EXAM 2
Write your name out in full on the scantron form and fill in the corresponding ovals to spell out
your name. Also fill in your student ID number in the space provided. Do not include the
dash and do not leave any spaces. Make sure you have all 8 pages of the exam.
There are 55 questions. For each question, select the correct answer and fill in your choice
on the scantron form. You MUST use pencil on the scantron form!
1. Regolith is:
A. broken down rocks produced as a result of frost wedging
B. the process by which rocks are converted to soil
C. fragments of rocks that result from the processes of weathering
D. sedimentary particles that are produced by mechanical weathering
E. a middle eastern spice used for flavoring curry dishes
2. Which of the following is not associated with the process of mechanical weathering?
A. hydrolysis reactions
B. sheet joints
C. exfoliation
D. frost wedging
E. breakdown of rocks by plant roots
3. Rocks that are brought to the surface from deep down are said to undergo (1) _______.
Near the surface, the process of (2) _______ may cause the rocks to break into thin sheets.
A. (1) exhilaration (2) extension
B. (1) exhumation (2) exfoliation
C. (1) extension (2) exhumation
D. (1) existentialism (2) exfoliation
E. (1) exfoliation (2) exhumation
4. Rainwater can mix with CO2 to form carbonic acid. This is effective at causing chemical
weathering of minerals like:
A. halite and calcite
B. feldspar and calcite
C. feldspar and quartz
D. rock salt and limestone
E. halite and rock salt
5. What mineral readily breaks down into clay when it is chemically weathered?
A. quartz
B. feldspar
C. muscovite
D. olivine
E. calcite
6. Which of the following pairs of words about sedimentary rocks belong together?
A. detrital and evaporites
B. chemical and pebbles
C. biochemical and coal
D. chemical and chalk
E. detrital and sandstone
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7. Detrital sedimentary rocks contain small particles of sediment called (1) ______. If these
particles are broken down pieces of rocks, they are called (2) _______.
A. (1) detritus (2) pebbles
B. (1) detritus (2) grains
C. (1) clasts (2) detritus
D. (1) clasts (2) lithic fragments
E. (1) regolith (2) clastic fragments
8. The remains of sea organisms with shells made of silica accumulate on ocean bottoms as
biogenic sediment that eventually forms a type of rock called:
A. rock salt
B. limestone
C. chert
D. phosphorites
E. peat
11. A very short time break or a change in sediment type in a depositional environment
results in the creation of (1) ______. A very long time break produces (2) ________.
A. (1) a bedding plane (2) an unconformity
B. (1) a bedding plane (2) a graded bed
C. (1) an unconformity (2) a graded bed
D. (1) an unconformity (2) a bedding plane
E. (1) a graded bed (2) an intrusive contact
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14. Which of the following statements about metamorphism is FALSE?
A. metamorphic rocks form from older sedimentary, igneous, or metamorphic rocks
B. metamorphic means “change of form”
C. during metamorphism, existing minerals are transformed into new minerals
D. diagenesis must happen during burial before metamorphism begins
E. metamorphism involves melting of existing rocks to form new minerals
19. When initially flat-lying beds get tilted and eroded, then new flat-lying beds get deposited on
top, the type of unconformity that results is called a/an:
A. cross-bed
B. nonconformity
C. intrusive contact
D. disconformity
E. angular unconformity
20. The technique of using fossil assemblages to determine that two rock units in different
locations formed during the same period of geologic time is called:
A. evolution
B. correlation
C. bioanalysis
D. paleontology
E. stratigraphy
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21. A sedimentary bed contains three fossils: A, B, and C. Fossil A is known to have existed in the
Cambrian and Ordovician Periods only. Fossil B existed in the Ordovician and Silurian Periods
only. Fossil C existed for a very long time on Earth- during the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian,
Devonian, and Carboniferous Periods. Based on this fossil assemblage, what must the age of
the rock be?
A. Cambrian
B. Ordovician
C. Silurian
D. sometime between the Cambrian and the Carboniferous is all that we can tell
E. it’s impossible to tell
24. The Hadean, Archean, and Proterozoic eons are collectively called the:
A. Phanerozoic
B. Mesozoic
C. Holocene
D. Precambrian
E. days of yore
26. An isotope that undergoes decay starts off as a (1) _____ and becomes a (2) _____:
A. (1) alpha particle (2) beta particle
B. (1) daughter (2) son
C. (1) daughter (2) parent
D. (1) parent (2) daughter
E. (1) parent (2) mutant
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28. Elastic deformation in a rock indicates that:
A. the strength of the rock has been overcome
B. the rock has undergone fracturing
C. the rock is behaving in a plastic manner, like salt water taffy
D. the rock can release stored energy and return to its original shape
E. the rock will eventually cause an earthquake
33. If a fault plane is dipping, the block of rock above the fault plane is the (1) _______ and
the block below the fault plane is the (2) __________.
A. (1) footwall (2) hanging wall
B. (1) footwall (2) fault scarp
C. (1) fault scarp (2) footwall
D. (1) hanging wall (2) fault scarp
E. (1) hanging wall (2) footwall
34. Along any fault, the (1) ________ moves up and the (2) ________ moves down:
A. (1) hanging wall (2) footwall
B. (1) footwall (2) hanging wall
C. (1) fault block (2) fault plane
D. (1) fault plane (2) hanging wall
E. more information about the fault is needed to answer this question
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35. Which of the following types of faults is unlikely to have either a footwall or a hanging wall?
A. normal
B. reverse
C. strike-slip
D. oblique-slip
E. thrust
36. Along the San Andreas fault, the east side is moving towards the south and the west side
is moving towards the north. This makes the San Andreas fault a _______:
A. normal fault
B. left-lateral fault
C. right-lateral fault
D. reverse fault
E. graben fault
37. Rocks that warp upwards in the center of a fold produce a type of fold called a/an (1) _______
whereas rocks that warp downwards in the center produce a/an (2) ________.
A. (1) syncline (2) monocline
B. (1) syncline (2) anticline
C. (1) anticline (2) syncline
D. (1) anticline (2) monocline
E. (1) anti-plunging fold (2) plunging fold
39. Which of the following is not a major influence on the cause of earthquakes?
A. ductile deformation
B. elastic energy buildup in rocks
C. friction
D. tectonic stresses
E. faults
41. The largest earthquake ever felt in the continental United States during historical times was:
A. in New Madrid, Missouri during the winter of 1811-1812
B. in San Francisco in 1906
C. in southern Alaska in 1964
D. in Charleston, South Carolina in 1886
E. off the coast of Chile in 1960
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42. The second largest earthquake ever recorded on Earth happened:
A. in New Madrid, Missouri during the winter of 1811-1812
B. in San Francisco in 1906
C. in southern Alaska in 1964
D. in Charleston, South Carolina in 1886
E. off the coast of Chile in 1960
43. Seismic waves are recorded by an instrument called a (1) _________ and the record of
the earthquake that the instrument generates is called a (2) _________.
A. (1) seismograph (2) seismometer
B. (1) seismograph (2) seismogram
C. (1) seismometer (2) seismograph
D. (1) seismogram (2) seismograph
E. (1) seismogram (2) seismometer
45. Which of the following types of waves is unable to pass through a liquid?
A. P-waves
B. sound waves
C. water waves
D. primary waves
E. S-waves
46. How many seismograph stations are required to determine the location of an earthquake
epicenter?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
E. 5
47. The earthquake scale that measures energy release by considering the physical
characteristics of motion along the fault, such as amount of fault slip and the size of the
fault that ruptured, is called the:
A. Richter scale
B. moment magnitude scale
C. intensity scale
D. modified Mercalli scale
E. ground acceleration scale
48. The intensity of the 2001 Nisqually earthquake (M6.8) near Seattle was far less than that
of the 1994 Northridge earthquake (M6.7) near Los Angeles because:
A. Seattle is not as heavily populated as Los Angeles
B. a mistake was made in calculating the magnitude of the Northridge earthquake
C. buildings in Seattle are designed better than those in Los Angeles
D. the focus of the Nisqually earthquake was much deeper than at Northridge
E. Seattle is closer to the water, which absorbed a lot of the seismic waves
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49. Which of the following seismic hazards would not be associated with earthquakes that
occur in the New Madrid seismic zone in Missouri?
A. ground shaking
B. liquefaction
C. fire
D. ground fractures
E. tsunamis
BONUS QUESTIONS
51. Open All Eyes Before Class. Which of the following words fits the theme of this acronym?
A. regolith
B. sandstone
C. foliation
D. humus
E. Cenozoic
53. The slowest of all the types of seismic waves are the:
A. Love waves
B. S-waves
C. Rayleigh waves
D. P-waves
E. body waves
54. The 1964 Good Friday earthquake in Alaska resulted in 159 deaths in which state?
A. British Columbia
B. California
C. Oregon
D. Hawai’i
E. Missouri
55. Which of the following locations is NOT at risk from a continental interior earthquake?
A. Seattle, WA
B. Charleston, SC
C. Memphis, TN
D. Salt Lake City, UT
E. Borah Peak, ID