Introduction to Geology Test Questions
Course Introduction
Introduction to Geology provides a foundational exploration of Earth's physical structure, materials, and processes. The course covers key topics including the formation and classification of rocks and minerals, the dynamics of plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes, and the shaping of landscapes through weathering and erosion. Students will also gain an understanding of geological time, the history of the Earth, and the impact of human activity on geological processes. Through lectures, laboratory exercises, and field observations, the course equips students with essential skills to analyze geologic features and interpret Earth's ongoing changes.
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) The series of processes by which one rock type can transform to another, and record Earth's internal or external past environmental conditions as it does so, is called
A)the Wilson cycle
B)the uniformitarian cycle
C)the rock cycle
D)the tricycle
Answer: C
Q2) "The physical, chemical and biological processes that operate today have operated throughout geologic time" is a restatement of James Hutton's theory of ________.
A)catastrophism
B)gradualism
C)recidivism
D)uniformitarianism
Answer: D
Q3) Sea-floor spreading occurs at ________ boundaries. Answer: divergent
Q4) What is the average density of oceanic crust?
Answer: 3.0 grams per cubic centimetre
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Chapter 2: Minerals: The Building Blocks of Rocks
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following has the highest specific gravity?
A)wood
B)water
C)gold
D)quartz
Answer: C
Q2) Which one of the following is false for minerals?
A)They have a specific, internal, crystalline structure.
B)They can be a liquid, solid, or glass.
C)They have a specific, predictable chemical composition.
D)They can be identified by characteristic physical properties.
Answer: B
Q3) All silicate minerals contain which two elements?
A)iron, silicon
B)silicon, sodium
C)oxygen, carbon
D)silicon, oxygen
Answer: D
Q4) Which is the most common mineral class?
Answer: the silicates
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Chapter 3: Igneous Rocks
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Sample Questions
Q1) All other factors being equal (geothermal gradient, pressure, composition, and heat from other sources such as friction), why is magma generally produced in association with subduction zones as opposed to areas away from subduction zones?
Answer: Water released from subducting slabs lowers the melting point of overlying mantle, inducing much melting and magma generation in subduction zones.
Q2) Which of the following best describes an aphanitic texture?
A)The rock is crystalline; mineral grains are too small to be visible without a magnifying lens or microscope.
B)The mineral grains have glassy textures.
C)The rock consists of broken, volcanic-rock and mineral fragments.
D)The rock is crystalline; mineral grains are of distinctly different sizes.
Answer: A
Q3) The average geothermal gradient in the upper crust is about 25° C/km.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) Pegmatites consist of what size mineral grains?
Answer: extremely coarse grains, centimetres to several metres in size
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Volcanoes and Volcanic Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the largest immediate volcanic threat to human life and property?
A)incandescent lava fountains and lava flows like at Kilauea since 1983
B)proximity on the ground to explosive eruptions like Mount Merapi, Pinatubo, and Nevado de Ruiz
C)stratospheric ash clouds that pose a hazard to international airline travel
D)being encased in plaster like the former victims of Pompeii
Q2) ________ massive, gently sloping volcanoes built of successive, basaltic lava flows
A)shield volcanoes
B)composite/stratovolcanoes
C)cinder cones
Q3) The 1943-44 eruption of Paricutin in Mexico was characterized by which one of the following sets of volcanic phenomena?
A)mudflows; explosive ash eruptions
B)welded-tuff deposition; caldera formation
C)cinder cone building; mafic aa lava
D)pyroclastic eruptions; nuée ardente flows
Q4) Which one of the three major kinds of volcanoes consists almost exclusively of pyroclastic debris?
Q5) What kind of volcanic structure is Black Tusk in British Columbia?
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Chapter 5: Weathering and Soil
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Sample Questions
Q1) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)mine acid
B)calcite
C)hematite
D)goethite
Q2) When did land plants first contribute to biologic weathering and soil formation?
Q3) Which is the common soil formed in dry young forest with long winters as in Yukon?
A)brunisol
B)cryosol
C)gleysol
D)podzol
Q4) Compare and contrast soil formation between an arid region underlain by quartz sandstone and a temperate climate in an area composed of granite.
Q5) Clay minerals formed from gabbro or diorite bedrock illustrate which kind of weathering?
A)chemical
B)proactive
C)syntropical
D)mechanical
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Chapter 6: Sedimentary Rocks
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Sample Questions
Q1) No chemical rocks can have a clastic texture.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Mud cracks in a shale or mudstone indicate that the mud or clay was deposited in deep waters of an offshore marine environment.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What two conditions must be met for fossil preservation?
Q4) What is the hardest cementing mineral commonly found in sedimentary rocks?
Q5) Why do clays settle so slowly?
Q6) Travertine is a specific form of what common mineral?
Q7) Hot regions having basins with limited input and restricted circulation tend to have ________ deposits.
A)sandy beach
B)glacial dropstone
C)limestone reef and bank
D)evaporite
Q8) Peat is thought to be the original material from which coals are formed. A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Metamorphism and Metamorphic Rocks
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Sample Questions
Q1) Metamorphic grade refers to ________.
A)economic value of metamorphic rocks
B)how much we'll have to curve your test mark if you are guessing!
C)metamorphic intensity as recorded by particular minerals which are sensitive to temperature and pressure
D)recrystallization versus amount of primary mineral grains
Q2) At elevated pressures, water can be used to supply unequal, directed pressure by hydraulic forces.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Give the name of a rock formed by regional metamorphism of a conglomerate.
Q4) Vast flat exposures of ancient metamorphic and igneous rocks are called ________.
Q5) The distinctive layers or bands of different minerals in gneisses may be complexly folded.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Greenschist results from contact metamorphism of a roof pendant.
A)True
B)False
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Geologic Time
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Sample Questions
Q1) In terms of age, a fault is ________ that a rock it cuts.
Q2) The rare element iridium has been implicated in which "ancient health" crisis?
A)poisoning of primitive algae in the Hadean Eon
B)extinction of the woolly mammoths in late Pleistocene time
C)disappearance of Neanderthal man during the early Cenozoic Era
D)extinction of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous Period
Q3) In a given area where you have little knowledge of the local geology (rocks types, fossils, etc.), what type of unconformity would be the most difficult to recognize in an exposed sequence of rocks? Why?
Q4) Name the three eons of Precambrian time.
Q5) Compare and contrast relative age dating with radiometric age dating.What is a limitation (if any)of each?
Q6) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)Foraminifera
B)Coccoliths
C)Trilobites
D)Dinoflagellates
Q7) Uranium has two, long-lived, radioactive isotopes, U-238 and U-235.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Crustal Deformation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)normal fault
B)reverse fault
C)thrust fault
D)strike-slip fault
Q2) Describe the most common way for a monocline to form.
Q3) When do rocks succumb to ductile deformation?
A)at shallow depth, at low confining pressure, and low temperature
B)at great depth under active mountain belts with high confining pressure and low strain rates or prolonged strain
C)in fault zones with intermittent high strain rates
D)on the rims of meteorite impact craters
Q4) The Michigan geologic map shows older Precambrian crystalline metamorphic rocks, surrounding Paleozoic marine strata (in roughly circular patterns), surrounding a central core area of Carboniferous rocks.What is this structure?
A)a dome
B)a recumbent horst
C)a klippe
D)a basin
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Chapter 10: Earthquakes and Earth's Interior
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Sample Questions
Q1) Provide an example of damage to buildings or engineering works through seismically induced liquefaction or flowage of foundation materials.
Q2) One way we know that tsunamis are "gravity" waves and not "pressure" waves, is they are limited by the speed of sound.The speed of sound in ordinary ocean water is 1.5 km/sec.What is the wave speed of a tsunami in km/sec if it can move 900 km/hr in the open ocean? What mach number is this (how many times the speed of sound in water)?
Q3) In collecting historic and geologic data on the geographic extent of rupture zones for great earthquakes ________.
A)individual rupture zones tend to occur adjacent to one another, without appreciable overlap, tracing out the plate boundary
B)a clear pattern is bound to emerge eventually, if only we wait long enough
C)zones of rupture for a singe great earthquake string out along the fault intermittently with intact regions like tears on a dotted line
D)zones of rupture tend to be the same size and are sequentially located along the entire length of the fault, clearly indicating exactly which area is the next to break
Q4) Briefly explain or draw and label the elastic -rebound earthquake cycle.
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Page 12
Chapter 11: The Ocean Floor
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Sample Questions
Q1) How deep is the deepest portion of the ocean floor and what are these regions called?
A)2000 metres, submarine canyons
B)2500 metres, rift zones
C)4000 metres, abyssal plains
D)>10,000 metres, trenches
Q2) Water depths and seafloor bathymetry (submarine topography)are now routinely determined by ________.
A)ship-mounted radar with fiber-optical satellite uplink systems
B)computerized, satellite-mounted, weighted lead-lines
C)ship-mounted or towed echo sounders
D)by satellite-linked, laser reflector systems
Q3) During seafloor spreading, new basaltic material is added equally to both plates, and seafloor slides downhill away from the elevated ridge system at equal rates in both directions.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In terms of distinctiveness in depth and ruggedness, the three different regions of the seafloor are: ________.
Q5) A low lying, coral limestone island with a central lagoon is called an ________.
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Chapter 12: Plate Tectonics: The Framework for Modern Geology
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Sample Questions
Q1) During the first quarter of the twentieth century, ________ was the most vigorous proponent of continental drift.
Q2) Which of the following most accurately describes the volcanoes of the Hawaiian Islands?
A)shield volcanoes fed by a long-lived hot spot below the Pacific plate
B)composite volcanoes associated with subduction and a convergent plate boundary
C)shield volcanoes associated with a mid-Pacific ridge and spreading centre
D)composite volcanoes associated with a mid-Pacific transform fault
Q3) The Aleutian Islands occur at ________.
A)an ocean-ocean convergent boundary on a volcanic arc above a northward-subducting Pacific plate
B)a transform boundary where North America has moved towards Alaska
C)a divergent boundary where shield volcanoes are forming
D)a convergent, continental margin with uplifted fault blocks, much like those of the Basin and Range Province
Q4) The longest topographic feature on Earth, at > 70,000 kilometres, is the mid-ocean ridge system.
A)True
B)False
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Mountain Building and Continental Frameworks
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Sample Questions
Q1) India was rifted from Antarctica about 130 million years ago, drifted northwards throughout the Cretaceous and Early Cenozoic, to finally crash into Asia 10 million years ago.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What other types of forces contribute to vertical (up or down)crustal motions other than plate convergence and isostatic compensation?
Q3) Topographically high-standing, mountainous areas generally ________.
A)are underlain by greater than average thicknesses of lower density, crustal rocks
B)subside rapidly to compensate for erosion
C)have thicker, higher-density mantle rocks beneath them at shallow depths
D)experience rapid erosion that thins the crust and causes the area to subside
Q4) If the earthquakes south of India foretell of an new subduction zone forming there, eventually the Himalayas will gain a volcanic arc on top of the Tibetan Plateau.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Explain the process of accretionary wedge development.
Q6) What kind of a mountain belt is the Canadian Rockies?
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Chapter 14: Mass Wasting: The Work of Gravity
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Sample Questions
Q1) Among the human factors which may have prepared or triggered the 1903 Frank Slide were deforestation on, and coal mining beneath, the slope that failed.
A)True
B)False
Q2) All of the following are factors affecting mass wasting except for ________.
A)gravity
B)water
C)slope angle
D)geologic age
Q3) How can rock slopes be stabilized against rockslides?
Q4) Which one of the following operates primarily in areas of permafrost?
A)rockslide
B)solifluction
C)slump
D)debris flow
Q5) What popular stretch of highway in Canada is notorious for rockslides and debris flows?
Q6) Thick accumulations of cohesive, water-saturated materials such as clay are prone to generate ________ as they fail along a spoon shaped, concave-up, rupture.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Running Water
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Sample Questions
Q1) Stream discharge is defined as the quantity of water flowing past a specific channel location per unit time.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A stream flowing out from a lake cannot downcut below the water surface elevation of the lake.
A)True
B)False
Q3) ________ is defined as the drop in elevation of the stream surface divided by the distance the water flows.
Q4) ________ are components of the hydrologic cycle that release water vapour directly to the atmosphere.
A)Runoff and infiltration
B)Evaporation and transpiration
C)Precipitation and runoff
D)Discharge and transportation
Q5) A poorly-drained natural marsh behind a levee is called a back swamp.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Groundwater
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ is the volume of voids or open space in a rock or unconsolidated material.
A)Permeability
B)Porosity
C)Saturation index
D)Capillarity
Q2) Another name for the region that includes both the belt of soil moisture and the capillary fringe is ________.
Q3) Two ways that sink holes can form are by ________ and ________.
Q4) Which of the following geologic materials would have the highest groundwater velocities and be least effective in removing unwanted pollutants from the water?
A)a sandy loam soil with high organic carbon content
B)limestone with numerous solution channels and fractures widened by dissolution
C)lakebeds consisting of unconsolidated very fine-grained sand and silt
D)sandstone; well-cemented with a few, widely spaced vertical fractures
Q5) What feature originates where the water table intersects the land surface?
Q6) A terrain exhibiting many distinctive features related to subsurface solution of limestone is known as ________.
Q7) What term denotes the percentage of open space or voids in a material?
Page 18
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Chapter 17: Glaciers and Glaciation
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Q1) The ________ was the most recent Pleistocene glacial episode in North America.
A)Dakotan
B)Kansan
C)Indianan
D)Wisconsinan
Q2) What does it mean when the terminus of a glacier has been stationary for several years?
A)The local glacial budget is in equilibrium.
B)The glacier is still frozen but has quit moving.
C)The glacier is storing up energy preparing to surge forward.
D)Global warming has ceased.
Q3) The main direct geologic effect(s)of glaciers is (are)to ________.
A)erode the continental landscape and to transport and deposit sediments
B)reduce high latitude marine sedimentation by reducing biologic productivity
C)warm the global climate by absorbing more solar radiation
D)raise global sea level by depressing the crust
Q4) The abrupt break in stream gradients in glaciated terrains often leads to spectacular mountain waterfalls such as at Trout Pond Newfoundland and Helmcken Falls in Wells Gray Park, B.C.These are all examples of what kind of glacial valley intersection?
Page 19
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Chapter 18: Deserts and Winds
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Q1) ________ are rocks with one or more flat surfaces abraded by windblown sand.
Q2) Wind turbines 10 metres above the ground surface are subjected to relatively little abrasion by blowing sand.
A)True
B)False
Q3) All of the following statements concerning dry lands are true except for?
A)Precipitation totals are low; dew points are lower in the summer than winter.
B)Evaporation potential exceeds actual precipitation.
C)Storms are infrequent and rainfall amounts are highly variable.
D)Wind is the dominant agent of erosion and sediment transport.
Q4) What do barchan and parabolic dunes have in common?
Q5) Which desert is a low-latitude, subtropical desert characterized by high atmospheric pressures and descending air masses (not rain shadow deserts).
Q6) What features or characteristics would distinguish a Paleozoic sandstone formation as being eolian (wind-blown)in origin rather than having formed from an ancient stream or coastal environment?
Q7) Where are the thickest deposits of loess found?
Q8) Deposits of windblown silt are called ________.
Q9) ________ are solitary, crescent-shaped dunes whose tips face downwind.
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Chapter 19: Shorelines
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Q1) As a deep-water wave enters shallow water, the wave slows down and rotates toward being parallel with the shoreline.This process is known as ________.
Q2) If erosion of coastal glacial deposits in Britain has worn back 4 kilometres of coast in 2000 years what is the rate of erosion?
Q3) A baymouth bar is ________.
A)a sand deposit extending from a headland partway across the entrance to a bay
B)a sand deposit on the estuary side of gap in a barrier island
C)a sand deposit on the seaward side of a tidal inlet to a large estuary
D)a sand bar extending across the mouth blocking a former inlet to a bay or estuary
Q4) What two terms denote the complex, turbulent, shallow water and sand movements associated with a wave breaking in the foreshore zone?
Q5) The shoreline represents an interface between the land, sea, and air.
A)True B)False
Q6) What term denotes a sand bar built across the former mouth of an estuary and separating it from the open sea?
Q7) A ________ is a high rocky pinnacle that rises from a wave-cut platform.
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Chapter 20: Mineral and Energy Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) The majority of coal currently mined in Canada comes from Mesozoic deposits in
A)Nova Scotia
B)Nunavut
C)Quebec
D)British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan
Q2) Resources include ________ that are already identified deposits from which valuable materials can be extracted profitably.
A)commodities
B)securities
C)reserves
D)packages
Q3) Depleted uranium ( ²³?U )and spent nuclear fuel rods from the nuclear power industry, and nuclear weapons programs, do not constitute any long term environmental concern or liability.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Solar and wind power are examples of renewable, energy resources.
A)True
B)False
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