Download Sample Questions for Mrs. Igo`s Earth Science Final

Chapters on the final include: 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 19, 27 & 28.
These 55 questions are a SAMPLE of the 100 questions that may appear on the final exam.
CP/GHP SAMPLE Earth Science Final Exam questions
Multiple Choice
1. The molten material deep inside Earth from which igneous rocks form is called ____.
a. magma
c. neither a nor b
b. lava
d. both a and b
2. Lava that cools quickly forms ____ rocks.
a. extrusive metamorphic
c. intrusive metamorphic
b. extrusive igneous
d. intrusive igneous
3. Plates of the lithosphere float on the ____.
a. crust
c. core
b. asthenosphere
d. atmosphere
4. The ____ are mountains formed by the collision of the Indo-Australian Plate and the Eurasian Plate.
a. Alps
c. Himalaya
b. Rockies
d. Appalachians
5. The hypothesis that continents have slowly moved to their current locations is called ____.
a. continental drift
c. magnetic reversal
b. continental slope
d. convection
6. A lack of explanation for continental drift prevented many scientists from accepting that a single
supercontinent called ____ once existed.
a. Glomar
c. Pangaea
b. Glossopteris
d. Wegener
7. The boundary between two plates moving together is called a ____.
a. divergent boundary
c. transform boundary
b. convergent boundary
d. lithosphere
8. Seafloor spreading occurs because ____.
a. new material is being added to the asthenosphere
b. earthquakes break apart the ocean floor
c. sediments accumulate at the area of spreading
d. molten material beneath Earth's crust rises to the surface
9. A ____ is a sensitive device used to detect magnetic fields on the seafloor.
a. seismometer
c. Glomar
b. geologist's compass
d. magnetometer
10. The Great Rift Valley in Africa is a ____.
a. mid-ocean ridge
c. convergent boundary
b. divergent boundary
d. transform boundary
11. The ____ is (are) an example of a transform boundary.
a. Appalachian Mountains
c. Mid-Atlantic Ridge
b. Himalaya
d. San Andreas Fault
12. Most earthquakes happen ____.
a. without warning
b. in areas where earthquakes have occurred in the past
c. along plate boundaries
d. all of the above
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These questions are a SAMPLE of the questions that may appear on the final exam.
13. A person located twice as far from an epicenter of an earthquake as another person will notice that the
time between the arrival of the primary and secondary waves will be ____.
a. the same
c. reduced
b. larger
d. unnoticeable
14. ____ is the force that squeezes rocks together.
a. Tension
c. Elastic limit
b. Shear
d. Compression
15. ____ faults are caused by tensional forces.
a. Normal
c. Reverse
b. Strike-slip
d. Elastic
16. Along a(n) ____ fault, rock above the fault surface moves downward in relation to rock below the
fault surface.
a. normal
c. elastic
b. reverse
d. strike-slip
17. The ____ waves are the first to reach a seismograph after an earthquake.
a. surface
c. primary
b. secondary
d. tsunami
18. The point in Earth's interior where the energy release of an earthquake occurs is the ____.
a. focus
c. fault
b. epicenter
d. inner core
19. Some volcanoes form islands as ____ flows from rifts in the seafloor and builds up high enough to
break the ocean's surface.
a. lava
c. water
b. tephra
d. gas
20. ____ is the transfer of energy in the form of rays or waves.
a. Conduction
c. Radiation
b. Convection
d. Condensation
21. The ____ is the source of all energy in our atmosphere.
a. Sun
c. Moon
b. water cycle
d. Coriolis effect
22. Some scientists hypothesize that Earth's ozone layer is being damaged by ____.
a. ultraviolet radiation
c. plant life on Earth
b. chlorofluorocarbons
d. global warming
23. A gas that increases the greenhouse effect is ____.
a. hydrogen
c. oxygen
b. carbon dioxide
d. none of the above
24. Earth's atmosphere is warmed by the greenhouse effect because heat radiated from Earth's surface is
____ by gases in the atmosphere.
a. cooled
c. burned up
b. absorbed
d. none of the above
25. When the force on rocks is great enough, they break, producing vibrations called ____.
a. faults
c. strains
b. earthquakes
d. stresses
26. Scientists have observed that the plates move at rates ranging from 1 cm to 12 cm per ____.
a. century
c. day
b. decade
d. year
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These questions are a SAMPLE of the questions that may appear on the final exam.
27. Plates move apart at ____ boundaries.
a. convergent
c. divergent
b. stable
d. transform
28. Matching ____ on different continents are evidence for continental drift.
a. river systems
c. weather patterns
b. rock structures
d. wind systems
29. ____ currents inside Earth might drive plate motion.
a. Vertical
c. Horizontal
b. Convection
d. none of the above
30. In which of the following climates would chemical weathering most readily occur?
a. wet and warm
c. wet and cool
b. dry and warm
d. dry and cool
31. Which of the following has the potential for the most erosion?
a. water flowing across a flatland
b. wind blowing materials in the air, against the force of gravity
c. wind blowing materials down a slope
d. water flowing down a steep slope
32. What is one source of organic matter in soil?
a. acid precipitation
c. weathered topsoil
b. dead fungi, bacteria, and protozoa
d. eroding bedrock
33. Which of the following characteristics of water can be responsible for mechanical weathering?
a. Water flows downstream under gravity.
b. Water expands when it freezes.
c. Water combines with atmospheric gases to form acid rain.
d. Water reacts with and can dissolve many kinds of minerals.
34. In which of the following areas is wind a major erosional agent?
a. grasslands
c. deserts
b. temperate forests
d. tropical rain forests
35. The three ways in which a stream carries its load are in solution, suspension, and ____.
a. stream velocity
c. bed load
b. stream channel
d. channel capacity
36. Which of the following statements is true about the development of a stream?
a. A stream’s slope increases as it approaches base level.
b. Water along the sides and bottom of the channel flows more rapidly.
c. Deposition is greater in the outside curve of a meander.
d. The velocity of water is greater along the outside of a meander curve.
37. Earth’s atmosphere contains more ____ than any other substance.
a. hydrogen and nitrogen
c. nitrogen and oxygen
b. helium and oxygen
d. carbon and nitrogen
38. When the temperature in the atmosphere reaches the ____, condensation occurs.
a. flash point
c. evaporation point
b. dew point
d. inversion point
39. Condensation nuclei are particles of atmospheric dust around which ____.
a. ozone collects
c. evaporation occurs
b. cloud droplets form
d. winds form
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These questions are a SAMPLE of the questions that may appear on the final exam.
40. In orographic lifting, clouds form when moist winds ____.
a. flow over the sea
c. encounter mountains
b. become drier
d. warm up the ground
41. What is the constant movement of water between the atmosphere and Earth’s surface?
a. precipitation cycle
c. cloud cycle
b. water cycle
d. atmosphere cycle
42. Current, short-term variations in the atmosphere are referred to as ____.
a. humidity
c. weather
b. lapse rate
d. the ionosphere
43. Low-pressure systems are usually associated with ____ weather.
a. cold and dry
c. sunny and dry
b. cloudy and rainy
d. warm and humid
44. Low-pressure systems that heavily influence weather in the middle latitudes are ____.
a. polar easterlies
c. air masses
b. wave cyclones
d. warm fronts
45. The change in wave frequency of energy as it moves toward or away from an observer is the ____.
a. Coriolis effect
c. convergence effect
b. Doppler effect
d. radar effect
46. Polar and tropical regions maintain fairly constant average temperatures because ____.
a. the Sun always strikes these regions at the same angle
b. air masses remain stationary near the poles and equator
c. Earth radiates extra energy back into space
d. the continual motion of air and water reallocates heat energy throughout Earth
47. Differences in thermal energy can be detected with ____.
a. ultraviolet imagery
c. infrared imagery
b. visible light
d. sonar imagery
48. The existence of coal beds in Antarctica indicates that the continent once had ____.
a. been part of Africa
c. a cold, dry climate
b. a temperate, rainy climate
d. been farther from the equator
49. The youngest part of the ocean floor is found ____.
a. along deep sea trenches
b. where ocean sediments are thickest
c. near ocean ridges
d. where Earth’s magnetic field changes polarity
50. Many early mapmakers thought Earth’s continents had moved based on ____.
a. plate boundary locations
c. climatic data
b. fossil evidence
d. matching coastlines
51. Continental drift was not widely accepted when it was first proposed because ____.
a. Wegener couldn’t explain why or how the continents moved
b. continental landmasses were too big to move slowly over Earth’s surface
c. magnetic and sonar data proved that Wegener’s hypothesis was incorrect
d. mantle convection currents weren’t in motion at that time
52. Compared to ocean crust near deep-sea trenches, crust near ocean ridges is ____.
a. younger
c. the same age
b. older
d. magnetically reversed
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These questions are a SAMPLE of the questions that may appear on the final exam.
53. Isochron maps of the seafloor indicate that ocean crust is ____.
a. oldest near ocean ridges
c. youngest near ocean ridges
b. youngest at deep-sea trenches
d. thinnest in subduction zones
54. Features found at divergent boundaries include ____.
a. ocean ridges
c. crumpled mountains
b. deep-sea trenches
d. island arc volcanoes
55. The driving forces of tectonic plates are related to convection currents in Earth’s ____.
a. crust
c. inner core
b. mantle
d. outer core
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