University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

How the Earth Works

Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. This ozone layer is in what layer?

a. biosphere
b. stratosphere
c. troposphere
d. hydrosphere
e. mesosphere
2. The part of the earth characterized by ice is the:
a. lithosphere
b. biosphere
c. cryosphere
d. mesosphere
e. lithosphere
3. The part of the earth characterized by life is the:
a. mesosphere
b. lithosphere
c. biosphere
d. stratosphere
e. hydrosphere
4. The largest part of the solid earth is:
a. mantle
b. core
c. lithosphere
d. stratosphere
e. hydrosphere
5. Convection is:
a. a means of transporting heat by moving hot and cold material
b. a force that causes storms to travel curving paths
c. the force that drives ocean currents
d. related to earth's rotation
e. the process that creates the ozone layer
6. What drives convection?:
a. sunlight
b. earth's rotation
c. buoyancy
d. pressure deep in the earth
e. nuclear reactions
7. Earth's atmospheric circulation is driven mostly by:
a. waves in the ocean
b. evaporation of water from the oceans
c. unequal heating by the sun
d. the earth's magnetic field
8. The Coriolis Effect:
a. causes water in a sink to spin as it drains
b. causes hot air to rise and cool air to sink
c. causes tides

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d. causes things moving on the earth to travel curving paths
e. causes air to move from high to low pressure areas.
9. Earth's surface ocean currents are driven mostly by:
a. sinking of cold, dense water
b. the winds
c. the attraction of the sun and moon
10. The principal reservoir for storing heat on the earth is the.
a. lithosphere
b. biosphere
c. stratosphere
d. hydrosphere
11. What is one of the roles of water in the earth's interior?
a. lowers the melting point of rocks
b. raises the melting point of rocks
c. makes rocks stronger
d. carries material outward from the core
12. What is one of the roles of water in the earth's interior?
a. raises the melting point of rocks
b. makes rocks stronger
c. carries material outward from the core
d. makes rocks weaker

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Minerals
Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First-time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. The two most abundant elements in the Earth's crust are:

a. iron and magnesium
b. silicon and oxygen
c. carbon and potassium
d. sand and clay
e. sodium and nitrogen
2. The sharing of electrons by adjacent atoms is a type of bonding called:
a. hydrogen
b. tetrahedral
c. covalent
d. ionic
e. silicate
3. A chemical element is a substance made up of atoms, all of which have the same:
a. atomic mass number
b. size
c. number of neutrons
d. weight
e. number of protons
4. An example of a common silicate mineral is:
a. calcite
b. hematite
c. quartz
d. halite
e. pyrite
5. The ratio of a mineral's weight to the weight of an equal volume of water is its:
a. specific gravity or density
b. atomic mass number
c. luster
d. cleavage
e. hardness
6. The atomic number of an element is determined by the:
a. number of electrons in its outermost shell
b. number of protons in its nucleus
c. diameter of its most common isotope
d. number of neutrons plus electrons in its nucleus
e. total number of neutrons orbiting the nucleus
7. To which of the following groups do most minerals in the Earth's crust belong?
a. oxides
b. halides
c. carbonates
d. silicates
e. sulfates
8. When an atom loses or gains electrons, it becomes a(n):

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a. isotope
b. neutron
c. proton
d. native element
e. ion
9. These minerals have good cleavage
a. silicates
b. sulfides
c. oxides
d. carbonates
10. Anions are ____________ charged because they have _________ electrons:
a. negatively ... lost
b. positively .... lost
c. positively ... gained
d. negatively .... gained
e. neutrally ... neither lost nor gained
11. After silicates, the most important rock-forming minerals:
a. oxides
b. sulfates
c. halides
d. carbonates
12. Lacks good cleavage:
a. mica
b. quartz
c. calcite
d. halite
13. Density of minerals refers to:
a. weight per unit volume
b. weight relative to water
c. both a and b
d. neither a nor b
14. The single most abundant mineral on earth:
a. hematite
b. calcite
c. gypsum
d. amphibole
e. quartz
15. Which is a phyllosilicate?
a. garnet
b. clay minerals
c. amphibole
d. pyroxene
16. Calcite will scratch glass. True or false?
a. True
b. False
17. Most gem minerals (except diamond) belong to the following groups:
a. silicates and oxides
b. sulfates and elements
c. elements and oxides
d. sulfates and carbonates
e. sulfides and oxides
18. Bonding in minerals is mostly:
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a. ionic
b. metallic
c. covalent
d. a mixture of these
19. The two most abundant elements in the Earth's crust are:
a. nickel and zinc
b. nitrogen and carbon
c. oxygen and silicon
d. chlorine and iron
20. The charged atoms that make up most crystal structures:
a. protons
b. tetrahedra
c. catalysts
d. ions
21. Pyrite is:
a. a silicate
b. an important iron ore
c. water-soluble
d. none of the above
22. Minerals are classified on the basis of:
a. their negatively charged atoms (anions)
b. their positively charged atoms (cations)
c. their oxygen content
d. their metal content
23. ____________________ are examples of sheet silicates:
a. micas and clay minerals
b. pyroxenes and amphiboles
c. olivine and feldspar
d. staurolite and quartz
24. The tendency of some minerals to break along smooth planes
a. crystallization
b. fracture
c. weathering
d. cleavage
25. The most common single mineral on Earth is:
a. chromium
b. copper
c. halite
d. quartz
26. Cations are ____________ charged because they have _________ electrons:
a. negatively ... lost
b. positively .... lost
c. positively ... gained
d. negatively .... gained
e. neutrally ... neither lost nor gained
27. These minerals are among the leading contributors to acid rain:
a. sulfates
b. sulfides
c. silicates
d. nitrates
28. The property that causes salt to come out of the salt shaker as tiny cubes:
a. density or specific gravity
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b. crystal form
c. fracture
d. hardness
e. cleavage
29. Which is not a phyllosilicate (sheet silicate)?
a. mica
b. clay minerals
c. serpentine asbestos
d. pyroxene
30. You can identify diamonds by seeing if they scratch glass. True or false?
a. True
b. False
31. Most ore minerals belong to the following groups:
a. silicates and carbonates
b. sulfates and elements
c. elements and oxides
d. sulfates and carbonates
e. sulfides and oxides
32.The silicon atom has a positive charge of 4, and oxygen has a negative charge of 2.
Accordingly, the ion group (SiO4) has a:
a. positive charge of 2
b. positive charge of 4
c. negative charge of 2
d. negative charge of 4
e. negative charge of 1
33. Calcite and dolomite are:
a. oxide minerals of great value
b. ferromagnesian silicates possessing a sheet structure
c. carbonate minerals
d. sulfates found in evaporite deposits
34. Many minerals break along closely spaced planes and are said to possess:
a. specific gravity
b. fracture
c. cleavage
d. double
e. covalent bonds
35.The chemical formula for olivine is (Mg,Fe)2SiO4, which means that in addition to silica:
a. magnesium and iron can substitute for one another
b. magnesium is more common than iron
c. magnesium is heavier than iron
d. all olivine contains both magnesium and iron
e. more magnesium than iron occurs in the Earth's crust
36. The basic building block of all silicate minerals is the:
a. silicon sheet
b. silicate double chain
c. oxygen-silicon cube
d. silica framework
e. silica tetrahedron
37. This mineral suite includes many major ores:
a. halides
b. sulfides

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c. sulfates
d. carbonates
38. A mineral suite that contains radicals
a. oxides
b. sulfides
c. halides
d. sulfates
39. Which property is most directly related to the closeness of atoms in a mineral?
a. hardness
b. density
c. cleavage
d. fracture
40. Which property is related to planes of weakness between atoms in a mineral?
a. hardness
b. density
c. cleavage
d. fracture
41. Which property is related to the strength of bonding between atoms in a mineral?
a. hardness
b. density
c. cleavage
d. fracture
42. Which property is least reliable in identifying minerals?
a. hardness
b. density
c. cleavage
d. color
43. Which of these factors can affect the color of a mineral?
a. weathering
b. surface coatings
c. grain size
d. chemical impurities
e. All of these can affect the color of minerals.
44. Hardness refers to:
a. resistance to chemical alteration.
b. difficulty in breaking.
c. roughness.
d. resistance to scratching.
45. The property that causes salt to come out of a salt shaker as tiny cubes:
a. hardness
b. density
c. cleavage
d. fracture
46. The property that makes gold panning possible:
a. hardness
b. density
c. cleavage
d. fracture
47. The single most important group of minerals in abundance:
a. silicates
b. carbonates
c. oxides
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d. sulfates
48. Limestone and dolomite are made from these minerals:
a. silicates
b. carbonates
c. oxides
d. sulfates
49. Tend to be dense, metallic in luster, and often have cubic crystals:
a. sulfides
b. carbonates
c. oxides
d. sulfates
50. Have good cleavage and fizz in acid:
a. silicates
b. carbonates
c. oxides
d. sulfates
51. Light in color and weight, good cleavage, often water-soluble:
a. silicates
b. carbonates
c. oxides
d. halides
52. A hard mineral is most likely to be one of these:
a. silicates
b. carbonates
c. halides
d. sulfates
53. Gold, diamonds and graphite are examples::
a. native elements
b. carbonates
c. oxides
d. sulfates
54. Quartz is one of these:
a. sheet silicate
b. chain silicate
c. silicate with single tetrahedra
d. framework silicate
55. Mica is an example:
a. sheet silicate
b. chain silicate
c. silicate with single tetrahedra
d. framework silicate
56. Amphibole and Pyroxene are examples:
a. sheet silicate
b. chain silicate
c. silicate with single tetrahedra
d. framework silicate
57. Most likely to split into thin sheets:
a. mica
b. halite
c. calcite
d. quartz
58. Most likely to split into splintery fragments:
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a. sheet silicate
b. chain silicate
c. silicate with single tetrahedra
d. framework silicate
59. Chain silicates include:
a. clays and micas
b. amphiboles and pyroxenes
c. feldspars
d. olivine and garnet
60. Which has the lowest hardness?:
a. feldspar
b. calcite
c. topaz
d. gypsum
61. Quartz:
a. can scratch glass.
b. has good cleavage
c. has density of 5 grams per cubic centimeter
d. dissolves in acid
62. Calcite:
a. can scratch glass.
b. has good cleavage
c. has density of 5 grams per cubic centimeter
d. dissolves in acid
63. Which is likely to have the highest density?
a. halide
b. sulfate
c. sulfide
d. carbonate
64. Has silica tetrahedra arranged in three-dimensional networks:
a. mica
b. olivine
c. halite
d. feldspar
65. Which property is not desirable in a gemstone?
a. hardness
b. beauty
c. rarity
d. good cleavage
e. ability to refract light
66. Atoms of this element occupy more space in the crust than all other atoms combined:
a. oxygen
b. chlorine
c. sulfur
d. silicon
67. This kind of atomic bonding holds wood, plastic, and people together:
a. covalent
b. metallic
c. ionic
d. organic
68. This kind of atomic bonding holds steel girders and jet airplanes together:
a. covalent
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b. metallic
c. ionic
d. organic
69. This kind of atomic bonding holds most minerals together:
a. covalent
b. metallic
c. ionic
d. organic
70. Which is not a type of atomic bonding?
a. covalent
b. metallic
c. ionic
d. organic
71. The most abundant negatively-charged ion in the earth's crust:
a. oxygen
b. silicon
c. sulfur
d. iron
72. The most abundant positively-charged ion in the earth's crust:
a. oxygen
b. silicon
c. sulfur
d. iron
73. The atomic number of an element is determined by its:
a. number of protons.
b. number of neutrons.
c. total of protons plus neutrons.
d. number of electrons.
74. The atomic weight of an element is determined by its:
a. number of protons.
b. number of neutrons.
c. total of protons plus neutrons.
d. number of electrons.
75. This changes easily in response to chemical reactions:
a. number of protons
b. number of neutrons
c. total of protons plus neutrons
d. number of electrons
76. After oxygen, the most abundant negatively-charged ion in the earth's crust:
a. chlorine
b. silicon
c. sulfur
d. iron
77. Which is true of crystal form and cleavage?
a. Every cleavage face is a possible crystal face.
b. Every crystal face is a cleavage face.
c. Every crystal possesses cleavage.
d. Only minerals that occur as good crystals have cleavage.
78. Saying that minerals have "crystalline structure" means:
a. they all occur as crystals
b. they all have an orderly internal arrangement of atoms
c. they all have good cleavage
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d. they all have ions

Rocks
Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. This mineral tends to form first in Bowen's Series:

a. quartz
b. plagioclase
c. olivine
d. muscovite
e. biotite
2. This rock is so porous it often floats on water:
a. gabbro
b. obsidian
c. pumice
d. granite
e. rhyolite
3. Which of these igneous rocks is classified on the basis of its texture:
a. dunite
b. andesite
c. scoria
d. rhyolite
e. basalt
4. This mineral tends to form last in Bowen's Series:
a. quartz
b. plagioclase
c. olivine
d. muscovite
e. biotite
5. All these rocks have about the same chemical composition except:
a. gabbro
b. obsidian
c. pumice
d. granite
e. rhyolite
6. Which is not a common volcanic rock?:
a. andesite
b. basalt
c. gabbro
d. rhyolite
e. none of these
7. Gabbro is coarser grained than basalt because:
a. it contains more silica
b. the original magma cooled under low pressure, so that larger crystals could form
c. the original magma cooled more slowly
d. the crystals have grown larger during later metamorphism
e. none of these
8. Granites and rhyolites are related by:

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a. their grain size
b. their mode of emplacement
c. their association in the ocean basins
d. their mineralogical composition
e. none of these
9. The first question a geologist asks in classifying an igneous rock
a. What feldspars are present?
b. Is quartz present?
c. What dark minerals are present?
10. An igneous rock with large crystals in a fine-grained matrix.
a. basalt
b. pumice
c. scoria
d. porphyry
11. According to Bowen's Series:
a. quartz forms last
b. quartz and olivine form together
c. quartz forms before biotite
d. quartz forms first
12. Obsidian
a. is volcanic glass
b. is usually rhyolitic in composition
c. has conchoidal fracture
d. all of the above
13. What are the two major kinds of igneous rocks:
a. volcanic and eruptive
b. volcanic and plutonic
c. granitic and plutonic
d. sills and lava
e. dikes and batholiths
14. Why is silica the major component of magma?:
a. it melts at low temperatures
b. it retains heat well
c. it dissolves other rocks
d. it is so abundant
15. Which of the following pairs of igneous rocks have the same mineral composition?
a. granite-tuff
b. basalt-gabbro
c. andesite-rhyolite
d. peridotite-andesite
e. pumice-diorite
16. Volcanic rocks can usually be distinguished from plutonic rocks by:
a. color
b. the size of their mineral grains
c. composition
d. specific gravity
e. iron-magnesium content
17. When mantle material melts, it usually forms magma of what composition:
a. basalt
b. rhyolite
c. andesite
d. dunite
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18. The most common intermediate volcanic rock is:
a. andesite.
b. basalt
c. rhyolite
d. diorite
19. The most abundant sedimentary rocks are:
a. limestones
b. mudrocks
c. sandstones
d. arkoses
e. evaporites
20. Most limestones have a large component of calcite that was originally extracted from
seawater by:
a. inorganic chemical reactions
b. chemical weathering
c. organisms
d. lithification
e. evaporation
21. Dolostone is formed by the addition of _____ to limestone:
a. calcium
b. iron
c. carbonate
d. sodium
e. magnesium
22. The process where dissolved minerals precipitate in the pore spaces of sediment and bind
it together is:
a. compaction
b. weathering
c. rounding
d. cementation
e. bedding
23. Coal is
a. a clastic sedimentary rock
b. an evaporite
c. always found with limestone
d. none of the above
24. Bedding or stratification in a sedimentary rock
a. is due to directed pressure from earth forces
b. results from heat
c. is always exactly horizontal
d. represents variations which took place during deposition
25. What holds a sedimentary rock together?
a. cement
b. fossils
c. water in its pore spaces
d. silt
26. Clastic means:
a. formed by the evaporation of water
b. formed by living organisms
c. formed from fragments cemented together
d. formed from the molten state
27. The clastic sedimentary rocks are classified primarily on the basis of:
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a. color
b. grain size
c. composition
d. hardness
28. Deposits of clay become consolidated to form:
a. limestone
b. sandstone
c. shale
d. evaporite
29. The single most characteristic feature of sedimentary rocks is:
a. widely varying grain sizes
b. made by organisms
c. the presence of nodules
d. stratification (bedding)
e. water-soluble minerals
30. The rock type that best describes the various types of coal is:
a. clastic
b. biochemical
c. evaporitic
d. detrital
31. You would most likely find the remains of plants in a deposit of:
a. limestone
b. sandstone
c. coal
d. conglomerate
e. gypsum
32. Which is most likely to represent a deposit formed on dry land?
a. Black shale
b. Red sandstone
c. Mudrocks
d. Dolomite
33. Which would be least likely to indicate a desert environment?:
a. Sandstone
b. Coal
c. Evaporites
d. Gypsum
34. Which is most likely to be an evaporite?
a. Black shale
b. Rock Salt
c. Mudrocks
d. Dolomite
35. Which indicates the highest metamorphic grade?
a. epidote
b. kyanite
c. chlorite
d. amphibole
e. feldspar
36. A metamorphosed equivalent of a limestone would be a:
a. dolomite
b. marble
c. schist
d. amphibolite
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e. none of these
37. Three minerals which are not normally found in sedimentary and igneous rocks are:
a. quartz, biotite and plagioclase
b. sillimanite, kyanite and garnet
c. biotite, muscovite and clay
d. garnet, kyanite and feldspar
38. Gneiss:
a. shows dark and light bands of minerals
b. has recrystallized at low temperatures
c. has good rock cleavage parallel to banding
d. is very fine-grained
39. To which metamorphic facies do metamorphic rocks formed under the lowest
temperature and pressure conditions belong?
a. granulite
b. blueschist
c. greenschist
d. eclogite
e. amphibolite
40. Which is not a stage in the diagenesis and metamorphism of coal?
a. anthracite
b. lignite
c. diamond
d. graphite
e. bituminous
41. The metamorphic rock formed from limestone is:
a. quartzite
b. slate
c. hornfels
d. greenstone
e. marble
42. From which of the following rock groups can metamorphic rocks form?
a. plutonic
b. volcanic
c. sedimentary
d. metamorphic
e. all of these
43. What is the correct metamorphic sequence of increasingly coarser grain size?
a. phyllite --> slate --> gneiss --> schist
b. slate --> phyllite --> schist --> gneiss
c. gneiss --> phyllite --> slate --> schist
d. schist --> gneiss --> phyllite --> slate
e. slate --> schist --> gneiss --> phyllite
44. An excellent rock for billiard table tops, floor and roofing tiles, and blackboards is:
a. marble
b. hornfels
c. gneiss
d. slate
e. phyllite
45. Diamond and graphite are both made of carbon but have different atomic structures and
very different properties. This phenomenon is called:

1.Isometry
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2.Polymorphism
3.Multiphasing
4.Homology

Soils, Weathering and Ground Water

Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences,University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visitSite Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. How can rain forests be so lush if the soil is so poor?

a. They get nutrients from rain water
b. The organisms have evolved to do without soil nutrients
c. Human slash-and-burn agriculture returns nutrients to the soil
d. The ecosystem is very effective at recycling nutrients
2. Which factors enter into soil classification?
a. age of the soil
b. parent material
c. structure of the soil
d. climate and drainage
e. all the above
3. Why small particles weather faster than large ones:
a. They have more surface area for chemical reactions
b. They can be more easily eaten by soil organisms
c. They are easier to break mechanically
d. They are made of more soluble minerals
4. Which breaks rocks down by prying the grains apart?
a. freeze-thaw cycles
b. growth of plant roots
c. salt crystal growth along shorelines
d. hydration of minerals
e. all the preceding
5. Which of the minerals in Bowen's reaction series is most stable chemically?
a. calcium plagioclase
b. biotite
c. quartz
d. olivine
e. pyroxene
6. The layers or horizons in a soil profile result mostly from
a. successive deposition of layers
b. pressure of the overlying soil
c. decreasing sunlight with depth
d. differences in leaching and deposition with depth
7. The most intense chemical weathering would be expected where?
a. the Amazon Basin
b. the Mojave Desert
c. Northern Alaska
d. Minnesota
e. Manhattan
8. We would expect little chemical weathering, but intense frost action here
a. the Amazon Basin

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b. the Mojave Desert
c. Northern Alaska
d. Minnesota
e. Manhattan
9. Little chemical weathering, but episodic and violent rainfall with rapid erosion would be
most likely here:
a. the Amazon Basin
b. the Mojave Desert
c. Northern Alaska
d. Minnesota
e. Manhattan
10. Rapid chemical weathering because of acid rain would probably happen where?
a. the Amazon Basin
b. the Mojave Desert
c. Northern Alaska
d. Minnesota
e. Manhattan
11. This area would be characterized by moderate chemical weathering, and frequent but
moderate rainfall and erosion.
a. the Amazon Basin
b. the Mojave Desert
c. Northern Alaska
d. Minnesota
e. Manhattan
12. Most likely to weather rapidly
a. granite
b. gneiss
c. quartzite
d. basalt
13. Least likely to weather rapidly
a. granite
b. gneiss
c. quartzite
d. basalt
14. Why clay doesn't weather
a. the grains are too large
b. it's already chemically stable at the surface
c. it doesn't occur in areas prone to weathering
d. it has too many ions
15. Mechanical weathering is most likely to occur here:
a. a steep, young mountain range
b. a gentle, old mountain range
c. a delta
d. a coastal plain
16. Rocks often shatter when they freeze because
a. ice crystals are sharp
b. ice expands when it freezes
c. water becomes more corrosive when it's frozen
d. rocks contract when they get cold
17. Mechanical weathering is most likely to be dominant in an area with:
a. heat and high humidity
b. a great deal of vegetation
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c. much available water
d. extensive frost wedging
18. Mass wasting refers to material moved primarily by:
a. wind
b. running water
c. ice
d. gravity
19. Which is not a sign of soil creep?
a. trees bent near the base
b. tilted posts and poles
c. water seeping from the ground
d. deformed rock layers near the surface
20. The source of the energy that propels a landslide
a. steep slopes
b. strain in the rock
c. water lubricating the slide
d. gravity
21. To prevent long-term pollution of ground water, it is most important to protect:
a. The recharge zone
b. The area around the well
c. Streams and lakes
d. Springs and seeps
22. Most of the earth's water is:
a. Lakes and rivers
b. ground water
c. Ocean water
d. Glacial ice
23. Geysers can be destroyed by:
a. Minerals plugging the conduit of the geyser
b. Unusually violent eruptions
c. Both a and b.
d. Neither a nor b
24. Artesian wells:
a. Are always pure
b. Cannot be polluted because they are sealed
c. Always flow to the surface
d. None of the above
25. Center-pivot irrigation:
a. Has made it possible to farm soils that cannot be conventionally irrigate
b. Is causing the depletion of many aquifers
c. Is very distinctive seen from the air
d. All the above
26. What percentage of the water used in the United States is provided by groundwater?
a. 50
b. 40
c. 30
d. 20
e. 10
27. Rapid withdrawal of groundwater can result in:
a. a cone of depression
b. loss of hydrostatic pressure
c. ground subsidence
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d. saltwater incursion
e. all of these
28. What makes rainwater able to dissolve carbonate rocks?
a. carbon dioxide in solution makes the water slightly acid
b. Pollutants in the rainwater makes it alkalin
c. It becomes alkaline in percolating through the soil.
d. Dissolved nitrogen forms diluted nitric acid
29. Most of the liquid fresh water on Earth is in
a. ground water
b. streams
c. rivers
30. On a geological time scale, lakes are
a. very long-lasting
b. short-lived
31. The water table in a swamp
a. is far below the surface
b. is just at the surface
c. is well above the surface
d. has nothing to do with the swamp
32. A well which flows naturally because the water is under pressure:
a. aquifer
b. artesian
c. alkaline
d. mineralized
33. Excessive pumping of well water can:
a. suck salt water into coastal wells
b. cause subsidence
c. lower the water table
d. all the above
34. A landscape which forms as a result of solution of limestone by ground water:
a. karst landscape
b. basin-and-range topography
c. stoss-lee topography
35. Most likely to produce the deepest lake
a. forming a cutoff meander
b. flooding a graben
c. a delta blocking a bay
d. a ice block melting to form a kettle pond
36. A few lakes have bottoms which are below sea level. Which kind of lake is least likely to
be in that category?
a. an oxbow or cutoff meander
b. a glacially-scoured lake
c. a graben lake
d. a caldera or crater lake
37. Which kind of lake is likely to last longest?
a. a kettle lake
b. a sinkhole lake
c. a cutoff meander or oxbow lake
d. a graben lake
38. An aquifer is:
a. a permeable layer that transmits water
b. a man-made conduit through which water is carried to places of habitation.
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
c. the place where water tables intersect the earth's surface
d. the zone of the water table which transmits aerated water
e. none of these
39. The primary force which is responsible for the downward migration of groundwater is:
a. surface tension
b. air pressure
c. gravity
d. precipitation
e. none of these
40. Porosity may be defined as:
a. the rate of forward flow of groundwater
b. the amount of space in a body of rock or soil which is filled by mineral grains
c. the volume of interconnecting open areas in a rock body
41. This technique has recently made it possible to irrigate and farm land that formerly could
not be irrigated:
a. no-till agriculture
b. aerial spraying
c. gravity-feed dispersal
d. center-pivot-irrigation
e. none of these

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

Erosion and Landscape Evolution

Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. The vertical drop of a stream in a given horizontal distance is its:

a. discharge
b. base level
c. gradient
d. drainage pattern
e. velocity
2. The _____ drainage pattern resembles the branching of a tree.
a. rectangular
b. deranged
c. trellis
d. radial
e. dendritic
3. Sediment transport by intermittent bouncing and skipping along a stream bed is:
a. saltation
b. suspended load
c. dissolved load
d. alluvium
e. capacity
4. Trellis drainage is most likely to develop on:
a. natural levees
b. tilted sedimentary rock layers
c. granite
d. horizontal layers of volcanic rocks
e. fractured basalt
5. Ridges of sediment deposited on the margin of a stream are called:
a. natural levees
b. incised meanders
c. oxbow lakes
d. alluvial fans
e. bottomset beds
6. The direct impact of running water is called:
a. bed load
b. meander cutoff
c. saltation
d. base level
e. hydraulic action
7. The capacity of a stream is a measure of its:
a. volume of water
b. discharge
c. velocity
d. ability to erode
e. total load of sediment
8. A meandering stream is one having:

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
a. numerous sand and gravel bars in its channel
b. a single, sinuous channel
c. a broad shallow channel
d. a deep, narrow valley
e. long, straight reaches and waterfalls
9. In which of the following do foreset beds occur?
a. alluvial fans
b. deltas
c. point bars
d. natural levees
e. deltas
10. Which of the following controls flow velocity in streams?
a. channel shape
b. gradient
c. depth
d. channel roughness
e. all of these
11. The feature separating one drainage basin from another is a(an):
a. divide
b. valley
c. natural levee
d. point bar
e. alluvial fan
12. A drainage pattern in which streams flow in and out of lakes with irregular flow
directions is:
a. radial
b. rectangular
c. longitudinal
d. graded
e. deranged
13. The primary process by which bed load is transported is:
a. suspension
b. precipitation
c. abrasion
d. answers (a) and (c)
e. saltation
14. Which of the following is a local base level?
a. lake
b. point bar
c. ocean
d. alluvial fan
e. floodplain
15. Erosional remnants of floodplains that are higher than the current level of a stream are:
a. oxbow lakes
b. incised meanders
c. cut banks
d. natural bridges
e. stream terraces
16. All of the sediment carried by saltation and rolling and sliding along a stream bed is the:
a. suspended load
b. bed load
c. drainage capacity
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
d. channel pattern
e. stream profile
17. The dry lake beds in many deserts are:
a. playas
b. pediments
c. bajadas
d. mesas
e. inselbergs
18. A stream can lengthen its channel by:
a. runoff
b. hydraulic action
c. headward erosion
d. downcutting
e. vertical accretion
19. The removal of thin layers of soil by water over a more or less continuous surface is
a. gullying
b. leaching
c. sheet erosion
d. exfoliation
e. weathering
20. Why are the Rockies high?
a. They get little rain and are not eroded.
b. They are still young and have not been eroded away.
c. They are not subject to chemical weathering.
d. They get little acid rain.
21. A dam will most likely:
a. accelerate erosion upstream
b. not affect the river downstream
c. cause the reservoirs to fill with sediment eventually
d. accelerate erosion above the reservoir
22. All of these can result in a canyon cutting through a ridge. Which one is least likely to be
the correct explanation?
a. the crust is uplifted across the course of the stream
b. the stream erodes down into a buried ridge and the overlying cover is stripped
away
c. a huge flood carves a canyon
d. a peneplain is uplifted and resistant rocks form ridges
23. In uniform flat rocks, drainage patterns tend to be
a. dendritic
b. radial
c. trellis
d. braided
24. Which factor does not directly influence the shape of a delta?
a. intensity of wave action on the shore
b. strength and height of tides
c. width of the continental shelf
d. volume of sediment carried by the river
e. none of the above
25. The principal reason rivers do not fit the idealized erosion cycles of youth-maturity-old
age:
a. they flow across rocks of varying hardness
b. climate is not constant over large river basins
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
c. global sea levels have changed markedly in the last few thousand years
26. The process by which one stream loses a major portion of its headwaters to another
stream is called:
a. stream larceny
b. stream theft
c. stream piracy
d. perifluvial capture
e. none of these
27. River channels which were abandoned by a captured stream are now sometimes seen as:
a. water gaps
b. hanging valleys
c. nick points
d. wind gaps
e. none of these
28. An old-age stream
a. is at least 10,000 years old
b. is at least 1,000,000 years old
c. has a straight course with few bends
d. is of no definite age but flows across a low landscape and has many meanders
29. A stream that has more sediment to move than it can carry at one time is likely to be
a. mature
b. meandering
c. braided
d. youthful
30. How levees form along rivers
a. built by Army Corps of Engineers
b. built up by deposits laid down when the stream floods
c. form when clay along the river bank dries out and swells up
d. are piled up by aquatic organisms
31. The gently sloping rock surface that forms at the base of mountains in arid regions
a. playa
b. graben
c. pediment
d. stratum
32. Landscapes can be rejuvenated
a. at any time
b. any time except old age
c. only during maturity
d. only during old age
33. These are all names for hills or mountains that form when erosion leaves remnants
behind, except one. Which is not?
a. plateau
b. mesa
c. inselberg
d. monadnock
34. Not a major factor in arid erosion
a. lack of vegetation
b. intense chemical weathering
c. thin soil cover
d. episodic rainfall
35. This kind of drainage suggests stream piracy
a. dendritic
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
b. barbed
c. braided
d. trellis
36. This kind of drainage suggests strong variations in erosional resistance of the bedrock:
a. dendritic
b. meandering
c. trellis
d. deranged
37. You see a stream cutting right through a ridge. This landscape is called:
a. old-age landscape
b. rift valley
c. antecedent or superposed drainage
d. rejuvenated landscape
e. peneplain
38. A stream cutting right through a ridge implies:
a. the ridge was split open by some kind of upheaval
b. a huge flood carved a canyon through the ridge
c. the stream predates the ridge
d. the landscape is very young
e. the rocks in the ridge are highly weathered

25
University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

Glaciers
Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences,University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. What causes ice ages?

a. variations in the earth's orbit
b. variations in sun's heat output
c. variations in sunlight reflected by the earth
d. no definite cause has been conclusively proven
2. Ice near the surface of a glacier exhibits ________behavior.
a. brittle
b. ductile
3. Ice deep within a glacier exhibits________behavior.
a. brittle
b. ductile
4. Which of the following was never an outlet of the Great Lakes during the retreat of the
glaciers?
a. the Gulf via the Mississippi
b. to the Atlantic via the Potomac or Susquehanna
c. from Lake Erie to the Ohio River
d. across Ontario to the St. Lawrence
5. The end of a glacier is located:
a. where it meets an obstacle
b. where the average annual temperature equals 32 degrees F.
c. where snowfall plus inflow equals melting plus evaporation
d. where one year's snow just melts before the next year's snow begins
6. Most of the world's glacial ice is in:
a. mountain glaciers
b. the Antarctic Ice Cap
c. the Greenland Ice Cap
7. The Wisconsin, Illinoisan, Kansan and Nebraskan ice advances:
a. account for all known Pleistocene ice advances
b. account for almost all Pleistocene ice advances
c. are only the last of many more Pleistocene ice advances
8. The "firn line" on a glacier marks:
a. the dividing line between the zones of accumulation and ablation
b. the elevation above which snow never melts
c. the elevation where the average annual temperature is below freezing
d. the timber line, or elevation above which trees do not grow
9. Why do continental glaciers have a dome-like profile?
a. More snow falls in the interior of the glacier.
b. Ice melts faster at the edges than the middle.
c. Ice has lower density than rock, so the crust rises under the glacier.
d. the ice flows outward under its own weight.
10. When a glacier retreats, a rock trapped within the ice
a. continues to move toward the foot of the glacier
b. retreats more slowly than the glacier front
c. retreats as fast as the glacier front
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
d. retreats faster than the glacial front
11. Icebergs are formed by:
a. freezing of sea water
b. river ice which is carried out to sea
c. pieces of glacial ice breaking off the glacier
d. water freezing on the sea floor and floating to the surface
12. During the Pleistocene, large lakes covered parts of the Western U.S. These lakes are
known as:
a. crater lakes
b. playas
c. pluvial lakes
d. flood plains
13. The Pleistocene ice advances:
a. are known to have ended
b. are the only ones known in geologic history
c. both of the above
d. neither of the above
14. The result of a glacier flowing into the sea:
a. icebergs
b. ice shelves
c. both of the above
d. neither of the above
15. A glacier flows down a deep, slightly winding valley. After the glacier melts, the valley
will be all of these except:
a. straighter
b. deeper
c. wider
d. more winding
16. Hanging valleys:
a. form when a glacier in a major valley cuts deeper than the tributary glacier
b. are common locations for waterfalls
c. are among the few cases of tributary valleys that do not meet the main valley at
the level of the valley floor
d. all of the above
17. How is it possible for a stream to have flowed on top of an esker?
a. the original stream banks are now eroded away
b. there used to be a stream channel on top which has been filled in
c. the "banks" of the stream were glacial ice
d. it really isn't possible
18. Which of these is till?
a. fine flacial lake clay
b. well-sorted outwash sand
c. a polished rock outcrop
d. unsorted sand, gravel and clay in a moraine
19. Depending on pressure, glacial ice exhibits two forms of behavior:
a. brittle and ductile
b. solid and granular
c. plastic and liquid
d. snow and hail
20. Glacial striations on an outcrop trend NE-SW. The direction of ice movement was:
a. NE to SW
b. NW to SE
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
c. SW to NE
d. could be either NE or SW
21. Kettle ponds formed when
a. glaciers scoured deep holes
b. meltwater scoured potholes
c. blocks of ice melted and left depressions where the ice had been
d. large boulders rolled off the glacier and made craters
22. Eskers probably form
a. when the ice is advancing
b. when the ice is retreating
23. When a continental glacier retreats
a. the entire ice front retreats smoothly
b. the ice never advances again
c. none of the above
24. You'd use these to map the former margins of a glacier
a. Eskers
b. Drumlins
c. Moraines
d. Kames
25. If you knew a glacier moved either east or west and wanted to find out which, you'd look
for
a. Drumlins
b. Roches Moutonees
c. Either or both of these
d. None of these
26. Which of these would indicate the former presence of a glacial lake?
a. Varved clay
b. Out wash sands
c. till
d. Loess
27. Least likely to be a feature of mountain glaciation
a. horn
b. arete
c. cirque
d. drumlin
28. As you go from lower to higher latitudes, the altitude of the snow line should:
a. increase
b. stay the same
c. decrease
d. vary randomly
e. none of these
29. The zone of accumulation is characterized by:
a. ablation
b. the thickest development of glacial ice
c. wastage
d. moraines
e. none of these
30. A sudden movement of a glacier caused by a sudden addition of snow on ice.
a. surge
b. plastic deformation
c. calving
d. basal slip
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
e. none of these
31. The feature of valleys formed by glaciers which differentiates them from valleys formed
by streams is:
a. the presence of kettles
b. the presence of drumlines
c. their characteristic V-shape
d. their characteristic U-shape
e. none of these
32. A boulder which has been carried from its place of origin by a glacier and later deposited
on bedrock of a different nature is called:
a. a firn
b. an erratic
c. a kame
d. an esker
e. none of these
33. A medial moraine is developed:
a. on the side of a glacier
b. at the end of the glacier
c. none of these
d. in the middle of two coalesced glaciers
34. An esker is:
a. a knife-edged ridge which separates two glacial valleys
b. a smooth, elongated, asymmetric hill of till
c. a depression which was caused by the melting of a block of ice which had been
buried in glacial debris
d. a winding, steep-walled deposit of water-lain glacial debris
e. none of these
35. The following glacial feature cannot be used to determine directions of ice movement:
a. drumlins
b. striation
c. varves
d. boulder trains
e. none of these
36. A glacial valley which has been left stranded above a primary glacial valley is called:
a. perched valley
b. a hanging valley
c. a cirque
d. a truncated valley
e. none of these
37. Crevasses in glaciers extend down to:
a. about 300 m
b. the base of the glacier
c. the zone of plastic flow
d. variable depths depending on how thick the ice is
e. the outwash layer
38. If a glacier has a negative budget:
a. the terminus will retreat
b. its accumulation rate is greater than its wastage rate
c. all flow ceases
d. the glacier's length increases
e. crevasses will no longer form

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
39. There were Pleistocene mountain glaciers in Oregon at only 5000 feet elevation, but the
same elevations in Wyoming at the same latitude were ice-free. Why?
a. there was much more precipitation in Oregon
b. there really were glaciers in Wyoming but the evidence has not yet been
discovered
c. there were no low-elevation glaciers in Oregon and the evidence has been
misinterpreted
d. continental drift has moved Oregon further south
e. it was much warmer in Wyoming
40. The bowl-shaped depression at the upper end of a glacial trough is a(an):
a. inselberg
b. drumlin
c. cirque
d. till
e. lateral moraine
41. Firn is:
a. freshly fallen snow
b. a granular type of ice
c. a valley train
d. another name for the zone of wastage
e. a type of glacial groove
42. Pressure on ice at depth in a glacier causes it to move by:
a. rock creep
b. surging
c. fracture
d. plastic flow
e. basal slip
43. Rocks abraded by glaciers may develop a smooth surface that shines in reflected light.
Such a surface is called glacial:
a. grooves
b. striations
c. polish
d. till
e. flour
44. The most recent ice age occurred during the:
a. Archean Eon
b. Cambrian Period
c. Pleistocene Epoch
d. Tertiary Period
e. Mesozoic Era
45. When ice flows over a rocky knob, it creates a landform:
a. With a smooth upstream side and an irregular downstream side
b. With a smooth downstream side and an irregular upstream side
c. With evenly rounded sides
d. With irregular sides all over
46. How weathering is thought to affect ice ages:
a. It lowers mountains and allows wind to circulate more freely
b. It releases calcium that combines with carbon dioxide
c. It removes sulfur that otherwise might warm the atmosphere
d. It creates methane, which cools the atmosphere
47. The earth's natural Greenhouse Effect is mostly due to
a. Carbon dioxide
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
b. Methane
c. Sulfur dioxide
d. Water vapor
48. When ice-dammed lakes drain, they usually drain
a. by evaporation
b. by seepage into the ground
c. by gradually lowering their outlets
d. by abrupt failure of the ice dam
49. The number of ice advances during the Pleistocene was most likely:
a. one
b. four
c. 20-25
d. over 100
50. The best record for the Pleistocene ice advances is contained
a. In deposits on land
b. In the Antarctic ice cap
c. On the sea floor
d. In glacial lake deposits
51. Marine evidence for ice advances and retreats includes
a. Alternations of warm and cold water microfossils
b. Coarse debris dropped by icebergs
c. Variations in oxygen isotopes
d. All of these
52. Evidence for the "snowball earth" climate variations is best seen in glacial deposits
abruptly succeeded by:
a. warm-water limestones
b. sand dune deposits
c. coal
d. volcanic ash layers

Questions below refer to this

diagram of a continental glacier.

53. Melt water flowing through the crevasses at A will most likely form:
a. Eskers
b. Drumlins
c. Moraines
d. Cirques
54. The material deposited at B forms:

31
University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
a. Eskers
b. Drumlins
c. Moraines
d. Cirques
55. The material deposited by streams at C is termed:
a. Till
b. Outwash
c. Varves
d. Drift
56. The streams at C are most likely
a. Braided
b. Meandering
c. Old-Age
d. Rejuvenated
57. The glacier's dome-like profile is due to:
a. Ablation
b. Wind erosion
c. The ice spreading out under its own weight
d. Greater snowfall in the interior

The questions below refer to this

diagram of a continental glacier in
retreat.

58. The features at A are:

a. Lake deposits
b. Moraines
c. Drumlins
d. Cirques
59. The features at A indicate
a. Former positions of glacial lakes
b. Former margins of the glacier
c. Positions of former meltwater streams
d. Deposits streamlined by ice flow
60. The features at B are ridges of sand and gravel. These are
a. Moraines
b. Drumlins
c. Cirques
d. Eskers
61. The features at B are ridges of sand and gravel. They indicate

32
University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
a. Former positions of glacial lakes
b. Former margins of the glacier
c. Positions of former meltwater streams
d. Deposits streamlined by ice flow
62. The features at C are streamlined hills of till, sand and gravel. These are:
a. Moraines
b. Drumlins
c. Cirques
d. Eskers
63. The features at C are streamlined hills of till, sand and gravel. They indicate
a. Positions of former meltwater streams
b. Former margins of the glacier
c. Former positions of glacial lakes
d. Ice-Flow Directions
64. At D is a large isolated remnant of ice. When it melts it will probably form a:
a. Kettle
b. Drumlin
c. Moraine
d. Esker
65. The ice-dammed lake at E is probably depositing:
a. Till
b. Outwash
c. Varved deposits
d. Gravel
66. When the ice-dammed lake at E drains, it will probably do so:
a. Gradually
b. By seepage into the ground
c. Catastrophically and abruptly
d. By evaporation

The questions below refer to this diagram of a

glaciated mountain landscape

67.A cirque occurs at (letter): -A- -B- -C- -D- -E-

68.A moraine occurs at (letter): -A- -B- -C- -D- -E-
69.A hanging valley occurs at (letter): -A- -B- -C- -D- -E-

33
University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

Earthquakes and Seismology

Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. Recently, a number of large earthquakes have been reported as exceeding magnitude 9.

The reason is:
a. earthquakes are getting stronger
b. our records of earlier earthquakes were incomplete
c. the magnitude scale for the strongest earthquakes has been redefined
2. A seismograph is basically a:
a. lens
b. wheel
c. lever
d. pendulum
3. The approximate deepest level of earthquakes:
a. 10 Km
b. 100 Km
c. 300 Km
d. 700 Km
4. If you are facing a right-lateral fault, during an earthquake
a. the opposite side of the fault moves to the right
b. your side of the fault moves down
c. your side of the fault moves to the right
d. the opposite side of the fault moves down
5. Can a seismic wave be reflected off the surface of the earth's core.
a. yes
b. no
6. All earthquakes are located along plate boundaries.
a. true
b. false
7. If an earthquake has a certain intensity 10 km from the fault rupture, the intensity 100 km
away will probably be:
a. greater
b. less
c. the same
d. impossible to predict
8. The least likely to cause casualties in earthquakes:
a. building collapse
b. shaking and vibration
c. fire
d. landslides
9. Seismologists believe the Earth's core is liquid because:
a. certain types of seismic waves do not pass through liquids
b. the Earth wobbles on its axis
c. it's the most logical conclusion
d. molten rock sometimes erupts on the surface
10. Most tsunamis occur
a. in the Pacific
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
b. during hurricanes
c. in the Indian Ocean
d. in Hawaii
11. Why no earthquake greater than magnitude 10 has ever been observed:
a. It is mathematically impossible
b. The Richter Scale only goes to 8.
c. We haven't been observing long enough.
d. The crust can't store that much strain energy.
12. It takes at least ___ seismographs at different locations to locate earthquakes accurately.
a. six
b. three
c. two
d. four
13. An earthquake with negative magnitude
a. is very tiny
b. is very large
c. is impossible
14. It takes ___ earthquakes of magnitude 4 to release as much energy as one of magnitude 5.
a. 5 x 4 or 20
b. 5/4 or 1.25
c. 5+4 or 9
d. 30
15. In the continental U.S., earthquakes occur
a. only in California
b. only west of the rockies
c. mostly in the West but occasionally in the East
d. in a band extending from Los Angeles to Charleston
16. Who's most likely to feel an earthquake?
a. someone driving a car
b. someone crossing a bridge
c. someone on the top floor of a skyscraper
d. someone sitting on the ground
17. Why earthquakes cause such large death tolls in Third World countries
a. weak but heavy construction materials
b. more tsunamis
c. poor hospitals
d. stronger earthquakes
18. Seismograph pendulums are designed
a. to swing at any period at all
b. to swing with a period longer than seismic waves
c. to swing with a period shorter than seismic waves
d. to swing as long as possible once starte
19. Why it is inaccurate to say the Richter Scale "runs from one to ten"?
a. It actually starts at zero.
b. It actually ends at nine
c. It starts at zero but has no upper limit.
d. It ends at ten but has no lower limit
e. It has to upper or lower limit.
20. If a magnitude 3 earthquake releases one unit of energy, a magnitude zero quake:
a. is impossible
b. will release 27,000 units
c. will release zero energy
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
d. will release 1/27,000
e. will release -3 units units
21. Seismic waves arrive in the following order:
a. P,S, surface
b. P, surface, S
c. S, surface, P
d. S,P, surface
e. surface, S,P
22. Ships at sea off California in 1906 felt the earthquake shock. They probably felt:
a. the S wave
b. the P wave
c. the surface waves
d. a tsunami
23. A region where our theories of plate tectonics do not provide a good explanation for
earthquakes yet.
a. the San Andreas Fault
b. the New Madrid, Missouri region
c. the Andes
d. Iceland
24. The most dangerous type of construction for earthquake-prone regions:
a. adobe
b. reinforced masonry
c. concrete block
d. steel frame
e. wood frame
25. The instrument used to record earthquakes waves is called:
a. quakeometer
b. strainometer
c. seismogram
d. none of these
e. seismograph
26. From a seismogram, the distance to an earthquake can be determined by measuring:
a. the speed of the surface waves
b. the ratio of the amplitude of the largest P and S waves
c. the arrival times of the surface waves
d. the difference in the arrival times of the P and S waves
e. none of these
27. The arrival time of the P and S waves recorded at one seismic station can determine:
a. the location of the earthquake
b. the damage at the focus
c. the distance to the earthquake
d. none of these
e. the intensity of the earthquake
28. The outer core of the earth is probably liquid because:
a. it does not transmit S waves
b. it must float on top of the inner core
c. it does not transmit P and S waves
d. it has high rigidity
e. none of these
29. Another name for a seismic sea wave is:
a. tidal wave
b. tsunami
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
c. elastic sea wave
d. bonsai
e. none of these
30. The core of the earth is composed primarily of:
a. iron and sulfur
b. iron and nickel
c. nickel and cobalt
d. none of these
e. silicon and oxygen
31. Earthquakes have been found to originate:
a. only in the earth's crust
b. at all depths up to 700 km
c. only above the Moho
d. none of these
32. The scale for measuring earthquake intensity is:
a. Mercalli
b. Richter
c. Moh's
d. Wentworth's
33. The vast majority of all earthquake foci occur at a depth of _____ kilometers.
a. 20-40
b. 40-60
c. 60-80
d. 80-100
e. 100 and more
34. With few exceptions, the most destructive earthquakes are:
a. shallow focus
b. intermediate focus
c. deep focus
35. The majority of all earthquakes occur in the:
a. Mediterranean-Asiatic belt
b. circum-Pacific belt
c. interior of plates
d. along spreading ridges
e. circum-Atlantic belt
36. Fractures along with no movement has occurred are:
a. joints
b. axial planes
c. monoclines
d. fold limbs
e. transform faults
37. The Earth's core is inferred to be:
a. hollow
b. composed of rock with a high silica content
c. completely molten
d. composed mostly of iron and nickel
e. completely solid
38. The asthenosphere:
a. lies beneath the lithosphere
b. is composed primarily of peridotite
c. behaves plastically and flows slowly
d. is the zone over which plates move
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
e. all of these
39. The layer between the core and the crust is the:
a. mantle
b. sial
c. lithosphere
d. innersphere
e. sima
40. The magnetic field is probably generated by:
a. the tilt of the Earth's rotational axis
b. the solar wind
c. fluid movements in the outer core
d. deformation of the asthenosphere
e. a large deposit of magnetite at the North Pole
41. Which of the following usually causes the greatest amount of damage and loss of life?
a. fire
b. building collapse
c. tsunami
d. landslides
e. ground shaking
42. A tsunami is a:
a. measure of the energy released by an earthquake
b. seismic sea wave
c. precursor to an earthquake
d. locked portion of a fault
e. seismic gap
43. The fastest type of seismic waves are:
a. P waves
b. Surface waves
c. S waves
d. tsunami
44. An epicenter is:
a. the location where rupture begins
b. the point on the Earth's surface vertically above the focus
c. the same as the hypocenter
d. the location where energy is released
e. none of these
45. When seismic waves travel through materials having different properties, their direction
of travel changes. This phenomenon is wave:
a. elasticity
b. deflection
c. energy dissipation
d. reflection
e. refraction
46. A major seismic discontinuity at a depth of 2,900 km is the:
a. core-mantle boundary
b. oceanic crust-continental crust boundary
c. Moho
d. inner core-outer core boundary
e. lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary
47. A qualitative assessment of the kinds of damage done by an earthquake is expressed by:
a. seismicity
b. intensity
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
c. dilatancy
d. none of these
e. magnitude
48. How much more energy is released by a magnitude 5 earthquake than by one of the
magnitude 2?
a. 2.5 times
b. 1,000 times
c. 3 times
d. 27,000 times
e. 30 times
49. A graben is a:
a. fold with a horizontal axial plane
b. type of reverse fault with a very low dip
c. fracture along which no movement has occurred
d. down-dropped block bounded by normal faults
e. type of structure resulting from compression
50. Strike-slip faults:
a. are low-angle reverse faults
b. have mainly vertical displacement
c. have mainly horizontal movement
d. are faults on which no movement has yet occurred
e. are characterized by uplift of the footwall block
51. The range-bounding faults in the Basin and Range Province of the western United States
are _____ faults.
a. normal
b. strike-slip
c. reverse
d. oblique-slip
e. thrust
52. The seismic discontinuity at the base of the crust is the:
a. magnetic anomaly
b. high-velocity
c. Moho
d. transition zone
e. geothermal gradient
53. Seismic waves arrive in what order?
a. P, S, Surface
b. Surface, S, P
c. S, P, Surface
d. S, Surface, P
e. Surface, P, S

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

Volcanoes
Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. The property of a magma that determines whether or not it has high viscosity:
a. density
b. silica content
c. color
d. iron content
e. water content
2. This mineral tends to form first in Bowen's Series:
a. quartz
b. plagioclase
c. olivine
d. muscovite
e. biotite
3. Most stratovolcanoes tend to erupt:
a. rhyolite
b. basalt
c. andesite
d. gabbro
e. obsidian
4. After steam, the most abundant component of volcanic gases:
a. argon
b. carbon dioxide
c. hydrogen sulfide
d. sulfur dioxide
e. nitrogen
5. These lavas erupt coolest:
a. pumice
b. basalt
c. andesite
d. rhyolite
6. A volcano that has not erupted in 1000 years is best described as:
a. active
b. dormant
c. extinct
7. Most batholiths are made of:
a. granite
b. basalt
c. dunite
d. gabbro
e. rhyolite
8. The property of a magma that determines whether or not it flows easily:
a. density
b. viscosity
c. color
d. iron content

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
9. This mineral tends to form last in Bowen's Series:
a. quartz
b. plagioclase
c. olivine
d. muscovite
e. biotite
10. Shield volcanoes tend to erupt:
a. rhyolite
b. basalt
c. andesite
d. gabbro
e. obsidian
11. These lavas erupt hottest:
a. pumice
b. basalt
c. andesite
d. rhyolite
12. During its lifetime, a volcano may:
a. collapse to form a caldera
b. collapse in a catastrophic landslide
c. erode away to leave a volcanic neck
d. any of the above
13. A volcano that has not erupted in 1000 years is extinct. True or False:
a. True
b. False
14. Source of the water that forms volcanic mudflows:
a. melting of the volcano's snow or ice cap
b. condensation of water vapor from the eruption cloud
c. both a and b
d. neither a nor b
15. The least dangerous hazard to human life from volcanoes:
a. lava flows
b. nuees ardentes
c. mudflows
16. Mount St. Helens, prior to its eruption in 1980 was an excellent example of:
a. a shield volcano
b. a dormant volcano
c. an extinct volcano
d. an active volcano
e. none of these
17. The steepness of slopes on a volcanic mountain is determined primarily by:
a. the relative amounts of pyroclastic debris and lava erupted from the volcanic vent
b. the initial temperature of the lava
c. the amount of rainfall in the area
d. the force with which the magma is pushed upward
e. none of these
18. A fiery cloud of hot gases and pyroclastic debris which flows down the side of a volcano
is called:
a. a cinder avalanche
b. a nuee ardente or pyroclastic flow
c. clastic flow
d. theromoclastic avalanche
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
e. none of these
19. The steep-walled structure formed by the collapse of the top of a volcanic mountain into
an underlying magma chamber is called:
a. a crater
b. a fissure
c. a caldera
d. a vent
e. none of these
20. The Columbia Plateau in the northwestern U.S. is an excellent example of:
a. an eroded shield volcano
b. deposits of flood basalts
c. extensive deposits of pyroclastic debris
d. a chain of composite volcanoes
e. none of these
21. Two types of gases, other than steam, that are the most abundant in volcanic emissions
are:
a. carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide
b. carbon dioxide and nitrogen
c. hydrogen and helium
d. none of these
e. carbon monoxide and argon
22. Which of these processes can destroy a stratovolcano:
a. landslide
b. gradual erosion
c. caldera collapse
d. all of the above
23. When molten rock reaches the surface, it's called:
a. lava
b. slag
c. magma
d. granite
24. Molten rock which does not reach the surface is called:
a. volcanic ash
b. magma
c. basalt
d. lava
25. Magma forms
a. in the core of the earth
b. 1000 miles below the surface
c. a mile below the surface
d. about 50 miles below the surface
26. How to tell a dike from a sill
a. a dike cuts across structures but a sill is parallel to them
b. dikes are mostly of gabbro, sills are diorite
c. sills are usually associated with batholiths
d. all of the above
27. According to Bowen's Series:
a. quartz forms last
b. quartz and olivine form together
c. quartz forms before biotite
d. quartz forms first
28. The viscosity of magma is primarily controlled by:
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
a. temperature
b. texture
c. silica content
d. elevation
e. pressure
29. An example of a concordant pluton having a tabular geometry is a:
a. sill
b. lava flow
c. batholith
d. dike
e. volcanic neck
30. Basalt plateaus form as a result of:
a. repeated eruptions of cinder cones
b. widespread ash falls
c. accumulation of thick layers of pyroclastic materials
d. the origin of lahars on composite volcanoes
e. eruptions of fluid lava from long fissures
31. One other Cascade Range volcano besides Mount St. Helens has erupted since 1900. It is:
a. Mount Hood, Oregon
b. Mount Adams, Washington
c. Mount Lassen, California
d. Mount Mazama, Oregon
e. Mount Garibaldi, British Columbia
32. Volcanic or extrusive igneous rocks form by the cooling and crystallization of lava flows
and the
a. crystallization of magma beneath the surface
b. consolidation of pyroclastic materials
c. reaction of volcanic gases with the atmosphere
d. heating of sedimentary rocks beneath lava flows
e. all of these
33. Which is associated with basaltic magma?
a. shield volcanoes
b. explosive eruptions
c. nuees ardentes
d. batholiths
34. Much of the upper part of the oceanic crust is composed of interconnected bulbous
masses of igneous rock called:
a. pillow lava
b. parasitic cones
c. lapilli
d. blocks
e. pyroclastic material
35. Shield volcanoes have low slopes because they are composed of:
a. mostly pyroclastic layers
b. felsic magma
c. lahars and viscous lava flows
d. pillow lavas
e. fluid mafic lava flows
36. Which is most dangerous to humans:
a. nuee ardente or pyroclastic flow
b. pahoehoe
c. lava flows
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
d. pillow lava
e. volcanic bombs
37. A lava flow with a surface of jagged blocks is termed:
a. lapilli
b. obsidian
c. vesicular
d. pyroclastic sheet deposit
e. aa
38. Most calderas form by:
a. summit collapse
b. forceful injection
c. explosions
d. erosion of lava domes
e. fissure eruptions
39. What are the two major kinds of igneous rocks:
a. volcanic and eruptive
b. volcanic and plutonic
c. granitic and plutonic
d. sills and lava
e. dikes and batholiths
40. Crater Lake in Oregon is an excellent example of a:
a. caldera
b. basalt plateau
c. cinder cone
d. lava dome
e. shield volcano
41. The largest volcano in the world (height, volume, or diameter) is:
a. Mount St. Helens, Washington
b. Mount Vesuvius, Italy
c. Mount Etna, Sicily
d. Mauna Loa, Hawaii
e. Fujiyama, Japan
42. Why is silica the major component of magma:
a. it melts at low temperatures
b. it retains heat well
c. it dissolves other rocks
d. it is so abundant
43. Which of the following is a concordant pluton:
a. sill
b. dike
c. stock
d. batholith
e. volcanic neck
44. Batholiths are composed mostly of what type of rock:
a. granitic
b. andesite
c. gabbro
d. periodotite
e. basalt
45. Most active volcanoes are in:
a. the Mediterranean belt
b. the circum-Pacific belt
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
c. the Hawaiian Islands
d. the oceanic ridge belt
e. Iceland
46. One of history's best-known volcanic eruptions was the eruption that destroyed Pompeii
in 79 A.D. How was Pompeii destroyed:
a. It was buried by lava flows.
b. It was buried by mudflows.
c. It was swept away by a volcanic sea wave.
d. It was buried by ash, which later hardened into rock.
47. Vesuvius is one of a chain of volcanoes along the southern coast of Italy, marking a:
a. mid-ocean ridge.
b. subduction zone.
c. flood basalt province.
d. rift valley.
48. For every lava flow that erupts from a volcano, what quantity of molten rock hardens
beneath the surface?
a. only a few per cent
b. about the same
c. two or three times as much
d. many times as much
49. When mantle material melts, it usually forms magma of what composition?
a. basalt
b. rhyolite
c. andesite
d. dunite
50. Volcanoes on oceanic crust erupt mostly magma of what composition?
a. basalt
b. rhyolite
c. andesite
d. dunite
51. As subduction zones on continents evolve, later magmas become progressively ______.
a. richer in iron.
b. poorer in silica.
c. richer in magnesium.
d. richer in silica.
52. The largest intrusions in area and volume are:
a. stocks.
b. batholiths.
c. laccoliths.
d. lopoliths.
53. The islands of Hawaii are:
a. shield volcanoes
b. stratovolcanoes
c. plug domes
d. fissure flows
54. Which of the following is not an important flood basalt area:
a. Oregon and Washington
b. large areas in India
c. parts of Siberia
d. central Australia
55. Flood basalts are usually related to:
a. subduction zones.
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
b. hot spots or rifts.
c. batholiths.
d. mountain ranges
56. The most commonest intermediate volcanic rock is:
a. andesite.
b. basalt
c. rhyolite
d. diorite
57. Stratovolcanoes are composed of :
a. rhyolite flows.
b. alternating layers of lava, mudflow deposits, and pyroclastic debris.
c. mudflows and volcanic ash.
d. loose pyroclastic debris.
58. Why is lava, in itself, a comparatively minor safety hazard:
a. Lava flows usually move slowly, and there is usually enough advance warning to
permit escape.
b. Lava hardens as it moves.
c. both a. and b
d. none of the above
59. Most andesite stratovolcanoes occur at:
a. continental rifts
b. hot spots.
c. subduction zones.
d. oceanic rifts.
60. Shield volcanoes are the largest of all volcanoes by what measures:
a. height
b. volume
c. mass
d. diameter
e. all of the above
61. The property of magma that governs the type of volcano built and the violence of its
eruptions is:
a. density
b. temperature
c. depth of origin
d. viscosity
62. Which of the following materials has the highest viscosity?
a. hot asphalt
b. honey
c. milk
d. water
63. Which of the following magmas has the highest viscosity?
a. rhyolite
b. basalt
c. andesite
d. diorite
64. Which of the following magmas is most likely to build a shield volcano?
a. rhyolite
b. basalt
c. andesite
d. diorite
65. Which is the least likely to cause casualties during a volcanic eruption?
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
a. mudflows
b. pyroclastic flows
c. fast-moving lava flows that arrive without warning
d. building collapse from ash falls
66. Volcanic ash is:
a. rock dust ejected by the volcano.
b. remains of materials burned by hot lava.
c. minerals that condense from volcanic gases.
d. loose soil picked up by the wind after eruptions.
67. Which of the following magmas is most likely to be associated with violent eruptions?
a. rhyolite
b. basalt
c. andesite
d. diorite
68. The process by which intrusions "nibble" their way upward by breaking off pieces of
overlying rock is called:
a. stoping.
b. forceful injection.
c. injection fracturing
d. undermining.
69. Which of the following magmas has the lowest viscosity?
a. rhyolite
b. basalt
c. andesite
d. diorite
70. Which of the following magmas is most likely to be associated with a pyroclastic flow?
a. rhyolite
b. basalt
c. andesite
d. diorite
71. All the following properties of volcanoes and eruptions tend to be associated, except one.
The property that does not belong in this list is:
a. non-violent eruptions.
b. pyroclastic flows.
c. shield volcanoes.
d. fluid lavas with low viscosity.
72. On the atomic scale, the property that governs magma viscosity, type of volcano formed,
and eruptive violence is:
a. average size of ions.
b. average charge of ions.
c. linkage of silica tetrahedra.
d. ratio of large and small ions.
73. Mount Vesuvius, Mount Fuji, Mount Rainier, and most of the other well-known
volcanoes of the world are :
a. cinder cones.
b. shield volcanoes.
c. stratovolcanoes.
d. flood basalts.
74. Sometimes, rhyolite lava emerges from a new vent and oozes out to form a:
a. fissure eruption.
b. plug dome
c. cinder cone
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
d. pyroclastic flow
75. Before the advent of rapid communication and transportation for relief efforts, probably
the greatest danger from volcanoes was:
a. lava flows that struck without warning.
b. weather disturbances caused by distant eruptions
c. inability to evacuate people in danger
d. starvation due to environmental disruption
76. Most of the gas erupted by a volcano is ordinary steam, and most of the remainder is
a. hydrogen chloride
b. hydrogen sulfide
c. carbon dioxide.
d. radon
77. The worst volcanic gas disaster known occurred in the African nation of Cameroon in
1986 It was:
a. an outburst of carbon dioxide that suffocated many people.
b. a sudden, explosive release of hot gases.
c. emission of highly toxic hydrogen sulfide.
d. emission of toxic gases that poisoned crops.
78. The vents of many older volcanoes become so plugged with hardened lava that the vent
may be permanently relocated and a new cone built on the flanks of the old one. Such a
cone is called:
a. a cinder cone
b. a flank cone
c. a parasitic cone.
d. a plug dome
79. If the magma pressure drops beneath a volcano, the volcano may subside to form a basin
called a:
a. rift valley.
b. deflation basin.
c. crater.
d. caldera.
80. A caldera is different from a volcanic crater in what way:
a. A crater is usually much larger than a caldera.
b. A caldera forms by explosion but a crater forms by subsidence.
c. A caldera forms by subsidence but a crater forms by explosion.
d. A caldera forms by erosion but a crater forms by explosion.
81. Crater Lake in Oregon actually fills a:
a. rift basin
b. caldera
c. sinkhole
d. deflation basin.
82. When volcanoes collapse in the sea, the results are often especially violent. Two of the
most violent such eruptions were:
a. Krakatoa and Thera.
b. Vesuvius and Etna.
c. Krakatoa and Mauna Loa.
d. Surtsey and Paricutin.
83. A former volcano in Oregon, Mount Mazama, is now the site of:
a. Mount Hood
b. Mount St. Helens
c. Mount Shasta
d. Crater Lake
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
84. Yellowstone National Park is an example of:
a. a hot spot on a continent.
b. a collapsed magma chamber.
c. a flood basalt province.
d. both a. and b.
e. all of the above
85. Stratovolcanoes collapse because:
a. they are weakly-cemented piles of lava flows, ash layers and mudflow deposits.
b. erosion weakens the volcano and causes it to collapse.
c. they accumulate glaciers whose weight collapses the volcano
86. The type of volcano that generally has the shortest active lifespan:
a. cinder cones
b. shield volcanoes
c. stratovolcanoes
d. plug domes
87. A volcano is considered extinct if:
a. it has not erupted in 100 years.
b. it has not erupted in 1,000 years.
c. it has not erupted in 10,000 years.
d. there is no sure way to determine if a volcano is extinct.
88. The rock invaded by an intrusion is called:
a. sedimentary rock.
b. metamorphic rock
c. country rock.
d. background rock.
89. The general term for a non-tabular intrusion is a:
a. stock.
b. pluton.
c. dike.
d. batholith
90. Stratovolcanoes collapse because:
a. erosion weakens the volcano and causes it to collapse.
b. acidic gases and solutions weaken the volcano from within.
c. they accumulate glaciers whose weight collapses the volcano
91. Very large batholiths like the Sierra Nevada Batholith are:
a. made up of dozens or even hundreds of smaller intrusions.
b. mostly of gabbro.
c. only a kilometer of so thick.
d. uniform masses of rock that formed from a single vast magma body.
92. Geophysical methods show that most batholiths are:
a. spherical in shape.
b. 50 kilometers or more thick.
c. made of dunite at great depths.
d. lens-like masses only a few kilometers thick.
93. Although volcanic ash is most widely mentioned in news reports, the most significant
global effects of volcanic eruptions are actually produced by:
a. heat from lava flows
b. melting of glaciers during eruptions
c. destruction of vegetation
d. aerosols.
94. The best-documented global cooling by a volcanic eruption occurred after the eruption
of:
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
a. Vesuvius in 79 A. D.
b. Krakatoa in 1883.
c. the Indonesian volcano Tambora in 1815.
d. Mount Katmai in 1912.
95. Flood basalts might have very significant global effects because:
a. they release so much heat.
b. they cover vast areas with dark rocks, trapping solar heat.
c. they melt polar glaciers.
d. the sulfur content of basaltic lava is about ten times that of rhyolite.
96. Volcanic aerosols are made up of:
a. fine rock powder
b. tiny droplets of sulfuric acid
c. tiny droplets of water vapor
d. microscopic ice crystals.
97. Mount Pelee caused great loss of life during its 1902 eruption because of a:
a. pyroclastic flow.
b. lava flow.
c. mudflow
d. heavy ash fall that collapsed buildings.
98. Nevado Ruiz erupted in 1985 and killed 20,000 people because of:
a. pyroclastic flow.
b. lava flow.
c. mudflow
d. heavy ash fall that collapsed buildings.

50
University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

Wind Erosion
Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. Sand dunes tend to migrate

a. against the wind as sand piles up against the windward face
b. in the direction of the wind as sand is dropped over the top of the dune onto the
leeward face
c. to the right of the wind in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the southern.
d. to the left of the wind in the Northern Hemisphere and to the right in the southern.
2. Desert pavement results from
a. flash floods carrying large rocks
b. deflation by wind
c. chemical weathering
d. volcanic ejecta covering the desert
3. Desert pavement is ___ for heavy human use because______.
a. suitable--the rocks are large
b. unsuitable--the pavement is thin
c. suitable--the pavement is thick
d. unsuitable--the rocks are sharp
4. Barchans are:
a. crescent-shaped dunes
b. ridges parallel to the wind direction
c. ridges transverse to the wind direction
d. streamlined bedrock hills scoured by the wind
5. Loess is composed of:
a. sand
b. clay
c. silt
d. volcanic ash
6. Which is true of loess?
a. it is too crumbly to provide good root support for plants
b. it is poor in plant nutrients
c. it is too fine-grained to allow water to penetrate
d. it forms many of the world's best agricultural soils
7. A faceted pebble shaped by the wind is termed a:
a. ventifact
b. erratic
c. aeolian clast
d. yardang
8. The sphinx started out as a natural desert landform called a:
a. barchan
b. pediment
c. inselberg
d. yardang
9. Dunes tend to form:
a. parallel to the prevailing winds
b. perpendicular to the prevailing winds
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
c. either or both of the above at times
d. they have no relation to wind direction
10. Transverse dunes can evolve into longitudinal dunes through an intermediate form called:
a. barchan
b. star dune
c. intermediate dune
d. parabolic dune
11. The largest and highest dunes are
a. star dunes
b. barchans
c. longitudinal dunes
d. transverse dunes
12. The largest sand dune region in the U.S. is in:
a. Nevada
b. California
c. Arizona
d. Nebraska
13. The source area from which wind-blown material derives can often become a:
a. playa
b. deflation basin
c. flood plain
d. loess blanket
14. The loess in Wisconsin was derived from:
a. the Mississippi River flood plain
b. dust blown off the Green Bay Glacial Lobe
c. desert sand from the Great Basin
d. rapid mechanical weathering of local rocks by intense cold
15. Dunes tend to be oriented
a. parallel to the prevailing wind
b. perpendicular to the prevailing wind
c. both a and b
d. at 45 degrees left or right of the prevailing wind
16. What types of dunes are not represented in snow?
a. Barchans
b. Star dunes
c. Transverse dunes
d. Longitudinal dunes
e. All dune forms can occur in snow
17. The thickest loess in the U.S. is in
a. Wisconsin
b. Illinois
c. Nebraska
d. Mississippi
e. Washington
18. There isn’t much loess in eastern and central Wisconsin because
a. It didn’t get that far east
b. It was blown beyond Wisconsin entirely
c. It was buried by glacial deposits
d. The area was covered by lakes and ice sheets at the time
e. It was washed away by floods
19. Which is not a major loess region?
a. The central U.S.

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
b. China
c. The Ukraine
d. India
20. Which is not a property of loess that makes it a good basis for agricultural soils?
a. It has lots of pore spaces for water retention
b. It is of volcanic origin and contains lots of phosphorus
c. The grains lock together and provide good root support
d. It is made of fresh mineral grains with available mineral nutrients
e. It is free of rocks
21. Wind-blown dust from Asia is found on the floor of the Pacific
a. All the way to Japan
b. 500 miles beyond Japan
c. Halfway to Hawaii
d. All the way to Hawaii
e. All the way to North America

53
University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

Coastal and Marine Geology

Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. Atolls may be described as:

a. coral reefs paralleling a nearby coastline
b. coral reefs surrounding a lagoon
c. a flat-topped submerged seamount
d. coral reefs separated from the mainland by a shallow lagoon
e. a small reef growth in a lagoon
2. Which of the following would you not associate with turbidity currents?
a. deposits of graded beds
b. density current
c. excavation of submarine canyons
d. formation of seamounts
e. sediment transport
3. The scientist who correctly proposed the theory of atoll formation was:
a. Kelvin
b. Wegener
c. Hutton
d. Darwin
e. none of these
4. Which of the following is associated with mid-ocean ridges?
a. rift zones
b. mountainous topography
c. greater heat flow than occurs in other parts of the ocean
d. volcanic structures
e. all of the above
5. When waves reach shallow water, they are often bent and tend to become parallel to the
shore. This process is termed:
a. oscillation
b. reflection
c. refraction
d. abrasion
e. translation
6. The movement of water parallel to the shore within the surf zone is termed:
a. tidal current
b. longshore current
c. salinity current
d. rip current
e. beach drift
7. Which one of the following is a landform created by wave erosion (as opposed to
deposition)?
a. spit
b. sea arch
c. estuary
d. breakwater

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e. tombolo
8. The movement of sand parallel to the shore:
a. is created by waves approaching at an oblique angle
b. may create spits
c. is achieved by longshore currents
d. is an important reason for the construction of groins
e. all of the above
9. When a breakwater is built beyond the surf zone offshore from a sandy beach:
a. the area between the shore and the breakwater will probably be deepened by the
intensified longshore current
b. the area between the shore and the breakwater will probably begin filling in with
sand
c. the longshore current will not be affected
d. none of the above
10. The crests of mid-oceanic ridges:
a. are heavily mantled with sediment
b. lie at depths exceeding 6 kilometers
c. are geologically young features
d. have never been observed by man
11. One result of wave refraction is that:
a. wave energy is concentrated on headlands projecting into the water
b. wave energy is concentrated in the recessed areas between headlands
c. wave energy is largely dissipated before the waves reach the shore
d. headlands are enlarged because sediment is deposited on their seaward side
12. The zigzag movement of sand grains along a beach:
a. is caused by obliquely breaking waves
b. is called beach drift
c. is very unusual and seldom occurs
d. both a and b
e. both b and c
13. Within the continental margin, deep, steep-sided valleys known as ______ are found
a. continental shelves
b. submarine canyons
c. continental slopes
d. ocean basins
e. continental rises
14. The presence of which one of the following would indicate that the land had been
uplifted or that sea level had fallen?
a. an estuary
b. a sea stack
c. an elevated marine terrace
d. a tombolo
15. Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay:
a. are associated with a submergent coast
b. are former river valleys that were followed by a rise in sea level
c. are excellent examples of large estuaries
d. all of the above
16. In the geologic past:
a. the number of 24-hour days per year was greater than at present
b. the earth rotated more rapidly than at present
c. the number of hours in a day was greater than at present
d. the earth was farther from the Sun
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e. all the above
17. The gently sloping, shallowly-submerged surface extending from the shoreline toward
the deep ocean is termed:
a. continental shelf
b. submarine canyon
c. continental slope
d. ocean basin
e. continental rise
18. Directly seaward of the continental shelf is a more steeply sloping region known as:
a. continental shelf
b. submarine canyon
c. continental slope
d. ocean basin
e. continental rise
19. Graded bedding is characterized by:
a. an increase in sediment size from bottom to top
b. a decrease in sediment size from bottom to top
c. an unsorted mixture of many different sediment sizes
d. sorting due to gentle wave action in shallow water
20.Which of the following is not true of deep ocean trenches?
a. they are long and narrow depressions
b. they are sites where plates plunge back into the mantle
c. they are geologically very stable
d. they may act as sediment traps
21. Which factors can make sea water more saline?
a. freezing of sea ice
b. evaporation
c. both of the above
d. none of the above
22. Almost half of the sediment reaching the oceans comes from this continent:
a. Asia
b. South America
c. Africa
d. North America
e. Australia
23. Freak high waves sometimes encountered by ships at sea seem to be due to:
a. Undersea volcanic eruptions
b. Undersea landslides
c. Tornado-like weather disturbances at sea
d. Superposition and addition of waves of different frequencies
e. Unusual tidal conditions
24. A flat-topped submarine mountain
a. guyot
b. mesa
c. cuesta
d. horst
25. A baymouth bar forms
a. when a glacier builds a moraine across a bay
b. when longshore drift causes a spit to be built across a bay
c. when a landslide dams a bay
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
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26. When waves break exactly parallel to a beach:
a. the beach wears away
b. the water returns to the sea in evenly-spaced flows call rips
c. the waves move sand along the shore
d. deposition is greatest
27. The highest known waves have occurred:
a. as the result of earthquakes
b. during hurricanes
c. after volcanic eruptions
d. when landslides dumped large amounts of material into small bodies of water
28. An example of a secondary shoreline:
a. the shore of an estuary
b. the shore of a fiord
c. a fault scarp which is partly submerged
d. a barrier island
29. When a wave changes direction in shallow water, the change in path is called:
a. absorption
b. refraction
c. reflection
d. erosion
30. As an oceanic island sinks or is eroded, the fringing reef may be left behind as a circular
ring called a(n):
a. crater
b. caldera
c. atoll
d. esker
31. An isolated rock left behind as an island as a coast erodes:
a. barrier reef
b. stack
c. dike
d. atoll
32. Beaches:
a. tend to remain constant year-round
b. tend to be eroded during stormy weather and deposited in calm weather
c. tend to be deposited in stormy weather and eroded in calm weather.
33. When are waves affected by the seafloor, that is, when do waves begin to "feel bottom"?
a. when water depth is equal to one-half the wave length
b. when water depth is equal to the wave length
c. when water depth is twice as great as the wave length
d. when water depth is three times a great as the wave length
e. none of the above
34. One of the following is not a requirement for coral reef growth:
a. warm water
b. shallow water
c. abundant sunlight
d. abundant amounts of suspended sediment
35. A sea cliff
a. retreats faster with time because the waves cut into softer rock
b. retreats uniformly with time
c. retreats more slowly because the waves cut into harder rock
d. retreats more slowly because the wave-cut platform dissipates wave energy
36. The salt in sea water plays little or no role in coastal erosion
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a. True
b. False
37. An isolated remnant of wave erosion is a:
a. spit
b. groin
c. jetty
d. tombolo
e. sea stack
38. A sand ridge connecting an island to the mainland or to another island is a:
a. jetty
b. tombolo
c. sea stack
d. none of the above
e. breakwater
39. A circular reef enclosing a lagoon is a(n):
a. barrier reef
b. guyot
c. seamount
d. atoll
e. aseismic
40. A flat, benchlike surface cut in rock by wave action is a:
a. sea stack
b. spit
c. jetty
d. none of the above
e. tombolo
41. Chesapeake Bay is an excellent example of a(n):
a. coastal barrier
b. fiord
c. estuary
d. primary coastline
e. emergent coastline
42. Which of these can be considered a fiord (even though the topography isn't dramatic)?
a. San Francisco Bay
b. Chesapeake Bay
c. Galveston Bay
d. Puget Sound
e. Biscayne Bay

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The Oceans
Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. The oceans cover approximately ____ percent of the earth's surface:

a. 30
b. 40
c. 50
d. 60
e. 70
2. The continents cover approximately _____ percent of the earth's surface:
a. 30
b. 40
c. 50
d. 60
e. 70
3. The energy that drives surface ocean currents such as the Gulf Stream comes from:
a. salinity variations
b. density differences
c. Coriolis force
d. wave activity
e. prevailing winds
4. The ____ Ocean is largest
a. Atlantic
b. Indian
c. Pacific
d. Arctic
5. Which ocean has the greatest average depth?
a. Atlantic
b. Indian
c. Pacific
d. Arctic
6. The flattest, most featureless areas on Earth are the:
a. Precambrian shields
b. coastal plains
c. abyssal plains
d. continental margins
e. continental slopes
7. The Earth's surface waters probably originated through the process of:
a. dewatering
b. crustal fracturing
c. subduction
d. erosion
e. outgassing
8. Continental shelves:
a. are composed of pelagic sediments
b. lie between continental slopes and rises

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c. descend to an average depth of 1,500 m
d. slope gently from the shoreline to the shelf-slope break
e. are widest along active continental margins
9. Much of the continental rise is composed of:
a. calcareous ooze
b. sheeted dikes
c. submarine fans
d. ophiolite
e. fringing reefs
10. The greatest oceanic depths occur at:
a. aseismic ridges
b. oceanic trenches
c. guyots
d. passive continental margins
e. the shelf-slope break
11. Which one of the following is not part of the continental margin?
a. continental shelf
b. continental rise
c. continental slope
d. continental trench
12. Submarine canyons are most characteristic of the:
a. continental shelves
b. rift valleys
c. abyssal plains
d. fractures in the sea floor
e. continental slopes
13. Graded bedding is a characteristic of:
a. continental shelves
b. siliceous ooze
c. turbidity current deposits
d. manganese nodules
e. pelagic clay
14. Graded bedding is characterized by:
a. an increase in sediment size from bottom to top
b. a decrease in sediment size from bottom to top
c. an unsorted mixture of many different sediment sizes
d. being found only on the continental slope off the Newfoundland coast.
15. Which of the following would you not associate with turbidity currents?
a. deposits of graded beds
b. formation of seamounts
c. density current
d. sediment transport
e. excavation of submarine canyons
16. Climatic influences associated with cold currents include:
a. increased aridity
b. greater fog frequency
c. both a and b
d. neither a nor b
17.The daily tidal range is greatest during _____ tide:
a. spring
b. ebb

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c. neap
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
18. The Coriolis effect:
a. applies only to tides
b. is caused by the earth's rotation
c. exists only in the Northern Hemisphere
d. is greatest near the equator
e. results in the ocean's surface currents conforming exactly to the prevailing wind
patterns.
f. governs the spin direction of water draining out of a sink
19. Which of the following water masses would be the most dense?
a. warm water with a high salinity
b. cold water with a high salinity
c. cold water with a low salinity
d. warm water with a low salinity
e. all of these would be equally dense
20. Because of the Coriolis effect, surface ocean currents are deflected to the ___ of their
path of motion in the Northern Hemisphere.
a. right
b. left
21. Concerning the distribution of land and water, which of the following statements is true?
a. the percentage of land and water is about the same in both the northern and
southern hemispheres
b. the southern hemisphere has much more water surface than the northern
hemisphere
c. the northern hemisphere has much more water surface than the southern
hemisphere
22. Desalination is associated with:
a. extraction of magnesium from seawater
b. the formation of manganese nodules
c. volcanic outgassing
d. the creation of fresh water
e. none of the above
23. The daily tidal range is least during ___ tide:
a. spring
b. semidiurnal
c. flood
d. ebb
e. neap
24. When there are two high tides and two low tides each tidal day, the pattern is described
as:
a. mixed
b. diurnal
c. semidiurnal
25. Which one of the following salts is most abundant in seawater?
a. potassium bromide
b. sodium chloride
c. magnesium chloride
d. hydrogen borate
e. sodium bicarbonate
26. Which one of the following is not a resource extracted from seawater?
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
a. bromine
b. gold
c. common salt (sodium chloride)
d. magnesium
27. The height, length, and period of a wave depend upon:
a. the length of time the wind has blown
b. the wind speed
c. the fetch
d. all of the above
e. only a and b
28. Which of the following is correct regarding a wave in the open ocean?
a. water particles move in an almost circular path
b. such waves are called waves of oscillation
c. the wave form moves forward but the water particles do not advance appreciably
d. all of the above
e. only b and c
29. Why is the ocean salty?
a. sodium and chlorine are added by rain water
b. sodium and chlorine are the elements least likely to be removed by chemical and
biological processes
c. submarine volcanic eruptions contribute sodium and chlorine
d. sodium and chlorine are the most abundant elements brought down by rivers
e. sodium and chlorine are created by marine organisms
30. What kinds of sediments are produced by marine micro-organisms?
a. Iron and magnesium
b. Siliceous and calcareous
c. Clay and Silt
d. Glacio-Marine
e. Evaporite
31. What's the most likely mechanism for getting coarse sediments far out to sea?
a. Wind
b. River currents
c. Marine micro-organisms
d. Attached to ice
32. Why don't calcareous sediments form in the deep oceans?
a. It's too cold
b. There's no sunlight for growth
c. Calcium carbonate dissolves at great depths
d. There's no oxygen
e. There are no nutrients for growth
33. The high tide in an open ocean basin
a. Moves from the shore in to the center
b. Revolves like the spoke of a wheel
c. Moves from east to west
d. Follows the Moon exactly
e. Moves from the center outward to the shore
34. Large areas of the ocean floor are rich in nodules that contain
a. Magnesium
b. Copper
c. Manganese
d. Titanium
e. Aluminum
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35. How far offshore can wind-blown sediments get in the ocean basins?
a. 10 km offshore
b. Thousands of kilometers
c. 100 km
d. Less than a kilometer
36. What is the best estimate for the boundary between continental and oceanic crust?
a. The mid-ocean ridge
b. The shoreline
c. The 100-meter depth contour
d. The middle of the continental slope

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

Crustal Movements
Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. Isostatic movements in the earth:

a. are due to the more dense continents floating on a less dense mantle
b. imply that the crust under mountains is thinner
c. are not evident over spans of less than a million years
d. are caused by plate movements
e. none of these
2. A syncline:
a. has beds dipping away from its axis
b. has beds dipping towards its axis
c. has older rocks exposed along its axis
d. has limbs which converge towards the earth's surface
e. none of these
3. On a geologic map, the rock layers make a "U" pattern. This pattern represents
a. an anticline
b. a graben
c. a syncline
d. can't tell without more information
4. On a geologic map, you see a band of old rock with young rocks on either side. It could be:
a. any of the following
b. an anticline
c. a horst
d. a valley cut through several layers
5. A coal bed is perfectly horizontal and at an elevation of 1000 feet all the way around a
mountain. If you drill down from the summit (elevation 2000 feet) you would expect:
a. to hit the coal bed 1000 feet down
b. never to hit the coal because it only occurs around the outside of the mountains
c. to hit the coal bed 2000 feet down
d. to hit the coal bed 1000 feet below sea level
6. Foliation is
a. unrelated to folds
b. cuts across folds
c. tends to parallel the axial planes of folds
7. Folding_____Metamorphism (fill in the blank)
a. always occurs before
b. always occurs after
c. always occurs during
d. need not be accompanied by
8. Not an example of foliation
a. bedding in shale
b. platy splitting of schist
c. cleavage in slate
d. banding in gneiss
9. Orogenies (mountain-building episodes) are thought to be connected with
a. transforms faults
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
b. mid-ocean ridges
c. subduction zones
d. ocean basins
10. The safest type of building in an earthquake:
a. a wood-frame house
b. an unreinforced concrete building
c. an adobe house
11. The Earth's inner core is about an large as
a. Mars
b. Venus
c. the Moon
d. Sheboygan
e. Pluto
12. _______________produce extension of the crust.
a. Reverse faults
b. Normal faults
c. Left-lateral faults
d. Dip slip faults
13. Thrust faults
a. result in compression of the crust
b. are found along subduction zones
c. produced the 1964 Alaska earthquakes
d. all the above
14. The three main layers of the Earth are called:
a. upper, middle, and lower
b. lithosphere, mantle, and core
c. granite, basalt, and rhyolite
d. solid, liquid, and gaseous
15.

In the intersecting joints at right, the greatest

compression was probably oriented along direction:

a. A-A
b. B-B
c. C-C

d. D-D
16.

The figure at right represents the contact between two

sets of rock layers, seen in cross-section. This contact:

a. represents a gap in the geologic record

b. is an unconformity
c. implies that the lower layers were tilted and
eroded before the upper layers were deposited

d. all of the above

17.A stratum dips at 3 degrees. We can say:

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
a. the layer was originally horizontal and was later tilted
b. the layer could have been deposited on an original sloping surface
c. either of the above could be true
d. none of the above
18. A stratum dips at 57 degrees. We can say:
a. the layer was originally horizontal and was later tilted
b. the layer could have been deposited on an originally sloping surface
c. either of the above could be true
d. none of the above
19. The San Andreas is a right-lateral fault with the North American Plate on one side and the
Pacific Plate on the other. During a movement of the fault, you would see the opposite
side of the fault move to the right:
a. if you were on the Pacific Plate looking at North America
b. if you were on the North American Plate looking at the Pacific Plate
c. it doesn't matter which side you are on. Both a and b are correct
d. both a and b are wrong because your side of the fault moves to the right
20. How do normal and reverse faults differ?
a. normal faults are caused by extension of the crust, reverse faults by compression
b. reverse faults are caused by extension of the crust, normal faults by compression
c. reverse faults are left-lateral, normal faults are right- lateral
d. reverse faults are right-lateral, normal fualts are left- lateral
e. none of the above
21.

The feature at right, seen

in cross-section, is a:

a. anticline
b. syncline
c. homocline

d. monocline

22.

The feature at right, seen in

cross-section, is a:

a. anticline
b. syncline
c. homocline
d. monocline

23.Which of these indicates that the crust is being stretched or extended?

a. anticlines
b. normal faults

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
c. reverse faults
d. synclines
24. Which of these indicates that the crust is being compressed or shortened?
a. anticlines
b. homoclines
c. normal faults
d. dikes
25. A thin large sheet of rock which slides over other rocks in a mountain belt is called a
a. intrusion
b. anticline
c. landslide
d. nappe or thrust sheet
26.

This feature (seen in cross-

section) is:

a. a syncline
b. a horst
c. a thrust fault
d. a rift

27. In the fold above, the oldest rocks are likely to be:
a. in the center
b. on the outside
c. on the left
d. on the right

28.

This fault-bounded feature is:

a. a horst
b. a syncline
c. a graben
d. a monocline

29.

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

The rocks to the right have ripple marks, cross-

bedding and graded beds. The younger rocks:

a. are up and to the left

b. are down and to the right

30.

In the fold at right, which is the

most likely orientation for the
foliation?

a. A-A
b. B-B
c. C-C

31.

This feature (seen in cross-

section) is

a. an anticline
b. a syncline
c. a monocline
d. a horst

32. In the fold above, the oldest rocks are likely to be:
a. in the center
b. on the outside
c. on the left
d. on the right
33. The rocks in Wisconsin have essentially the form of a(n):
a. horst
b. syncline
c. arch
d. basin
34. The major value of small deformation structures in rocks
a. they are locations for mineral deposits
b. they provide clues to larger structures
c. they fracture the rocks and make it easier to quarry

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
35.

This feature (seen in cross-section)

is

a. an anticline
b. a graben
c. a monocline
d. a sycline

36. The sheet-like structure of metamorphic rocks is called:

a. bedding
b. foliation
c. jointing
d. stratification
37. An elongate fold in which all the strata dip in toward the center is a(n):
a. dome
b. syncline
c. monocline
d. anticline
e. basin
38. An overturned fold is one in which:
a. both limbs dip in the same direction
b. the axial plain is vertical
c. the axis is inclined
d. the strata in one limb are horizontal
e. the strata are faulted as well as folded
39. An oval to circular fold with all strata dipping outward from a central point is a(n):
a. plunging anticline
b. recumbent syncline
c. dome
d. basin
e. overturned syncline
40. A circular or oval syncline-like fold is called a(n):
a. monocline
b. asymmetric anticline
c. joint
d. overturned fault
e. basin
41. Most of the Earth's internal heat is generated by:
a. moving plates
b. radioactive decay
c. volcanism
d. meteorite impacts
e. earthquakes
42. According to the principle of isostasy:
a. more heat escapes from oceanic crust than from continental crust
b. the Earth's crust is floating in equilibrium with the more dense mantle below

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
c. the Earth's crust behaves both as a liquid and a solid
d. much of the asthenosphere is molten
e. magnetic anomalies result when the crust is loaded by glacial ice
43. The intersection of an inclined plane with a horizontal plane is the definition of:
a. horizontal strata
b. strike
c. dip-slip movement
d. joint
e. folded strata
44. Strain is characterized as _____ if deformed rocks regain their shape when they are no
longer subjected to stress.
a. compression
b. plastic
c. elastic
d. shear
e. tensional
45. Most folding results from:
a. fracturing
b. convection
c. compaction
d. compression
e. rifting
46.

In the structure at right, the oldest

rocks are 1 and the youngest are 4.
This is a:

a. dome
b. basin
c. homocline
d. anticline

47. In the structure above, if you drilled a well at X, what would you hit below unit 3?
a. Unit 4
b. Unit 2
c. Unit 1
d. rocks older than 1
e. rocks younger than 4

48.

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

In the structure at right, the oldest

rocks are 1 and the youngest are 4.
This is a:

a. dome
b. basin
c. homocline
d. anticline

49. In the structure above, if you drilled a well at X, what would you hit below unit 2?
a. Unit 4
b. Unit 3
c. Unit 1
d. rocks older than 1
e. rocks younger than 4

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

Plate Tectonics
Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. Volcanoes are least likely to be associated with:

a. subduction zones
b. "hot spots"
c. transform faults
d. mid-ocean ridges
2. The earth's crustal plates move
a. A few meters per year
b. a few millimeters per 1000 years
c. a few centimeters per year
d. a few millimeters a day
3. The type of fault most often associated with subduction zones:
a. thrust
b. normal
c. strike slip
d. oblique
4. Can continents be subducted?
a. Yes, the continent of Atlantis was.
b. No, continental crust is too thick and light
5. What Alfred Wegener used to reassemble the continents
a. shorelines
b. ancient glacial deposits
c. fossil assemblages
d. all of the above
6. The type of plate boundary least likely to have volcanoes
a. subduction zone
b. ridge or spreading center
c. transform fault
7. Reversals of the Earth's magnetic field
a. cause sea-floor spreading
b. produce "stripe" patterns in the magnetism of ocean-floor rocks
c. cause orogenies
d. are responsible for subduction
8. Hot spots
a. produce "tracks" as the plates move over them
b. occur only under the ocean crusts
c. occur only under the continents
d. are the cause of regional metamorphism
9. The best estimate for the real edge of the continental crust
a. the edge of the continental shelf
b. the shoreline
c. the edge of exposed ancient rocks
d. the crest of the mid-ocean ridge
10. Orogenies occur at
a. mid-ocean ridge
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
b. subduction zones
c. transform faults
11. When a plate that is being subducted gets down to about 700 kilometers,
a. it no longer produces earthquakes
b. it has been largely absorbed into the mantle
c. it has completely melted
12. The fact that the magnetic pole seems to have moved throughout geologic is best
explained by:
a. the motions of the continents
b. the axis of rotation moves
c. the magnetic pole moves
d. errors in data interpretation
e. none of these
13. The following can not be directly attributed to the interaction of lithospheric plates:
a. formation of the Great Lakes
b. the Appalachian Mountains
c. opening of the Red Sea
d. none of these
e. the formation of the Himalayan Mts.
14. The oceanic crust:
a. is the same age throughout a given ocean basin
b. ranges in age from Paleozoic to Mesozoic
c. becomes progressively older toward the mid-ocean ridges
d. becomes progressively younger toward the mid-ocean ridges
e. none of these
15. According to plate tectonics, the San Andreas Fault is:
a. an obduction zone
b. a subduction zone
c. a transform plate boundary
d. none of these
e. a divergent plate boundary
16. Orogeny, sea-floor spreading, and continental drift are all related to the action of:
a. magnetism
b. gravity
c. convection currents in the mantle
d. hot spots
17. We can use paleomagnetic studies to determine:
a. the location of continents in the past
b. the location of the magnetic field in the future
c. ancient climates
d. the safety of space vehicles
18. Magmas that feed island-arc volcanoes:
a. could not have been derived form the Benioff Zone according to geochemical
studies
b. occur over very wide zones thousands of kilometers in width
c. are located where they are as a result of magma generation in the Benioff Zone
d. rise along transform faults
19. Terms describing the processes involved in plate tectonics include:
a. subduction
b. sea-floor spreading
c. transform faulting
d. all of the previous
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
20. Zones were subduction occurs are characteristically marked by:
a. island arcs
b. mountains of volcanic or collision origin
c. deep trenches
d. any of the previous
21. All of the following are names given to supercontinents that later broke up except:
a. Gondwana
b. Tethys
c. Pangaea
d. Laurasia
e. Rodinia
22. At a mid-ocean ridge, you would expect to find:
a. very ancient rocks
b. very thick accumulations of sediment
c. thrust faults
d. relatively young rocks
23. Why volcanoes occur near subduction zones:
a. compression heats the rocks
b. the descending slab begins to melt
c. hot rocks is uplifted by mountain-building events
d. tension opens cracks so material from the core can rise
24. The San Andreas Fault is:
a. a transform fault
b. a subduction zone
c. a rift valley
d. a zone of collision between two continents
25. Using magnetic patterns on the ocean floor, we can reconstruct the past positions of
continents:
a. in latitude only
b. in their correct relative positions
c. in longitude only
d. only if they have not rotated
26. The magnetic-pattern method of reconstruction will not work:
a. if the ocean crust bearing the patterns has been subducted
b. before the breakup of Pangaea
c. neither a nor b
d. both a and b
27. Using paleomagnetic pole determinations, we can reconstruct the past positions of
continents:
a. in latitude only
b. in their correct relative positions
c. in longitude only
d. only if the have not rotated
28. Which of these did Alfred Wegener rely on to reconstruct the past configurations of the
continents?
a. ancient glacial deposits
b. magnetic patterns on the sea floor
c. paleomagnetism
d. computer-aided fitting of the continents
29. In reconstructing the fit of the continents, geologists generally use:
a. the shorelines of the present
b. the shorelines at the time the continents were together
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
c. the present edge of the continental shelf
30. The method used above is
a. highly exact and results in a perfect fit
b. somewhat approximate and leaves small gaps and overlaps
31. An area where fitting of the continents does not work and where major problems remain
to be solved:
a. the fit between Greenland and Europe
b. the fit between Africa and Brazil
c. the fit between Africa and the eastern U.S.
d. the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean
32. Which of the following will allow you to determine the absolute motion of plates?
a. hot spots and their tracks
b. the age of the sediment directly above any portion of the ocean crust
c. magnetic reversals in the sea-floor crust
d. mapping sediment thickness in the ocean basins
e. all of these
33. The formation of the island of Hawaii and the Loihi Seamount are the result of:
a. oceanic-oceanic plate boundaries
b. hot spots
c. divergent plate boundaries
d. transform boundaries
e. oceanic-continental plate boundaries
34. Back-arc basins are associated with _____ plate boundaries.
a. divergent
b. convergent
c. transform
35. The San Andreas fault is an example of a(n) _____ boundaries.
a. divergent
b. oceanic-continental
c. convergent
d. continental-continental
e. transform
36. Magnetic surveys of the ocean basins indicate that:
a. the oceanic crust is oldest adjacent to spreading ridges
b. the oceanic crust is youngest adjacent to the continents
c. the oceanic crust is youngest adjacent to spreading ridges
d. the oceanic crust is the same age in all ocean basins
e. answers (a) and (b)
37. Plates:
a. are the same thickness everywhere
b. vary in thickness
c. include the crust and upper mantle
d. answers (a) and (c)
e. answers (b) and (c)
38. Divergent boundaries are the areas where:
a. new continental lithosphere is forming
b. new oceanic lithosphere is forming
c. two plates come together
d. two plates slide past each other
e. answers (b) and (d)
39. Continental crust an overall composition corresponding closely to that of:
a. basalt
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
b. iron-nickel alloy
c. sandstone
d. gabbro
e. granodiorite
40. Oceanic crust is:
a. 20 to 90 km thick
b. thinnest at spreading ridges
c. granitic in composition
d. less dense than continental crust
e. the primary source of magma
41. Alfred Wegener was not a geologist but a:
a. physicist
b. zoologist
c. botanist
d. meteorologist
e. chemist
42. Along what type of plate boundary does subduction occur?
a. divergent
b. transform
c. convergent
43. The west coast of South America is an example of a(n) _____ plate boundary.
a. divergent
b. oceanic-continental
c. continental-continental
d. transform
e. oceanic-oceanic
44. The man who is credited with developing the continental drift hypothesis is:
a. Wilson
b. Wegener
c. Hess
d. du Toit
e. Vine
45. The southern part of Pangaea, consisting of South America, Africa, India, Australia, and
Antarctica, is called:
a. Gondwana
b. Laurentia
c. Laurasia
d. Pacific
e. Atlantis
46. Which of the following has been used as evidence for continental drift?
a. continental fit
b. paleomagnetism
c. fossil plants and animals
d. all of these
47. The driving mechanism of plate movement is believed to be:
a. isostasy
b. rotation of the earth
c. magnetism
d. tidal effects
e. thermal convection
48. Which of the following statements is correct?
a. Most of the continental margins around the Atlantic are passive
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b. Oceanic ridges are composed largely of deformed sedimentary rocks.
c. The deposits of turbidity currents consist of calcareous ooze
d. Most of the Earth's intermediate and deep earthquakes occur at or near oceanic
ridges.
e. Oceanic crust is thicker than continental crust.
49. Massive sulfide deposits form:
a. on passive continental margins
b. as accumulations of microscopic shells on the sea floor
c. by precipitation of minerals near hydrothermal vents
d. from sediments derived from continents
e. in oceanic trenches
50. Which of the following is not characteristic of an active continental margin?
a. volcanism
b. volcanic arc
c. earthquakes
d. wide continental shelf
e. oceanic trench
51. Sediments deposited in an oceanic trench and then deformed and scraped off against the
landward side of the trench during an orogeny form a(n):
a. divergent margin complex
b. accretionary wedge
c. back-arc basic facies
d. island arc system
e. orogenic continental margin complex
52. An excellent example of a present-day mountain system forming as a result of a
continent-continent collision is the:
a. Andes
b. Alps
c. Rocky Mountains
d. Appalachians
e. Himalayas
53. In mountain systems that form at continental margins:
a. the Earth's crust is thicker than average
b. most deformation is caused by tensional stresses
c. little or no volcanic activity occurs
d. stretching and thinning of the continental crust occur
e. most deformation results from rifting
54. In which of the following is an orogeny currently taking place?
a. east coast of North America
b. central Africa
c. west coast of South America
d. western Europe
e. the Appalachians
55. Mid-oceanic ridges are examples of what type of boundary?
a. divergent
b. subduction
c. convergent
d. hot spot
e. transform
56. The San Andreas fault separating the Pacific plate from the North American plate is an
example of what type of boundary?
a. divergent
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b. subduction
c. convergent
d. transform
57. A plate is composed of the:
a. core and lower mantle
b. lower mantle and asthenosphere
c. asthenosphere and upper mantle
d. upper mantle and crust
e. continental and oceanic crust
58. The actual process that makes plates move is probably
a. ridge push
b. mantle flow driven by convection
c. slab pull at subduction zones
d. all of these
59. A descending oceanic plate starts to melt at depths of about:
a. 10 km
b. 1000 km
c. 100 km
d. 2000 km
e. 500 km

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

Fossils, Geologic Time and Earth History

Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. The Sun is probably a ______________ generation star

a. First
b. Second
c. Third
d. Fourth
e. Fifth
2. It probably takes _____________ years for planets to form
a. Less than 10,000
b. 100,000 - 1,000,000
c. 1 - 10 million
d. 10 - 100 million
e. Over a billion
3. Which is one of the reasons some scientists think that to have life on Earth, we need
Jupiter?
a. It sweeps up debris and reduces impacts
b. Its magnetic field deflects cosmic rays
c. It captured solar system gases that would be toxic on earth
d. Its icy moons were the source of earth's water
4. Which is one of the reasons some scientists think that to have life on Earth, we need
Jupiter?
a. Its magnetic field deflects cosmic rays
b. Its mass, location and circular orbit stabilize orbits of other planets
c. It captured solar system gases that would be toxic on earth
d. Its icy moons were the source of earth's water
5. When do we first see evidence for liquid water on earth?
a. A billion years ago
b. 500 million years ago
c. Two billion years ago
d. As far back as we can see
6. The carbonate-silicate cycle has probably helped moderate earth's temperatures. Which of
the following is essential for the cycle to operate?
a. Liquid water
b. Life
c. Abundant calcium-bearing rocks
d. Abundant carbon dioxide
7. According to most models of stellar evolution, when the earth formed, the sun was:
a. Twice as bright
b. The same brightness
c. One tenth as bright
d. About 30 percent less bright
8. One line of evidence for the origin of life is that many of the most simple organisms are:
a. Single-celled
b. Extremophiles
c. Viruses
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
d. Algae
e. Animals
9. The Wilson Cycle describes what?
a. The assembly and breakup of supercontinents
b. The carbonate-silicate cycle
c. The cycle of solar evolution
d. The orbital changes that result in ice ages
10. There is evidence for plate tectonics as far back as
a. 200 million years ago
b. 500 million years ago
c. A billion years ago
d. Two billion years ago
11. Earth had large areas of continental crust by
a. 200 million years ago
b. 500 million years ago
c. 1.2 billion years ago
d. 2.5 billion years ago
12. The inner rocky planets are made mostly of
a. Metallic iron and nickel
b. Iron and nickel sulfides
c. Calcium and aluminum oxides
d. Quartz and feldspars
e. Iron and magnesium silicates
13. The age of the solar system is about
a. 18 billion years
b. 11 billion Years
c. 4.6 billion years
d. 2.5 billion years
e. 1 billion Years
14. Planets are made of:
a. The same material as the Sun, minus elements that remain mostly in gases.
b. The same material as the Sun
c. Elements that did not go into forming the Sun
d. Elements not found elsewhere in the universe
e. The same material as the Sun minus elements that formed later in the sun by
nuclear reactions
15. The difference in composition between the inner and outer planets is due to:
a. Different element abundances in different parts of the solar system
b. Differences in temperature as the planets formed
c. Comets from outside the solar system impacting the outer planets
d. Nuclear reactions in the cores of the planets
16. How many extrasolar planets are now known?
a. None
b. About 10
c. About 100
d. Over 1,000
17. What size planets can we detect around other stars?
a. All of them
b. Anything larger than our moon
c. Anything larger than earth
d. Jupiter-sized and larger
e. None: we cannot detect planets around other stars
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
18. When a geologist says a rock has been dated at 100 m.y. old, the possible error is likely to
be:
a. 1 or 2 m.y.
b. 5,000 yrs
c. 50 m.y.
d. less than 10,000 years
19. If you have 1 gm of Carbon-14, after two half lives, you will have:
a. none
b. 1/2 gm
c. 2 gm
d. 1/4 gm
20. An example of a relative age
a. the Civil War began in 1861
b. Kennedy became President in 1961
c. the dinosaurs died out 70,000 years ago
d. McKinley was President before Hoover
21. The reason a geologist can look at a rock and tell how old it is (sometimes):
a. older rocks look different
b. the geologist has occult powers
c. the geologist has read the results of others' work in the area the rock came from
d. the geologist can see signs of weathering
22. The process of identifying one rock layer with another one far away is called:
a. correlation
b. connection
c. correspondence
d. collation
23. Not a dating method
a. Potassium-Argon
b. Hydrogen-Oxygen
c. Carbon 14
d. Uranium-Lead
24. Superposition
a. means that later events leave their impressions on things that formed earlier
b. is a means of assigning relative ages
c. is how we know a dike is younger than the rocks it intrudes
d. is the reason younger rocks usually overlie older ones
e. all of the above
25. Why radiometric dating is more reliable than estimating ages from rates of erosion or
rates of sedimentation.
a. We can measure the amount of material very accurately.
b. Erosion is constant in rate wind and waves redistribute the sediments
c. Radioactive decay is constant in rate
26. Using appropriate formulas, the concept of half-life allows us to determine the age of a
rock.
a. Only if it is a whole number of half-lives old
b. For any age, even fractions of half-lives old
27. Why K-Ar cannot date very young rocks.
a. not enough K has decayed yet
b. all the Ar has decayed
c. all the k has decayed
d. all the Ar has leaked off
28. If sedimentary rocks are arranged in vertical layers, then:
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
a. the oldest layer is on the right
b. the relative ages of the layers cannot be determined without other supporting
evidence
c. the law of superposition must be employed
d. all of the layers must have formed at the same time
e. none of these
29. Two rock units which are located in different areas are probably related, if the fossils that
they contain are:
a. members of the same fossil assemblage
b. members of two different fossil assemblages
c. members of fossil groups having two different ages
d. none of these
30. The following is(are) related to absolute time measurements:
a. the geologic column
b. half-life data
c. varves
d. all of these
e. tree ring data
31. Which group does not show a correct sequence of the geologic column?
a. Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene
b. Devonian, Ordovician, Silurian
c. Paleozoic, Mesozoic, Cenozoic
d. Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous
e. Devonian, Mississippian, Permian
32. A buried erosional surface is called:
a. a paraconformity
b. an unconformity
c. a peneplain
d. a conformity
e. none of these
33. The following factor can affect the measured rate of decay of a radioactive element:
a. pressure
b. crystal structure of the host mineral
c. temperature
d. none of these
e. acids
34. The rate of which a radioactive element decays can be described by the:
a. type of element
b. fission-tracks
c. half-life of the element
d. type of particle emitted
e. none of these
35. The most significant difference between geology and the other sciences is the element of:
a. time
b. evolution
c. correlation
d. experimentation
36. An absolute age date for a dike intruding a sedimentary rock reveals the
a. youngest possible of the sedimentary rock
b. oldest possible age of the sedimentary rock
c. age of the next overlying sedimentary stratum
d. absolute age of the sedimentary rock
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
37. The era that covers the longest span of time is:
a. Paleozoic
b. Precambrian
c. Cenozoic
d. Mesozoic
38. Which of the following is not a long-lived (over 100 m.y.) radioactive isotope pair?
a. uranium-lead
b. carbon-nitrogen
c. thorium-lead
d. potassium-argon
e. all are long-lived
39. What is being measured in radiometric dating?
a. the time when the radioactive isotope formed
b. the time of crystallization of a mineral containing an isotope
c. the amount of the parent isotope only
d. when the dated mineral became part of a sedimentary rock
e. when the stable daughter isotope was formed
40. If a radioactive element has a half-life of 4 million years, the amount of parent material
remaining after 12 million years of decay will be what fraction of the original amount?
a. 1/32
b. 1/16
c. 1/8
d. 1/4
e. 1/2
41. Which of the following is a trace fossil?
a. dinosaur tooth
b. bird bone
c. frozen mammoth
d. clam shell
e. worm burrow
42. Placing geologic events in sequential order as determined by their position in the rock
record is called:
a. absolute dating
b. correlation
c. uniformitarianism
d. historical dating
e. relative dating
43. If a rock is heated during metamorphism and the daughter atoms migrate out of a mineral
that is subsequently radiometrically dated, an inaccurate date will be obtained. This date
will be _____ the actual date.
a. younger than
b. it cannot be determined
c. older than
d. none of these
e. the same as
44. Which of the following methods can be used to demonstrate age equivalency of rock
units?
a. lateral tracing
b. position in a sequence
c. radiometric dating
d. all of these
e. index fossils
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
45. The author of Principles of Geology and the principal advocate and interpreter of
uniformitarianism was:
a. Hutton
b. Smith
c. Steno
d. Playfair
e. Lyell
46. The era younger than the Mesozoic is the:
a. Proterozoic
b. Phanerozoic
c. Archean
d. Cenozoic
e. Paleozoic
47. Which fundamental geological principle states that the oldest layer is on the bottom of a
vertical succession of sedimentary rocks and the youngest is on top?
a. lateral continuity
b. superposition
c. fossil succession
d. cross-cutting relationships
e. original horizontality
48. Dendrites are
a. pseudofossils
b. fossil tree branches
c. fossil ferns
d. fossil moss
49. A lava flow encases a tree trunk. The tree burns but the lava solidifies and leaves a
hollow tube where the tree was.
a. This is a fossil because it's a record of a living thing in the rocks.
b. It's not a fossil because igneous rocks don't contain fossils.
50. Which is least likely to become a fossil?
a. a feather
b. a bone
c. a shell
d. a piece of wood
51. Is it possible for a species to exist and yet never be preserved as a fossil?
a. yes
b. no
52. The original material of an organism is never preserved as a fossil.
a. true
b. false
53. Most "petrified wood" is an example of:
a. preservation or original material
b. carbonization
c. replacement
d. cast or mold
54. We have well-preserved remains of the internal organs of most fossil organisms.
a. true
b. false
55. Most fossils are of creatures that lived in
a. the sea
b. rivers
c. fresh water
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
d. the land
56. A creature which has a shell or bones is certain to be fossilized.
a. true
b. false
57. Most likely to result in an organism being fossilized:
a. slow burial after death
b. exposure from decay
c. being a land-dwelling organism
d. having hard parts, such as bones or shells

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

Weather and Climate

Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. An mP air mass is:

a. dry and cold
b. humid and warm
c. humid and cold
d. none of these
e. dry and warm
2. In a cP air mass, the c stands for:
a. continental
b. cold
c. circulating
d. Coriolis
e. convecting
3. Which of these is true of the Coriolis force?
a. It deflects winds in the Northern Hemisphere to the left
b. It is strongest right on the equator
c. It affects how water drains out of a sink
d. It affects only air, but has no effect on ocean currents
e. It is due to the earth being spherical and rotating
4. A steep pressure gradient:
a. would be depicted by widely spaced isobars
b. produces strong winds
c. is only possible in the tropics
d. produces light winds
e. produces snow
5. Fifty percent of the gases making up the atmosphere are found below:
a. 10 miles (16.2 km)
b. 3 1/2 miles (5.6 km)
c. 6 1/2 miles (10.4 km)
d. 8 miles (12.8 km)
6. Which of these instruments is used to measure air pressure?
a. hygrometer
b. anemometer
c. Doppler radar
d. barometer
e. psychrometer
7. Which of the following is considered to be a boundary between two different air masses?
a. warm front
b. occluded front
c. cold front
d. stationary front
e. all of these
8. A parcel of dry air has a temperature of 0oC as it crosses a mountain range at 3000
meters. If it descends, what will its temperature be when it reaches sea level?
a. 15oC

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
b. 40oC
c. 30oC
d. -10oC
e. 0o
9. Most of the United States is situated in which zone of prevailing winds?
a. trade winds
b. doldrums
c. subpolar easterlies
d. horse latitudes
e. westerlies
10. Another name for the subtropical high is:
a. trade winds
b. doldrums
c. subpolar easterlies
d. horse latitudes
e. westerlies
11. When an active cold front overtakes a warm front:
a. the fronts cancel one another out
b. cloud formation ceases
c. an occluded front forms
d. a stationary front is created
e. a hurricane develops
12. The triatomic form of oxygen (O3) is known as:
a. argon
b. ozone
c. thermopause
d. molecular oxygen
e. chlorofluorocarbon
13. Ozone filters out most of the _____ radiation in sunlight.
a. infrared
b. microwave
c. gamma
d. radio
e. ultraviolet
14. Under what circumstances could the relative humidity exceed 100 % without producing
condensation in the air?
a. the dew point is higher than the air temperature
b. the air is perfectly dry
c. the water vapor is composed of "heavy" water
d. there are no condensation nuclei
e. there are too many ions in the air
15. Widely spaced isobars indicate:
a. high winds
b. variable winds
c. light winds
d. winds oriented north to south
e. cyclonic winds
16. Which element is most responsible for depleting the ozone layer?
a. chlorine
b. sulfur
c. sodium
d. radon
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
e. helium
17. New York City has its greatest length of daylight.
a. June 21
b. December 21
c. March 21
d. July 4
e. September 21
18. The normal lapse rate of average temperature decrease for dry air in the troposphere is
_____ for each kilometer of altitude increase.
a. 5oC
b. 0oC
c. 15oC
d. 10oC
e. -5oC
19. There is disagreement about every aspect of global warming except one. Which is the one
point everyone agrees?
a. Accuracy of the computer models
b. Whether the change is man-made or natural
c. Carbon dioxide has increased in the last few centuries
d. The role of clouds in moderating global warming
e. Whether the change will be harmful or beneficial
20. The two most important heat absorbing gases in the lower atmosphere are:
a. oxygen and nitrogen
b. water vapor and carbon dioxide
c. argon and oxygen
d. ozone and chlorofluorocarbon
e. none of the above
21. The term ____ is used to describe the conversion of a solid directly to a gas, without
passing through the liquid state.
a. evaporation
b. melting
c. sublimation
d. deposition
e. condensation
22. Fast moving currents of air found near the top of the troposphere are called:
a. wind trains
b. jet streams
c. mesocyclones
d. El Nino
e. chinooks
23. Which of the following statements is not true of tornadoes?
a. occur most frequently in the spring if the year
b. usually occur along the warm front of a midlatitude air mass
c. most common in the Midwest and Great Plains
d. associated with cumulonimbus clouds
e. generally move form the southwest toward the northeast
24. Tornadoes are most frequent in the U.S. during the:
a. January-March period
b. April-June period
c. October-December period
d. month of September
e. July-August period
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
25. The storage of heat in the lower layer of the atmosphere produced by certain heat-
absorbing gases is called the:
a. adiabatic effect
b. photon effect
c. greenhouse effect
d. photosynthesis effect
e. grey-body effect
26. Evaporating a gram of water requires how many calories?.
a. 600
b. 100
c. 14,000
d. 35
e. 7,500
27. The process of converting a liquid to a vapor is termed:
a. evaporation
b. melting
c. sublimation
d. deposition
e. condensation
28. In the northern hemisphere, the winds associated with a low pressure system (cyclone)
blow:
a. clockwise toward the center
b. counterclockwise toward the center
c. clockwise outward from the center
d. counterclockwise outward from the center
29. In the northern hemisphere, winds associated with a high pressure system blow:
a. clockwise toward the center
b. counterclockwise toward the center
c. clockwise outward from the center
d. counterclockwise outward from the center
30. This air mass is the source of much of the moisture for precipitation in the central and
eastern United States.
a. mT
b. cT
c. cP
d. none of these
e. mP
31. Why doesn't volcanic HCl break down the ozone layer as much as artificial chlorine
chemicals?
a. There is less of it
b. HCl in the atmosphere combines with other chemicals and becomes inert
c. It has different isotopes of chlorine
d. Greenpeace is faking the data
e. The chlorine is more tightly bonded and less available for reacting
32. Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, the atmospheric content of carbon dioxide
has:
a. remained about the same
b. doubled
c. declined
d. increased five times
e. increased ten times
33. On this date the sun rises at the South Pole.
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
a. June 21
b. December 21
c. March 21
d. July 4
e. September 21
34. The spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere.
a. June 21
b. December 21
c. March 21
d. February 14
e. September 21
35. The North Pole has a higher noon sun angle than New York City on this date.
a. June 21
b. December 21
c. March 21
d. Never
e. September 21
36.If the maximum temperature for a particular day is 26oC and the minimum temperature is
14oC, the daily range would be:
a. 40oC
b. 20oC
c. 12oC
d. 13oC
e. the daily range cannot be determined with the data provided
37. Early in January the earth is closer to the sun than at any other time of year. This position
is termed:
a. albedo
b. aphelion
c. perihelion
d. equinox
e. revolution
38. On the average, how much of the sun's energy that is intercepted by the earth is reflected
back to space?
a. 10%
b. 40%
c. 20%
d. 50%
e. 30%
39. The earth receives energy from the sun in this way.
a. conduction
b. convection
c. radiation
d. all of the above (a, b, and c)
e. none of the above
40. The wavelengths emitted by the earth are:
a. longer than those emitted by the sun
b. shorter than those emitted by the sun
c. about the same as those emitted by the sun
d. none of these
41. The longest wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum are:
a. gamma
b. radio
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c. ultraviolet
d. infrared
42. The dew point is the temperature at which:
a. water in the liquid state changes to vapor
b. hailstones are formed
c. water vapor condenses to a liquid
d. cumulus clouds change to cumulonimbus clouds
e. none of these
43. The most important process of cloud formation in the atmosphere is:
a. cooling by compression of air
b. cooling by release of latent heat of vaporization
c. cooling by expansion of air
d. radiation cooling
e. cooling by contract with a cold surface
44. The subpolar low (polar front) is:
a. a zone where the trade winds meet
b. the forward edge of the antarctic ice cap
c. a zone where the polar easterlies and the westerlies converge
d. the boundary between frozen and liquid ocean
45. On a weather map, ___ fronts are shown by a line with semicircles extending from one
side.
a. warm
b. occluded
c. cold
d. stationary
46. If an observer sees cirrus clouds, followed later by cirrostratus, and than altostratus, he or
she is witnessing the approach of a ____ front.
a. warm
b. stationary
c. cold
d. gradual
47. The summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere occurs on this date.
a. June 21
b. December 21
c. March 21
d. none of the above
e. September 21
48. When a hurricane moves onto land, it rapidly loses its punch, that is, the storm declines in
intensity. Which of the factors listed below contribute to this loss of punch?
a. friction
b. lack of warm, moist air
c. heating from below by the land surface
d. both a and b
e. both b and c
49. The eye of a hurricane:
a. is the portion with the highest wind speeds
b. is warmer than the rest of the storm
c. is a figment of man's imagination
d. is a small area of relative calm
50. Hurricanes generally are:
a. larger than tornadoes
b. smaller than midlatitude cyclones
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c. areas of heavy rainfall and strong winds
d. most common in late summer
e. all of these
51. Thunder and lightning are most likely to be associated with these clouds:
a. cirrostratus
b. cirrus
c. cumulonimbus
d. nimbostratus
e. altostratus
52. This cloud type is typical of the middle height range:
a. cirrostratus
b. cirrus
c. cumulonimbus
d. nimbostratus
e. altostratus
53. If fair weather is approaching, the pressure tendency would probably be:
a. steady
b. falling
c. rising
d. pressure tendency has nothing to do with forecasting good or bad weather
54. If stormy weather is approaching, the pressure tendency would probably be:
a. steady
b. falling
c. rising
d. pressure tendency has nothing to do with forecasting good or bad weather
55. When an area is experiencing several consecutive days of rather constant fair weather, it
is experiencing:
a. warm-front weather
b. cold-front weather
c. high-pressure weather
d. occluded front weather
e. low-pressure weather
56. An air mass from the Gulf of Mexico is called:
a. cP
b. cT
c. mP
d. mT
57. A cT air mass is:
a. cold and dry
b. warm and humid
c. cold and humid
d. none of these
e. warm and dry
58. Air may best be described as:
a. an element
b. a compound
c. a mixture
d. one of four basic substances that composes all things
e. none of these
59. Which one of the following is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere?
a. oxygen
b. nitrogen
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c. argon
d. hydrogen
e. carbon dioxide
60. Lines on a weather map connecting places of equal air pressure are termed:
a. isovectors
b. isotherms
c. isobars
d. isopressure
e. isogrids
61. Closely spaced isobars indicate:
a. high winds
b. variable winds
c. light winds
d. winds oriented north to south
e. cyclonic winds
62. On a weather map, _____ fronts are shown by a line with triangular points on one side.
a. warm
b. occluded
c. cold
d. stationary
63. Ozone is concentrated in the:
a. troposphere
b. thermosphere
c. stratosphere
d. ionosphere
e. mesosphere
64. The lowest layer of the atmosphere is the:
a. troposphere
b. stratosphere
c. thermosphere
d. ionosphere
e. mesosphere
65. Practically all clouds and storms occur in this layer of the atmosphere:
a. troposphere
b. stratosphere
c. thermosphere
d. ionosphere
e. mesosphere
66. The cloud form that is best described as low altitude sheets or layers that cover much or
all of the sky is termed:
a. cumulus
b. alto
c. cirrus
d. nimbo
e. stratus
67. The cloud form that consists of globular cloud masses that take on a billowy or
cauliflower-like structure is called:
a. cumulus
b. alto
c. cirrus
d. nimbo
e. stratus
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68. This term is used to describe clouds found in the middle height range:
a. cumulus
b. alto
c. cirrus
d. nimbo
e. stratus
69. In the southern hemisphere, the winds associated with a low pressure system blow:
a. clockwise toward the center
b. counterclockwise toward the center
c. clockwise outward from the center
d. counterclockwise outward from the center
70. As you face the same direction a hurricane is moving, the most dangerous part of the
storm is:
a. front center
b. left front
c. right front
d. left rear
e. right rear
71. The reason one particular part of a hurricane is most dangerous is:
a. The velocity of the storm is added to the wind velocity
b. That part of the storm stays over water longest
c. That part of the storm has dangerously low pressure
d. That part of the storm has the heaviest rain
e. The velocity of the storm is subtracted from the wind velocity.
72. The ingredients in smog are:
a. lightning, nitrogen and water vapor
b. ultraviolet, nitrogen, hydrocarbons
c. ozone and fluorocarbons
d. nitrogen, sulfur and infrared
e. water vapor, carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide
73. Rainbows, halos and glories are produced by:
a. refraction of light
b. absorption of light
c. scattering of light
d. colored impurities in the clouds

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Planetary Geology
Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. Not a moon of Jupiter

a. Callisto
b. Europa
c. Ganymede
d. Enceladus
e. Io
2. How astronomers use craters to decipher the history of a planet
a. superposition
b. crater degradation
c. crater saturation
d. all the above
3. Deimos and Phobos are the two tiny, asteroid-like satellites of
a. Mercury
b. Venus
c. Pluto
d. Mars
4. Planets are round because of
a. revolving around the sun
b. rotating on their axes
c. abrasion by meteor impact
d. their gravity
5. The dark flat areas on the Moon are
a. lava plains
b. great dust accumulations
c. areas melted during meteor impacts
d. parking lots for flying saucers
6. Large lava-filled impact craters found on the moon are known as:
a. splash marks
b. maria
c. breccia
d. lunar highlands
e. rays
7. The planet with the densest atmosphere:
a. Mars
b. Venus
c. Earth
d. Titan
e. Triton
8. The remains of an extraterrestrial particle which is found on earth's surface is called a(n)
a. comet
b. meteoroid
c. asteroid
d. meteorite

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e. satellite
9. The clouds on Venus are made of
a. sulfuric acid
b. dust
c. water vapor
d. ice crystals
10. Which planet has the slowest rotation?
a. Mercury
b. Mars
c. Venus
d. Jupiter
e. Earth
11. One of the two satellites of Mars is:
a. Io
b. Titan
c. Phobos
d. Miranda
e. Europa
12. Which planet has the fastest rotation?
a. Mercury
b. Mars
c. Venus
d. Jupiter
e. Earth
13. Which is the smallest planet?
a. Pluto
b. Mars
c. Mercury
d. Venus
14. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are collectively called
a. the Jovian planets
b. the gas giants
c. both a and b
d. neither a nor b
15. Which planet has not yet been visited by a spacecraft?
a. Pluto
b. Mars
c. Mercury
d. Uranus
e. Saturn
16. Which planet has not yet been visited by manned spacecraft?
a. Mercury
b. Jupiter
c. Mars
d. Venus
e. none of the above have been visited by manned spacecraft
17. The high temperature on Venus is due to
a. the greenhouse effect
b. its nearness to the Sun
c. its carbon dioxide atmosphere
d. all the above
18. This body has a giant multi-ringed impact basin
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a. Mercury
b. Callisto
c. the Moon
d. all the above
19. Lacks a magnetic field
a. Mercury
b. Jupiter
c. Venus
d. Saturn
20. The greatest impacts produce
a. pit craters
b. craters with central peaks
c. craters with terraces
d. multi-ringed impact basins
21. Most of what we know about the surface of this planet comes from radar mapping.
a. Mercury
b. Jupiter
c. Venus
d. Saturn
e. Mars
22. What bodies in the solar system orbit between Mars and Jupiter?
a. comets
b. astroblemes
c. meteoroids
d. Kuiper Belt objects
e. asteroids
23. Which of these lunar features is the oldest?
a. maria basins
b. lunar highlands
c. rayed craters like Copernicus
d. lunar soil
e. all features on the moon are about the same age
24. The dark-appearing areas on the moon are called:
a. oceans
b. rays
c. lunar highlands
d. none of the above
e. maria
25. The maria lowlands on the moon are most likely:
a. large lava-filled impact craters
b. dried up ocean basins
c. fault block basins similar to rift valleys on earth
d. stream eroded basins
e. none of the above
26. Which of the following is NOT true about Jupiter?
a. more massive than all the other planets combined
b. has huge rotating storms
c. has a dense atmosphere
d. has a bright, wide ring system
e. all of the above are true
27. The only satellite known to have a substantial atmosphere is:
a. Io
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b. Titan
c. Phobos
d. Miranda
e. Europa
28. The areas of the moon called maria by the early astronomers were thought to be:
a. mountainous regions
b. areas of dense vegetation
c. seas
d. high flat plateaus
e. deep craters
29. The only body in the solar system (Earth excluded) known to have active volcanism:
a. Io
b. Titan
c. Phobos
d. Miranda
e. Europa
30. The length of daylight on the moon is about:
a. 24 hours
b. one month
c. 48 hours
d. one year
e. two weeks
31. Large lava-filled impact craters found on the moon are known as:
a. splash marks
b. maria
c. breccia
d. lunar highland
e. rays
32. Most of the moon's craters were produced by:
a. the impact of debris (meteoroids)
b. volcanic eruptions
c. faulting
d. radial implosions
e. their origin remains unknown
33. Which of these is NOT a characteristic of the Jovian planets?
a. large size
b. composed mostly of gases and ices
c. located beyond the orbit of Mars
d. have thin atmospheres
e. all of these are characteristics
34. The glowing head of a comet is known as:
a. coma
b. comoid
c. toma
d. mrkos
e. nucleus
35. The smallest planet in the solar system is:
a. Venus
b. Mercury
c. Uranus
d. Pluto

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e. Mars
36. The high surface temperatures of this planet have been attributed to the greenhouse
effect:
a. Venus
b. Mercury
c. Uranus
d. Pluto
e. Mars
37. This planet has a densely cratered surface similar to that of the moon:
a. Venus
b. Mercury
c. Uranus
d. Pluto
e. Mars
38. The small particles which produce a streak of light upon entering the earth's atmosphere
are called:
a. comets
b. meteoroids
c. asteroids
d. meteorites
e. satellites
39. These spectacular bodies have been compared to large, dirty snow balls, since they are
made of frozen gases which hold together small fragments of rocky material:
a. comets
b. meteoroids
c. asteroids
d. meteorites
e. satellites
40. These objects can be placed into one of three categories; iron, stony, and stony-iron:
a. comets
b. meteoroids
c. asteroids
d. meteorites
e. satellites
41. The planet with the greatest temperature extremes is:
a. Venus
b. Mercury
c. Uranus
d. Pluto
e. Mars
42. This terrestrial planet is shrouded in a thick cloud cover making earthbound telescopic
observation of its surface impossible:
a. Venus
b. Mercury
c. Uranus
d. Pluto
e. Mars
43. The relatively small, rocky bodies generally found orbiting between Mars and Jupiter are
known as:
a. comets
b. meteoroids
c. asteroids
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d. meteorites
e. satellites
44. These minor members of the solar system are thought to have formed beyond the orbit of
Pluto:
a. comets
b. meteoroids
c. asteroids
d. meteorites
e. satellites
45. The mountains on the moon:
a. are folded mountains not unlike the Appalachians
b. are fault-block mountains like the Teton Range in Wyoming
c. are a volcanic mountains range
d. are rims of huge impact basins
e. have an unknown origin
46. The Venusian atmosphere is composed primarily of:
a. water vapor
b. nitrogen
c. oxygen
d. carbon dioxide
e. hydrogen
47. This planet contains Olympus Mons, the largest known volcano in the solar system:
a. Venus
b. Mercury
c. Uranus
d. Pluto
e. Mars
48. Bright splash marks radiating outward from large young lunar craters are called:
a. rays
b. spokes
c. continuous ejecta
d. radiating dikes
e. spicules
49. Which of these is not a terrestrial planet?
a. Earth
b. Uranus
c. Mercury
d. Mars
e. Venus
50. A recent discovery indicates that this planet has one satellite:
a. Venus
b. Mercury
c. Uranus
d. Pluto
e. Mars
51. This planet has ice caps which change in size with the changing seasons:
a. Venus
b. Mercury
c. Uranus
d. Pluto
e. Mars
52. One of the planets known to have rings:
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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
a. Venus
b. Mercury
c. Uranus
d. Pluto
e. Mars
53. This planet shows evidence of water erosion:
a. Venus
b. Mercury
c. Uranus
d. Pluto
e. Mars
54. This body has a giant multi-ringed impact basin
a. Mercury
b. Venus
c. Europa
d. Saturn
55. The youngest craters are marked by:
a. rays
b. central peaks
c. terraces
d. multiple rings
56. Which planet is nearest the Earth in size and mass?
a. Mercury
b. Mars
c. Venus
d. Pluto
57. Which planet lacks have rings?
a. Jupiter
b. Uranus
c. Saturn
d. Neptune
e. None - they all have rings
58. Rings must lie exactly above the ____Plane of a planet.
a. equatorial
b. ecliptic
c. Polar
d. Nodal
59. Which has not yet been found to have volcanoes?
a. Earth
b. Mars
c. Io
d. Ganymede
e. Venus
60. When a large meteor strikes a planet, its energy of motion turns into
a. atomic energy
b. sound
c. x-rays
d. heat
61. This object lacks an atmosphere
a. Titan
b. Venus
c. Mercury
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d. Mars
62. The polar caps of Mars are probably water ice and frozen
a. methane
b. ammonia
c. nitrogen
d. carbon dioxide
63. The red color of Mars is probably due to
a. sulfur
b. faint sunlight
c. iron oxide
d. the Earth's shadow
64. The only planet whose axis of rotation is nearly in its own orbital plane is:
a. Venus
b. Neptune
c. Saturn
d. Pluto
e. Uranus
65. What was the main source of heat for the Earth early in its history?
a. meteor impact
b. an initial molten condition
c. radioactivity
d. spontaneous combustion
e. gravitational compression
66. The most abundant meteorites are:
a. stones
b. achondrites
c. irons
d. peridotites
e. stony-irons
67. Which of the following is not a terrestrial planet?
a. Mercury
b. Venus
c. Jupiter
d. Mars
e. Earth
68. The age of the solar system is generally accepted by scientists as:
a. 4.6 billion years
b. 20 billion years
c. 10 billion years
d. 50 billion years
e. 15.5 billion years
69. The major problem that plagued most early theories of the origin of the solar system
involved the:
a. distribution of elements throughout the solar system
b. rotation of the planets around their axes
c. slow rotation of the Sun
d. revolution of the planets around the Sun
e. source of meteorites and asteroids
70. The surface of the Moon is divided into: light-colored highlands and low-lying, dark-
colored plains called:
a. light colored highlands and dark colored maria
b. fold mountains and shields
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c. basaltic and granitic crust
d. igneous and sedimentary terranes
e. cratons and polar caps
71. Which of the following is not characteristic of Mercury?
a. a strong magnetic field
b. heavy cratering of its surface
c. scarps
d. numerous lava flows
e. possible polar ice caps
72. The atmosphere of Venus is:
a. thick and composed of carbon dioxide
b. similar to Earth's
c. nonexistent
d. thin, like that of Mars
e. none of these
73. The surface of Mars possesses:
a. huge valleys
b. smooth plains
c. massive volcanoes
d. all of these
e. large craters
74. It is currently believed that the Tunguska explosion was caused by a(n):
a. meteor
b. volcanic eruption
c. asteroid
d. comet
e. nuclear explosion
75. Which of the following events did all of the terrestrial planets experience early in their
history?
a. accretion
b. meteorite impacting
c. differentiation
d. all of these
e. volcanism
76. The age of the universe is generally accepted by scientists as:
a. 570 million years
b. 13 to 20 billion years
c. 4.6 billion years
d. greater than 50 billion years
e. 8 to 15 billion years
77. The most widely accepted theory regarding the origin of the Moon involves:
a. capture from an independent orbit
b. formed in orbit around the Earth
c. breaking off from the Earth during the Earth's accretion
d. formation resulting from a collision between the Earth and a large proto-planet
e. none of these
78. Images radioed back by Voyagers 1 and 2 revealed that:
a. all of the Jovian planets have rings
b. Neptune and Uranus both have little atmospheric activity
c. Uranus has a large spot like those of Jupiter and Neptune
d. Pluto has an atmosphere similar to that of Mars
e. all of these
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79. Both Jupiter and Saturn have a relatively small rocky core overlain by a zone of:
a. helium
b. hydrogen
c. liquid metallic hydrogen
d. carbon dioxide
e. frozen ammonia

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay

Earth Science 102: Astronomy

Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
First - time Visitors: Please visit Site Map and Disclaimer. Use "Back" to return here.

1. The outermost layer of the sun is called the:

a. ionosphere
b. chromosphere
c. corona
d. megasphere
e. photosphere
2. The most explosive events to occur on the sun are:
a. granules
b. filaments
c. solar flares
d. solar winds
e. sun spots
3. Which main-sequence stars are the least massive?
a. red
b. white
c. orange
d. blue
e. yellow
4. Possibly the most cataclysmic act to occur in nature is;
a. electron degeneration
b. a nova
c. a supernova
d. the collision of two galaxies
5. The sun produces energy by converting:
a. oxygen to carbon dioxide
b. oxygen to nitrogen
c. carbon monoxide to oxygen
d. hydrogen to helium
e. helium to hydrogen
6. The nearest star
a. Alpha Centauri
b. Sirius
c. Procyon
d. the Sun
7. Although the Sun appears sharp, we can actually see about ____kilometers into it.
a. 10
b. 200
c. 10,000
d. 100,000
8. The visible surface of the Sun
a. corona
b. chromosphere
c. photosphere

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University of Wisconsin – Green Bay
d. nuclear core
9. The cooler layer of the Sun where the lines in the Solar spectrum form
a. corona
b. chromosphere
c. photosphere
d. nuclear core
10. Deep in the Sun, energy is transferred by
a. conduction
b. convection
c. radiation
11. Streams of protons and electrons emitted from the sun produce(s):
a. quasars
b. spicules
c. the solar wind
d. prominences
e. granules
12.During periods of high solar activity, huge cloudlike structures that appear as great arches
extending from the sun are often produced. These solar features are called:
a. quasars
b. spicules
c. the solar wind
d. prominences
e. granules
13. Our galaxy is called:
a. Milky Way
b. Pleiades
c. Panorama galaxy
d. Andromeda
e. Orion
14. Which color stars have the highest surface temperature?
a. red
b. white
c. orange
d. blue
e. yellow
15. The layer of the sun which radiates most of the light that reaches the earth is called the:
a. ionosphere
b. chromosphere
c. corona
d. megasphere
e. photosphere
16. The layer of the solar atmosphere directly above the photosphere is called the:
a. ionosphere
b. solarsphere
c. corona
d. megasphere
e. chromosphere
17. Which color stars have the coolest surface temperature?
a. red
b. white
c. orange

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d. blue
e. yellow
18. Which main-sequence stars are the most massive?
a. red
b. white
c. orange
d. blue
e. yellow
19. The source of the sun's energy is:
a. chemical burning
b. heat of contraction
c. nuclear fission
d. potential energy
e. nuclear fusion
20. The final stage for a star which is as massive as the sun:
a. black hole
b. red giant
c. black dwarf
d. white dwarf
e. main-sequence
21. When a main-sequence star has exhausted the hydrogen fuel in its core, it becomes a:
a. black hole
b. black dwarf
c. neutron star
d. red giant
e. white dwarf
22. Stars that are composed of matter in which electrons have combined with protons are
called:
a. black hole
b. red giant
c. black dwarf
d. white dwarf
e. neutron star
23. This property of a star can be determined from its color:
a. mass
b. surface temperature
c. stellar distance
d. volume
e. velocity
24. These can be produced during a supernova event:
a. black hole
b. red giant
c. black dwarf
d. white dwarf
e. main-sequence star
25.A star in which light cannot escape because of the immense gravitational pull at its
surface:
a. black hole
b. red giant
c. black dwarf
d. white dwarf
e. main sequence star
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26. The black lines across the spectrum of the sun or a star are caused by
a. planets getting in the way
b. absorption of light by atoms in the star
c. emission of light by atoms in the star
d. chemical reactions
27. The common image of a telescope, a lens in the front and an eyepiece at the back, is a
_________ telescope
a. refracting
b. reflecting
c. compound
d. achromatic
28. The largest astronomical telescopes are
a. refracting
b. reflecting
c. compound
d. achromatic
29. The largest astronomical telescopes are of that design because
a. it is cheaper to fabricate large mirrors than lenses
b. it is cheaper to fabricate large lenses than mirrors
c. large mirrors absorb more light than lenses
d. large mirrors require color correction whereas lenses do not.
30. The Doppler Effect causes light from an object moving toward us to:
a. be red-shifted
b. be blue-shifted
c. undergo no change
d. become green
31. The Doppler Effect causes light from an object moving away from us to:
a. be red-shifted
b. be blue-shifted
c. undergo no change
d. become green
32. The Doppler Effect causes light from an object moving across our line of sight to:
a. be red-shifted
b. be blue-shifted
c. undergo no change
d. become green
33. The constellations as we see them from Earth would change noticeably in (pick the
shortest applicable time):
a. 100 years
b. 10,000 years
c. 1,000,000 years
d. a billion years
34. Stars in a given constellation:
a. all formed together
b. are all moving in the same direction
c. are all the same type
d. are usually not physically related
35. Why is there a North Star but not a South Star?
a. the Earth's north magnetic pole is stronger
b. people chose to live in the hemisphere that had a Pole Star
c. the Earth is on the north side of the Galaxy
d. just by chance there is a bright star near the north celestial pole.
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36. The celestial equivalent of latitude is:
a. right ascension
b. declination
c. galactic longitude
d. spherical aberration
37. To an astronomer, the most important purpose of a telescope is:
a. great magnification
b. gathering light
c. measuring positions
d. penetrating clouds
38. To an astronomer, the least important purpose of a telescope is:
a. great magnification
b. gathering light
c. measuring positions
d. penetrating clouds
39. Gravity overwhelms all other forces in this object:
a. Normal Star
b. White Dwarf
c. Neutron Star
d. Black Hole
e. Red Giant
40. Largest of all stars
a. Normal Star
b. White Dwarf
c. Neutron Star
d. Black Hole
e. Red Giant
41. Can be a pulsar
a. Normal Star
b. White Dwarf
c. Neutron Star
d. Black Hole
e. Red Giant
42. What the most massive stars become
a. Normal Star
b. White Dwarf
c. Neutron Star
d. Black Hole
e. Red Giant
43. What the sun will probably become next
a. Normal Star
b. White Dwarf
c. Neutron Star
d. Black Hole
e. Red Giant
44. The last stage in the evolution of the Sun
a. Normal Star
b. White Dwarf
c. Neutron Star
d. Black Hole
e. Red Giant
45. Nearest planet with surface visible from Earth
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a. Venus
b. Mars
c. Jupiter
d. Saturn
e. Mercury
46. Has a Giant Red Spot
a. Venus
b. Mars
c. Jupiter
d. Saturn
e. Mercury
47. Has four giant moons
a. Venus
b. Mars
c. Jupiter
d. Saturn
e. Mercury
48. Has a runaway greenhouse effect
a. Venus
b. Mars
c. Jupiter
d. Saturn
e. Mercury
49. Has enormous volcanoes and rift valleys
a. Europa
b. Mars
c. Jupiter
d. Saturn
e. Mercury
50. Once had liquid water
a. Venus
b. Mars
c. Jupiter
d. Saturn
e. Mercury
51. Has a moon with an atmosphere
a. Venus
b. Mars
c. Jupiter
d. Saturn
e. Mercury
52. Has clouds of sulfuric acid droplets
a. Venus
b. Mars
c. Jupiter
d. Saturn
e. Mercury
53. Closest to the sun and smallest of the group listed
a. Venus
b. Mars
c. Earth

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d. Saturn
e. Mercury
54. Has polar ice caps that expand and contact with its seasons
a. Venus
b. Mars
c. Jupiter
d. Saturn
e. Mercury
55. The principal clue that the surface of a planet is geologically young
a. Atmosphere
b. Heavy cratering
c. Volcanoes
d. Lack of craters
56. A moon of Jupiter that has active volcanoes
a. Titan
b. Triton
c. Io
d. Callisto
e. Europa
57. A massive star sometimes explodes in a great explosion called
a. Supernova
b. Quasar
c. Big Bang
d. Thermonuclear
e. Neutrino
58. Why astronomers are not as concerned as one might guess about the "missing mass" in
the Universe:
a. It's probably due to errors of observation
b. It's been found
c. There are so many possible explanations
d. They have no funds to investigate it
59. Great spiral mass of stars about 100,000 light years across
a. Nebula
b. Globular Cluster
c. Pulsar
d. Quasar
e. Galaxy
60. Technique astronomers use to find distance to nearby stars
a. Parallax
b. Spectroscopy
c. Doppler Shift
61. Estimated age of the Universe
a. 1.4 billion years
b. 13 billion years
c. 120 billion years
d. 1.7 trillion years
62. The color of a star is due to:
a. Its distance
b. Its composition
c. Its temperature
d. Its age
e. Its size
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63. All objects exist as the result of a balance between some force and:
a. Centrifugal force
b. Electromagnetism
c. Gravity
d. Nuclear Forces
e. Radiation
64. What force keeps Planets from collapsing?
a. Radiation
b. Gravity
c. Nuclear Forces
d. Electron repulsion
e. Forces between atoms
f. No known force can prevent collapse
65. What force keeps Normal Stars from collapsing?
a. Radiation
b. Gravity
c. Nuclear Forces
d. Electron repulsion
e. Forces between atoms
f. No known force can prevent collapse
66. What force keeps White Dwarfs from collapsing?
a. Radiation
b. Gravity
c. Nuclear Forces
d. Electron repulsion
e. Forces between atoms
f. No known force can prevent collapse
67. What force keeps Neutron Stars from collapsing?
a. Radiation
b. Gravity
c. Nuclear Forces
d. Electron repulsion
e. Forces between atoms
f. No known force can prevent collapse
68. What force keeps each Black Holes from collapsing?
a. Radiation
b. Gravity
c. Nuclear Forces
d. Electron repulsion
e. Forces between atoms
f. No known force can prevent collapse
69. Planets are what approximate size?
a. No size at all
b. 10 km
c. 10,000 km
d. 1,000,000 km
e. 100,000,000 km
70. Normal Stars are what approximate size?
a. No size at all
b. 10 km
c. 10,000 km

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d. 1,000,000 km
e. 100,000,000 km
71. Giant Stars are what approximate size?
a. No size at all
b. 10 km
c. 10,000 km
d. 1,000,000 km
e. 100,000,000 km
72. White Dwarfs are what approximate size?
a. No size at all
b. 10 km
c. 10,000 km
d. 1,000,000 km
e. 100,000,000 km
73. Neutron Stars are what approximate size?
a. No size at all
b. 10 km
c. 10,000 km
d. 1,000,000 km
e. 100,000,000 km
74. Black Holes are what approximate size?
a. No size at all
b. 10 km
c. 10,000 km
d. 1,000,000 km
e. 100,000,000 km
75. Parallax is:
a. The apparent shift in a star’s position from one side of the Earth to the other
b. The apparent shift in a star’s position from one side of the Earth’s orbit to the
other
c. The apparent diameter of a star as seen in a telescope
d. The amount a star moves in a year due to its own motion
76. What two elements make up 99.9% of the cosmos?
a. iron and silicon
b. hydrogen and helium
c. carbon and silicon
d. hydrogen and oxygen
e. carbon and hydrogen
77. Where did the heavy elements in the Solar System come from?
a. comets coming in from outside
b. formed in earlier generations of stars
c. formed in the Sun
d. formed by nuclear reactions as the Solar System was condensing
78. The spacecraft HIPPARCOS provided us with:
a. Images of planets around other stars
b. Vastly improved measurements of the sizes of stars
c. Images of the most distant galaxies
d. Vastly improved measurements of the distances of stars
79. To determine distances in the Solar System, we used observations of which bodies?
a. Mars and the Moon
b. Venus and nearby asteroids
c. Mercury and Saturn
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d. Jupiter and its moons
80. To determine distances in the Solar System, we must:
a. Determine the distance to each planet separately
b. Determine one distance and use Kepler's Third Law to find the rest
c. Determine the distance to the Moon accurately
d. Determine the diameter of the Earth accurately
81. The violent collapse and explosion of a star is termed a:
a. Supernova
b. Nebula
c. Starburst
d. Stellar Implosion
82. The heavier (more complex) an element is, the __________
a. rarer it is in the Universe
b. more common it is in the universe
c. less essential it is for life
d. more likely it is to occur on Earth
e. more important it is for producing energy in stars
83. Great spiral mass of stars about 100,000 light years across
a. Nebula
b. Globular Cluster
c. Pulsar
d. Quasar
e. Galaxy
84. Technique astronomers use to find distance to nearby stars
a. Parallax
b. Spectroscopy
c. Doppler Shift
d. Radar
85. Deneb, 1600 light years away, is too far even for HIPPARCOS to measure its distance
accurately. We estimate its distance by:
a. Observing its motion
b. Comparing it to stars of the same type whose distance we can measure
c. Knowing it's in a globular star cluster
d. Measuring its red shift
86. The most likely cause of the eventual extinction of life on earth:
a. The Sun becoming a supernova
b. The Sun becomes a red giant
c. The Sun becomes a white dwarf
d. The Sun becomes a Quasar
e. Gradual heating of the earth as the Sun brightens
87. How Big is our Galaxy?
a. 1000 light years across
b. 10,000 light years across
c. 100,000 light years across
d. 1,000,000 light years across
88. Where are we in our Galaxy?
a. In the central hub
b. In the disk 2/3 of the way to the edge
c. At the extreme edge of the disk
d. Neither in the hub nor the disk
89. We know our location in our Galaxy by observing what?
a. The movements of nearby stars
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b. Positions of Globular Star Clusters
c. Motions of small satellite galaxies
d. The expansion of the Universe
e. Areas of star formation in the Galaxy
90. Our galaxy is in the center of:
a. We are not at the center of anything
b. A small group of 100 galaxies
c. A cluster of 1,000 galaxies
d. A supercluster of a million galaxies
91. How is our Sun moving in the galaxy?
a. Standing Still
b. Moving straight away from the center
c. Moving out of the disk plane
d. Orbiting once every 250 million years
92. The evidence that galaxies are receding from us is:
a. They have gotten smaller since we first observed them
b. They have gotten fainter since we first observed them
c. Their light is blue-shifted
d. Their light is red-shifted
93. The energy released at the Big Bang is now observed as:
a. Visible light
b. X-rays
c. Infrared
d. Ultraviolet
e. Faint microwaves
94. In the evenings in _______ we look toward the center of the galaxy
a. Summer
b. Fall
c. Winter
d. Spring
95. Where is the Solar System in relation to the center of the Milky Way?
a. near the center
b. at the extreme outer rim
c. outside it
d. two-thirds of the way from the center to the rim
96. These stars give us a distance scale to the galaxies:
a. Cepheid variables
b. red giants
c. white dwarfs
d. pulsars
97. Why aren’t astronomers very worried about the "missing mass" in the universe?
a. They think the entire concept is an error.
b. The missing mass has recently been accounted for.
c. There are no ways to estimate the amount of mass in the Universe.
d. There are so many forms the missing mass could take.
98. The "missing mass" in the universe is more accurately described as:
a. Antimatter
b. Imaginary
c. Non-luminous
d. Undiscovered particles

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Matching (More than one answer may be correct)

1. Normal Star
a. Gravity overwhelms all other forces
b. Largest of all stars
c. Can be a pulsar
d. What the most massive stars become
e. What the sun will probably become next
f. Nuclear fusion is the source of its energy
g. The final stage in the evolution of the Sun
2. White Dwarf
a. Gravity overwhelms all other forces
b. Largest of all stars
c. Can be a pulsar
d. What the most massive stars become
e. What the sun will probably become next
f. Nuclear fusion is the source of its energy
g. The final stage in the evolution of the Sun
3. Neutron Star
a. Gravity overwhelms all other forces
b. Largest of all stars
c. Can be a pulsar
d. What the most massive stars become
e. What the sun will probably become next
f. Nuclear fusion is the source of its energy
g. The final stage in the evolution of the Sun
4. Black Hole
a. Gravity overwhelms all other forces
b. Largest of all stars
c. Can be a pulsar
d. What the most massive stars become
e. What the sun will probably become next
f. Nuclear fusion is the source of its energy
g. The final stage in the evolution of the Sun
5. Red Giant
a. Gravity overwhelms all other forces
b. Largest of all stars
c. Can be a pulsar
d. What the most massive stars become
e. What the sun will probably become next
f. Nuclear fusion is the source of its energy
g. The final stage in the evolution of the Sun

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