Physical Science for Non-Majors Test Questions
Course Introduction
Physical Science for Non-Majors is an introductory course designed to provide students from diverse academic backgrounds with a foundational understanding of the principles and concepts underlying the physical sciences, including physics, chemistry, astronomy, and earth science. This course emphasizes the relevance of physical science in everyday life through engaging lectures, demonstrations, and hands-on activities. Students will explore topics such as the nature of matter and energy, motion, forces, the structure of the universe, and environmental processes, fostering scientific literacy and critical thinking skills necessary for informed decision-making in a scientifically complex world. No prior experience in science is required, making it accessible and relevant to all non-science majors.
Recommended Textbook
GEOL 2nd Edition by Reed Wicander
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Understanding Earth: A Dynamic and Evolving Planet
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Q1) How are the rock cycle and plate tectonics related?
Answer: Interactions between plates determine,to some extent,which of the three rock groups will form.Plates may melt to form igneous rocks,be altered to form metamorphic,or sink to allow sediments to become sedimentary rocks.
Q2) Name,locate,and describe Earth's three concentric layers.What are these divisions based on and what volume does each layer take up?
Answer: The three concentric layers are determined by density.At Earth's center is the most dense layer,the core,with a calculated density of 10-13 grams per cubic centimeter.At 16% of the total volume,the core is mostly iron with a small amount of nickel.There are two layers,a solid interior and a liquid outer layer.The mantle makes up most of the planet's volume,83%.The mantle is much less dense than the core,3.3-5.7 grams per centimeter cubed.It is composed mostly of dark,dense peridotite.The outermost layer is the least dense layer,the crust.There are two major types,continental crust,which is thick and has an average density of 2.7 grams per cubic centimeter and oceanic crust,which is thinner and density at 3.0 grams per cubic centimeter.
Q3) Historical geology is the study of ____________________.
Answer: the origin and evolution of Earth and its continents,oceans,atmosphere,and life
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Chapter 2: Plate Tectonics: A Unifying Theory
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Q1) In what ways does plate tectonics theory have economic applications?
Answer: By understanding the geologic history of a region,geologists can predict whether it will be a worthwhile place to search for petroleum or ore deposits.
Q2) Draw a cross-section of an oceanic-continental convergent plate boundary.Show the directions of relative plate motion.Put stars for the locations of earthquakes.Put triangles with smoke out the top for the locations of volcanoes.Label the trench and subduction complex.
Answer: NO Answer
Q3) Radiometric dating shows that the oldest ocean crust is ____________________ years old and the oldest continental crust is ____________________ years old.
Answer: 180 million,3.96 billion
Q4) Who was the first person to suggest that all of the continents had been once joined together as a supercontinent called Pangaea and when was that idea proposed?
Answer: The German meteorologist Alfred Wegener proposed the existence of Pangaea in 1915.
Q5) At a convergent plate boundary,oceanic crust is ____________________. Answer: destroyed
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Chapter 3: Minerals: The Building Blocks of Rocks
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Q1) The chemical formula of halite is NaCl.In simple terms,state how these atoms come together to form a solid mineral.
Answer: Sodium has only one electron in its outer shell,whereas chlorine has seven.Atoms want to have a full outer shell,so sodium gives its extra electron to chlorine,creating two ions: Sodium now has a positive charge and is Na ,and chlorine has a negative charge and is Cl-.This is called ionic bonding.
Q2) Give an example of a native element.
Answer: Gold/silver/copper/diamond/graphite.
Q3) In the ____________________ type of chemical bonding,electrons are shared between adjacent atoms.
Answer: covalent
Q4) Tightly bonded,complex groups of different atoms that act as single units (e.g. ,carbonate)are known as ____________________.
Answer: radicals
Q5) The atomic mass of an atom may vary,but its atomic number does not.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Igneous Rocks and Intrusive Igneous Activity
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Q1) Batholiths are mostly emplaced by ____________________ ____________________ as magma moves upward into country rock.
Q2) Igneous rocks formed by explosive volcanic activity have a texture that is termed:
A)aphanitic.
B)porphyritic. C)glassy.
D)phaneritic.
E)pyroclastic.
Q3) Briefly explain why felsic intrusive rocks are actually more common than mafic intrusive rocks.
Q4) What is viscosity? What is the effect of temperature and composition on the viscosity of magma? At the same temperature,which composition of magma will be the most viscous: felsic,intermediate,or mafic? Which will be the least viscous?
Q5) The process of assimilation results in the cooling of an intruding magma. A)True B)False
Q6) Is the process of partial melting more likely to produce magmas that are more mafic or more felsic? Why?
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Chapter 5: Volcanoes and Volcanism
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Q1) What is a lahar?
Q2) How is the behavior of gases different in a quiet and an explosive eruption?
Q3) Mauna Loa volcano in Hawaii is huge and has gentle slopes;Mount Rainier in Washington is tall,with much steeper slopes;and Paricutín in Mexico is smaller and has very steep slopes composed of loose pyroclastic material.What type of volcano does each one represent,and what kind of volcanic activity produced it?
Q4) Pyroclastic sheet deposits are thin lava flows that often exhibit columnar jointing.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Volcanism profoundly affects the atmosphere,hydrosphere,and biosphere.
A)True
B)False
Q6) The volcanic explosivity index (VEI)can be correlated with the number of deaths caused by an eruption.
A)True
B)False
Q7) What is the volcanic explosivity index (VEI),and how is it determined?
Q8) Which type of volcano is Mount St.Helens?
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Chapter 6: Weathering, Soil, and Sedimentary Rocks
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Q1) A vertical sequence of transgressive facies shows an offshore facies superposed on nearshore facies.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The economically valuable mineral resource produced by intense chemical weathering that is found only in laterite soils is called ____________________.
Q3) Soils that are a result of intense weathering and are typically found in the tropics are ____________________.
Q4) Explain why understanding the depositional environments of sedimentary rocks are sometimes economically important.
Q5) Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are rising due to the burning of fossil fuels.How might this increased level of carbon dioxide affect rates of weathering?
Q6) Briefly explain the sequence in which a soil develops.
Q7) What is a marine transgression? What are the sedimentary facies associated with a marine transgression?
Q8) Is banded iron formation a chemical or detrital sedimentary rock? Explain.
Q9) Briefly explain how hydrolysis results in the weathering of some minerals.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Metamorphism and Metamorphic Rocks
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Q1) Describe the occurrence of metamorphism along a divergent plate boundary
Q2) Foliated metamorphic rocks form when pressure is applied
A)outward at the two sides (tension).
B)inward at the two sides (compression).
C)in a shearing environment (tension).
D)as compression or tension.
Q3) The type of metamorphism that typically produces the hard,dense,fine-grained rocks called mylonites is called ____________________.
Q4) How are foliated metamorphic rocks classified? Describe some of the rock types found at different grades of foliated metamorphic rocks.
Q5) Only magmatic fluids,not pore fluids of the country rock,have an effect on contact metamorphism.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What is lithostatic pressure?
Q7) What is a metamorphic zone?
Q8) Sillimanite is a(n)____________________-temperature,____________________-grade metamorphic mineral.
Q9) How can fluid activity promote metamorphism? Page 9
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Chapter 8: Earthquakes and Earths Interior
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Q1) The type of building construction and population density in the area of an earthquake are factors that can affect the intensity on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The increase of temperature with depth is known as the ____________________.
Q3) The study of earthquakes is called ____________________.
Q4) Seismology has produced a great amount of information about:
A)the mechanisms of plate tectonics.
B)the physical and chemical state of Earth's interior.
C)the causes of mountain building.
D)earthquakes.
E)all of the above
Q5) The major discontinuity that occurs at a depth of 2,900 km below Earth's surface is the:
A)low-velocity zone.
B)Moho.
C)inner core-outer core transition.
D)core-mantle boundary.
E)none of the above
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Chapter 9: Deformation, Mountain Building, and the
Continents
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Q1) Oceanic-continental plate orogenesis can be recognized in the geological record by a(n):
A)accretionary wedge containing ophiolites.
B)landward belt of volcanoes and batholiths.
C)inland zone of block faults.
D)accretionary wedge containing ophiolites AND landward belt of volcanoes and batholiths.
E)all of these.
Q2) A(n)____________________ is a circular or oval fold in which the strata are warped downwardly in the center and the beds on the flanks are ____________________ in age than the strata in the interior.
Q3) What is the difference between brittle and ductile rocks?
Q4) Continents grow and evolve by addition of felsic and mafic crust-a process known as:
A)addition.
B)accretion. C)concretion. D)convergence. E)conformation.
Q5) What does shear stress result from?
Page 12
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Chapter 10: Mass Wasting
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Q1) What role does weathering play in mass wasting?
Q2) Most large mass movements can be prevented given sufficient study and planning. A)True
B)False
Q3) What are quick clays,and how do they cause damage?
Q4) What human activities contribute to or cause mass wasting?
Q5) Some mass wasting occurs at almost imperceptibly slow rates.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Creep is the most economically damaging and widespread type of material flow.
A)True
B)False
Q7) Mass wasting does not occur on:
A)unstable material.
B)near-level slopes.
C)steep slopes.
D)gradual slopes.
E)It occurs on all of these.
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Q8) How does vegetation affect slope stability? What happens if vegetation is removed from the slope?
Chapter 11: Running Water
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Q1) A delta with long fingerlike sand bodies,each deposited in a distributary channel that progrades far seaward,such as the Mississippi River,is typically formed as in a(n)____-dominated delta.
A)avian
B)stream
C)wave
D)tide
E)sediment
Q2) The renewal of erosion that results in creation of stream terraces is generally attributed to a change in ____________________ level,or a change in climate resulting in greater ____________________,and thus,discharge.
Q3) What is meant by the term "divide" as in the continental divide along the Rocky Mountains?
Q4) Meandering streams have semi-circular cross-sections along most of their length.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What causes a delta to form?
Q6) Briefly explain what property of water makes hydrologic cycling possible.
Q7) What evidence reveals that water may once have been abundant on Mars?
Page 14
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Chapter 12: Groundwater
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Q1) What is karst topography? What are some of the features of karst?
Q2) Where does groundwater discharge naturally?
A)only in the ocean
B)only in springs
C)only in streams
D)only in aquifers
E)wherever the groundwater table intersects the ground surface
Q3) The average rate of groundwater flow is:
A)a few kilometers per day.
B)a few meters per day.
C)a few centimeters per day.
D)a few millimeters per day.
E)imperceptible.
Q4) The configuration of the water table is a subdued replica of the overlying land surface;it rises beneath hills and has its lowest elevation beneath valleys.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Where do the pollutants go once they enter the groundwater reservoir?
Q6) How do caves and caverns form?
Q7) What methods are used to counteract saltwater incursion?
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Chapter 13: Glaciers and Glaciation
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Q1) If the firn limit on a glacier does not change from year to year,the glacier has a balanced snow budget.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is the difference between ice caps and continental glaciers?
Q3) What is a fiord,and how does one form?
Q4) Straight scratches on rock surfaces created by glacial abrasion are known as: A)rock flour.
B)glacial striations.
C)glacial till.
D)varves.
E)moraines.
Q5) What are the different types of moraines: end moraines,ground moraines,recessional moraines,lateral moraines,and medial moraines?
Q6) What are dropstones,and what do they indicate?
Q7) Describe the conditions that would make a valley glacier flow faster.
Q8) Why is the velocity of valley glaciers slower along valley walls than in the center of the glacier?
Q9) How do continental glaciers differ from valley glaciers?
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Chapter 14: The Work of Wind and Deserts
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Q1) How do dunes build their characteristic asymmetrical profile?
Q2) Although loess may originate in deserts,it is not deposited in them. A)True
B)False
Q3) Desertification is taking place in the Sahara but not in the developed world. A)True
B)False
Q4) Why do dunes form? How are they self-generating?
Q5) Deserts receive less than ____________________ centimeters of rain per year,on average.
Q6) What is desertification? Which regions are most susceptible to desertification? What causes desertification,and what are its effects?
Q7) A common mode of mass wasting in deserts is: A)mudflows. B)rock fall. C)creep. D)slumps. E)slides.
Q8) Briefly explain how mesas and buttes form.
Q9) Briefly explain why most deserts develop in the mid-latitude dry climate zone. Page 17
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Chapter 15: Oceans, Shorelines, and Shoreline Processes
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Q1) In what direction do longshore currents flow?
Q2) What is an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)?
Q3) What two phenomena cause the tides? Which of these is stronger,and why?
Q4) How do marine terraces form?
Q5) During the past century,sea level has risen 12 centimeters.
A)True
B)False
Q6) A wave-built platform is one in which sediment eroded from sea cliffs is transported seaward until it is deposited at the edge of the wave-built platform.
A)True
B)False
Q7) Spits and baymouth bars are formed due to ____________________ currents.
Q8) What is the cause of rising sea level?
Q9) The transfer of water from depth to the surface is known as ____________________.The transfer of water in the opposite direction is known as
Q10) The two important types of nearshore currents are ____________________ currents and ____________________ currents.
Q11) How are sea cliffs eroded? Page 19
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Chapter 16: Geologic Time: Concepts and Principles
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Q1) How does the sequence of events differ between an angular unconformity and a disconformity?
Q2) The time equivalence of strata is determined by:
A)correlation of unusual lithologies.
B)correlation of key beds.
C)correlation of fossils.
D)lateral tracing.
E)superposition.
Q3) A body of rock that is intruded by another rock must be ____________________ in age than the intrusion.
Q4) The length of time preserved in Grand Canyon rocks is about:
A)10,000 years.
B)100,000 years.
C)1 million years.
D)1 billion years.
E)10 billion years.
Q5) The most accurate radiometric dates are obtained from ____________________ rocks.Only in very unusual circumstances can ____________________ rocks be radiometrically dated.
Page 21
Q6) How are radioactive elements different from stable elements?
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Chapter 17: Earth History
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Q1) In what two major zones or belts has Cenozoic orogenic activity been mainly concentrated?
Q2) What do cyclothems represent?
Q3) What are believed to be the causes of global transgressive and regressive cycles?
Q4) The most abundant rock type deposited during the Kaskaskian sequence was ____________________.
Q5) Archean continental masses were smaller but of the same configuration as those of the modern world.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Why do we know very little about the planet's first 600 million years? Why do we know only slightly more about the early part of the Precambrian?
Q7) What is the basic difference between the Archean and the Proterozoic?
Q8) The boundary between the Tippecanoe and Sauk sequences is a vast unconformity.
A)True
B)False
Q9) How and when did Florida form?
Q10) When and where did the Antler orogeny occur?
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Chapter 18: Life History
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Q1) How were hominids different from other primates?
Q2) Briefly state the problems that animals faced in their adaptation to land.
Q3) The greatest percentage of all mammals are marsupials.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The oldest hominids belong to the genus Homo.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is an invertebrate?
Q6) Triassic land-plant communities were significantly different than Permian due to the introduction of angiosperms.
A)True
B)False
Q7) Mass extinctions at the end of the Ordovician occurred because of:
A)dramatic changes in oceans related to glaciation.
B)dramatic chemical changes in seawater related to meteorite impact.
C)increased solar radiation.
D)decreased solar radiation.
E)dramatic changes in oceans related to glaciation AND increased solar radiation.
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