Download Earth Science – Quiz 2

Earth Science – Quiz 4
Summer 2016
Choose the best multiple choice answer. It is not necessary to download the quiz. Put your
answers on your scantron (882-E) and turn the quiz (scantron) in on the day of exam-3
1. The San Andreas fault is a classic example of
a. One plate diving beneath another
b. One plate sliding past another plate
c. One plate separating from another plate
d. One plate converging into another
2. The elastic rebound theory for the origin of earthquakes was first proposed by ________
following the ________ earthquake.
A) Reid; 1906, San Francisco
B) Giuseppe; 1925, Pizza Lake
C) Richter; 1989, Loma Prieta
D) Mohorovicic; 1964, Anchorage
3. When an earthquake occurs, energy radiates in all directions from its source. The source is also
referred to as the ________.
A) inertial point
B) epicenter C) focus
D) seismic zone
4. Which one of the following statements is correct?
A) P waves travel through solids; S waves do not.
B) P and S waves travel through liquids, but P waves do not travel through solids.
C) S waves travel through solids and P waves travel through liquids.
D) P and S waves travel through liquids, but S waves do not travel through solids.
5. Major earthquakes are often followed by somewhat smaller events known as ________.
A) aftershocks
B) foreshocks
C) tremors
D) hyposhocks
6. The ________ magnitude scale is a measure of the energy released. It does not directly measure
the extent of building damage.
A) Gutenberg
B) Reid
C) Mercalli
D) Richter
7. The position on Earth's surface directly above the earthquake source is called the ________.
A) epicenter
B) inertial point
C) focus
D) seismic zone
8. The mechanism by which rocks store and eventually release energy in the form of an earthquake
is termed ________.
A) elastic rebound
B) seismic rebound
C) fault displacement D) stress fracture
9. Approximately how much more energy is released in a 6.5 Richter magnitude earthquake than
in one with magnitude 5.5?
A) 3000 times
B) 3 times
C) 300 times
D) 30 times
10. P waves ________.
A) propagate only in solids
C) have higher amplitudes than do S waves
B) are faster than S waves and surface waves
D) produce the strongest ground shaking
11. Most of our knowledge about Earth's interior comes from ________.
A) drill holes B) volcanic eruptions C) seismic waves D) examination of deep mine shafts
12. Which one of the following statements about the crust is NOT true?
A) It is the thinnest of the major subdivisions.
B) It is thickest where prominent mountains exist.
C) Oceanic crust is enriched in potassium, sodium, and silicon.
D) Continental rocks are compositionally different than oceanic rocks.
13. An earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale is ____________ times more powerful than an
earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale.
a. 10
b. 100
c. 20
d. 1000
14. There are about 600,000 earthquakes annually that range in magnitude
a. Greater than M8
b. less than M2
c. M4 to M5 d. M3
15. A Mercalli intensity earthquake of roman numeral 2 would indicate
a. A major earthquake
b. a very lightly felt EQ
c. major damage
16. Which of the following correctly lists the order in which seismic waves arrive at the
seismograph station
a. P waves  surface waves  S waves
b. S waves  P waves  Surface waves
c. P waves  S waves  Surface waves
d. Surface waves  P waves  S waves
17. Which of the following has been used, with some success, to make long-term predictions about
the location of future large earthquakes?
a. the seismic gap method
b. the principle of cross cutting relations
c. the elastic rebound theory
d. all of these
18. When seismic waves pass through the boundary between two different materials,_________
A) the waves refract
B) the velocity of the waves changes
C) both A and B
D) neither A nor B
19. The partially molten layer (low velocity zone) beneath the lithosphere is called the
A) asthenosphere
B) inner corre
C) outer core
D) lower mantle
20. Which of the following statements about the Moho (Mohovoricic discontinuity) is false?
A) Siesmic waves slow down as they pass down through the Moho
B) The Moho separates denser rocks below from less dense rocks above.
C) The Moho separates the crust from the mantle.
D) The Moho marks the top of a partially molten layer.
21. Air may best be described as ________.
A) an element B) a compound
C) a mixture
D) none of these
22. Which one of the following is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere?
A) oxygen
B) argon
C) carbon dioxide
D) nitrogen
23. Which one of the gases listed below is more important meteorologically (that is, is more
important in weather processes) than the others?
A) oxygen
B) argon
C) carbon dioxide
D) nitrogen
24. On the AVERAGE, for every 1 km increase in altitude in the troposphere, the air temperature
________.
A) drops about 6.5˚C B) rises about 6.5˚C C) remains constant D) rises only during the day
25. Fifty percent of the gases making up the atmosphere are found below ________.
A) 10 miles (16.2 km)
B) 6 ½ miles (10.4 km)
C) 3 ½ miles (5.6 km)
D) 8 miles (12.8 km)
26. The triatomic form of oxygen (O3) is known as ________.
A) argon
B) ozone
C) chlorofluorocarbon
D) molecular oxygen
27. Ozone filters out most of the ________ radiation in sunlight.
A) infrared
B) gamma
C) ultraviolet
D) microwave
28. Ozone is concentrated in the ________.
A) troposphere
B) mesosphere
C) stratosphere
D) ionosphere
29. The lowest layer of the atmosphere is the ________.
A) troposphere
B) mesosphere
C) stratosphere
D) ionosphere
30. The wavelengths of radiation emitted by 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
31. The longest wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum are ________.
A) gamma
B) ultraviolet C) radio
D) infrared
32. The storage of heat in the lower layer of the atmosphere produced by certain heat absorbing
gases is called the ________.
A) adiabatic effect
B) greenhouse effect C) grey-body effect D) photon effect
33. Earth receives energy from the Sun in this way.
A) conduction
B) convection
C) radiation
34. The amount of water vapor in the air (by volume) usually does not exceed ________.
A) 50%
B) 28%
C) 14%
D) 4%
35. We are likely to have our highest relative humidity ________.
A) during midafternoon
B) around midnight C) about sunrise
D) at noon
36. 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
37. 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
38. A parcel of air has a temperature of 0°C as it crosses a mountain range at 3000 meters. If it
descends, what will its temperature be when it reaches sea level?
A) 15°C
B) 30°C
C) 0°C
D) 40°C
39. Deserts such as the Great Basin, Gobi, and Takla Makan are examples of ________.
A) chinook deserts
B) subtropical deserts
C) rainshadow deserts
D) monsoon deserts
40. The change of state from a gas to a liquid is called ________.
A) evaporation B) sublimation
C) condensation
D) melting
Please answer the following questions using the data below:
H2O vapor content: 14 grams
H2O vapor capacity: 20 grams at 25 degrees Celsius
14 grams at 20°C
10 grams at 15°C
41. What is the relative humidity for the above conditions at 25°C?
A) 30%
B) 100%
C) 15%
D) 70%
42. What is the dew point for the conditions listed above?
A) 25°C
B) 20°C
C) 15°C
43. Wind is commonly produced from
a. low pressure moves into high pressure
c. rising air moves into sinking air
44. The Coriolis Effect is due to the earth’s
a. Wind convection cells
D) colder than 15°C
b. warm air moves into cooler air
d. cold air moves into warm air
b. rotation
c. gravity
d. oceans
45. Ozone is located in the_______________ and is composed of ____________________
a. Lower stratosphere/2-oxygens
b. troposphere / carbon dioxide
c. mesosphere/ 3-oxygens
d. stratosphere / 3-oxygens
46. The ozone layer is effective in
a. Protecting life from long wave EM
c. converting short EM to long wave EM
b. filtering out most long wave EM
c. absorbing most shortwave EM
47. All storm activity within the earth’s atmosphere takes place in the
a. Troposphere
b. mesosphere
c. stratosphere d. thermosphere
48. All air masses are deflected to the ____________ in the __________________
a. Left / northern hemisphere b. right / southern hemisphere
c. equator / northern hemisphere
c. right / northern hemisphere
49. Adiabatic processes describe:
a. the influence of air pressure on a lifting parcel of air
b. lifting air parcels will compress and therefore cool, while subsiding air parcels expand and
therefore heat
c. air parcels that reach dew point and condense at the LCL
d. the cooling and heating of air parcels under rising and subsiding conditions.
50. A land breeze generally occurs _________
a. at night, when the land cools below the surface temperature of the sea
b. when strong winds blow in from the sea over the land
c. only during certain restricted seasons
d. during the day, when the land heats above the surface temperature of the sea