GEO113
- ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY
First
Exam: Sample Questions
Select the letter (a, b, c, d, or e) of the choice
that BEST answers the question. Each question has ONLY one correct answer. Answers will be provided a day or two before the second exam.
1. Liquefaction is:
a. flooding caused by dam failure
resulting from an earthquake.
b. the liquid-like behavior of
water saturated ground materials caused by the shaking
of
an earthquake.
c. flooding caused by tsunamis.
d. what happens to your brain at
a frat party.
e. flooding of coastal areas due
to tectonic subsidence.
2. How well a building withstands
an earthquake depends on:
a. the strength and type of the
ground on which the structure is built.
b. the length and magnitude of
the shock(s).
c. whether or not previous large
shocks have already weakened the building.
d. the basic design and
engineering of the structure.
e. all of these
3. A population's DOUBLING
TIME:
a. is a little known bridge bid.
b. will be fifty years if the
population grows at 2 percent per year.
c. is the length of time required
for that population to double in size.
d. increases as life expectancy
increases.
e. all of these
4. Atoms of the same element
having different numbers of neutrons are known as ___________ of that element.
a. atomic numbers
b. isotopes
c. ions
d. neurotics
e. electrons
5. Deep earthquakes commonly
occur:
a. in subduction zones.
b. along transform faults.
c. in the outer core of the
earth.
d. at spreading ridges.
e. all of the above
6. Which of the following is evidence for the existence
of Plate Tectonics?
a. glaciations having occurred on
continents now located near the equator
b. different apparent polar
wander curves for different continents
c. the production of oceanic
crust at mid-ocean ridges
d. the relatively young age of
oceanic crust
e. all of the above
7. As the world's population increases,
a. the demand for resources will
tend to increase.
b. the growing demand for
resources will ensure that more will always be found.
c. natural systems will continue
to compensate adequately for such human
disruptions as pollution and resource depletion;
the earth is a big place.
d. all of these
e. none of these
8. The two major kinds of sedimentary rock are chemical
and __________.
a. citibank
b. clastic
c. precipitated (from solution)
d. volcanic
e. metamorphic
9. Oceanic lithosphere:
a. is made of alternating bands
of rocks of different compositions.
b. is made of alternating bands
of rocks of two different ages.
c. is made predominantly of
granite and other low density rocks.
d. moves gradually toward the
mid-ocean ridges, where it is consumed.
e.
is made predominantly of basalt that gets older the farther away from the mid-
ocean ride it is
10. The most common minerals in
the crust are __________.
a. carbonates
b. crustates
c. silicates
d. sulfides
e. oxides
11. The ease with which fluids
pass through a rock is known as the rock's _______.
a. permeability
b. age
c. digestion
d. mentality
e. porosity
12. The mechanism describing how
rocks deform and move along a fault before,
during, and after an earthquake is known as the
__________ theory.
a. plate tectonic
b. elastic rubber band
c. continental drift
d. elastic rebound
e. plastic jump shot
13. The age of the earth is
approximately __________ old.
a. 6,000 years
b. 4.5 million years
c. 4.5 billion years
d. 4.5 gazillion seconds
e. 13.5 billion years
14. Which of the following
statements is NOT
true?
a. Many geologic hazards have
existed throughout human history.
b. Some environmental problems,
such as those related to pollution and global
warming,
were unrecognized until fairly recently.
c. Certain problems, such as
resource shortages, can never be solved.
d. Human activities may increase
the dangers from certain geologic hazards.
e. Humans can improve the earth's
environment and lessen the hazards to
society from geological processes.
15. Magma that erupts onto the
earth's surface is called __________.
a. sedimentary
b. magmapus
c. granite
d. lava
e. plutonic
16. Strike‑slip faults are
often found at transform and __________ plate boundaries.
a. continent-to-continent
b. mid-ocean ridge
c. paper
d. hot‑spot
e. convergent plate
17. The age progression of the
Hawaiian Islands can be used to show:
a. absolutely nothing.
b. the size of earthquakes to be
expected in the Pacific Ocean.
c. the direction of drift of
North America.
d. that subduction is occurring
beneath the Hawaiian Islands.
e. the rate and direction of
movement of the Pacific Plate.
18. Rocks that crystallize slowly
from melts are known as __________ rocks.
a. metamorphic
b. dumb
c. clastic
d. volcanic
e. plutonic
19. Evidence that the universe
originated in a "big bang" includes:
a. the observation that the
Universe is expanding in all directions.
b. a loud ringing in your ears!
c. the differences in
compositions of the planets.
d. the fact that stars radiate
energy.
e. all of the above
20. According to plate‑tectonic
theory, plates of solid __________ move over a
weaker layer below.
a. asthenosphere
b. lithosphere
c. core
d. china
e. mantle