Earth Science Flashcards
What is the name of the preserved remains, traces, or evidence of organisms that were formerly alive, often found in rocks and other geologic deposits?
Fossils
Fossils are most often found in what type of rock?
Choose your answer:
W) Igneous (read as: IG-nee-us)
X) Metamorphic
Y) Sedimentary
Z) Granitic
Y) Sedimentary
The three components required for an oil reservoir to form are a source rock, a porous and permeable reservoir rock, and:
Seal and Trap
Deposition of primarily which compound leads to the formation of stalactites and stalagmites in caves?
CALCIUM CARBONATE
Description:
Limestone caves, where most stalactites and stalagmites are found, are mainly composed of calcite, a common mineral found in sedimentary rocks. Calcite molecules are made of calcium and carbonate ions, and are referred to as CaCO3, or calcium carbonate.
The largest volcano on Mars is about 15 miles above the surrounding planes. What is the name of this volcano?
OLYMPUS MONS
What type of glacier originates in the high alpine and flow through valleys, carving it over time and making a U-shaped valley?
VALLEY GLACIERS
Valley glaciers sometimes flow out of mountain ranges, and arrange themselves in a lobe on the flat land. This forms a new glacier called…
Piedmont glacier
What is the name for the plane of structural weakness along which a mineral is likely to split smoothly. It refers to the splitting of a crystal between two parallel atomic planes.
Cleavage
In some regions of the U.S., sinkholes form in the bedrock when rocks are naturally dissolved by circulating ground water. Name a rock type which can dissolve, collapsing to form spaces and caverns deep underground.
CARBONATE
What type of intrusive igneous rock cools slowly, and can be identified by its large grain sizes and phaneritic texture?
Plutonic
What processes helped shape the earth’s surface to what it is today?
Movement in the tectonic plates in the crust, weathering, erosion, and deposition
Approximately when did pangea break apart?
~200 million years ago
What were the two pieces of pangea called?
Laurasia and Gondwanaland
Rank the seven continents in order from largest to smallest area.
ASIA, AFRICA, NORTH AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA, ANTARCTICA, EUROPE, AUSTRALIA
What is the death of a star called?
Supernova
If you see part of the moon one night, then three nights later you can see more of it, you know that the moon is:
Choose your answer:
W) Waning
X) Waxing
Y) Gibbous
Z) Full
X) Waxing
What is the SI unit for pressure?
Pascals
On which day does daylight last for 24 hours at the Arctic Circle?
Choose your answer:
W) Vernal equinox
X) Summer solstice
Y) Autumnal equinox
Z) Winter solstice
X) Summer solstice
When the Earth’s interior finally cools, which of the following will stop?
Choose your answer:
W) Water cycle
X) Weathering and erosion
Y) Plate tectonics
Z) Solar energy reaching Earth
Y) Plate tectonics
What greenhouse gas has the greatest impact on Earth’s climate?
CFC (Chlorofluorocarbon)
Knowing that the growth of lava domes is generally nonexplosive and they often grow for many months to years, which of the following best describes their magmas:
Choose your answer:
W) low viscosity and low gas content
X) low viscosity and high gas content
Y) high viscosity and low gas content
Z) high viscosity and high gas content
Y) high viscosity and low gas content
Without a greenhouse effect, what would be Earth’s approximate average temperature in degrees Celsius?
Choose your answer:
W) -18
X) -8
Y) 8
Z) 18
W) -18
Which of the following best describes what meteorologists call a mesoscale convective complex:
Choose your answer:
W) an Alberta clipper
X) a low-precipitation supercell tornado
Y) a large cluster of thunderstorms
Z) a widespread area of cool, clear conditions
Y) a large cluster of thunderstorms
The general paths of storm systems that travel across the continental United States are primarily driven by:
Choose your answer:
W) Ocean currents
X) Local winds
Y) Mountains
Z) The jet stream
Z) The jet stream
Which of the following is a human-made gas that, if released into the atmosphere, can directly act to destroy ozone in the stratosphere:
Choose your answer:
W) chlorofluorocarbon
X) carbon dioxide
Y) methane
Z) hydrogen cyanide
W) chlorofluorocarbon
Giving your answer as north, south, east, or west, surface winds normally blow FROM what direction at 70º to 80º north latitude?
EAST
Is the tropic of cancer a latitude or longitude?
Latitude
Each day, most coastal beaches encounter:
Choose your answer:
W) one high tide and one low tide
X) two high tides and one low tide
Y) two high tides and two low tides
Z) three high tides and three low tides
Y) two high tides and two low tides
Eighty percent of the magma that results from a volcanic eruption is of what substance?
Choose your answer:
W) basalt
X) rhyolite
Y) andesite
Z) silicon dioxide
W) basalt
In limestone formations, the development of caves requires water and which of the following:
Choose your answer:
W) oxygen
X) nitrogen
Y) carbon monoxide
Z) carbon dioxide
Z) carbon dioxide
Order the following periods of geological time from oldest to youngest: Jurassic, Cambrian, Triassic,
Cambrian, Triassic, Jurassic
What happened in 1815, labeled the “year without summer”
Mount Tambora erupted
Which of the following is primarily involved in the movement of a glacier:
Choose your answer:
W) running water
X) ambient temperature
Y) topology
Z) gravity
Z) gravity
A continental glacier is found in which of the following locations:
Choose your answer:
W) The Swiss Alps
X) The Canadian Rockies
Y) Greenland
Z) The Andes Mountains
Y) Greenland
The ability of mica to split into flat planar flakes resembling the leaves of a book is called what?
Cleavage
The Arctic Circle lies at which of the following latitudes:
Choose your answer:
W) 66 ½° North
X) 90° North
Y) 66 ½° South
Z) 90° South
W) 66 ½° North
What is the only common mineral to be strongly magnetic other than magnetite?
Pyrrhotite
Pyrrhotite is an iron sulfide mineral with the formula Fe₍₁₋ₓ₎S. It is a nonstoichiometric variant of FeS, the mineral known as troilite. Pyrrhotite is also called magnetic pyrite, because the color is similar to pyrite and it is weakly magnetic.
An increase in chlorine in the stratosphere is believed to be the cause of which of the following:
Choose your answer:
W) the Antarctic ozone hole
X) increased photolysis of oxygen
Y) decreased photolysis of oxygen
Z) loss of atmospheric nitrogen
W) the Antarctic ozone hole
Order the following minerals from the hardest to the softest: Calcite; Talc; Quartz; Diamond
Diamond; Quartz: Calcite; Talc
Which of the following is NOT true regarding the far side of the moon:
Choose your answer:
W) it contains no large maria
X) it contains numerous craters and highlands
Y) it has been surveyed by spacecraft
Z) it is always dark
Z) it is always dark
The Fujita Scale is used to classify intensities of:
Choose your answer:
W) hurricanes
X) tornadoes
Y) earthquakes
Z) volcanic eruptions
X) tornadoes
Most of the rain that reaches the ground is from which of the following clouds?
Choose your answer:
W) cumulus
X) cirrus
Y) nimbus
Z) lenticular
Y) nimbus
A tropical storm will be declared a hurricane when:
Choose your answer:
W) it moves out of the tropics
X) wind speeds reach 34 mph
Y) tornadoes are observed
Z) there is evidence of eye formation and sustained wind speeds of 74 mph
Z) there is evidence of eye formation and sustained wind speeds of 74 mph
What is the range of the Fujita scale?
F0 - F5
EFU Unknown No surveyable damage
EF1 86–110 mph Moderate damage
EF2 111–135 mph Considerable damage
EF3 136–165 mph. Severe damage
EF4 166–200 mph. Devastating damage
What is maria?
a large, level basalt plain on the surface of the moon, appearing dark by contrast with highland areas.
Which of the following occurs during a lunar eclipse?
Choose your answer:
W) the moon passes between the Earth and the Sun
X) the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon
Y) the Sun passes between the Earth and the Moon
Z) Solar flares increase in intensity
X) the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon
Magnetite is composed of what two elements?
Iron and oxygen
A high-pressure weather system is typically associated with which of the following conditions:
Choose your answer:
W) cool with high thin clouds
X) cool with nimbostratus clouds
Y) warm with moderate overcast
Z) warm with cumulonimbus clouds
W) cool with high thin clouds
What is the specific name for ridges of the giant accumulations of glacial till that form along the outer sides or edges of an alpine glacier?
Lateral moraines
Which of the following is a volcano that is generally the smallest type, has very steep slopes, and would most likely result from a single violent eruption:
Choose your answer:
W) stratovolcano
X) cinder cone
Y) shield volcano
Z) lava dome
X) cinder cone
Which of the following primarily influences the viscosity and therefore the explosivity of a magma:
Choose your answer:
W) silica content
X) gas content
Y) temperature
Z) pressure
W) silica content
Which of the following is NOT true about glaciations:
Choose your answer:
W) about 15,000 years ago, most of Wisconsin was buried under thick glacial ice
X) throughout history, times such as now when only minor ice sheets existed coincided with high sea levels
Y) because of its high altitude, Mt. Everest contains a vast continental glacier
Z) Australia does not currently contain any glaciers
Y) because of its high altitude, Mt. Everest contains a vast continental glacier
Which of the following is the Epoch name given to the last approximately 10,000 years of Earth’s history:
Choose your answer:
W) Quaternary
X) Eocene
Y) Miocene
Z) Holocene
Z) Holocene
Which of the following is the primary process by which colder ocean water loaded with nutrients rises to the surface:
Choose your answer:
W) upwelling
X) ocean swells
Y) maelstroms
Z) eddies
W) upwelling
Which of the following BEST describes or exemplifies an aquifer:
Choose your answer:
W) superheated water bursting through surface cracks in the Earth
X) a lake, pond or stream
Y) the side of a mountain facing the prevailing winds
Z) porous subsurface rock saturated with water
Z) porous subsurface rock saturated with water
Which 2 of the following 5 choices are sedimentary rocks formed as the result of evaporation and precipitation: gypsum; marble; rock salt; gneiss; diorite
Gypsum and Rock salt
As viewed from Earth, what is the proper name for the brightest-appearing star in the night sky of mid northern latitudes?
Sirius
