Chap 14

The first comprehensive theory of continental drift was propounded by ________. A) Wegener B) Sagan C) Wallace D) Darwin E) Köppen

Wegener's early proposal of continental drift was not taken seriously because of his ________. A) lack of scientific research B) training as a meteorologist C) lack of attention to Earth's species distribution D) failure to provide a plausible cause E) inability to read and write

The first person to write about the possibility of continental drift was ________. A) Hess B) Ortelius C) Aristotle D) Einstein E) Wegener

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) 1990s D) 1890s E) 1960s

If you travel away from a midocean ridge you will find ________. A) increasingly younger rocks B) increasingly older rocks C) more and more earthquakes D) the seafloor is drifting opposite to your direction of motion E) little evidence of paleomagnetic reversals of the poles

Over the past 100 million years of Earth history, it is known that the magnetic poles have reversed themselves ________ times. A) 10 B) 0 C) 2 D) 25 E) many

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

How long ago did the Atlantic start to form as Pangaea started to rift apart? A) 20 million years B) 2.0 billion years C) 200 million years D) 1 million years E) 4.6 billion years

Currently, the rate of sea-floor spreading in the Atlantic is thought to be ________, A) 10 meters per year B) less than 1 centimeter per year C) 100 meters per year D) 0 centimeters per year (stopped) E) 1 kilometer per year

Which of the following is NOT one of the reasons scientists strongly believe in plate tectonics? A) the ability to explain oceanic trenches B) the ability to explain many earthquake zones C) the ability to explain many volcanic zones D) the ability to explain midoceanic ridges E) the ability to explain Earth's crust is rigid

11) Which of the following concepts does not belong with the others? A) continental drift B) plate tectonics C) plasticity D) midocean ridge E) a rigid crust with fixed continents

Research since the 1970s has identified the cause of plate tectonics to be ________. A) convection B) uniformitarianism C) sun spots D) warping E) diastrophism

Earth's crust appears to be composed of ________ major plates and an equally number of intermediate ones. A) two B) a dozen C) seven D) over one hundred E) about seventy five

Which of the following is postulated as the ultimate source of energy causing continental drift? A) gravity B) volcanism C) radioactive decay D) the Sun E) diastrophism

Consider the location of New York City. In terms of crustal plates, New York City is ________. A) on a divergent boundary B) on a convergent boundary C) not on a plate D) not on a plate boundary E) on a transform boundary

Crustal plates are on the order of ________ kilometer(s) thick. A) 10 B) 10,000 C) 100 D) 1 E) 1,000

In terms of plate tectonics, Indian is a part of the ________ plate. A) Arabian B) African C) Eurasian D) Indo-Australian E) Tasmanian

A ________ plate boundary is associated with lateral slippage, conservation of existing crust, and the San Andreas fault system. A) convergent B) divergent C) transform D) subducting E) fault scarp

Where is one plate being subducted under another plate? A) the middle of the Arctic Ocean B) the middle of the Atlantic Ocean C) along the Aleutian Trench D) the middle of North America E) along the Hawaiian Islands

Presently, the North American and Eurasian plates are moving ________. A) nowhere B) toward the Equator C) toward each other D) toward the North Pole E) away from each other

Where UNDER the surface of the Earth would one expect a convection current directed towards the surface? A) under plates B) under subduction zones C) under continents D) under midocean ridges E) in the core

Hot, plastic material of the asthenosphere is most conspicuous at ________. A) the centers of the continents B) areas in which mountains are being built C) divergent plate boundaries D) oceanic trenches E) subduction zones

Which of the following is NOT closely associated with the large system of ridges on the ocean floors? A) upwelling of magma B) rift zones C) island arcs D) seafloor spreading E) transform faults

The world system of interconnected ocean bottom ridges comes to a total of about ________ kilometers. A) 6,000 B) 60 C) 6 D) 60,000 E) 600,000

Which two terms are usually used to refer to the SAME plate boundary? A) terrane, trench B) divergent, constructive C) convergent, constructive D) subduction, constructive E) divergent, destructive

The Himalayas were formed by crumpling of plate edges in a ________ zone. A) transcurrent B) divergent C) rift D) basalt E) convergent

There is a prominent oceanic trench off of ________. A) the coast of Lake Michigan B) the east coast of the continental United States C) the coast of Alaska's Aleutian Islands D) the west coast of the continental United States E) the Gulf Coast of the continental United States

The plate boundaries which are ________ are likely to make island arcs. A) divergent between continental plates B) convergent between continental plates C) convergent between oceanic plates D) transducive boundaries between oceanic and continental plates E) divergent between oceanic plates

Where would one find a convergent plate boundary? A) along the Pacific coast of South America B) at the midocean ridge of the Atlantic Ocean C) in the middle of Antarctica D) in the middle of North America E) along a transform plate boundary

Which of the following is termed "conservative"? A) a convergent plate boundary B) a divergent plate boundary C) an oceanic ridge D) an oceanic trench E) a transform plate boundary

The original large continental mass containing all of the present continents prior to separation millions of years ago has been named ________. A) Laurasia B) Transcurrent C) Subduction D) Pangaea E) Gondwanaland

Which of the following was the single "supercontinent" which existed before individual continents broke apart from it a quarter of a billion years ago? A) India B) Laurasia C) Asia D) Pangaea E) Gondwanaland

The vast majority of North America is moving ________, A) to the west B) to the east C) down D) up E) so slowly that the direction is unknown

Oceans are being created and removed from the Earth on a cycling time of about ________. A) 100 million years B) 1 million years C) 2.5 billion years D) 4.6 billion years E) 500 million years

A chain of mountains encompassing many ranges is known as a(n) ________. A) mantle plume B) first-order landform C) cordillera D) hot spot E) island arc

The Indian subcontinent was originally attached to ________. A) Laurasia B) Sima C) Tasmania D) Sial E) Gondwanaland

"Shortly" BEFORE the existence of Pangaea, ________. A) the supercontinent Rodinia had existed B) there was a single continent called "Micronesia" C) the Atlantic Ocean formed D) there was no continental drift E) Earth had formed

The Pacific "ring of fire" refers to the ________. A) volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean B) the Hawaiian Islands C) flood basalts D) subduction zones on the ocean floor E) Azores Island

The Unzen volcanic complex is a composite of overlapping composite volcanoes and has had recent pyroclastic flows, lazars, and loss of life. This complex is in the country of ________. A) Russia B) Australia C) Canada D) Japan E) South Africa

Which of the following is most closely associated with a mantle plume? A) Western Europe B) the Hawaiian Islands C) the Florida peninsula D) Southern California E) the lower Mississippi River Valley

In Hawaii, the direction of movement of the "hot spot" means that the ________ is the oldest part of the island chain. A) largest island B) center islands C) southeastern islands D) rainiest island E) northwestern islands

The mechanism of formation of the Hawaiian Islands is directly responsible for the ________ island being the youngest and having current volcanic activity. A) southeastern-most B) smallest C) northwestern-most D) center E) terrane-covered

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

________ is the part of the United States where one could see terranes. A) Alaska B) Maine C) Florida D) The Midwest E) Arizona

Which of the following is NOT true of the terranes of North America? A) They are the largest of the crustal plate types. B) They are associated with accretion. C) Some of them have origins south of the Equator. D) They have rocks that were too buoyant to be subducted. E) Several dozen exist.

The origins of which of the following are less well understood than the other features on the list? A) Mountains in the middle of plates B) Convergent plate boundaries C) Divergent plate boundaries D) Ocean ridges E) Ocean trenches

Which of the following is NOT an intrusive volcanic landform? A) sill B) batholith C) vein D) caldera E) dike

Flood basalts cover much of the ocean floor, India, and in North America, the ________. A) Columbia Plateau B) Colorado Plateau C) Ozark area D) Newfoundland area E) Florida region

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

Of the states below, which has the greatest number of volcanoes (active or inactive)? A) New York B) Louisiana C) Florida D) Arizona E) Alaska

Worldwide, volcanic eruptions are ________. A) a thing of the past B) mostly explosive C) rare D) rarely fatal to those around them E) mostly underwater

Which of the following numbers is CLOSEST to the number of active volcanoes on Earth's land surface? A) 55,000 B) 5 C) 55 D) 550 E) 5,500

The totality of materials ejected from a volcano, including liquid material, ashes and dust is termed ________. A) magma B) granite C) lava D) pyroclastic material E) silica

The nature of a volcanic eruption is determined largely by the ________ of the magma. A) color B) pressure C) temperature D) chemistry E) density

The island of Krakatau disappeared in a volcanic explosion. Krakatau was located in the ________. A) Arctic Ocean B) ocean off of California C) Gulf of Alaska D) Java Sea E) Mediterranean Sea

Which of the following are waves generated by earthquakes? A) plutons B) lahars C) tsunamis D) monoclines E) pyroclastic flows

Relatively cooler magma in an erupting volcano is apparently the result of ________. A) a high amount of silica present B) surface salinity C) depth of magma formation D) position of astronomical bodies E) the amount of water present

Evidence of former surface volcanic activity is often found in the vast accumulations of lava called ________. A) magma B) hot spots C) pyroclastic D) calderas E) flood basalts

The state having the greatest extent of flood basalts is ________. A) Arkansas B) Washington C) Idaho D) California E) Arizona

Which is formed on top of Earth's crust? A) batholith B) vein C) sill D) dike E) flood basalt

Lava flows often create ________. A) volcanic necks B) flat plains C) dikes D) batholiths E) volcanoes

________ is an area of extensive flood basalts. A) New England B) The Amazon River watershed C) Western Europe D) The Columbia Plateau E) The South Carolina Coastal Plain

Crater Lake, Oregon, is an example of a volcanic ________. A) lava flow B) batholith C) neck D) peak E) caldera

Crater Lake, Oregon, is a remnant of a larger volcano named ________. A) Mt. St. Helens B) Paricutin C) Mt. Whitney D) Mt. McKinley E) Mt. Mazama

Shield volcanoes are ________ than composite volcanoes. A) wider B) more widespread C) taller D) more explosive E) steeper

Which of the following is NOT a landscape caused by faulting? A) Crater Lake, Oregon B) the Sierra Nevada C) grabens D) the Swiss Alps E) horsts

A(n)________ is the same thing as a pyroclastic flow. A) earthquake B) landslide C) flood basalt D) steam explosion E) nuée ardente

A volcanic mud flow is known as a(n) ________. A) lahar B) mafic form of lava C) tsunami D) mantle plume E) horst

A ________ is another name for a volcanic mudflow. A) laccolith B) lahar C) landslide D) pyroclastic flow E) bornhardt

Mount Saint Helens exploded in 1980. Which of the following is NOT true? A) It is a volcano. B) It caused salmon to change their spawning habits. C) It is quite unlike the other mountains near it. D) It is in the State of Washington. E) It had been dormant for over 100 years.

Which of the following was NOT associated with the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens? A) the filling in of the River shipping channel B) the destruction of many lakes C) the deaths of 70 people D) the change of rivers to which salmon come to spawn E) the end of life in the local ecosystem for at least 1,000 years

A(n) ________ detects swelling and possible eruption in a volcano. A) frightened graduate student B) tiltmeter C) anemometer D) ceilometer E) seismograph

The most massive form of igneous intrusion is a ________. A) laccolith B) caldera C) sill D) stock E) batholith

Similar in nature to a batholith but much smaller in size is a ________. A) dike B) sill C) vein D) flood basalt region E) stock

Radial walls extending outward from a volcano are ________. A) veins B) clay pans C) dikes D) plugs E) sills

The ________ is an igneous intrusion which has a surface area of at least 100 square kilometers. A) vein B) stock C) butte D) batholith E) laccolith

The major batholiths of North America occur on which part of the continent? A) northern B) western C) central D) southern E) eastern

The most widespread of all intrusive forms is the ________. A) stock B) dike C) volcano D) lava flow E) batholith

The Black Hills, South Dakota, is a dome-shaped mass which is built over a ________. A) vein B) laccolith C) dike D) stock E) batholith

Volcanic activity that takes place deep under the crust is termed ________. A) pyroclastic B) intrusive C) plutonic D) metamorphic E) subduction

Which of the following is not a form of folding? A) syncline B) anticline C) rift valley D) monocline E) overturned fold

In folded terrain, a simple symmetrical down fold is termed a(n) ________. A) overthrust fold B) anticline C) monocline D) syncline E) magma pool

Deformation of the Earth's crust is called ________. A) folding B) faulting C) broad warping D) tectonism E) plate tectonics

A simple symmetrical upfold is called a(n) ________. A) syncline B) monocline C) inselberg D) anticline E) None of the answer choices is correct.

The Appalachian Mountains are famous for their ________ structure. A) volcanic B) rift valley C) ridge and valley D) faulted E) graben

Which of the following is NOT a form of tectonism? A) faulting B) broad warping C) volcanism D) folding E) downwarping

A(n) ________ is a one-sided fold connecting horizontal or gently inclined strata. A) syncline B) monocline C) overthrust D) symmetrical fold E) anticline

Instead of the vertical displacement of other faults, a ________ fault has horizontal displacement between the two sides A) normal B) reverse C) overthrust D) graben E) strike-slip

Structurally, the most complicated of the list below is the ________. A) transform fault B) normal fault C) reverse fault D) overthrust fault E) fault scarp

The Glacier Park, Montana area, provides a classic example of large scale ________. A) flood basalts B) graben structure C) transcurrent faulting D) horsts E) overthrust faulting

A crustal block which is down thrown with a steep fault scarp on either side is a ________. 91) A) horst B) fault block mountain C) syncline D) rift valley E) graben

Which of the following doesn't belong with the others? A) Rift valley B) Overthrust C) Graben D) Horst E) Dike

An uplift of a block of land between two parallel faults is a ________. A) rift valley B) mesa C) horst D) caldera E) graben

The Great Rift Valley is on the continent of ________. A) Asia B) Europe C) Antarctica D) Africa E) North America

Grabens are commonly found in association with ________. A) concretions B) horsts C) sag ponds D) anticlines E) batholiths

Which of the following is NOT associated with volcanoes? A) magma B) plutonic activity C) horsts D) Nutrients are provided for plant growth. E) pyroclastic material

The east face of the Sierra Nevadas presents an excellent example of a(n) ________. A) syncline B) transform fault C) sag pond D) overthrust E) fault scarp

Which of the following are fault-block mountains? A) Ozarks B) Cascades C) Appalachians D) Rockies E) Sierra Nevada

Water collected in small bodies along a recently active fault line forms ________. A) reservoirs B) dikes C) sag ponds D) playas E) sills

A sag pond is caused by collection of water from springs or runoff after movement along ________. A) flood basalts B) volcanoes C) synclines D) anticlines E) fault lines

Which of the following refers to the surface of the Earth directly above the center of an earthquake? A) hot spot B) nadir C) seismic zone D) focus E) epicenter

Which earthquake wave type travels most slowly? A) R B) Q C) P D) T E) S

In earthquakes, P waves________. A) are absent B) arrive more slowly than surface waves C) are also known as surface waves D) are faster than S waves E) travel towards the focus

On the Modified Mercalli scale, the largest earthquakes would be assigned a value of ________. A) 10 B) 3 C) XII D) 1 E) 8.5

On the richer scale, "very large" earthquakes are assigned a number of ________ or above. A) 47.5 B) 7 C) 0 D) 25 E) 1

Which scale is now the most commonly used to measure the size of LARGE earthquakes? A) Richter B) Saffir-Simpson C) Fujita D) Moment magnitude E) Mercalli

The Alaskan earthquake of 1964 was extraordinarily violent and has been assigned a moment magnitude of ________. A) 21.6 B) 5.7 C) 2.3 D) 9.2 E) 47.5

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

Loose, water-saturated sediments may undergo ________ during an earthquake. A) fibrillation B) estivation C) dessication D) liquefaction E) metamorphism

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

The Earth's crust is rigid as compared to the mantle directly underneath. True/False

According to Wegener, all the continents were once joined together in one continent. True/False

Complex geologic structures in North Africa, North America, and Europe correlate very well with one another in terms of continental drift. True/False

In the 1920s, Alfred Wegener assembled much scientific evidence suggesting that the continents drift. True/False

The southern portion of the "super continent" envisioned by Wegener is called Gondwanaland. True/False

Current theory likens the world's sea floors to conveyor belts moving ever outward from the oceanic ridges. True/False

Mid-oceanic ridges contain the oldest rocks in the ocean basins. True/False

Paleomagnetism is used to show that the continents drifted apart. True/False

The motive force behind continental drift appears to be convection. True/False

During subduction, oceanic crust melts as it is pushed down into the hot mantle. True/False

Huge mountain ranges and shallow-focus earthquakes are common along convergent boundaries between pairs of continental plates. True/False

Continental crust is recycled "quickly" while oceanic crust tends to be conserved for much greater times. True/False

Using the idea of "mantle plumes," it is obvious that the crust associated with the Hawaiian islands is moving from southwest to northeast. True/False

A volcano is "active" if it has had at least one eruption in recorded history. True/False

A minor volcanic eruption releases the energy equivalent to a cluster of atomic bombs. True/False

The Andesite Line refers to the numerous volcanoes which dot the rim of the Pacific Ocean. True/False

Prior to Mt. St. Helens in 1980 there had never been an active volcano in the United States. True/False

Mafic lava is likely to be hotter and more fluid, causing non-explosive volcanic eruptions. True/False

Fault lines tend to block magma from reaching the surface. True/False

The Deccan Plateau of India is associated with flood basalts. True/False

In the Cascade Range, there are many peaks larger or taller than Mount Saint Helens which exploded. True/False

Shield volcanoes tend to be the most explosive of all volcanoes. True/False

The Black Hills of South Dakota provide an example of a structure formed by a dike. True/False

A batholith is an igneous extrusive landform. True/False

A simple symmetrical upfold in topography is an anticline. True/False

An example of a large syncline is the Sierra Nevada. True/False

Deep fault zones apparently serve as conduits allowing water and heat to approach the surface. True/False

All surface expressions of faults are on a north-south axis. True/False

A fault is a break in the Earth's surface or crust without horizontal or vertical displacement. True/False

A normal fault results from compressional forces. True/False

Faulting can take place many kilometers below the surface. True/False

The Haiti earthquake was so devastating because of poor construction of buildings. True/False

The Haiti earthquake of 2010 was "surprising" because there were no major faults in the vicinity. True/False

Offset streams are caused by strike-slip faults. True/False

The slight difference in time of observation between the arrival of P and S waves at a seismographic station allows scientists to determine the distance to the focus of an earthquake. True/False

The largest recorded earthquake had a moment magnitude of 9.5 and occurred in Chile. True/False

On the Richter scale, an earthquake number of 8 releases twice as much energy as an earthquake number of 4. True/False

The Lewis Overthrust is a well known feature in the Appalachian Mountains. True/False

The Lewis Overthrust in Glacier National Park in Montana is such a large thrust fault that sediments have been displaced horizontally as much as 30 kilometers. True/False

The term "mountains without roots" is used to refer to mountains in overthrust fault zones. True/False

A foreshock sometimes comes before a major earthquake. True/False

Your textbook notes that earthquake prediction is soon to be a reality. True/False

The U.S. Government is developing an Earthquake Early Warning System (EEW) True/False