- You find an extensive area of exposed shale with abundant leaf fossil imprints. Into what type of environment were the ancient leaves most likely deposited?
Your answer:
A deep ocean floor setting.
A shallow water, low dissolved oxygen, basin laden with clay and silt sediments.
An alluvial fan.
A dried-up stream channel in an arid terrain.
- Halite and gypsum are examples of what class of sediments?
Your answer:
chemical
organic detrital
clastic
plastic
- A sequence of poorly-sorted, generally coarse-grained sandstones and conglomerates containing occasional cross-stratification probably was deposited in which of the following sedimentary environments?
Your answer:
delta
flood plain
beach
alluvial fan
- The sand grains in sandstone may be composed of:
Your answer:
quartz.
mica.
rock fragments.
all of the previous answers are correct.
- Apatite (hardness = 5) and quartz (hardness = 7) clastic particles experience similar transport lengths along a stream bed. Describe the relationship between the rounding of these two particle types.
Your answer:
The apatite and quartz clasts will exhibit equal degrees of rounding.
The quartz clasts will exhibit a greater degree of rounding.
The apatite clasts will exhibit a greater degree of rounding.
No rounding will be exhibited by either of these two clast types.
- Igneous dikes aid the relative dating of rock types through the stratigraphic law of:
Your answer:
correlation.
original horizontality.
superposition.
cross-cutting relationships.
- The stratigraphic law which states that in any undisturbed sequence of bedded rocks the oldest is on the bottom and the youngest is on the top is called:
Your answer:
original horizontality.
correlation.
cross-cutting relationships.
superposition.
- Which of the following geological processes would enable future stratigraphic correlation over the largest area?
Your answer:
A highly explosive volcanic eruption.
A snow avalanche.
A rock fall.
An andesitic lava flow.
- Which of the following items could not be age dated using the radiocarbon (C-14) technique?
Your answer:
A Dead Sea scroll.
An animal hide preserved in permafrost.
A fossil leaf imprint in shale.
Charred wood remains from an archaeological site.
- The half-life of radioactive element X is approximately 5000 years. After 20,000 years, how many atoms of X would be left if there were initially 10,000?
Your answer:
5000
2500
1250
625
- On a sloped surface when the shear stress acting on a mass exceeds the sum of the normal force of gravity and the slope's shear strength, the mass will:
Your answer:
move downslope.
chemically weather.
begin to metamorphose.
rest stably on the slope.
- Which of the following mass wasting prosesses occurs predominantly in Norh America in locations like Alaska and northern Canada?
Your answer:
creep
rock falls
solifluction
debris avalanche
- Which of the following mass wasting events poses the greatest threat for large-scale loss of human life?
Your answer:
rock fall
solifluction
creep
volcanic mudflow
- In Oakland County what mass wasting process could result in long-term damage to the foundations of residences built on sloping ground?
Your answer:
creep
solifluction
rock falls
debris avalanche
- The angle of repose for most dry, loose materials lies between:
Your answer:
30 to 35 degrees from the horizontal.
70 to 75 degrees from the horizontal.
10 to 15 degrees from the horizontal.
50 to 55 degrees from the horizontal.
- Non-uniform (differential) stress, with the predominant stress applied in the horizontal plane, will result in alignment of the long axes of metamorphic minerals:
Your answer:
diagonal to the predominant stress direction.
parallel to the vertical plane.
diagonal to the direction of lesser stress.
parallel to the horizontal plane.
- Which of the following factors is not important for determining the type and degree of metamorphism a rock experiences?
Your answer:
The pressure to which the rock is subjected.
The temperature to which the rock is subjected.
The chemical composition of the rock being metamorphosed.
The age of the rock.
- Extensive metamorphic rock complexes found in the cores of the Appalachian Mountains most likely resuled from:
Your answer:
cataclastic metamorphism.
burial metamorphism.
regional metamorphism.
contact metamorphism.
- The rocks and sediments subjected to intense stress (i.e., resulting in the crushing of rock material) along a transform tectonic plate boundary would experience:
Your answer:
cataclastic metamorphism.
burial metamorphism.
contact metamorphism.
regional metamorphism.
- Which of the following minerals would not be found in a rock that metamorphosed under high grade conditions?
Your answer:
gypsum
feldspar
quartz
garnet
- The spontaneous transformation of a mechanically unstable atom structure occurs to _______________ chemical elements.
Your answer:
- A clastic sedimentary rock composed of poorly rounded (angular) gravels would be given what name?
Your answer:
- Is limestone an example of a clastic, chemical or organic sedimentary rock?
Your answer:
- Ground which at some depth remains completely frozen for many years is called what?
Your answer:
- What sedimentary structure describes a rock that consists of coarse sediment particles near its base that become progressively finer in size toward the layer's top?
Your answer:
- What is the protolith of the metamorphic rock marble?
Your answer:
- What metamorphic rock was previously commonly used as a chalkboard surface in many schools?
Your answer:
- What very soft sedimentary rock was formed by the compaction and cementation of biogenic (life-generated) sediments?
Your answer:
- Dissolved, matter-rich solutions passing through buried sediments could result in what lithification process occurring?
Your answer:
- Would the Earth's oldest rocks consistently be found within the continental or oceanic crusts?
Your answer: