Exam 1 Practice Questions

1. Which of these layers has the highest density?

a) inner core b) outer core c) mantle d) crust

2. The Yellowstone Volcanic plateau formed as a result of subduction, resulting in 3 major catastrophic eruptions over the last 2.1 million years. (T/F)

3. Characteristics of oceanic-continent collision do NOT include:

a) formation of explosive volcanoes

b) subduction of oceanic plate

c) widespread normal faulting

d) preferentially melting of silica-rich minerals from subducting plate

4. Before the Rocky Mountains formed, the west coast of the U.S. was near Utah; Since then much of the continental crust material making up the current west coast, including much of California, formed from:

a) deposition of oceanic sediment

b) continental rifting and crust formation

c) transform faulting along the San Andreas fault

d) accreted terranes

5. The Himalayan Mountains formed from a continent-continent collision of the Indian plate with the Eurasian plate, as a result the crust in this region of the world has been:

a) compressed

b) extended

c) thickened

d) both B and C

e) both A and C

6. Plate boundaries are associated with:

a) earthquakes

b) volcanoes

c) subduction

d) rifting

e) all of the above

7. Which of the following statements is not true of the Appalachian Mountains which began forming approximately 300 million years ago?

a) developed during formation of Pangaea (collision with Africa)

b) exhibits fold and thrust belt features

c) mountain building began during the Mesozoic era

d) rivers form “water gaps” through ridges

8. Nowhere on earth is the oceanic crust more than about 200 million years old because:

a) sediment buries the oceanic crust

b) meteorites reverse the magnetism

c) geomagnetic reversals erase the age

d) oceanic crust is continually destroyed at subduction zones

9. Tsunamis can result from underwater earthquakes, for example, the 2004 Tsunami that hit India and Indonesia was caused be an enormous magnitude 9.0 earthquake along a subduction zone. After a tsunami is generated, say 1000 miles from shore, it:

a) increases in velocity as it approaches shore which quickly floods the land

b) makes land fall within minutes of the earthquake, with no possible warning

c) slows down as it approaches shore which creates a massive wave that floods the land

d) A and B

e) B and C

10. Effusive eruptions are NOT related to which of the following?

a) steep slopes due to the cooler high viscosity magma

b) the formation of shield volcanoes, such as Mauna Loa

c) magma with about 50% silica content, and relatively rich in magnesium and iron

d) low-viscosity magma

e) volcanic activity on the Hawaiian islands