Deck 13: Tectonics, Earthquakes, and Volcanism

Question 1

The general term for the undulations and other variations in the shape of the Earth's surface is called

A) topography.
B) relief.
C) geomorphology.
D) terrain.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of the tools scientists use to study topography?

A) LiDAR
B) radar
C) GPS
D) LiDAR, radar, and GPS are all used in the study of topography.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

A topographic region that is characterized by local relief of more than 600 m (2,000 ft) is a

A) low tableland.
B) high tableland.
C) mountain.
D) depression.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Vertical elevation differences in a local landscape are referred to as

A) relief.
B) an order of relief.
C) topography.
D) crust.

Question 5

Which of the following is an example of a third order of relief?

A) the Alps
B) the South American Plate
C) Irazú Volcano
D) the Tibetan Plateau

Question 6

________ provides the highest resolution for mapping Earth's surface.

A) LiDAR
B) Radar
C) GPS
D) Passive remote sensing platforms, such as Landsat 8,

Question 7

The most detailed order of relief applies to ________ order relief features.

A) first
B) second
C) third

Question 8

Africa is dominated by which topographic region?

A) plains
B) mountains
C) hills and low tablelands
D) high tablelands

Question 9

Which of the following is an example of a first order of relief?

A) the Alps and Rockies
B) the Tibetan Plateau
C) the Shenandoah Valley
D) North America plate

Question 10

A topographic region that is characterized by local relief of less than 100 m (325 ft.) is considered a

A) plain.
B) high tableland.
C) hill or low tableland.
D) depression.

Question 11

A topographic region that is characterized by local relief of more than 100 m (325 ft.), but less than 600 m (2000 ft.), is considered a

A) plain.
B) high tableland.
C) hill or low tableland.
D) mountain.

Question 12

The average elevation of ocean depth is

A) -2070 m (-6790 ft.).
B) -3800 m (-12,470 ft.).
C) 100 m (325 ft.).
D) 875 m (2870 ft.).

Question 13

A hypsographic curve is

A) a graph that shows the change in temperature with depth below the surface of a continent.
B) a graph that shows the change in temperature with depth below the surface of the ocean floor.
C) a generalized curve showing Earth's surface by area and elevation in relation to sea level.
D) a graph that shows Earth is of relatively high relief.
E) a graph that shows Earth's relief is great when compared to its diameter.

Question 14

Approximately what percentage of Earth's surface is exposed above sea level?

A) 18 percent
B) 29 percent
C) 49 percent
D) 62 percent

Question 15

The average elevation of the exposed land is

A) -3800 m (-12,470 ft.).
B) 875 m (2870 ft.).
C) -2070 m (-6790 ft.).
D) 100 m (325 ft.).

Question 16

The measurement of land elevation relative to sea level is known as

A) bathymetry.
B) hypsometry.
C) topography.
D) geodesy.

Question 17

The concept of "orders of relief" refers to

A) the ordering of surface features based on height.
B) the ordering of surface features based on their time of origin.
C) the classification of landscapes based on scale.
D) the rate at which stress is relieved in the crust.

Question 18

The six types of topographic regions are defined based on

A) arbitrary elevation other descriptive criteria in common use.
B) complex statistical analyses of surface relief variation across the surface of Earth.
C) local criteria that have never been universally recognized.
D) logarithmic relationships applied to elevation.

Question 19

The vertical relief of the Earth (highest point to lowest point) is approximately

A) 5 km (3.1 mi).
B) 10 km (6.2 mi).
C) 20 km (12.4 mi).
D) 30 km (18.6 mi).

Question 20

Which of the following is an example of a second order of relief?

A) the North American plate
B) Pike's Peak
C) the Canadian and American Rockies
D) Mt. Capulin

Question 21

Large areas of high tablelands are found in

A) Africa.
B) Australia.
C) Greenland.
D) Central Asia.

Question 22

Which of the following is incorrectly matched?

A) tension - normal fault
B) compression - shortening or folding
C) tension - stretching or faulting
D) shearing - stretching or faulting

Question 23

The nucleus of old crystalline rock in each of the principal continental masses is called a

A) basalt mass.
B) continental shield, or craton.
C) mountain mass.
D) composite zone.

Question 24

The Zagros mountains of Iran is an example of

A) a series of faulted mountain blocks.
B) a zone of tension.
C) a zone of shearing motions.
D) a zone of compression and folding.

Question 25

Which of the following is not correct regarding terranes?

A) They are smaller-scale migrating crustal pieces; i.e., microplates.
B) They may accrete onto continents and thereby increase the size of the continents.
C) They are framed by fracture zones.
D) They are very similar in composition to the continents to which they attach.
E) They can move thousands of miles from their place of origin.

Question 26

Folded layers of rock can form a wavelike pattern of troughs and crests. The layers near the crest (i.e. the upward fold) form

A) a syncline.
B) a tension zone.
C) an anticline.
D) a thrust fault.

Question 27

High mountains consisting of tightly folded and overthrust sedimentary rock layers, as well as metamorphic rocks, are formed

A) along midocean ridges during seafloor spreading activity and are subsequently uplifted above sea level in response to isostatic processes.
B) during plate collisions.
C) during volcanic eruptions.
D) in continental rift zones.
E) exclusively by magma intrusions.

Question 28

If you wanted to avoid earthquakes, which of the following areas would be the safest to live?

A) convergent plate boundary
B) divergent plate boundary
C) island arc along a subduction zone
D) shield

Question 29

Large portions of North and South America, Asia, and Australia are dominated by which topographic region?

A) plains
B) basins
C) widely space mountains
D) high tablelands

Question 30

Folded layers of rock can form a wavelike pattern of troughs and crests. The layers near the trough (i.e. downward fold) form

A) a syncline.
B) a tension zone.
C) an anticline.
D) a thrust fault.

Question 31

Most cratons date to the

A) Precambrian eon.
B) Paleozoic era.
C) Devonian period.
D) Paleocene epoch.

Question 32

The Wrangellia terranes refer to

A) a former volcanic island arc that migrated 10,000 km (6200 mi.) to its present location along the western margin of North America.
B) a terrane in southern Tibet that migrated to the region during the Palezoic from Australia.
C) a mountain range that became part of the Himalayas.
D) pieces of crust that moved with the Pacific plate to their present location near Japan.

Question 33

Terranes refer to

A) the topography of a tract of land.
B) subducted oceanic crust that is melted and later reaches the surface in volcanic eruptions or cools in the subsurface as an intrusive body.
C) fragmented crustal material from one plate and accreted to another plate.
D) a large region where a craton is exposed at the surface.

Question 34

Which of the following properly describes the formation of continental crust?

A) All continental crust was formed millions of years ago. There is no active continental crust being formed.
B) The formation of continental crust is independent of the formation of oceanic crust, involving only volcanism over the land masses.
C) The formation of continental crust involves the entire sequence of seafloor spreading, subduction, remelting of oceanic crust, and subsequent rise of the remelted material.
D) New continental crust is formed essentially in the same many as oceanic crust - from upwelling at mid-continental ridges.

Question 35

Large areas of depressions are found in

A) North America.
B) Asia.
C) Australia.
D) Antarctica.

Question 36

The horizontal line that defines the portion of the anticline or syncline with the maximum curvature is known as the

A) valley.
B) hinge.
C) trough.
D) basin.

Question 37

The general term used to describes subducted oceanic crusts that incorporates seawater and sediments is

A) sial.
B) sima.
C) batholiths.
D) melt.

Question 38

The variety of surface features on Earth results from

A) endogenic processes only.
B) exogenic processes only.
C) Both endogenic and exogenic processes.

Question 39

A continental craton is best described as

A) the product of active folding and faulting.
B) the surface accumulation of molten rock.
C) the inactive remains of ancient tectonic activity.
D) a landform undergoing constant tectonic activity.

Question 40

Strain, the amount of deformation undergone by an object, is expressed in rocks by

A) metamorphism.
B) breaking and removal.
C) folding or faulting.
D) bending.

Question 41

Compressional stress along a fault resulting in rocks moving upward along the fault plane is an example of a

A) reverse fault.
B) lateral fault.
C) normal fault.
D) strike-slip fault.

Question 42

The relatively young mountains along the western margins of North and South American plates are referred to as the

A) Cordilleran system.
B) Eurasian-Himalayan system.
C) Alleghany orogeny.
D) Sierra Nevadan orogeny.

Question 43

When lateral shear causes horizontal movement along a fault plane, the resulting fault is called a

A) lateral fault.
B) thrust fault.
C) normal fault.
D) strike-slip fault.

Question 44

When rock strata are strained beyond their ability to remain an intact unit, displacement occurs in a process known as

A) folding.
B) faulting.
C) broad warping.
D) stressing.

Question 45

An exposed fault plane with significant vertical extent is known as

A) a fracture zone.
B) an escarpment.
C) dome.
D) anticline.

Question 46

The presence of grabens and horsts indicates the occurrence of

A) volcanic activity.
B) rift activity.
C) collision activity.
D) strike-slip activity.

Question 47

A large region identifiable by several topographic or geological traits is known as a

A) topographic region.
B) ecoregion.
C) physiographic province.
D) biome.

Question 48

A ________ occurs when the fault plane forms a low angle relative to the horizontal, resulting in the overlying block being shifted over the underlying.

A) lateral fault
B) thrust fault
C) normal fault
D) strike-slip fault

Question 49

Orogenesis refers to

A) the beginning of extensive faulting.
B) a general term for a mountain-building episode that thickens continental crust.
C) a general thinning of the crust.
D) the formation of mountains without faulting, folding, or the capture of migrating terranes.

Question 50

Tensional stress along a fault can result in a dropped hanging-wall block relative to the footwall side, producing a

A) reverse fault.
B) thrust fault.
C) normal fault.
D) strike-slip fault.

Question 51

Which of the following is a cause of warping?

A) mantle convection
B) hot spots
C) isostatic adjustment
D) mantle convection, hot spots, and isostatic adjustment all cause warping

Question 52

Warping produces bends in rocks that are ________ those produced by folding.

A) larger than
B) smaller than
C) the same size as

Question 53

The Basin and Range Province in the western United States is a result of ________ faulting produced by ________ forces.

A) reverse; tensional
B) reverse; compressional
C) normal; tensional
D) normal; compressional

Question 54

Which of the following shows the general sequency of an orogeny?

A) thickening of crust through accretion or magma intrusion-uplift-weathering and/or erosion
B) uplift-thickening of crust through accretion or magma intrusion-weathering and/or erosion
C) weathering and/or erosion-uplift-thickening of crust through accretion or magma intrusion
D) thickening of crust through accretion or magma intrusion-weathering and/or erosion-uplift

Question 55

Fault types are defined by

A) the tilt and orientation of the fault plane.
B) the amount of movement along the fault plane.
C) the amount of energy liberated during movement.
D) the type of rock material in which they occur.

Question 56

Normal faults are associated with

A) tensional forces.
B) compressional forces.
C) plate convergence.
D) transcurrent forces.

Question 57

________ applies to upward-faulted blocks, whereas ________ applies to downward-faulted blocks.

A) horst; graben
B) graben; horst
C) normal; thrust
D) thrust; normal

Question 58

The San Andreas system in California is an example of a

A) strike-slip fault.
B) transform fault.
C) thrust fault.
D) both a strike-slip and transform fault.

Question 59

If one were to stack thick fabric fabric on top of one another, then push the opposite ends towards one another, resulting and bending and rumpling, this would illustrate what physical process?

A) faulting
B) folding
C) shear
D) tension

Question 60

People often say that California is going to "fall into the ocean,". This idea is totally wrong because the San Andreas fault would have to be a ________ fault associated with ________ forces for this to happen.

A) normal; tension
B) normal; compression
C) reverse; tension
D) reverse; compression
E) strike-slip; compression

Question 61

Which of the following is correct regarding the moment magnitude scale-a scale which quantifies the amount of energy released by an earthquake?

A) It is a scale of magnitude based on arithmetical progressions (1,2,3,4, etc.).
B) It is a closed scale that begins at 0.0 and ends at 10.0.
C) It considers the amount of fault slippage produced by the earthquake, the size of the surface (and subsurface) area that ruptured, and the nature of the materials that faulted.
D) It is the same as the Mercalli scale.

Question 62

An earthquake is best described as

A) the point within the Earth where seismic waves originate.
B) the sharp release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves.
C) the amount of ground displacement along a fault.
D) the amount of stress rocks along plate boundaries experience.

Question 63

The subsurface area where the motion of seismic waves is initiated along the fault plane is called the

A) epicenter.
B) fault area.
C) Richter zone.
D) focus, or hypocenter.

Question 64

What is the expected number of an M 5-5.9 or Mercalli V-VII earthquakes per year?

A) 1
B) 1319
C) 134
D) 13,000

Question 65

What type of convergent boundary associated with orogeny is illustrated here?

A) oceanic plate-continental plate collision
B) oceanic plate-oceanic plate collision
C) continental-plate-continental plate collision

Question 66

The Appalachians formed as a result of the

A) Laramide orogeny.
B) Alleghany orogeny.
C) Cordilleran orogeny.
D) Alpine orogeny.

Question 67

What is the expected number of an M 8.0 or Mercalli XII earthquakes per year?

A) 120
B) 800
C) 1
D) 13,000

Question 68

The energy released by a magnitude 8 quake on the Richter scale is how many times greater than that of a magnitude 6 quake?

A) 3.15
B) 31.5
C) 63
D) 992
E) 31,255

Question 69

A seismic gap refers to an area that

A) is overdue for an earthquake, based on past earthquake frequency.
B) has significant surface fracturing due to fault movement.
C) has had tectonic plates separate, leaving large cracks in the surface.
D) is lacking seismometers or other measuring devices.

Question 70

The area at the surface directly above the subsurface location where seismic waves are initiated is termed the

A) epicenter.
B) fault area.
C) Richter zone.
D) focus, or hypocenter.

Question 71

An earthquake that occurs in association with anthropogenic activity, such as waste water injection wells, is known as

A) tectonic seismicity.
B) induced seismicity.
C) a tectonic earthquake.
D) an earthquake. (There is no special name for such an implausible event.)

Question 72

What type of convergent boundary associated with orogeny is illustrated here?

A) oceanic plate-continental plate collision
B) oceanic plate-oceanic plate collision
C) continental-plate-continental plate collision

Question 73

What type of convergent boundary associated with orogeny is illustrated here?

A) oceanic plate-continental plate collision
B) oceanic plate-oceanic plate collision
C) continental-plate-continental plate collision

Question 74

Which of the following is not used to rate an earthquake on the moment magnitude scale?

A) the amount of fault slippage that occurred
B) the size of the subsurface or surface area that ruptured
C) the amount of death and destruction that occurred
D) the nature of the ground materials affected by the quake

Question 75

Small surface irregularities along a fault plane that prevent movement and are generally areas of high strain are termed

A) asperities.
B) focal points.
C) elastic spots.
D) fore points.

Question 76

The phrase "considerable-to-serious damage to buildings" would be used in the ________ scale.

A) Richter
B) Modified Mercalli Intensity
C) Beaufort
D) Moh's

Question 77

An instrument used to record vibrations in the crust is the

A) land barometer.
B) seismometer.
C) the Richter scale.
D) tiltmeter.

Question 78

The study of plate boundaries and the frequency of past earthquakes in order to forecast earthquakes is known as

A) dilatancy.
B) paleoseismology.
C) perceptual studies.
D) geodesy.

Question 79

Which of the following is not one of the three types of tectonic activity that causes orogensis along convergent boundaries?

A) oceanic plate-continental plate collision
B) oceanic plate-oceanic plate collision
C) continental-plate-continental plate collision
D) oceanic plate-continental plate collision, oceanic plate-oceanic plate collision, and continental-plate-continental plate collision are all correct.

Question 80

The slight increase in rock volume produced by small cracks that form under stress and accumulated strain is known as

A) dilatancy.
B) paleoseismology.
C) seismic gaps.
D) geodesy.