths past such as mountain building, plate tectonics, and mass extinctions while tracing the evolution of continents, oceans, climates, and life over geologic time. Emphasis is placed on the interconnection between geologic processes and biological evolution, equipping students with the tools to reconstruct ancient environments and understand the dynamic nature of our planet.
Recommended Textbook Essentials of Geology 4th Edition by Stephen Marshak
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Chapter 1: The Earth in Context
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Q1) Without which of the following would it have been impossible for our Universe to form following the Big Bang?
A) hydrogen
B) helium
C) gravity
D) Both a and b are correct.
E) All of the above are correct.
Answer: E
Q2) If the lithosphere was not relatively rigid,but rather free-flowing,which of the following would be true?
A) The asthenosphere would be free to flow to Earth's surface.
B) Plate tectonics would not occur.
C) The temperature of Earth's surface would be hotter.
D) All of the above are correct.
E) Both a and b are correct.
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics
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Q1) Why don't earthquakes occur everywhere?
A) Rocks break and slip most often along plate boundaries.
B) Plate interiors do not accommodate much movement.
C) Earthquake epicenters speckle the globe randomly.
D) Both a and b are correct.
E) All of the above are correct.
Answer: D
Q2) Iceland is one of the few places in the world that is both above sea level and situated atop a ____________ plate boundary.
A) convergent
B) divergent
C) transform
Answer: B
Q3) The apparent polar wander path obtained from magnetite crystals in basalts on the North American continent is now interpreted to be the result of ____________.
A) wandering of the geomagnetic North Pole
B) drifting of the North American continent
Answer: B
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Chapter 3: Patterns in Nature: Minerals
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Q1) The shape of a crystal is most affected by all of the following except?
A) geometry of their internal structure
B) the angles between crystal faces
C) chemical composition of its surroundings
D) relative dimensions of the crystal
Answer: C
Q2) Gemstones are commonly found in pegmatites,which are igneous rocks that are ____________.
A) exceptionally mafic
B) extrusive, forming from lava
C) exceptionally coarse grained
D) exceptionally fine grained
Answer: C
Q3) If you were to drop a piece of calcite on the ground and a perfect cube broke off,this would be displaying calcite breaking ______________.
A) along already formed cracks
B) coincidentally as a perfect cube
C) in a fracture pattern
D) along weak bonds
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: Up From the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks
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Q1) Very early in Earth's history,it was so hot that the surface was likely entirely molten.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Due to fractional crystallization and assimilation of surrounding host rock,most magmas that rise slowly through the crust chemically evolve to become
A) more felsic
B) more mafic
C) dominated by nonsilicate minerals
Q3) Radioactive isotopes,differentiation of Earth's iron core,gravity-driven compression,and meteoric bombardment all caused early Earth to ____________.
A) glow brighter than the Sun
B) be much cooler than at present
C) be much hotter than at present
D) be much more oblong than at present
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Chapter 5: The Wrath of Vulcan: Volcanic Eruptions
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Q1) As compared to subaerial basaltic lavas,submarine basaltic lavas differ in that they
A) always produce violent pyroclastic debris flows
B) produce large crystals of pyroxene and plagioclase
C) form pillow-like mounds because they cannot flow as far from their source
D) All of the above are correct.
Q2) Nonviolent eruptions characterized by extensive flows of basaltic lava are termed ____________.
A) pyroclastic
B) effusive
C) explosive
Q3) Most terrestrial volcanic glass ____________.
A) is highly silicic in composition
B) is coarse grained
C) consists of microscopic crystals
D) freezes from lavas with low viscosity
Q4) Hawaiian-style effusive eruptions are a greater threat to property than to human life.
A)True
B)False
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Pages of Earths Past: Sedimentary Rocks
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Q1) Swamps,channels,floodplains,and submarine slopes all play a role in the development of ____________.
A) deltas
B) marine deltas
C) alluvial fans
Q2) If evidence of cross bedding was discovered on a barren planet such as Mars,what could you assume was once occurring on the planet?
A) fluvial action
B) glacial migration and retreat
C) high winds
D) movement of water
Q3) Beach sediments would travel ___________ the ocean during a transgression and ___________ the ocean during a regression.
A) toward; away from
B) away from; toward
Q4) Cemented shells of marine organisms form which kind of sedimentary rock?
A) biochemical
B) clastic
C) organic
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Chapter 7: Metamorphism: a Process of Change
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Q1) Marble and quartzite are nonfoliated rocks because ____________.
A) they are never found beneath fault zones or collisional mountain ranges
B) both are dominated by minerals that produce equant grains
C) both are dominated by minerals with crystalline structures that cannot be dissolved
D) dynamothermal metamorphism can break down the structures of their constituent minerals, but neither of these minerals is stable in that metamorphic environment
Q2) All metamorphic rocks are formed within a fairly narrow range of temperature,approximately 400 to 600°C.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Flattened-clast conglomerate would most likely be found ____________.
A) in an aureole around a cooled igneous intrusion
B) at the eroding base of an ancient collisional mountain range
C) at a depth within the mid-ocean ridge system
D) within a meteorite impact crater
Q4) Squashing a fly with a flyswatter is an application of ____________.
A) normal stress
B) shear stress
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Chapter 8: A Violent Pulse: Earthquakes
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Q1) The stress that builds on a preexisting fault that has previously ruptured
A) is great enough to cause new fractures
B) must overcome the force of friction to cause an earthquake
C) is analogous to a broken stick
D) is nonexistent
Q2) Vertical motion seismographs record earthquakes through the production of a squiggly diagram called a ____________.
A) wave sheet
B) seismogram
C) pictogram
D) camera lucida
Q3) Generally,which type of earthquake waves travel fastest?
A) interior waves
B) R-waves
C) surface waves
D) body waves
Q4) Faulting and earthquakes are examples of ____________.
A) brittle behavior
B) ductile behavior
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Chapter 9: Crags, cracks, and Crumples: Crustal
Deformation and Mountain Building
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Q1) The balance between the weight of a mountain range and the buoyancy provided by the underlying mantle is termed ____________.
A) punctuated equilibrium
B) homeostatic equilibrium
C) isostatic equilibrium
D) osmotic equilibrium
Q2) During deformation,rocks can undergo a change in all of the following except ____________ .
A) location
B) composition
C) orientation
D) shape
Q3) An episode of mountain building is termed a(n)____________.
A) orogeny
B) phylogeny
C) aureole
D) slickenside
Q4) Most fault surfaces,like joints,are roughly planar in orientation.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Deep Time: How Old Is Old
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Q1) As understood by modern geologists,the principle of uniformitarianism implies that
A) Earth has always had the same basic appearance that it has today, with the distributions of ocean basins and continents identical to what we see today
B) igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks are uniformly mixed throughout the crust of Earth
C) physical processes observed today (such as erosion and volcanic eruption) have been active in the past and are responsible for the geologic history we see preserved in the rock record
D) physical processes observed today (such as erosion and volcanic eruption) have been occurring throughout Earth history at constant rates; for example, no eruption in geologic time would have been greater than the 1815 Tambora eruption
Q2) Which method of correlation is more reliable for determining age equivalence among bodies of rock that are physically isolated by vast distances?
A) lithologic correlation
B) fossil correlation
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Chapter 11: A Biography of Earth
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Q1) Oxygen in Earth's atmosphere was probably derived from ____________.
A) volcanic outgassing
B) photosynthesis
C) animal respiration
D) water from the oceans breaking down into hydrogen and oxygen during evaporation
Q2) Through geologic time,continents have drifted over the surface of Earth,but each continent has always been about as large as it is today.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The eon represented by abundant deposits of strata with shelly fossils is the ____________.
A) Archean
B) Hadean
C) Proterozoic
D) Phanerozoic
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Chapter 12: Riches in Rock: Energy and Mineral Resources
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Q1) Most of the hydrocarbons within oil and natural gas are derived from the breakdown of organic matter from dead ____________.
A) dinosaurs
B) plankton
C) terrestrial plants
D) mammals
Q2) Is oil or natural gas more likely to be present at the greatest depths within Earth,and why?
A) oil, because it is more stable at high temperatures
B) oil, because it is more stable at low pressures
C) gas, because it is more stable at high temperatures
D) gas, because it is more stable at low pressures
Q3) Which type of ore is most commonly concentrated in magmatic deposits?
A) oxides
B) sulfides
C) native metals
D) copper ores
Q4) Tar has a lower viscosity than gasoline.
A)True
B)False
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Unsafe Ground: Landslides and Other Mass
Movements
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Q1) The principal difference between a lahar and a mudflow is the
A) shape of the path taken by the moving mass
B) grain size of the moving mass
C) lahar's abundant water, compared to the dry mudflow
D) lahar's pyroclastic debris content from a volcanic eruption
Q2) Why might a several-week rise in the Mississippi or Missouri River cause earthen levees (built of soil and sediment)along the riverbanks to fail?
A) The water tables in the levees would rise with the rising river levels
B) Floodwaters would drown plants on the levee banks, kill the plants and roots, and thereby decrease the soil-binding effects of the plant roots on the levees.
C) Rains would wash away the levees.
D) All of the above are correct.
Q3) All regions are susceptible to mass movements.
A)True
B)False
Q4) All types of mass wasting have approximately the same velocities.
A)True
B)False
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Streams and Floods: the Geology of Running Water
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Q1) How would the competency of an arid versus a temperate-region stream vary,in a downstream direction?
A) It would increase more in an arid-region stream.
B) It would increase less in an arid-region stream.
C) It would probably be the same.
Q2) In a region characterized by a parallel series of ridges and valleys,a ____________ drainage network is expected.
A) dendritic
B) radial
C) rectangular
D) trellis
Q3) A 100-year flood is more catastrophic than a 50-year flood.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which two of these factors set the stage for the 1889 Johnstown flood?
A) poor design and "cutting corners" during construction
B) "cutting corners" during construction and heavy sedimentation filling in behind the dam
C) poor design and heavy sedimentation filling in behind the dam
D) poor design and obstruction of the spillway with debris
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Chapter 15: Restless Realm: Oceans and Coasts
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Q1) Estuaries most commonly have salinity that is ____________.
A) identical to normal marine salinity
B) identical to freshwater
C) hypersaline (greater than normal marine salinity)
D) brackish (between freshwater and marine salinity)
Q2) The worldwide average tidal range (difference in elevation between high and low tide)is approximately ____________.
A) 0.5 m
B) 0.5 to 1 m
C) 1 to 3 m
D) >3 m
Q3) The form and topography (depth profile)of the ocean floor is termed ____________.
A) orogeny
B) bathymetry
C) allocthony
D) aquitopography
Q4) As waves approach shore in shallow water,their speed ____________.
A) increases
B) decreases
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Chapter 16: A Hidden Reserve: Groundwater
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Q1) You find a huge new cave system and discover it has multiple,extensive levels,each about 500 ft below the one above it.What can you infer about the water table in the region?
A) It used to be higher.
B) It periodically dropped further and further.
C) It lies beneath an aquitard
D) Both a and b are correct.
Q2) Dissolution of rock produces ____________.
A) primary porosity
B) primary permeability
C) secondary porosity
D) a reduction in primary porosity
Q3) The relationship governing the rate of groundwater flux was discovered by ____________.
A) Alfred Wegener
B) Isaac Newton
C) Henri Darcy
D) Charles Richter
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Chapter 17: Dry Regions: the Geology of Deserts
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Q1) Which of the following is NOT necessary for the formation of calcrete?
A) leaching of soluble mineral constituents by water
B) precipitation of soluble mineral constituents
C) the flow or wicking of water within the ground
D) warm or hot daytime temperatures
Q2) To qualify as a desert,a region must ____________.
A) be hot, with a mean annual temperature greater than 25°C (77°F)
B) be arid, with less than 15% of the ground surface vegetated
C) have a mean annual temperature greater than 25°C and less than 5 cm annual rainfall
D) have no rainfall three out of four seasons
Q3) Two means of sediment transport by wind are ____________.
A) sand load and silt load
B) wind load and storm load
C) dune load and storm load
D) bed load and suspended load
Q4) Because of little rainfall,the majority of physical weathering and transport of sediments in deserts is accomplished by the wind.
A)True
B)False
Page 19
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Chapter 18: Amazing Ice: Glaciers and Ice Ages
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Q1) Mars has polar ice caps that differ from the Earth's Antarctic ice cap in that
A) the Martian caps contain some frozen carbon dioxide (dry ice) as well as ice water
B) the Martian caps have a spiral fracture pattern not found in Antarctica
C) Martian caps are ablated by sublimation only; there is currently no liquid water on Mars
D) All of the above are correct.
Q2) Walking across an Antarctic ice sheet would not be very treacherous if you could stay warm enough.
A)True
B)False
Q3) At the present,glaciers cover about ____________ of the surface of the continents.
A) 1%
B) 5%
C) 10%
D) 20%
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Chapter 19: Global Change in the Earth System
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Q1) If the Arctic Ocean and the air over it and nearby lands are warming up,does this mean that global warming must be occurring?
A) yes
B) no
Q2) Which of the following chemicals is NOT a cause of acidification of the atmosphere or surface waters?
A) minerals containing sulfides
B) bicarbonate
C) carbon dioxide
D) minerals containing silicates
Q3) Nearly all biological,physical,and chemical systems on Earth are disconnected and can be effectively studied in isolation from each other.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following processes releases CO to the atmosphere?
A) photosynthesis
B) weathering of silicate rocks
C) volcanism
D) burial of organic matter
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Chapter 20: Rock Groups
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Q1) How does a metamorphic rock form?
A) Melt a rock to form molten material.
B) Subject a rock to high heat and pressure.
C) Break down a rock and then cement the pieces.
D) Cool a melt so quickly that no crystals form.
Q2) What type of rock is formed during a volcanic eruption?
A) sedimentary
B) equant
C) metamorphic
D) igneous
Q3) Which of the following would NOT be considered a rock?
A) material composed of interlocking crystals.
B) a pile of unconsolidated sand.
C) material made of frothy glass.
D) material made of shells cemented together.
Q4) How would you tell if a rock is crystalline?
A) It contains crystals that have been cemented together.
B) It does not contain crystals at all.
C) It contains interlocking crystals.
D) It contains all one type of crystal.
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Chapter 21: A Surface Veneer: Sediments and Soils
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Q1) Which of the following is a type of physical weathering?
A) thermal expansion
B) dissolution
C) oxidation
D) hydration
Q2) Which of the following does NOT affect soil thickness?
A) time
B) types of animals
C) climate
D) vegetation type
Q3) Chemical weathering involves the breakdown of material due to _____________.
A) mechanical breakdown of rock
B) baking in the hot sun
C) interaction with molten rock
D) interaction with water or air
Q4) Hydration occurs when __________________.
A) minerals are dissolved into water
B) minerals are turned into rust
C) minerals absorb water and expand
D) minerals are removed by frost
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Chapter 22: The Rock Cycle
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Q1) What is the progression of rock types if the steps of a process are as follows? erosion and deposition à melting à melting à erosion and deposition
A) sedimentary à igneous à sedimentary
B) sedimentary à metamorphic à igneous à sedimentary
C) sedimentary à igneous à igneous à sedimentary
D) sedimentary à metamorphic à metamorphic à sedimentary
Q2) What type of rock is formed from deep burial?
A) sedimentary
B) igneous
C) metamorphic
D) chemical
Q3) What process must occur for an igneous rock to turn into a sedimentary rock?
A) metamorphism
B) erosion
C) melting
D) petrogenesis
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Chapter 23: The Earths Interior Revisited: Insights From Geophysics
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Q1) Earth's gravity is best represented by an equipotential surface that contains bumps and depressions where areas of more or less gravity appear over the Earth,this representation is called the _________.
A) reference geoid
B) gravitational potential
C) isostasy
D) geoid
Q2) If an S-wave is traveling through rock when it encounters a magma chamber,the S-wave will ________________.
A) slow down
B) speed up
C) remain at the same speed
D) not travel through the magma
Q3) If a P-wave is traveling through the Earth and encounters a molten magma chamber,what will happen to the velocity of the P-wave?
A) It will slow down.
B) It will speed up.
C) It will stay the same speed.
D) It will drop to zero.
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Chapter 24: Memories of Past Life: Fossils and Evolution
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Q1) Petrified wood is a type of ________________.
A) permineralized organism
B) chemical fossil
C) trace fossil
D) body fossil preserved in tar
Q2) What is natural selection?
A) the theory that all life began in shallow coastal pools of protein-rich water
B) the theory that all life on Earth has evolved from single-celled organisms
C) the idea that animals who share specialized characteristics are part of a genus
D) the passing on of beneficial characteristics so that the most adaptable survive
Q3) Why is the preservation potential of an organism higher if it dies in an anoxic (oxygen-poor)environment?
A) The organism will die more quickly without oxygen.
B) Anoxic environments contain abundant amounts of amber.
C) The organism does not decay in an anoxic environment.
D) Oxygen decreases the rate of permineralization.
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Chapter 25: An Introduction to Landscapes and the Hydrologic Cycle
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Q1) Why is understanding the hydrologic cycle so important to understanding how landscapes form?
A) because water has the ability to seep underground and affect the layers of rock
B) because the oceans cover a vast majority of our planet and are a main erosional agent
C) because the rate at which groundwater moves through the subsurface determines erosion rates
D) because water is the main erosional and depositional agent on Earth
Q2) How does climate affect landscape development?
A) controls the composition of the substrate
B) controls the amount of water available on Earth
C) controls the resistance of the sediments deposited
D) controls the amount of running water or ice
Q3) The difference in elevation in an area is called ____________.
A) erosion
B) deposition
C) relief
D) landform
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