Exam

Question 1

Which type of zone is located at a deep-ocean trench?

Answer 1

subduction

Question 2

What happens at a mid-ocean ridge?

Answer 2

It moves away from a mid-ocean ridge.

Question 3

How long ago do scientists believe the continents formed Pangaea?

Answer 3

300 million years ago

Question 4

Which features form along all types of plate boundaries?

Answer 4

Faults

Question 5

Which continents contain folded mountains that match up to form one continuous mountain chain, serving as evidence that they once belonged to one landmass called Pangaea?

Answer 5

South America and Africa

Question 6

What describes divergent boundaries?

Answer 6

Magma flows from cracks in the crust at divergent boundaries.

Question 7

Which word identifies the agent that carries the energy released from earthquakes?

Answer 7

Waves

Question 8

Which word identifies the shaking that results from movement under Earth’s surface?

Answer 8

Earthquakes

Question 9

Which coal field location is related to coal fields in the United States and supports the theory of continental drift?

Answer 9

Europe

Question 10

Which type of volcanic mountain has wide, gentle slopes?

Answer 10

Shield

Question 11

What describes one aspect of an earthquake’s magnitude?

Answer 11

It is based on the size of seismic waves.

Question 12

Which example is indirect evidence used to study Earth’s interior?

Answer 12

location of an earthquake’s epicenter

Question 13

What describes one feature of deep ocean currents?

Answer 13

move more slowly than surface currents

Question 14

In which direction does wave energy travel in the ocean?

Answer 14

Toward the shore

Question 15

What event is the most likely cause for low energy output readings from tidal power plants in the ocean one day compared to the rest of the month?

Answer 15

neap tides

Question 16

Where does warm water accumulate in the Pacific Ocean during El Niño?

Answer 16

the east

Question 17

Which surface feature can a scientist observe and map to determine sources of groundwater?

Answer 17

spring

Question 18

Why is the unsaturated zone not filled with water?

Answer 18

It is permeable and water flows through it.

Question 19

What is one benefit that mangrove trees provide to surrounding coastal wetlands?

Answer 19

They hold soil in place.

Question 20

What percentage of Earth’s water is fresh water?

Answer 20

3 percent

Question 21

Which relatively flat feature of the ocean floor is in the open ocean and borders the continental shelf?

Answer 21

abyssal plain

Question 22

Which two objects must be interacting beneath the surface when a scientist observes a geyser erupting?

Answer 22

Magma & groundwater

Question 23

Which zone within the open-ocean zone is home to the most organisms?

Answer 23

Surface zone

Question 24

In a field, what type of material did the water most likely encounter when it stopped flowing?

Answer 24

A layer of granite

Question 25

What explains one way that lakes form?

Answer 25

Lava flows block a river.

Question 26

What separates watersheds?

Answer 26

Ridges

Question 27

What does relative humidity measure?

Answer 27

the amount of water vapor in the air compared to the amount the air can hold

Question 28

Where are jet streams found?

Answer 28

In the upper atmosphere

Question 29

Which type of cloud forms close to the ground when the temperature is just above the dew point?

Answer 29

Fog

Question 30

What is a global wind belt found in the middle latitudes?

Answer 30

prevailing westerlies

Question 31

What causes a sea breeze?

Answer 31

Air above land warms quicker than air over water.

Question 32

What defines altitude?

Answer 32

the height of a given point above sea level

Question 33

What is part of the process in the formation of hail pellets?

Answer 33

They are tossed up and down in clouds.

Question 34

What is the most common type of precipitation?

Answer 34

Rain

Question 35

Which three gases each make up less than 1 percent of Earth’s atmosphere?

Answer 35

argón, water vapor, carbon dioxide

Question 36

What leads to the formation of a windchill factor?

Answer 36

There is a change in air temperature and increase in high wind speeds.

Question 37

Which atmospheric layer is where Earth's northern and southern lights occur?

Answer 37

Thermosphere

Question 38

What describes the relationship between air pressure, air density, or altitude?

Answer 38

Denser air exerts more pressure than less dense air.

Question 39

What is likely to occur if an index fossil is found in a layer at location 1, but the layer and index fossil are not found at location 2 nearby?

Answer 39

The organism did not exist at location 2.

Question 40

Which characteristic of potassium makes it useful for dating rocks?

Answer 40

It has a long half-life.

Question 41

What accurately describes a half-life?

Answer 41

A half-life is the time required for half of a radioactive element to decay.

Question 42

What describes faults?

Answer 42

Cause rocks to break and move

Question 43

What identifies structures 1 and 2 in the diagram?

Answer 43

Structure 1 is an unstable atom that turns into structure 2, a new atom.

Question 44

What describes potassium-argon dating?

Answer 44

Potassium-40 decays into argon gas over time.

Question 45

What describes the law of superposition?

Answer 45

In horizontal rock layers, each layer is younger than the one below it.

Question 46

Which period belongs to the Paleozoic era and not the Cenozoic era?

Answer 46

Devonian

Question 47

What determines the length of a geologic time period?

Answer 47

fossil record

Question 48

What important event in Earth’s history occurred during the Jurassic period?

Answer 48

The first birds emerged on Earth.

Question 49

How did scientists confirm that the moon formed around the same time as Earth?

Answer 49

Scientists used radioactive dating to study the age of material from the moon and Earth.

Question 50

What method preserves an image of a leaf?

Answer 50

As the leaf decomposes, carbon from the leaf is left on the rock.

Question 51

What is an example of a trace fossil?

Answer 51

animal burrow

Question 52

What pieces of information are typically seen on a newspaper weather map?

Answer 52

symbols for fronts

Question 53

How does analyzing ice benefit scientists who study ancient climates?

Answer 53

Scientists can study the layers of ice cores to gather information about past atmospheric composition.

Question 54

Which major type of air mass forms over warm water?

Answer 54

Maritime tropical

Question 55

What high-altitude wind system varies in speed based on its distance from the equator?

Answer 55

Jet streams

Question 56

What describes an effect that ocean currents have on short-term climate change?

Answer 56

Ocean currents can carry cold water, which can cool the air and land.

Question 57

What is one characteristic of both El Niño and La Niña?

Answer 57

Both occur in the Pacific Ocean.

Question 58

How is warm front formation different from occluded front formation?

Answer 58

A warm air mass rises above a cold air mass during a warm front, but two cold air masses surround a warm air mass during an occluded front.

Question 59

What must occur for air masses to form fronts?

Answer 59

They must collide with each other

Question 60

What is a natural factor that causes long-term climate change?

Answer 60

Earth’s position

Question 61

What is Sara likely trying to avoid by not being near any tall structures or trees during a thunderstorm?

Answer 61

being struck by lightning

Question 62

What process contributes to the formation of tornados?

Answer 62

Warm air rises, resulting in a decrease in air pressure.

Question 63

How does altitude affect climate patterns in a region?

Answer 63

Areas at high elevations have cooler temperatures.

Question 64

What statement best describes monsoons?

Answer 64

They are winds that blow in the opposite direction of a normal wind.

Question 65

What event is associated with tornados?

Answer 65

paths of damage up to 50 miles long