Deck 2: Journey to the Center of the Earth

Question 1

Presently,Earth's atmosphere is dominated by which two gases?

A)hydrogen and oxygen
B)carbon dioxide and methane
C)nitrogen and oxygen
D)nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide

Answer 1

C

Question 2

An aurora (shown below)is produced when ____________.

A)solar wind particles are directed toward the poles and excite atmospheric gases
B)swamp gases rise upward from the arctic tundra
C)radiation in the Van Allen belts can be seen on a clear,cold night
D)lightning travels from cloud to cloud rather than cloud to ground

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The most common minerals within Earth are ____________.

A)silicates
B)carbonates
C)oxides
D)hydroxides

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT true about comets and asteroids?

A)Both orbit the sun
B)Both are planetesimals
C)Both are numerous in our Solar System
D)Both are composed of rock and ice

Question 5

The shape of Earth's magnetic field is approximately that of a ____________.

A)monopole
B)dipole (such as that produced by a bar magnet)
C)torus,a donut-shaped ring parallel to Earth's equator

Question 6

Substances that can be transformed to a gas at relatively low temperatures are termed ____________.

A)glasses
B)melts
C)volatiles
D)mineraloids

Question 7

In the whole Earth,the four most common elements are oxygen,silicon,magnesium,and ____________.

A)copper
B)lead
C)iron
D)zinc

Question 8

Most continental topography lies within a range of altitude between ____________.

A)sea level and 1 km below sea level
B)sea level and 1 km above sea level
C)2 to 5 km above sea level
D)3 to 6 km above sea level

Question 9

In order to be defined as a mineral,a substance must ______________.

A)be solid
B)be naturally occurring
C)have atoms arranged in an orderly pattern
D)All of the above are correct.

Question 10

Topographically,most of the ocean floor is made up of ____________.

A)ocean trenches (5-12 km below sea level)
B)ocean plains (2.5-4.5 km below sea level)
C)submarine mountains (less than 2.5 km below sea level)

Question 11

If one were to see a comet passing by Earth,it is likely that this comet originated from _______________.

A)the asteroid belt
B)the Kuiper belt
C)the heliosphere
D)interplanetary space

Question 12

Which of the following is most representative of Earth's hydrosphere?

A)lakes and rivers only
B)surficial freshwater,the oceans,groundwater,and atmospheric water
C)a layer of hydrogen gas in the outer reaches of the atmosphere
D)the oceans,but not rivers or lakes

Question 13

Hydrocarbons,such as petroleum and natural gas,are classified as ____________.

A)minerals
B)fluid rocks
C)organic materials
D)alloys

Question 14

The region of space that contains the material of our Solar System (shown below)is termed the ____________.

A)lithosphere
B)heliosphere
C)cryosphere
D)Oort cloud

Question 15

The atmosphere can be divided into several distinct layers.

Beginning with the layer in which we live,they are,in order:

A)stratosphere,troposphere,mesosphere,thermosphere
B)troposphere,stratosphere,thermosphere,mesosphere
C)troposphere,stratosphere,mesosphere,thermosphere
D)stratosphere,troposphere,thermosphere,mesosphere

Question 16

Hot,liquid rock beneath the surface of the Earth is termed ____________.

A)lava
B)magma
C)volatiles
D)brimstone

Question 17

Leftovers from the protoplanetery disk that formed our Solar System after the Big Bang can be found where?

A)Heliosphere
B)Oort cloud
C)Kuiper belt
D)Interplanetary space

Question 18

As seismic (earthquake-generated)waves travel downward and reach the Moho,they ____________.

A)speed up
B)slow down
C)continue at the same velocity
D)are all reflected directly back toward the surface

Question 19

If one were to ride a hot air balloon up into the atmosphere,one would experience the concentration of gases ____________.

A)becoming denser
B)becoming less dense
C)remaining the same
D)increasing for the first 10 km,then starts to decline

Question 20

Earth's surface is protected from solar wind and cosmic radiation by ____________.

A)Earth's gravitational field
B)Earth's magnetic field
C)a large,metallic shield launched into orbit by NASA in the 1960s
D)a powerful stream of ions emitted by the Sun

Question 21

Glass is different from a mineral because it _____________.

A)is not naturally occurring
B)is not solid
C)does not have atoms arranged in an orderly pattern
D)All of the above are correct.

Question 22

The thickness of the Earth's crust varies from ____________.

A)100 to 500 m
B)1 to 10 km
C)5 to 500 km
D)7 to 70 km

Question 23

Heat transfer that occurs through the movement of a fluid,driven by temperature differences among various points within the fluid,is termed ____________.

A)radiation
B)conduction
C)convection
D)adhesion

Question 24

A mixture of copper and tin would be called ___________.

A)a metal
B)an alloy
C)a melt
D)a volatile

Question 25

Earth's geothermal gradient is the rate of temperature change incurred by ____________.

A)increasing altitude in the atmosphere
B)increasing depth at ocean trenches
C)traversing from either pole toward the equator
D)traversing down within Earth's interior

Question 26

Which of the following is NOT an example of sediment?

A)sand
B)ground-up seashells
C)cobbles on a beach
D)None of the above are correct.

Question 27

The densest layer of Earth is the ____________.

A)crust
B)mantle
C)outer core
D)inner core

Question 28

As compared to the rocks that make up the crust,Earth as a whole is ____________.

A)considerably more dense
B)considerably less dense
C)slightly less dense
D)about the same density

Question 29

A fracture in the crust,where rocks slide past one another,is termed a ____________.

A)fold
B)fault
C)flying layer
D)frictional discontinuity

Question 30

A silica-rich igneous rock that has coarse crystals and which makes up much of the continental crust is ____________.

A)peridotite
B)granite
C)gabbro
D)basalt

Question 31

If you were measuring the elevation of a mountain,you would be measuring variation in ____________,whereas if you were doing the same on a mid-ocean ridge,you would be measuring variation in ___________.

A)bathymetry;topography
B)bathymetry;isostasy
C)topography;isostasy
D)topography;bathymetry

Question 32

The Moho ____________.

A)lies at uniform depth everywhere it is found in Earth
B)is found deeper underneath continents than under oceans
C)is found deeper underneath oceans than under continents
D)is found well below the crust/mantle boundary

Question 33

The image below shows ___________,where a hot liquid rises into a cooler material,and heat then conducts from the hot liquid into the cooler material.

A)advection
B)conduction
C)convection
D)radiation

Question 34

From left to right,correctly label each section of this slice of the Earth.

A)crust,liquid outer core,transition zone,solid inner core,upper mantle,lower mantle
B)crust,upper mantle,transition zone,lower mantle,liquid outer core,solid inner core
C)transition zone,crust,upper mantle,lower mantle,liquid outer core,solid inner core
D)transition zone,crust,liquid outer core,solid inner core,upper mantle,lower mantle

Question 35

People have speculated about Earth's interior since ancient times.The astronomer Nevil Maskelyne estimated Earth's ____________ in 1776,whereas the author Jules Verne described the interior of the Earth as a series of interconnected ____________ in 1864 and the physicist Emil Weichert determined that Earth's interior must contain ____________ in 1896.

A)circumference;dungeons;rocks
B)weight;caverns;metal
C)weight;dungeons;rocks
D)mass;caverns;metal

Question 36

When you are warmed by the Sun,you are experiencing _____________,as opposed to when you burn yourself touching a metal object whose other end is being heated you are experiencing ____________.

A)advection;conduction
B)radiation;conduction
C)radiation;convection
D)advection;convection

Question 37

Which layer of the Earth has the greatest density?

A)crust
B)mantle
C)core

Question 38

Of the three primary chemical layers of the Earth (crust,mantle,core),which is the thickest layer?

A)crust
B)mantle
C)core

Question 39

On average,continental crust is approximately ____________ as oceanic crust.

A)equally thick
B)half as thick
C)five times as thick
D)20 times as thick

Question 40

During a journey to the center of the Earth,one would experience temperature ____________.

A)and pressure both increasing
B)and pressure both decreasing
C)increasing,but pressure staying nearly the same
D)remaining remarkably constant,but pressure increasing

Question 41

The velocities of seismic waves traveling from earthquake foci ____________.

A)are uniform throughout all layers of Earth
B)monotonically decrease with depth,at a consistent rate of deceleration
C)monotonically increase with depth,at a consistent rate of acceleration
D)generally increase with depth,occasionally making abrupt jumps termed seismic velocity discontinuities

Question 42

As compared to ultramafic rocks,mafic rocks have a ____________.

A)greater proportion of silica
B)lesser proportion of silica
C)greater proportion of iron and magnesium atoms

Question 43

The distinction between the crust and the mantle is primarily on the basis of a difference in ____________;the distinction between the lithosphere and the asthenosphere is primarily on the basis of a difference in ____________.

A)chemistry (mineral content);degree of physical rigidity
B)color;chemistry (mineral content)
C)degree of physical rigidity;chemistry (mineral content)
D)chemistry (mineral content);chemistry as well

Question 44

The metallic content of Earth's core is ____________.

A)likely similar to what has been found in metallic meteorites
B)partly liquid and partly solid
C)an iron alloy (mostly iron with a few other elements mixed in)
D)All of the above are correct.

Question 45

Ophiolite sequences are important to geologists because they preserve ____________.

A)continental crust
B)oceanic crust
C)deep mantle material
D)asthenosphere

Question 46

As compared to the asthenosphere,the lithosphere is ____________.

A)cooler and more able to flow
B)hotter and more able to flow
C)cooler and less able to flow
D)hotter and less able to flow

Question 47

Earth's magnetic field is generated by the ____________.

A)flow of the liquid inner core
B)flow of the liquid outer core
C)convective flow of the mantle
D)magnetic minerals within the crust

Question 48

The lithosphere is composed of the ____________.

A)crust only
B)crust,mantle,and outer core
C)top 100 m of sediments and sedimentary rocks
D)crust and the uppermost part of the mantle

Question 49

The boundary between the crust and the mantle is marked by a seismic-velocity discontinuity called ____________.

A)the Edsel
B)the Moho
C)Lyell's surface
D)the crantle

Question 50

The lithosphere lies directly above the ____________.

A)transition zone
B)crust
C)asthenosphere
D)lower mantle