GEO 202 Exam 1 Flashcards
(21 cards)
Water is the hydrosphere constantly moves between various reservoirs. Of the hydrospheric
reservoirs of the water cycle listed below, which two contain approximately 99% of all water in
the Earth system at present?
A. Atmosphere and Streams
B. Streams and Lakes
C. Oceans and Groundwater
D. Glaciers and Groundwater
E. Glaciers and the Ocean
E. Glaciers and the Ocean
The actual preserved remains of hard or soft tissues of ancient organisms are called?
A. Coprolites
B. Burrows
C. Body Fossils
D. Trace Fossils
C. Body Fossils
Which of the following list Geological Time units from Largest (longest) to smallest (shortest
intervals of time)?
A. Eons, Epochs, Periods, Eras
B. Epochs, Eras, Periods, Eons
C. Eras, Eons, Epochs, Periods
D. Eons, Eras, Periods, Epochs
D. Eons, Eras, Periods, Epochs
What natural surface processes lead to the breakdown of crustal rocks and formation of rock and
mineral particles that make up sediments such as mud, sand and gravel?
A. Erosion
B. Weathering
C. Evaporation
D. Precipitation
B. Weathering
What are plate tectonic/geologic settings where crustal rocks usually melt to form magma?
A. Volcanoes
B. Beneath mid-ocean ridge and continental rift valleys at divergent tectonic plate
boundaries.
C. Near subduction zones where seafloor descends back into the mantle at convergent
tectonic plate boundaries.
D. In the middle of tectonic plates at some distance to their boundaries with other plates.
B. Beneath mid-ocean ridge and continental rift valleys at divergent tectonic plate boundaries.
C. Near subduction zones where seafloor descends back into the mantle at convergent tectonic plate boundaries.
The plate tectonic earth model accounts for constant formation of new oceanic crust/lithosphere.
Where is new lithosphere forming and being constantly added to the edges of tectonic plates?
A. Divergent plate boundaries such as rift valleys at the tops of mid-ocean ridges.
B. Convergent plate boundaries where volcanoes commonly form.
C. Where plates slide past each other without colliding such as in western California
D. Beneath the continents
A. Divergent plate boundaries such as rift valleys at the tops of mid-ocean ridges.
What part of the Earth’s interior directly underlies the mantle?
A. The main part of the mantle
B. Part of the core composed of liquid iron
C. Part of the core composed of solid iron
D. The lithosphere
B. Part of the core composed of liquid iron
What is the lowermost and densest region of the atmosphere where we are and affected by
surface winds?
A. Stratosphere
B. Lithosphere
C. Troposphere
D. Really big sphere
C. Troposphere
The early atmosphere for the first 2 billion years of Earth history the atmosphere lacked free
oxygen. What biological metabolic process produces O2 and is the main source of oxygen in the
modern atmosphere?
A. Protein and enzyme synthesis in ribosomes of bacteria, algae and land plants
B. Respiration by all organisms
C. Photosynthesis by bacteria, algae and land plants.
D. Fermentation by bacteria
C. Photosynthesis by bacteria, algae and land plants
What are two important greenhouse gases whose concentration varies over short and long spans
of time?
A. Nitrogen and Oxygen
B. Water vapor and Carbon Dioxide
C. Methane and Ozone
D. Carbon Dioxide and Methane
D. Carbon Dioxide and Methane
Alteration of rocks within the earth under conditions of high pressure and temperature while they are still solid
refers to what geological process in the rock cycle?
The physical and chemical changes that rocks undergo while still solid are referred to as metamorphism
One of the most distinctive features of features of sedimentary rocks is that they are stratified. What are strata?
They are distinct layers of sediment or sedimentary rock after lithification
The plate tectonic earth model accounts for the formation of mountain ranges and regionally metamorphosed
crustal rocks at the edges of continents. Most mountains ranges form where lithospheric plates ______.
Converge or collide (continent-continent collision events)
At what types of plate boundaries do explosive strata volcanoes almost always form at?
At convergent boundaries subduction occurs that produces intermediate composition magmas that erupt explosively
What are important types of chemical sedimentary rocks?
These include evaporite deposits such as halite and gypsum, or other rocks that form by replacement of sediment or
rocks such as dolomite and chert
What processes lead to the consolidation of sediments to form sedimentary rocks?
Compaction and cementation result in lithification of sediments forming sedimentary rocks
What is the most important group of minerals that make up all of the mantle and most of the crust?
These are all silicate minerals such as feldspars
Carbonate minerals are important in formation of sediments and sedimentary rocks. What are the most common
carbonate minerals that make up abundant sedimentary rocks such as limestone and dolomite?
Calcium carbonate (calcite and aragonite) and the mineral dolomite that forms by replacement or chemical alteration of CaCO3
-What types of Igneous rocks form from: a]-slow cooling and crystallization below the earth’s surface; and b]-rapid
cooling at the Earth’s surface?
a]___intrusive/plutonic________ b]_extrusive/volcanic________
-The significant volumes of known metamorphic crustal rocks form from regional metamorphism. Which of the
metamorphic rocks listed below would not form from this type of metamorphism? (circle or highlight all that
apply)
Slate Phyllite Schist Gneiss Quartzite Marble
Quartzite Marble
Many silicate minerals in crustal rocks break-down chemically to form clay minerals. What abundant clastic
sedimentary rock is composed mainly of clay sized grains mixed with silt sized grains?
Shales and/or mudstones
