Deck 14: The Internal Processes

Question 1

Relatively cooler magma in an erupting volcano is apparently the result of ________.

A) the amount of water present
B) depth of magma formation
C) position of astronomical bodies
D) surface salinity
E) the relatively high amount of silica present

Answer 1

E

Question 2

The first comprehensive theory of continental drift was propounded by ________.

A) Darwin
B) Köppen
C) Wegener
D) Wallace
E) Sagan

Answer 2

C

Question 3

On the Richter scale, "very large" earthquakes are assigned a number of ________ or above.

A) 0
B) 1
C) 7
D) 25
E) 47.5

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Evidence of former surface volcanic activity is often found in the vast accumulations of lava called ________.

A) hot spots
B) flood basalts
C) magma
D) calderas
E) pyroclastic

Question 5

The totality of materials ejected from a volcano, including liquid material, ashes, and dust is termed ________.

A) lava
B) magma
C) silica
D) granite
E) pyroclastic material

Question 6

The world system of interconnected ocean bottom ridges comes to a total of about ________ kilometers.

A) 6
B) 60
C) 6,000
D) 60,000
E) 600,000

Question 7

The most widespread of all the intrusive forms in this list is the ________.

A) batholith
B) stock
C) lava flow
D) dike
E) volcano

Question 8

A crustal block which is downthrown with a steep fault scarp on either side is a ________.

A) fault block mountain
B) horst
C) graben
D) rift valley
E) syncline

Question 9

In folded terrain, a simple symmetrical downfold is termed a(n) ________.

A) monocline
B) anticline
C) syncline
D) overthrust fold
E) magma pool

Question 10

Volcanic activity that takes place deep under the crust is termed ________.

A) subduction
B) intrusive
C) plutonic
D) metamorphic
E) pyroclastic

Question 11

Mount St. Helens is ________.

A) dead
B) scheduled to erupt in the year 2050
C) likely to vigorously erupt again
D) the largest volcano in the world
E) the world's best example of intrusive vulcanism

Question 12

Structurally, the most complicated of the list below is the ________.

A) transform fault
B) normal fault
C) fault scarp
D) reverse fault
E) overthrust fault

Question 13

Since the 1960s, the cause of plate tectonics has been identified to be ________.

A) diastrophism
B) convection
C) Sun spots
D) warping
E) uniformitarianism

Question 14

The Sierra Nevada and Sawtooth mountain ranges were caused by a huge intrusion type known as a ________.

A) dike
B) batholith
C) laccolith
D) stock
E) vein

Question 15

The Pacific "ring of fire" refers to the ________.

A) flood basalts
B) Hawaiian Islands
C) volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean
D) Azores Island
E) subduction zones on the ocean floor

Question 16

Crater Lake, Oregon, is an example of a volcanic ________.

A) lava flow
B) peak
C) caldera
D) batholith
E) neck

Question 17

The Glacier Park, Montana, area provides a classic example of large scale ________.

A) flood basalts
B) transcurrent faulting
C) graben structure
D) overthrust faulting
E) horsts

Question 18

Which of the following is NOT an intrusive volcanic landform?

A) caldera
B) vein
C) dike
D) sill
E) batholith

Question 19

Deformation of the Earth's crust is called ________.

A) diastrophism
B) folding
C) faulting
D) broad warping
E) plate tectonics

Question 20

The original large continental mass containing all of the present continents prior to separation millions of years ago has been named ________.

A) Laurasia
B) Gondwanaland
C) Pangaea
D) Transcurrent
E) Subduction

Question 21

The smallest feature in the list below is the ________.

A) dike
B) sill
C) batholith
D) vein
E) laccolith

Question 22

The most massive form of igneous intrusion is a ________.

A) stock
B) sill
C) batholith
D) laccolith
E) none of the above

Question 23

Crater Lake, Oregon, is a remnant of a larger volcano named ________.

A) Mount St. Helens
B) Paricutin
C) Mt. Whitney
D) Mt. Mazama
E) Mt. McKinley

Question 24

Flood basalts cover much of the ocean floor, India, and in North America, the ________.

A) Columbia Plateau
B) Colorado Plateau
C) Newfoundland area
D) Florida region
E) Ozark area

Question 25

The Appalachian Mountains are famous for their ________ structure.

A) faulted
B) volcanic
C) ridge and valley
D) rift valley
E) graben

Question 26

Earthquake forecasting

A) is not possible.
B) is being studied.
C) will never be possible.
D) has been quite successful.
E) would not be useful.

Question 27

An uplift of a block of land between two parallel faults is a ________.

A) caldera
B) rift valley
C) graben
D) horst
E) mesa

Question 28

Which of the following doesn't belong with the others?

A) graben
B) horst
C) rift valley
D) overthrust
E) dike

Question 29

The ________ is an igneous intrusion which has a surface area of at least 100 square kilometers.

A) laccolith
B) batholith
C) vein
D) pluton
E) butte

Question 30

Water collected in small bodies along a recently active fault line forms ________.

A) playas
B) sag ponds
C) dikes
D) sills
E) reservoirs

Question 31

A simple symmetrical upfold is called a(n) ________.

A) syncline
B) anticline
C) monocline
D) inselberg
E) none of the above

Question 32

Radial walls extending outward from a volcano are ________.

A) sills
B) dikes
C) plugs
D) veins
E) clay pans

Question 33

The state having the greatest extent of flood basalts is ________.

A) Arizona
B) Idaho
C) California
D) Washington
E) Arkansas

Question 34

A sag pond is caused by collection of water from springs or runoff after movement along ________.

A) fault lines
B) volcanoes
C) flood basalts
D) anticlines
E) synclines

Question 35

Shield volcanoes are ________ than composite volcanoes.

A) wider
B) taller
C) steeper
D) more explosive
E) more widespread

Question 36

The Indian subcontinent was originally attached to ________.

A) Laurasia
B) Gondwanaland
C) Sial
D) Sima
E) Tasmania

Question 37

A(n)________ is the same thing as a pyroclastic flow.

A) steam explosion
B) nuée ardente
C) earthquake
D) flood basalt
E) landslide

Question 38

Presently, the North American and Eurasian plates are moving ________.

A) toward each other
B) away from each other
C) toward the North Pole
D) toward the Equator
E) nowhere

Question 39

Over the past 100 million years of Earth history, it is known that the magnetic poles have reversed themselves ________ times.

A) 0
B) 2
C) 10
D) 25
E) many

Question 40

In terms of plate tectonics, India is a part of the ________ plate.

A) African
B) Indo-Australian
C) Arabian
D) Eurasian
E) Tasmanian

Question 41

The Himalayas were formed by crumpling of plate edges in a ________ zone.

A) transcurrent
B) divergent
C) convergent
D) rift
E) none of the above

Question 42

Wegener's early proposal of continental drift was not taken seriously because of his ________.

A) failure to provide a plausible cause
B) lack of attention to Earth's species distribution
C) lack of scientific research
D) training as a meteorologist
E) inability to read and write

Question 43

The island of Krakatau disappeared in a volcanic explosion. Krakatau was located in the ________.

A) ocean off of California
B) Gulf of Alaska
C) Java Sea
D) Mediterranean Sea
E) Arctic Ocean

Question 44

The plate boundaries which are ________ are likely to make island arcs.

A) divergent between continental plates
B) convergent between continental plates
C) divergent between oceanic plates
D) convergent between oceanic plates
E) none of the above

Question 45

A ________ detects swelling and possible eruption in a volcano.

A) tiltmeter
B) anemometer
C) seismograph
D) ceilometer
E) frightened graduate student

Question 46

Which is formed on top of Earth's crust?

A) dike
B) vein
C) sill
D) batholith
E) flood basalt

Question 47

Currently, the rate of sea-floor spreading in the Atlantic is thought to be

A) 0 centimeters per year (stopped).
B) less than 1 centimeter per year.
C) 10 meters per year.
D) 100 meters per year.
E) 1 kilometer per year.

Question 48

The nature of a volcanic eruption is determined largely by the ________ of the magma.

A) pressure
B) color
C) density
D) chemistry
E) none of the above

Question 49

The Alaskan earthquake of 1964 was extraordinarily violent and has been assigned a moment magnitude of ________.

A) 2.3
B) 5.7
C) 9.2
D) 21.6
E) 47.5

Question 50

The east face of the Sierra Nevadas presents an excellent example of a(n) ________.

A) fault scarp
B) syncline
C) sag pond
D) overthrust
E) transform fault

Question 51

The current interest in continental drift was started with the notion of sea-floor spreading, which was propounded by Hess and Dietz in the

A) 1700s.
B) 1850s.
C) 1890s.
D) 1960s.
E) 1990s.

Question 52

A ________ plate boundary is associated with lateral slippage, conservation of existing crust, and the San Andreas fault system.

A) convergent
B) fault scarp
C) divergent
D) subducting
E) transform

Question 53

Grabens are commonly found in association with ________.

A) concretions
B) horsts
C) sag ponds
D) batholiths
E) anticlines

Question 54

A ________ is another name for a volcanic mudflow.

A) landslide
B) pyroclastic flow
C) laccolith
D) bornhardt
E) lahar

Question 55

Which of the following was the single "supercontinent" which existed before individual continents broke apart from it starting 200 million years ago?

A) Asia
B) Pangaea
C) India
D) Laurasia
E) Gondwanaland

Question 56

Which of the following is one of the reasons scientists strongly believe in plate tectonics?

A) the ability to explain oceanic trenches
B) the ability to explain midoceanic ridges
C) the ability to explain many volcanic zones
D) the ability to explain many earthquake zones
E) the ability to explain all of the above

Question 57

Consider the location of New York City. In terms of crustal plates, New York City is

A) not on a plate.
B) on a convergent boundary.
C) on a divergent boundary.
D) not on a plate boundary.
E) on a transform boundary.

Question 58

The first person to write about the possibility of continental drift was ________.

A) Hess
B) Wegener
C) Ortelius
D) Einstein
E) Aristotle

Question 59

Where UNDER the surface of the Earth would one expect a convection current directed towards the surface?

A) under continents
B) under subduction zones
C) in the core
D) under midocean ridges
E) under plates

Question 60

The vast majority of North America is moving

A) up.
B) down.
C) to the west.
D) to the east.
E) so slowly that the direction is unknown.

Question 61

Which of the following are fault-block mountains?

A) Sierra Nevada
B) Ozarks
C) Cascades
D) Appalachians
E) Rockies

Question 62

Which of the following refers to the surface of the Earth directly above the center of an earthquake?

A) seismic zone
B) epicenter
C) nadir
D) focus
E) none of the above

Question 63

Which two terms are usually used to refer to the SAME plate boundary?

A) terrane, trench
B) divergent, constructive
C) convergent, constructive
D) divergent, destructive
E) subduction, constructive

Question 64

How long ago did Pangaea first begin to exist?

A) 1 million years
B) 25 million years
C) 250 million years
D) 2.5 billion years
E) 4.6 billion years

Question 65

In earthquakes, P waves ________.

A) are absent
B) arrive more slowly than surface waves
C) are faster than S waves
D) travel towards the focus
E) are also known as surface waves

Question 66

________ is the part of the United States where one could see terranes.

A) Florida
B) The Midwest
C) Maine
D) Arizona
E) Alaska

Question 67

What is the term for a piece of crust which has been in a collision along a convergent crustal boundary and become accreted to another crustal plate?

A) loxodrome
B) terrane
C) midoceanic ridge
D) terracette
E) none of the above

Question 68

On the Modified Mercalli scale, the largest earthquakes would be assigned a value of ________.

A) 10
B) 3
C) 1
D) XII
E) 8.5

Question 69

Oceans are being created and removed from the Earth on a cycling time of about ________.

A) 1 million years
B) 100 million years
C) 500 million years
D) 2.5 billion years
E) 4.6 billion years

Question 70

The Glomar Challenger proved ________.

A) the Earth is round
B) the poles reverse their polarities
C) the seafloors are spreading
D) continental drift has stopped
E) mountains exist under the sea

Question 71

Which of the following is most closely associated with a mantle plume?

A) the lower Mississippi River Valley
B) the Hawaiian Islands
C) the Florida peninsula
D) southern California
E) none of the above

Question 72

Crustal plates are on the order of ________ kilometer(s) thick.

A) 1
B) 10
C) 100
D) 1,000
E) 10,000

Question 73

Hot, plastic material of the asthenosphere is most conspicuous at ________.

A) oceanic trenches
B) the centers of the continents
C) divergent plate boundaries
D) subduction zones
E) areas in which mountains are being built

Question 74

A tsunami is

A) a common occurrence in the central U.S.
B) a large earthquake which kills humans.
C) another term for a seismic sea wave.
D) unknown in tropical places like Hawaii.
E) the glowing blast of an exploded volcano.

Question 75

Which of the following is NOT a form of folding?

A) anticline
B) monocline
C) overturned fold
D) syncline
E) rift valley

Question 76

In Hawaii, the direction of movement of the "hot spot" means that the ________ is the oldest part of the island chain.

A) northwestern islands
B) center islands
C) southeastern islands
D) largest island
E) rainiest island

Question 77

The origins of which of the following are less well understood than the other features on the list?

A) ocean trenches
B) ocean ridges
C) mountains in the middle of plates
D) convergent plate boundaries
E) divergent plate boundaries

Question 78

Earth's crust is composed of at least ________ major plates and a number of smaller ones.

A) two
B) a dozen
C) fifty
D) seventy-five
E) one hundred

Question 79

Which of the following are waves generated by earthquakes?

A) lahars
B) monoclines
C) plutons
D) pyroclastic flows
E) tsunamis

Question 80

Mount St. Helens exploded in 1980. Which of the following is NOT true?

A) It is a volcano.
B) It is in the state of Washington.
C) It caused salmon to change their spawning habits.
D) It is quite unlike the other volcanoes near it.
E) It had been dormant for over 100 years.