Download Physical Geology 101*Midterm 1

Earth History 110—Midterm 1
Fall 2014
Name ______________________________
True/False & Multiple Choice (80 pts)
1. Physical geology is the study of Earth’s materials and processes, whereas historical
geology (Earth History) treats the Earth’s organic and inorganic evolution.
2. A theory is a hypothesis that has withstood the test of time.
3. The three great themes of Earth History are
A. deep time, the lithosphere, and organic evolution
B. the core, the mantle, and the crust
C. organic evolution, plate tectonics, and deep time
D. none of the above
4. The usual steps in the scientific method process are
A. hypothesis, question, test, theory, scientific law
B. observation, question, hypothesis, scientific law
C. question, hypothesis, observation, theory
D. observation, question, hypothesis, theory, scientific law
5. James Hutton is considered to be the Father of modern geology.
6. The new geologic paradigm is
A. the Gutenberg discontinuity
B. plate tectonics
C. continental drift
D. A & B
E. A & C
7. Siccar Point is located in Scotland. It is where James Hutton realized that the Earth is
much older than 6000 years.
8. Which of the following are valid forms of chemical bonding?
A. ionic
B. covalent
C. Van der Waals
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
9. The most common of the mineral classes in the Earth’s crust are oxides.
1
10. The principle of uniformitarianism is sometimes expressed as: The present is the key
to the past.
11. We use igneous rocks for samples for radiometric dating. We don’t use metamorphic
rocks because the process of metamorphism “resets the clock” dating only the time of
metamorphism.
12. Minerals are composed of combinations of elements and rocks are composed of
combinations of minerals. The eight most common elements in crustal rocks are
oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, calcium sodium, potassium, and magnesium.
13. Pebbles of a black igneous rock called basalt are present in a layer of sedimentary
rock. The pebbles have an isotopic age of 300 millions years. The rock is ________
the pebbles contained within it?
A. younger than
B. older than
C. same age as
D. none of the above
14. We suspect that life began at the end of the Archean Eon or the beginning of the
Hadean Eon.
15. Magnetic anomalies discovered as symmetrical bands on either side of mid-ocean
ridges were an elegant proof for sea-floor spreading.
16. Alfred Wegener proposed that the continents had at one time been consolidated into
one large continental mass called Pangaea, and he was the first to propose the theory
of plate tectonics.
17. You pick up a large specimen of a pinkish mineral. You find that it scratches
orthoclase, but won’t scratch topaz. This mineral is probably
A. amethyst
B. milky quartz
C. fluorite D. rose quartz
E. citrine
18. Which of the following is not a physical property of minerals.
A. luster B. color
C. hardness
D. ductility E. cleavage
19. A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic, crystalline sold, with a specific
chemical composition, and definite physical properties.
20. Our current epoch is the Holocene.
21. Oceanic basaltic crust is
A. youngest along mid-oceanic ridges
B. youngest along subduction zones
C. oldest along mid-oceanic ridges
D. the same age everywhere
2
22. The Andes Mountains were formed along
A. continent to continent transform boundary
B. continent to ocean convergent boundary
C. divergent continent to continent boundary
D. transform boundary
23. Mesosaurus was a fossil freshwater lizard that formed part of the paleontologic
evidence to support continental drift along with fossil Glossopteris flora.
24. The original geologic column was determined through the use of
A. radiometric dating of rocks using 238U  206 Pb decay rates
B. paleomagnetism and seafloor striping
C. relative dating of rocks using Steno’s and Lyell’s principles
D. counting the number of atoms of FeS in meteorites
25. The Hawaiian Islands have formed over a mantle plume/hot spot that has remained in
nearly the same place for at least 80 million years.
26. The correct terms for the three major types of plate boundaries are
A. strike-slip, divergent, convergent B. pull-apart, push-together, transform
C. divergent, convergent, transform D. none of the above
27. Earth’s interior is divided into which of the following (in order from surface to
center):
A. core, mantle, lithosphere B. inner core, outer core, asthenosphere, crust
C. crust, mahi, mantle, core D. crust, mantle, outer core, inner core
28. Turquoise, malachite, and azurite make pretty jewelry but are really ores of silver.
29. Charles Lyell
A wrote a multivolume text for geology, The Principles of Geology
B. was responsible for the principle of cross-cutting relationships
C. proposed the principle of inclusions
D. all of the above E. A & C only
30. If you believed that all rocks were precipitated from a primeval ocean, you were
known as a neptunist.
31. William Smith
A. dug canals
B. was responsible for the principle of Faunal Succession
C. completed the first modern geologic map
D. all of the above E. B & C only
32. While most processes involved in the changing of the Earth (weathering, erosion,
etc.) have remained in effect, their rates have definitely varied over time.
33. Isotopes of an element are differentiated by the number of protons in the nucleus.
3
34. The forces at the mid-ocean ridges, the subduction zones, and transform boundaries
are _______________, _______________, and ________________ respectively.
A. compressional, shear, tensional
B. tensional, shear, compressional
C. tensional, compressional, shear
D. shear, compressional, tensional
E. shear, tensional, compressional
35. Volcanic glass, i.e. obsidian, is not considered a mineral because it:
A. does not have enough silicon or oxygen in its chemical composition
B. is amorphous (i.e., lacks a crystalline structure)
C. is not naturally occurring
D. all of the above
36. Potassium-40 (40K) is a naturally occurring radioisotope that decays to Argon-40
(40Ar) and is common in many rocks of the continental crust. The half-life of 40K is
1.3 billion years. Assuming no contamination, what would be the age of a sample that
contained a 1:3 ratio of 40K to 40Ar?
A. 1.3 billion years B. 650 million years C. 2.6 billion years
37. Fossils found in strata:
A. are the records of ancient life
B. allow the correlation of strata separated by many miles
C. have been useful in creating the geologic time scale
D. all of the above
38. Steno’s three laws (principles) are:
A. cross-cutting, superposition, inclusion
B. superposition, cross-cutting, horizontality
C. lateral continuity, superposition, horizontality
D. horizontality, lateral continuity, inclusion
39. An unconformity represents
A. a gap in the stratigraphic record
B. a period of erosion or no deposition
C. both A & B
D. none of the above
40. According to the principle of superposition, the oldest rocks in an undisturbed column
of rocks are located at the top of the column.
Matching (10 pts)
Match the plate description on the left with the correct plate on the right.
41. The largest plate
42. The city of Phoenix, AZ is on it
43. Its subduction under NA Plate yields Mt. St Helens
44. India split off from this plate
45. Hosts the Himalayas
A. Eurasian
B. Juan de Fuca
C. Pacific
D. North American
E. African
4
More multiple choice and T/F (10 points)
46. Which of the following minerals can you scratch with your fingernail?
A. calcite
B. quartz
C. apatite
D. gypsum
E. diamond
47. The age of the Earth is considered to be about 4.56 million years.
48. It is thought that by studying aspects of Earth’s history, we might find ideas to cope
with some of today’s problems like global climate change.
49. The most common type of rocks found in the Earth’s crust are silicates.
50. Which of the following are required for the best preservation of fossils
A. quick burial
B. burial in fine sediments
C. burial in an anoxic environment
D. all of the above
E. none of the above
5
Xtra Credit (10 Possible Points)
List the minerals of Mohs Hardness Scale on the numbered lines below; be sure to list
them from softest (1) to hardest (10). In order for you to get credit, each mineral must be
in the correct number space. Please write legibly. If I can’t read it, it is wrong.
(1) ____________________________
( Softest )
(2) ____________________________
(3) ____________________________
(4) ____________________________
(5) ____________________________
(6) ____________________________
(7) ____________________________
(8) ____________________________
(9) ____________________________
(10) ____________________________
( Hardest )
True/False & Multiple Choice (80 pts)
1. Fossils are the remains or traces of ancient organisms that are preserved in rock.
2. A species is defined as a population that can interbreed and produce fertile offspring.
3. Lamarck’s idea of evolution involved the passing of ________ to offspring
A. genes
B. RNA
C. acquired traits or characteristics
D. none of the above
4. Which of the following are sandstone types?
A. arenite (pure quartz)
B. arkose
C. graywacke
D. all of the above
5. Sedimentary rocks are the material record of environments that once existed on
Earth’s surface.
6
6. A sedimentary sequence from top to bottom of limestone, siltstone, and sandstone
represents
A. transgressive sea
B. regressive sea
C. no sea level change
D. none of the above
E. A & B
7. Stratigraphy is the branch of geology that deals with non-stratified rocks.
8. Massive down slope movements of material under the sea are called
A. alluvial fans
B. graded bedding
C. longshore currents
D, turbidity currents
E. none of the above
9. A desert is considered to be a transitional type of sedimentary depositional
environment.
10. The precipitation of banded iron formations (BIF’s) is an exception to Hutton’s rule
of uniformitarianism because BIF’s are no longer being formed.
11. In 1859, Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species.
12. In the figure below, the brachiopod’s spines have been adapted so that it may live
A. on stilts
B. on hard substrate (e.g., rocks)
C. on muddy sea floors
D. within flowing turbidites
7
13. Earth’s greatest mass extinction occurred at the end of the
A. Ordovician
B. Cretaceous
C. Silurian
D. Permian
E. Holocene
14. Stromatolites, the laminated calcareous structures produced by cyanobacteria, are the
most abundant fossils in the Hadean.
15. Darwin thought the birds he saw on the Galapagos Islands were finches.
16. Evolution is change in life through time through natural selection.
17. To a scientist, the word “Theory” has a specific meaning. It means that a hypothesis
has withstood the test of time and been promoted to the status of “Theory.”
18. Earth’s two types of crust are __________ and ___________ .
A. mafic, felsic
B. oceanic, continental
C. both of the above
D. none of the above
19. The solar system evolved out of a cloud of cosmic dust and gas. The theory is called
the galactic hypothesis.
20. We now think that life originated not near the surface of the Earth but at
hydrothermal vents found in midoceanic ridges.
21. The color of black rocks may indicate ________ origins. The color represents
_____________ contained within the rock.
A. terrestrial; iron
B. terrestrial, carbon
C. marine; organic carbon
D. marine; glauconite
22. Part A of the figure below shows a(n) ___________
A. nonconformity
B. paraconformity
C. angular unconformity
D. disconformity
8
23. Part B of the figure above shows a(n) ___________
A. nonconformity
B. paraconformity
C. angular unconformity
D. disconformity
24. Earth’s early atmosphere was anoxic because it had no free oxygen.
25. The main gas erupted from a volcano is CO2.
26. Orogenies are times of
A. mountain building B. continental collisions
C. slow convection D. A & B E. A & C
27. Mud cracks indicate
A. drying after deposition
B. el Nino conditions at the time of deposition
C. arid climate conditions when deposited
D. both A and C
E. none of the above
28. Fossils in sedimentary rocks may indicate whether
A. the environment of deposition was marine or nonmarine
9
B. the water was deep or shallow
C. the climate was warm or cold
D. all of the above
29. The original crust of Earth was mafic and formed by extrusions from the underlying
mantle.
30. The fossil burrow shown in the figure above is a body fossil.
31. Environmental conditions at particular locations during the geologic past can be
determined by comparing features of modern sediment to analogous features in
ancient rocks.
32. The preservation method of filling hollow spaces in ancient life with mineral content
to create a fossil is known as
A. replacement
B. carbonization
C. permineralization
D. none of the above
33. Fossils found in strata:
A. are the records of ancient life
B. allow the correlation of strata separated by many miles
C. have been useful in creating the geologic column
D. all of the above
34. Charles Darwin believed evolution took place over great lengths of time by a process
he called, natural selection.
35. Chromosomes are rod-shaped units in the cell nucleus that contain the genes, discrete
units of hereditary information.
36. The preservation method of converting all parts of a fossil to a different mineral is
known as
A. replacement
B. carbonization
C. permineralization
D. none of the above
37. Archean rocks occur in regions of continents that are the stable Precambrian shields,
which consist largely of accreted Hadean terranes.
10
38. The first forms of life were
A. anaerobic, prokaryotic organisms
B. anaerobic, eukaryotic organisms
C. multicellular organisms
39. The preservation method shown in the figure below is called
A. replacement
B. carbonization
C. permineralization
D. none of the above
40. Which of the following insure the best fossilization:
A. quick burial
B. anoxic (anaerobic) environment
C. fine grain matrix
D. A, B, & C
E. A & C only
Matching: (20 points)
Match the term on the left with the correct time period on the right.
41. Hadean
A. Eon
42. Miocene
B. Era
43. Mesozoic
C. Period
11
44. Cambrian
45. Jurassic
D. Epoch
Match the Life form on the left with the kingdom on the right.
46. radiolaria
A. Animalia
47. humans
B. Plantae
48. mushrooms
C. Fungi
49. toyon shrubs
D. Protista
50. coccolithophorids
Extra Credit (12 points)
I have listed two of the taxonomic levels used today. Fill in the blanks. The order must be
correct, that is from highest level (Domain) to the lowest (?????). If they are out of order
or if you place a taxon on the wrong line, they are wrong.
Domain
____________________
____________________
Class
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________
____________________
12