Introduction to Geology
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
Introduction to Geology provides a foundational overview of Earths physical structure, processes, and history. This course explores fundamental geological concepts such as minerals, rocks, plate tectonics, earth materials, and the formation of landscapes. Students will learn about the processes that shape the Earths surface, including volcanic activity, earthquakes, erosion, and sedimentation, as well as the geological time scale and the evidence for Earths evolution. Through lectures, lab exercises, and field observations, the course aims to foster an understanding of how geological phenomena impact the environment and human society.
Recommended Textbook
Earth An Introduction to Physical Geology 4th Canadian Edition by Edward J. Tarbuck
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Chapter 1: An Introduction to Geology and Plate Tectonics
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Sample Questions
Q1) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)crust
B)mantle
C)lithosphere
D)core
Answer: C
Q2) Compared to the age of the Universe of about 14 billion years, the currently accepted age of Earth is about ________ years as determined by using radioactivity for dating rocks and minerals.
A)4.6 thousand
B)4.6 billion
C)5.4 million
D)13.7 billion
Answer: B
Q3) The Earth's atmosphere serves to ________.
A)generate Earth's magnetic field
B)generate Earth's gravitational field
C)protect us from alien invasion
D)reduce ultraviolet radiation, trap solar heat, and regulate climate
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: Minerals: The Building Blocks of Rocks
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Sample Questions
Q1) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)hardness
B)streak
C)lustre
D)cleavage
Answer: C
Q2) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)sulphides
B)oxides
C)garnets
D)halides
Answer: C
Q3) Ferromagnesian silicate minerals contain some magnesium and/or iron.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) Coal is a rock formed mostly from fine grained carbon minerals.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 3: Igneous Rocks
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Sample Questions
Q1) What phenocryst minerals would you expect to find in a porphyritic andesite?
A)intermediate (Ca-Na)plagioclase and amphibole or pyroxene
B)Na-rich plagioclase and K-feldspar
C)Ca-rich plagioclase and olivine
D)muscovite and biotite
Answer: A
Q2) The main factors which directly govern the development of texture in all igneous rocks are ________.
A)buoyancy, crystal settling, and partial melting
B)cooling rate, dissolved volatiles, and silica content
C)volcano or pluton size and shape
D)weathering and climate
Answer: B
Q3) Technically, the process whereby ions arrange themselves into orderly patterns during the cooling of a liquid is called ________.
Answer: crystallization
Q4) Melting of rocks to form magma as a result of decreased pressure is known as ________.
Answer: decompression melting
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Chapter 4: Volcanoes and Volcanic Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which kind of volcanism is typical of mid-ocean ridge systems?
A)explosive; composite volcanoes
B)submarine; mafic lava flows
C)subversive fissure eruptions and flood basalts
D)explosive; felsic, pyroclastic flows
Q2) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)Mt.Vesuvius
B)Mt.Mazama
C)Mount Pelée
D)Kilauea
Q3) Large, volcanic depressions formed by subsidence and collapse from magma removal following huge eruptions are known as ________.
Q4) Which one of the following best describes volcanism in the Cascade Range of northern California through Washington and its northerly extension as the Garibaldi Belt in SW B.C.?
A)related to a mantle plume
B)related to plate subduction
C)related to a mid-ocean ridge system
D)related to deep, transform faults
Q5) Which basaltic lava flow has a relatively smooth surface?
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Weathering and Soil
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is/are most susceptible to chemical weathering by dissolution?
A)quartz
B)clay minerals
C)iron oxides
D)calcite
Q2) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)topography
B)time
C)parent material
D)elevation
Q3) What term describes a soil that has developed from silt and clay deposited by a flooding river?
Q4) Feldspars naturally decompose by chemical weathering to form clay minerals.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Very fine-sized, clay mineral particles move downward from the A to the B horizon of some soils.What is this process called?
Q6) When did land plants first contribute to biologic weathering and soil formation?
Q7) What term refers to removal of soluble constituents from soils?
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Chapter 6: Sedimentary Rocks
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the chemical formula for dolomite, the major mineral in dolostones?
A)NaCl
B)CaSO<sub>4<sup>.</sup></sub> 2H<sub>2</sub>O
C)SiO<sub>2</sub>
D)CaMg (CO<sub>3</sub>)2
Q2) How wide is a typical continental shelf?
A)10 kilometres
B)80 kilometres
C)> 1800 kilometres
D)8000 kilometres
Q3) What physical and chemical processes transform lignite to bituminous coal?
A)coking in industrial ovens without oxygen
B)heating to drive off water and volatile gases and pressure for compaction
C)weathering and further transport
D)mining it then drying it in the sun
Q4) Other than detrital, what other origin can sediments have?
A)accumulation from inorganic precipitation or organic deposition
B)erosion and transport
C)They were put there by the Devil to confuse us.
D)accumulation of debris from meteorite showers
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Metamorphism and Metamorphic Rocks
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Sample Questions
Q1) How would you correctly refer to the metamorphic grade of a rock that contains abundant chlorite as its highest temperature mineral such as a greenschist or phyllite?
A)"C grade"
B)high grade > 600° C
C)intermediate grade
D)low grade < 200° C
Q2) During metamorphism, what is the major effect of chemically active fluids?
A)increase the pressures in deeply buried, regional-metamorphic zones
B)aid in the movement of dissolved ions and silicate constituents from parent minerals and facilitate growth of new metamorphic mineral grains
C)prevent partial melting so solid rocks can undergo very high temperature regional metamorphism
D)facilitate the formation of schistosity and gneissic banding in hornfels and skarns
Q3) What fluid is geologically the most important to the formation of metamorphic rocks?
Q4) Regional metamorphism is most intense where ________ collide.
Q5) What contact metamorphic rock can exhibit a porphyroblastic texture?
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Geologic Time
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ is placing rocks in their proper sequence of formation by their contact relationships.
Q2) Which of the following is the name of an eon in the geologic time scale?
A)Cretaceous
B)Eocene
C)Phanerozoic
D)Paleozoic
Q3) In relative dating, the principle of cross-cutting relationships allows one to infer that the rock body that does the cutting is clearly older.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which organisms were free swimmers and found in a great variety of Paleozoic and Mesozoic marine habitats?
A)ammonoids and conodonts
B)chitnozoans and graptolites
C)diatoms and diatoms
D)flatclams and trilobites
Q5) Name two geologic processes that can invalidate attempts at radiometric dating?
Q6) After the normal fault A moved, which was the next younger geologic feature?
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Crustal Deformation
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Sample Questions
Q1) In a reverse fault, the hanging wall block moves up relative to the footwall block.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A syncline is ________.
A)a fold in which the older central strata dip away from the axis
B)a fold with only one limb
C)a fold in which older flanking strata dip toward the axis
D)a paralytic drunken fold characterized by recumbent limbs
Q3) Granite or glacial ice is the weakest naturally occurring solid to exhibit ductile flow on a large scale?
Q4) Rocks resist deformation and maintain their rigid shapes until they fault or fracture.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Most earthquakes involve the release of brittle energy that was stored up gradually between earthquake cycles.
A)True
B)False
Q6) A(n)________ has the strata on both limbs dipping away (outward from)the axis.
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Chapter 10: Earthquakes and Earth's Interior
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Sample Questions
Q1) In general, P- and S-wave velocities increase abruptly as the waves pass downward across the crust-mantle boundary.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)Haida Gwaii 2012
B)Saguenay 1988
C)San Francisco 1906
D)Val-Des-Bois 2010
Q3) What is observed in paleoseismology?
Q4) The Mercalli Scale is a scale from ________.
A)1 to 12 that rates the energy required for faulting to occur
B)1 to 10 that rates the energy released by an earthquake
C)I to XII that rates the structural damage due to an earthquake
D)I to X that rates the total energy released during the main quake and all aftershocks
Q5) Some large earthquakes are preceded by smaller magnitude foreshocks.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Name two other zones of seismicity in Canada, excluding the west coast.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: The Ocean Floor
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Sample Questions
Q1) What kind of speeds do turbidity currents achieve, like the 1929 "Grand Banks" event that cut submarine telegraph cables up to 600 kilometres away some 13 hours after the event?
Q2) ________ are regions where the thickest accumulations of sedimentary strata occur.
Q3) Pieces of the complete cross section of ocean crust that have been added to continents are called ________.
A)ophiolites
B)pillow lavas
C)lithosphere
D)gabbro plutons
Q4) In the 1870s, the ________ was involved in the first far-reaching, comprehensive study of Earth's oceans.
A)H.M.S.Beagle
B)H.M.S.Challenger
C)H.M.S.Endeavour
D)U.S.S.Enterprise
Q5) In terms of distinctiveness in depth and ruggedness, the three different regions of the seafloor are: ________.
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Chapter 12: Plate Tectonics: The Framework for Modern Geology
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Q1) Which one of the following is an important fundamental assumption underlying the plate tectonic theory?
A)Earth's magnetic field originates in the outer core.
B)Earth's diameter has been essentially constant over time.
C)Radioactive decay slows down at the extreme pressures of the inner core.
D)Earth's ocean basins are very old and stable features.
Q2) Earth's radius and surface area are slowly increasing to accommodate the new oceanic crust being formed at mid-ocean ridges.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What is the maximum age of the sediments found in the Atlantic Basin according to studies by the Deep Sea Drilling Project and the Ocean Drilling Program?
Q4) Although Alfred Wegener presented compelling evidence for his continental drift hypothesis (despite lacking a mechanism), why was the true nature of plate boundaries not determined until the 1960s?
Q5) Where do shallow focus earthquakes occur relative to the deep ocean trenches?
Q6) Deep focus earthquakes are associated with a ________ plate boundary.
Q7) What is measured with GPS for measuring plate tectonic separations?
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Chapter 13: Mountain Building and Continental Frameworks
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Sample Questions
Q1) Geochemically and thermally, what was the biggest difference between the early Earth and today?
Q2) The Himalayan Mountains and Tibetan Plateau are still rising today as the Indian subcontinent continues to be pressed into Asia by the spreading along the Southeast Indian Ridge.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What do the 1.8 to 1.7, 1.7 to 1.6, and Grenville belts represent?
Q4) The ________ is the global tectonic cycle that rifts supercontinents, developes extensive passive margins, opens ocean basins, closes ocean basins, creates new island arc or Andean crustal orogens, and finally builds new collisional mountain belts as the ocean completely closes to make a new supercontinent.
A)Convective Conga
B)Seafloor Shake Up
C)Wegnerian Break Up
D)Wilson Cycle
Q5) What kind of a mountain belt is the Canadian Rockies?
Q6) What are two broad ideas on the pace of evolution of continents?
Q7) What happens to a mountain belt following an orogeny?
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Mass Wasting: The Work of Gravity
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following mass movements is most likely to occur in a geologic setting where the rock strata are inclined?
A)debris flow
B)slump
C)creep
D)rockslide
Q2) Which of the following statements concerning debris flows is not true?
A)Debris flows may be caused by heavy rains or melting snow.
B)In hilly areas, debris flows move down the canyons and stream valleys.
C)Debris flows deposit talus slopes.
D)Debris flows can move and carry very large boulders and other coarse debris.
Q3) Which of the following remedies are not used to stabilize rock faces along the Sea-to-Sky highway?
A)rock bolts
B)metal screens (mesh)
C)sprayed cement
D)fluid injection
Q4) In rugged, youthful mountainous terrains, which is more active, mass wasting or erosion?
Q5) Felsenmeer is also known as a ________.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Running Water
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which one of the following best fits with floodplain widening?
A)youthful stream; downcutting and waterfall retreat
B)old age stream; rapid erosion of a delta
C)mature stream; lateral cutting and point bar deposition
D)stream rejuvenation; downcutting and meandering
Q2) What is the drop in water surface elevation divided by the distance the water flows?
A)stream discharge
B)hydraulic capacity
C)hydrologic resistance
D)stream gradient
Q3) A radial drainage pattern develops around a volcano.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Where is erosion concentrated along a meandering stream?
A)on the straight channel segments that connect the meander loops
B)on the outer parts of the meander loops or bends
C)at the unconsolidated point bars
D)on the inner banks of the meander loops
Q5) ________ is the release of water vapour to the atmosphere by plants.
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Chapter 16: Groundwater
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Q1) Where does the majority of fresh groundwater reside?
A)as large stationary bodies in enormous underground caverns
B)flowing in large underground rivers
C)in pores within soils and sediments or in fractures in rocks
D)as superheated steam in vast hotspring and geyser fields
Q2) Explain how a stream with an 11 day transit time for its entire length can sustain flow for short periods of drought that exceed 11 days?
Q3) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)purification
B)pesticides
C)contamination
D)farm waste
Q4) Which one of the following concerning artesian wells is false?
A)The well penetrates an aquifer overlain by an aquitard.
B)The well penetrates an aquifer underlain by an impermeable bed.
C)The aquifer is generally inclined, and it is saturated to an elevation above the point where the well penetrates the aquifer.
D)When the well penetrates the aquifer, the water rises to the bottom of the aquitard above the aquifer.
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Chapter 17: Glaciers and Glaciation
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Q1) How does the total land area change during ice ages?
Q2) How can "Plate Tectonics" influence climate or contribute to major glacial cycles?
Q3) The steep, triangular shaped cliffs that flank hanging valleys are called ________.
A)arêtes
B)faceted nunataks
C)lateral moraines
D)truncated spurs
Q4) What is the name for the very large, Pleistocene glacial lake that existed in the Central Prairies?
Q5) What geologic process causes the most rugged relief in high elevation mountainous areas?
Q6) What term describes open fissures in the brittle, surface ice of a glacier?
Q7) By what other process other than plastic flow or basal slip can a glacier move over its bed?
Q8) Melting and evaporation are two forms of ablative calving.
A)True
B)False
Q9) What are two problems with Paul Hoffman's "Snowball Earth Hypothesis"?
Page 19
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Chapter 18: Deserts and Winds
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Q1) During a typical sandstorm, saltating sand grains reach a maximum height of about ________ above the land surface.
A)1 centimetre
B)1 metre
C)10 centimetres
D)10 metres
Q2) Which exerts the greatest amount of erosion and sculpting of landforms in deserts?
A)fast moving, descending, dense, cold dry air from the upper atmosphere
B)rainfall and running water
C)suspended silt load in perpetual dust storms of traversing winds
D)saltating bed load sand in great sandstorms of traversing winds
Q3) What is the source of the water that maintains desert rivers like the Nile, Colorado, or Syr Darya?
Q4) In dry lands, ________ is the covering of coarse particles left on the surface after the finer particles are carried away by wind and running water.
Q5) What is the source of loess in the Chinese loess plateau?
Q6) What is the dominant type of weathering in deserts?
Q7) Where do the low-latitude deserts tend to occur?
Page 20
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Chapter 19: Shorelines
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Q1) Tidal currents are never strong enough to erode the seabed.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The shoreline represents an interface between the land, sea, and air.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What is the wave base?
A)Water depth equal to 1/2 the distance between successive waves
B)Wave height equal to 1/2 the distance between successive waves
C)The minimum elevation of a wave before it will start to curl
D)The distance up the shore where waves can erode
Q4) How does the backshore of a barrier island differ from the backshore of the mainland.
Q5) ________ are constructed parallel to the shoreline and designed to reflect wave energy out to sea.
A)Groins and jetties
B)Seawalls and breakwaters
C)Barrier islands
D)Tidal deltas
Q6) As a scuba diver, why would knowing the depth of the wave base be important?
Page 21
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Chapter 20: Mineral and Energy Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)SEDEX
B)placer
C)stratiform
D)MVT
Q2) Name two metals that are commonly found in residual deposits of deeply weathered continental rocks.
Q3) Which of these statements is false?
A)Geologists can predict where an economically important resource might occur.
B)Geologists can determine the most effective way of extracting a resource.
C)Geologists can determine how a mineral deposit formed to aid in discovering similar deposits.
D)Geologists can determine the order and sequence of events throughout Earth's history but leave it to prospectors and miners to get valuable resources out of the ground.
Q4) Fission of uranium 235 is controllable and nuclear power plants cannot explode like atomic bombs.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Name a country that has well-established geothermal power plants.
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