Note that potassium (K), sodium (Na), Lithium (Li), Hydrogen (H)
all form cations with a charge of +1. Also magnesium (Mg), and
calcium (Ca) are +2. Aluminum (AL) forms a +3 cation while silicon
(Si) forms a +4 cation. Meanwhile Oxygen (O) forms a -2 anion while
fluorine (F) and Chlorine (Cl) form -1 anions. Note that various ions
have the following radii: K is 1.38 , Na is 1.02 , CL is 1.81
.
1. Which one of the following statements is true about atoms? a)
All atoms have the same number of protons, b) Mass is equally divided
between the nuclear matter and the electrons, c) Mass is concentrated
in the nucleus, d) a single ion is always electrically neutral, e)
all statements are true.
2. How any protons in Thorium 232 (atomic number 90)? a) 90, b)
232, c) 322 d) 142, e) all are incorrect.
3. How many neutrons in that same Thorium? a) 90, b) 232, c) 322,
d) 142, e) all are incorrect.
4. Calcium (atomic number 20) has how many electrons in its inner
(closest) shell? a) 20, b) 10, c) 8, d) 0, e) 2.
5. Calcium has how many electrons in its second shell? a) 20, b)
10, c) 8, d) 0, e) 2.
6. Calcium has how many electrons in its 4th (most distant) shell?
a) 10, b) 8, c) 0, d) 2, e) 1.
7. Which one of these chemical formulas of minerals is not
possible? a) K2Al2Si4O8,
b) Al2O3, c) KCl, d) SiO2, e) all
are impossible.
8. How can quartz have the formula of SiO2 when it is
entirely made of SiO4 tetrahedra? a) It is missing some of
its oxygen atoms, b) It has "charge balancing" silicon cations
scattered through its structure, c) Adjoining tetrahedra share
oxygens at each corner, d) The assumption is wrong, its formula is
actually SIO4, e) All of the above are
incorrect.
9. Why is there no complete solid solution between NaCl (halite)
and KCl (sylvite)? a) There are different charges on the cations, b)
There are different charges on the anions, c) Sylvite is covalently
bonded, d) The assumption is incorrect, there is a complete solid
solution between the two of them, e) Na (sodium) and K (potassium)
ions have quite different sizes.
10. What is the difference between Carbon 12 and Carbon 14? a) C14
has two more protons, b) C14 has two more electrons, c) C14 has two
more neutrons, d) C14 has two more protons or neutrons, e) All
of the above are incorrect.
11. What materials are characteristic of most soils? a) feldspar,
b) clay minerals, and quartz, c) quartz but not clay, d)
ferromagnesium silicates, e) mica.
12. How does the "B" soil horizon differ from the "A" horizon? a)
the "B" horizon has much organic material, b) the"A" horizon is
leached of soluble materials, c) the "B" horizon has much feldspar,
d) the "B" horizon has unweathered rock materials, e) the "B" horizon
is leached of soluble materials.
13. What is the approximate age of Earth? a) a few thousands of
years old, b) a few millions of years old, c) one million years old,
d) more than a billion years old, e) no research has been done on
this issue.
14. What implication came from uniformitarianism? a)
glaciers were once widespread, b) granite is a rock, c) the Atlantic
ocean is young, d) the Earth is very old, e) streams caused a large
amount of erosion.
15. Which mineral that is common in soils is in shorter than
expected supply in sedimentary rocks? a) quartz, b) iron minerals, c)
clay minerals, d) feldspar, e) ferromagnesium silicates.
16. Some parts of Alaska and Siberia were not glaciated. A likely
explanation is: a) it was too warm there, b) sun spots, c) there was
little snow fall there, d) these places were so high the glaciers
could not reach them, e) Boris Yeltsin would not permit
it.
17. If a stream segment is graded, this means that? a)
there is no erosion whatsoever going on in the stream segment, b)
there is no deposition whatsoever going on, c) the stream segment has
a very steep slope, d) there is no net deposition or erosion going on
in the illustrated segment, e) only a small amount of erosion is
going on in the stream segment.
18. It is further true that through time as long as the stream
stays graded, the gradient is: a) increasing, b) decreasing, c) first
increasing and then decreasing, d) first decreasing and then
increasing, e) staying the same.
19. If, on the other hand, erosion commences, then, as long as
erosion continues, the gradient will: a) increase, b) decrease, c)
first increase and then decrease, d) first decrease and then
increase, e) stay the same.
20. On the other hand, if deposition begins, then, as long as
deposition continues, the gradient will: a) increase, b) decrease, c)
first increase and then decrease, d) first decrease and then
increase, e) stay the same.
21. Let us assume the a dam is built in a graded region of the
stream upstream from the graded segment decried. We can
expect: a) net erosion to commence even further upstream than the
dam, b) nothing different to happen upstream from the dam; dams are
quite benign, c) erosion to commence downstream from the dam, d) net
deposition to commence downstream from the dam, e) nothing to happen
downstream from the dam.
22. Furthermore, upstream from the lake behind the dam: a) net
erosion will spread upstream, b) net deposition will spread upstream,
c) nothing different will happen, d) drainage will improve because of
net erosion upstream from the dam, e) a) and d) are correct but not
b) or c).
23. Which one is most nearly true about base level? It is: a) the
height above sea level of the valley of all streams, b) the amount of
dissolved bases (as compared to acids in runoff, c) the thickness of
glaciers, d) the lowest level to which a stream can erode, e) the
height above sea level of the toe of a landslide.
24. What happens to an irregularity (a knickpoint) at right angles
to a stream with time? It: a) gets smaller, b) moves upstream, c)
gets larger, d) stays the same, e) a) and b) are both correct but not
c) or d).
25. According to the Bible (Ecclesiastes 1.7) "all the streams run
to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams
flow, there they flow again." The conundrum expressed here is solved
by understanding: a) chemistry of water, b) uniformitarianism, c) the
hydrologic cycle, d) graded streams, e) erosion.
26. Which one of the following is true about the hydrologic cycle?
a) evaporation from the sea is exactly equal to rainfall into the
sea, b) rainfall into the sea is less than evaporation from the sea,
c) rainfall into the sea is greater than evaporation from the sea, d)
there is more water contained in rivers than is retained in glaciers,
e) rainfall on land is exactly equal to rainfall on the
sea.
27. If loose surface material contains particles of many different
sizes (clay sizes through large boulders) and these particles are
composed of many different rock types and have angular shapes an
appropriate term for these materials is probably: a) loess, b) talus,
c) till, d) alluvial fan, e) outwash.
28. These materials are likely to be: a) mountain stream deposits,
b)-fluvial-glacial deposits, c) storm deposits on a beach, d) direct
glacial deposits, e) a) and b) are correct but not c) or
d).
29. Ice movement in a glacier can best be described as: a) laminar
flow, turbulent flow, c) neither, ice is a solid and slides forward
as a solid block, d) a mixture of laminar and turbulent flow, e)
rapid.
30. Evidence of the nature of this movement is: a) the great
amount of erosion accomplished, b) the failure of materials to mix in
existing glaciers, c) the great amount of mixing of materials in
glaciers, d) the observed great purity of glacial ice, e) none of the
above are correct.
31. One way to get a minimum thickness of a past
continental glacier is: a) to observe the highest point that is
glaciated and determine the relief of the region, b) determine the
amount of cracking of the bedrock - rocks are more cracked where
glaciers are thick, c) determine the thickness of the glacial
deposits, d) all glaciers are the same thickness so there is nothing
to find out, d) determine the distance to the source and determine
the average thinning of the glacier from there.
32. The correct answer to the question above depends on which
assumption? a) ice is a solid and moves as such, b) ice in a glacier
mostly behaves as a liquid, c) glacial ice is very cold and therefore
exceptionally strong, d) the land surface slopes downhill from the
source of a glacier, e) glaciers are slippery.
33. Why were there no major glaciers during the Pleistocene
(recent past) in the southern continents? a) It didn't get cold in
the southern hemisphere, b) the southern hemisphere is almost totally
a desert so there was not enough snow there, c) coriolis force, d)
the southern continents reach only to 20 degrees of south latitude,
e) the southern continents get smaller as they get into higher
latitudes.
34. As waves approach shore, motion of water (by waves) on the sea
(or lake) bottom will begin when wave length is: a) ½
wave height, b) ½ water depth, c) ½ the distance to shore,
d) ½ wave velocity, e) ½ wave acceleration
35. Out at sea (in deep water) a point within a wave moved by the
waves would move? a) back and forth, b) up and down, c) in an
ellipse, d) in a square, e) in a circle.
36. What is meant by L? a) wave period, b) wave frequency, c) wave
shape, d) wave length, e) ½ wave length.
37. Which one of these is correct and gives evidence for plate
tectonics? a) oceanic volcanic rocks are younger the farther they are
from mid-oceanic ridges, b) all oceanic volcanic rocks are old, c)
the ages of oceanic basalts are randomly distributed, d) oceanic
basalts are older the farther they are from mid-oceanic ridges, e)
ages of volcanics are not related to their distance from mid-oceanic
ridges.
38. Which one is true about the thickness of oceanic sediments as
one travels away from a mid-oceanic ridge? a) they get thicker, b)
they get thinner, c) they stay the same thickness, d) the thickness
varies randomly, e) they get thinner, then thicker, then
thinner
39. The reason for the correct answer above is that: a) the ocean
bottom gets older away from ridges, b) the ocean bottom gets younger
away from ridges, c) the ocean bottom is the same age everywhere, d)
ocean bottom currents have variable strength, e) ocean bottom
currents are stronger in shallow water
40. The age of the oldest sediments on the ocean bottom is
what relationship to the mid-oceanic ridges? a) older away from the
ridges, b) older toward the ridges, c) the same age everywhere, d)
randomly distributed, e) much younger than the ridges.
41. What is the age relationship of the oceanic rocks to older
continental rocks? a) continental rocks are younger than most oceanic
rocks, b) continental rocks are the same age as most oceanic rocks,
c) older continental rocks are a little older than most oceanic
rocks, d) older continental rocks are much older than oceanic rocks,
e) all of the above are incorrect
42. What is happening to the size of the Atlantic Ocean at the
present time? a) it is pulsating -- first getting larger and a few
hours later getting smaller, b) it is getting smaller, c) it is
staying the same size, d) it is unknown what is happening, e) it is
getting larger.
43. What kind of rock is erupted by volcanoes on mid-oceanic
ridges? a) granite, b) rhyolite, c) basalt, d) andesite, e)
obsidian
44. What kind of rock is erupted in volcanoes near the Pacific
coast of land masses ringing the Pacific Ocean? a) granite, b)
rhyolite, c) basalt, d) andesite, e) obsidian.
45. What do continental rocks have that oceanic rocks do not have?
a) more quartz, b) more orthoclase feldspar, c) lower density, d)
less iron and magnesium, e) all are correct.
46. What are transform faults usually associated with? a)
trenches, b) mid-continental areas, c) mid-oceanic ridges, d)
andesitic volcanoes, e) rhyolitic volcanoes.
47. As waves approach shore they will: a) not change, b) refract,
c) accelerate, d) gain energy, e) be stopped by wind.
48. The result will be: a) waves will tend to hit shore almost
parallel to shore, b) waves will hit shore in the same direction as
originally propagated, c) waves will hit shore with greater energy
than they had at sea, d) waves will hit shore almost at right angles
to shore, e) waves will hit shore at a 45 degree angle.
49. The state of Maine has a very irregular shoreline. A good
explanation is: a) wave erosion, b) sea level recently dropped, c)
sea level recently rose, d) a) and b) are both correct but not c), e)
none of the above are correct.
50. Where would one expect to find lateritic soils? a) glaciated
regions, b) temperate climates, c) tropics, d) deserts, e) all are
correct.
51. What age is the bulk of the "banded iron formation"? a) older
than the oldest known rock and connected with the so-called iron
catastrophe, b) Precambrian, c) early Paleozoic, d) late Paleozoic,
e) Mesozoic.
52. What first caused O2 to increase significantly? a)
algae, b) volcanoes, c) earthquakes, d) angiosperms, e)
metazoans.
53. As O2 was increasing, what was decreasing? a) N, b)
O3, c) CO2, d) H2O, e)
nothing.
54. When did life first occur? a) Archean, b) at the
Archean/Proterozoic boundary, c) late Proterozoic, d) Cambrian, e)
early Paleozoic.
55. What is the first earthquake wave to arrive at a seismic
station? a) L wave, b) S wave, c) X wave, d) SS wave, e) P
wave.
56. Which wave will not penetrate the outer core of the earth? a)
P wave, b) S wave, c) no wave can penetrate the outer core, d) all
waves penetrate the outer core, e) all waves penetrate the outer core
but do so slowly.
57. What happens to the P wave in the outer core of the Earth? a)
It does not enter the outer core, b) it speeds up, c) it does not
change velocity as it passes through the outer core, d) it slows
down, e) No one knows what happens.
58. What is the nature of the inner core of the Earth? a) liquid,
b) gas, c) solid, d) mixture of liquid and gas, e)
vacuum.
59. What is an epeiric sea? a) a hyper-saline bay, b)
relatively deep, small lakes, c) ancient deep oceans, d) a mirage, e)
relatively shallow, geographically widespread sea.
60. What is a transgressive sea? a) one that is expanding, b) one
that is getting smaller, c) one that is staying the same size, d) one
that is not understood, e) a sinful sea full of sperm from copulating
fish.
61. How did Pratt come to discover isostasy? The plumb bob was
deflected toward the Himalayas: a) exactly as predicted by the law of
gravity, b) too much, c) too little, d) it wasn't attracted -- it was
repelled, e) none are correct.
62. The conclusion from this was that: a) the mountains were
hollow, b) the mountains were more massive than they appeared to be,
c) the mountains were less massive than they appeared to be, d) the
mountains were exactly as they appeared to be, e) the mountains were
in a different position than they appeared to be.
63. What did Cavendish's work on the gravity constant reveal about
the interior of Earth? a) Earth is homogeneous, b) Earth is lighter
at depth, c) isostasy, d) the crust is lighter than the interior, e)
Newton was wrong.
64. What is the commonest mineral in the Earth's crust? a)
granite, b) basalt, c) quartz, d) feldspar, e) clay.
65. Fig. 1 shows a partially filled out classification chart of
the igneous rocks. Which point (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) represents a rock
with the same texture (grain size) as granite? a) 1, b) 2, c) 3, d)
4, e) 5
66. Which point represents a rock with the same composition as
granite? a) 1, b) 2, c) 3, d) 4, e) 5
67. In general, what is the most important factor causing textural
differences in igneous rocks? a) amount of iron, b) chemical
composition, c) rate of cooling, d) radioactivity, e)
gravity
68. What is a porphyry? a) an igneous rock with trapped gasses in
holes, b) a very coarse grained igneous rock, c) a metamorphic rock
without platy minerals, d) an igneous rock with two grain sizes, e)
none of them
69. What causes a porphyry? a) eruption and fast cooling after
partial crystallization underground, b) partial melting under high
pressure, c) very fast cooling, d) very slow cooling, e) moderately
fast cooling
70. Which of one the following extrusive rocks would be most
likely to lead to a violent eruption if the preceding magma was made
of the same material, except melted - make sure the material is
reasonable? a) rhyolite, b) basalt, c) gabbro, d) limestone, e) none
of them
71. Why so? a) rhyolite is more viscous and traps gasses, b)
basalt is more viscous and traps gasses, c) gabbro is darker and this
absorbs light energy -- the cause of volcanism, d) limestone is
always made of obsidian, e) volcanos are never violent
72.
73. If there was 2 grams of U235 to start, how much would be left
after 2 half lives? a) 1 gram, b) ½ gram, c) 1/4 gram, d) 1/8
gram, e) 1/16 gram
74. If the first radioactive event in the decay of U 235 is to
emit an alpha particle, then, after that particle is gone, what is
the resulting atomic weight? a) 233, b) 231, c) 234, d) 235, e)
239
75. What did Boltwood not know about? a) atomic weight, b)
alpha particles, c) half lives, d) the element uranium, e)
isotopes
76. Lithium (atomic number 3 and atomic weight 7) would have how
many neutrons? a) 10, b) 3, c) 7, d) 1, e) 4
77. What would be the charge on its ion? a) +1, b) -1, c) 0, d)
+3, e) -3
78. What is the meaning of a comma (,) in a "formula"? a) the
elements separated by the comma are present in equal amounts, b) ions
of those elements have opposite charges, c) elements separated by the
comma substitute freely for one another, d) elements separated by a
comma cannot substitute for one another, e) elements separated by a
comma always have radically different sizes
79. In what situation is C14 possibly useful to determine ages? a)
in archeological sites a few thousand years old, b) any place there
is fossils no matter how old, c) in volcanic rocks several million
years old, d) in unmetamorphosed sedimentary rocks of all ages, e)
all are correct
80. Which one is true about the long valley we walked down just
after we climbed the hill at the toboggan slides? a) the gradient
gets steeper down hill, b) the gradient gets less steep down hill, c)
the slope gets more irregular down hill, d) the large boulders are
moved by running water, e) stream erosion did not make the
valley
81. Which one is true about the hill at 87th and western? a) the
entire hill is an ancient sand dune, b) the hill is a reef in the
Silurian rocks, c) the hill is an unaltered glacial deposit called a
kame, d) the hill is largely a remnant of a moraine, e) the hill is a
remnant of a delta of a former glacial river
82. In the southern U. S. there is a large negative gravity
anomaly. What is true about this anomaly? a) it is explained by the
topography, b) clearly, the underlying rocks there are denser than
those elsewhere, c) it is explained by isostasy, d) there is a large
wedge of light rock there without topographic expression, e)
unfortunately, no drilling has ever taken place there so we have no
description of the underlying rocks
83. Similar gravity anomalies occur: a) on the east coast of North
America, b) on the west coast of Europe, c) on the west coast of
Africa, d) associated with deep trenches in the Pacific, e) no where
else
84. What encourages folding (as compared to faulting)? a) high
hydrostatic pressure, b) water, c) weak rocks, d) slow acting forces,
e) all are correct
85. What is convincing about the direction to the North magnetic
pole, that continents have moved with respect to one another? a) the
north magnetic pole has been observed to wander in historic times, b)
magnetic poles have been observed to reverse every hundred thousand
years or so, c) the magnetic pole position for every continent
becomes different back through time, d) magnetic materials, if heated
past the Curie point, lose any magnetic direction they had, e) none
are convincing, after all continental drift is baloney
86. Which is the most likely setting for blue schists? a)
metamorphosed rocks in the midcontinents, b) contact metamorphism
under lava flows, d) metamorphism of subducted sediments, d) areas of
especially high temperature metamorphism, e) areas of especially low
pressure metamorphism
87. Where are deep earthquakes likely to be found? a) subduction
zones, b)-mid-oceanic ridges, c) in the middle of continents, d) in
places such as the east coast of North America that are trailing
edges of continental blocks, e) in "hot spots" such as
Hawaii
88. Why is the Pacific Ocean basin rougher topographically than
the Atlantic basin? a) it is a young ocean, b) it is pretty much
surrounded by subduction zones, c) it has active volcanos, unlike the
Atlantic, d) the Atlantic is so shallow that storm waves have eroded
its bottom, e) it is not true that the Pacific basin is rougher than
the Atlantic, it is the other way around
89. What type of faulting occurs at the Mid-Atlantic ridge? a)
normal faulting, b) reverse faulting, c) thrust faulting, d) all are
correct, e) the type of faulting is unknown
90. Where do the older rocks on Earth tend to occur? a) in ocean
basins near subduction zones, b) in the middle of continents, c) in
the deeper parts of the ocean, d) at spreading ridges in ocean basin
rocks, e) randomly and unpredictably throughout the
Earth
91. Which of the following describes a "P" wave? a) vibrates back
and forth parallel to the direction of propagation, b) the first
arriving wave at a seismic station, c) will travel through liquids as
well as solids, d) is the fastest moving wave, e) all are
correct
92. Which of the following describes an "S" wave? a) vibrates back
and forth parallel to the direction of propagation, b) the first
arriving wave at a seismic station, c) will travel through liquids as
well as solids, d) is the fastest moving wave, e) none are
correct
93. Most energy in an earthquake is in the: a) P waves, B) S
waves, c) L waves, d) PP waves, e) SS waves
94. Time/distance curves for earthquake waves (P, S, and L)
received by a seismograph allow one to easily to determine from time
lags between waves: a) strength of earthquakes, b) the direction
toward an epicenter, c) the kind of faulting, d) the distance to an
epicenter, e) the presence of a liquid core
95. Isostasy is the idea that: a) rocks are strong enough to
support mountains, b) rocks are only strong enough to support light
rocks such as granite, c) mountains are made of metamorphic rocks, d)
surface rocks including mountains float on the denser materials
below, e) continents are made of granite
96. What did Cavendish finally calculate after getting the
universal constant of gravitation? a) the volume of earth, b) the
distance of Earth from its moon, c) the density of earth, d) the
weight of earth, e) the mass of the moon
97. Which is the highest temperature metamorphic rock? a)
limestone, b) slate, c) green schist, d) blue schist, e)
gneiss
98. Fig. 2 is of a facies map of the sedimentary rocks deposited
in the late Ordovician. In the eastern U. S. which generalization is
most nearly correct? The main source of the clastic sediments is: a)
mountains caused by the collision of Africa with North America, b)
erosion of central Canada, c) subduction caused mountains along the
east coast, d) mountains caused by collision of North America with
Europe, e) mountains caused by the collision of North America with
South America
99. At the time shown the Iapetus ocean is? a) getting larger, b)
getting smaller, c) staying the same size, d) finally can be called
the modern Atlantic Ocean, e) finally destroyed
100. Which one is true (despite what the text says) abut the BIF? a) it is pure (unoxidized) iron, b) BIF is mostly a recent iron deposit, c) its formation served to suppress the increase in free oxygen, d) BIF is very rare, e) BIF only formed in the Archean times