Earth Science and Astronomy: Key Concepts and Phenomena

Posted on Jan 2, 2025 in Geology

  • Which of these organisms would have the best chance of becoming part of the fossil record? Fish
  • As the temperature of lava increases, its viscosity decreases.
  • Which of the following must be true for a fossil organism to be useful as an index fossil? All of the above
  • In what type of rocks are most fossils found? Sedimentary rocks
  • In diagram A of Figure 11-2, where would the oldest rock layers be located? At C
  • Before being engulfed, matter that is pulled into a black hole should become very hot and emit X-rays.
  • Stars of which color have the coolest surface temperature? Red
  • At divergent plate boundaries in the ocean, magma rises and melts because of a decrease in pressure.
  • What event may have triggered the great Paleozoic extinction? Climatic change
  • Most intraplate volcanic activity occurs where hot mantle plumes rise toward the surface within a plate.
  • Which of the following causes earthquakes? Elastic rebound
  • Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is believed to be a cyclonic storm.
  • Which of the following plays a major part in determining the form of a volcano? Magma composition
  • Which main-sequence stars are the least massive? Red
  • The radiometric date of a metamorphic rock most likely represents when the rock was heated during metamorphism.
  • The most obvious difference between the terrestrial and the Jovian planets is size.
  • The age of the rocks in the ocean basins was determined by ocean drilling.
  • Which of the following lists includes the major types of mountains? Folded, fault-block, volcanic
  • Wegener’s idea that tidal forces might cause continental drift was shown to be impossible when it was shown that the tidal forces needed to move continents would stop Earth’s rotation.
  • In the early Paleozoic, life was restricted to the seas.
  • The first accurate measurement of the size of Earth was made by Eratosthenes.
  • A lens-shaped intrusive igneous mass close to Earth’s surface is called a laccolith.
  • The mass of a star can be determined by studying binary star systems.
  • Which of the following factors affects the melting point of rock? All of the above
  • During the period that the moon’s phases are changing from new to full, the moon is waxing.
  • Which of the following is currently responsible for shaping Mars’ surface? Wind
  • In areas where unconsolidated sediments are saturated with water, earthquakes can turn stable soil into a fluid through a process called liquefaction.
  • Most of the information about Earth’s interior was obtained by studying earthquake waves.
  • According to the ancients, the stars traveled around Earth on the transparent, hollow celestial sphere.
  • The formation of the Hawaiian Islands is associated with no plate boundary of any kind.
  • What instrument records earthquake waves? Seismograph
  • Which of Jupiter’s moons is volcanically active? Io
  • Structures that form from the cooling and hardening of magma beneath Earth’s surface are plutons.
  • Which seismic waves travel most rapidly? P waves
  • Evidence about ancient climates indicates that glacial ice once covered much of what is now India and Australia.
  • Which color has the most energetic photons? Violet
  • All changes in the original shape and/or size of a rock body are called deformation.
  • Which of the following is a geographic example of a transform fault boundary? The San Andreas Fault
  • What likely contributed to the extinction that marks the end of the Mesozoic Era? A meteorite collision
  • Magma forms when solid rock in the crust and upper mantle melts.
  • Which animals did NOT survive the Mesozoic extinction? Dinosaurs
  • One group of reptiles, characterized by the fossil Archaeopteryx, led to the evolution of birds.
  • Petrified wood is an example of what type of fossil? Altered remains
  • What hypothesis states that the continents were once joined to form a single supercontinent? Continental drift
  • Major earthquakes are sometimes preceded by smaller earthquakes called foreshocks.
  • Tensional stresses commonly cause which of the following? Normal faults
  • The product of nuclear fusion is helium.
  • Which of the following is used in an attempt to make short-range predictions of when earthquakes will occur? Strain in rocks near faults
  • When did abundant fossil evidence appear in the geologic record? 540 million years ago
  • Which of the following is NOT a major factor that influences the strength of a rock? Age of rock
  • The Black Hills of South Dakota were formed by what type of orogenesis? Upwarping
  • The igneous activity in Yellowstone National Park is associated with what tectonic setting? Intraplate setting
  • The footprints of a dinosaur are an example of what type of fossil? Trace fossil
  • What characteristic distinguishes Neptune from the other planets? Neptune is extremely windy.
  • Which of the following is important if an organism is to become a fossil? Rapid burial and hard parts
  • A break that separates older metamorphic rocks from younger sedimentary rocks immediately above them is a type of unconformity called a(n) nonconformity.
  • An unconformity is a(n) gap in the rock record.
  • Which color has the longest wavelength? Red
  • The atmosphere of Venus is composed primarily of carbon dioxide.
  • Earth’s axis slowly but continuously points in different directions, a movement known as precession.
  • The Hawaiian Islands are associated with what type of volcanism? Intraplate volcanism
  • The distance between a seismic station and the earthquake epicenter is determined from the arrival times of P and S waves.
  • Which period makes up nearly all of the Cenozoic Era? Tertiary
  • Continental volcanic arcs are associated with what type of plate boundary? Convergent oceanic-continental boundary
  • Which statement best explains why the moon has more craters than Earth? Weathering and erosion do not occur on the moon.
  • The hypothesis that explains the release of energy during an earthquake is called the elastic rebound hypothesis.
  • Why did amphibians diversify so rapidly during the late Paleozoic? They had little competition from other land dwellers.
  • Which magnitude would be associated with the brightest star? –5
  • What type of volcano is built almost entirely from ejected lava fragments? Cinder cone
  • Mammals became dominant only after dinosaurs became extinct.
  • The radiometric dating of an igneous rock provides a date for when the rock formed.
  • Which of the following factors helps determine whether a volcanic eruption will be violent or relatively quiet? All of the above
  • Compressional stresses can result in the formation of thrust faults.
  • Which of the following is an example of mountains formed as a result of ocean-ocean convergence? The mountains of Japan
  • Which planet has a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere and high surface temperatures? Venus
  • What kind of plate boundary occurs where two plates grind past each other without destroying or producing lithosphere? Transform fault boundary
  • An example of folded mountains can be seen in the Alps in Europe.
  • Which astronomer spent 20 years plotting the positions of the planets? Brahe
  • What type of mountains are produced by ocean-ocean convergence? Mainly volcanic mountains
  • Sedimentary rocks record past geological events and changing life forms of the past.
  • Which seismic waves compress and expand rocks in the direction the waves travel? P waves
  • What happened to all the continents by the close of the Paleozoic? They fused into Pangaea.
  • Which planet shows evidence of water erosion? Mars
  • Deformation in which the object returns to its original shape and size after the stress is removed is called elastic deformation.
  • Which planet has a greater mass than the combined mass of all the remaining planets and their moons? Jupiter
  • What is the shape of a planet’s orbit? Elliptical
  • Which of the following is proportionally more abundant on terrestrial planets than on Jovian planets? Silicate minerals