Exam: 3 Practice

Question 1

______ refers to the changes in shape, size, volume, or position of a rock body in response to differential stress.
a. strain
b. metamorphism
c. compressional stress
d. shear stress

Answer 1

a. strain

Question 2

How will compressional stress change a rock body?
a. stretch and thin the rock
b. Fracture the rock and grind the pieces alongside each other
c. squeeze and shorten the rock
d. the rock will not change

Answer 2

c. squeeze and shorten the rock

Question 3

How will tensional stress change a rock body?
a. stretch and thin the rock
b. fracture the rock and grind the pieces alongside each other
c. squeeze and shorten the rock
d. the rock will not change

Answer 3

a. stretch and thin the rock

Question 4

A rubber band being stretched in preparation to fire across the room is an example of which kind of deformation?
a. brittle
b. ductile
c. elastic
d. shear

Answer 4

c. elastic

Question 5

In thrust faulting, ______.
a. garbens develop on the footwall block
b. the crust is shortened and thickened
c. horizontal, tensional stresses drive the deformation
d. the hanging wall block slips downward along the thrust fault

Answer 5

b. the crust is shortened and thickened

Question 6

A garben is characterized by _____.
a. a hanging wall block that has moved up between two reverse faults
b. a footwall block that has moved up between two normal faults
c. a hanging wall block that has moved down between two normal faults.
d. a footwall block that has moved down between two reverse faults.

Answer 6

c. a hanging wall block that has moved down between two normal faults

Question 7

If you are standing facing a strike-slip fault and movement on the crustal block on the opposite side is to your right, it is called a _____ strike-slip fault.
a. left lateral
b. right-lateral
c. oblique
d. reverse

Answer 7

b. right lateral

Question 8

In a normal fault, _______.
a. the hanging wall block moves up relative to the other block
b. the footwall block moves downward relative to the footwall block
c. the hanging wall block moves down relative to the footwall bock
d. the blocks moves horizontally along the direction of the fault surface

Answer 8

c. the hanging wall block moves down relative to the footwall block

Question 9

A thrust fault is best described as a ______.
a. a steeply inclined, oblique-slip fault
b. a low-angle (<45 degrees) reverse fault
c. a vertical normal fault
d. a near vertical, strike-slip fault

Answer 9

b. a low-angle (<45 degree) reverse fault

Question 10

Fractures in rock that do not involve slippage or offset along the fracture are called ____.
a. joints
b. horsts
c. garbens
d. basins

Answer 10

a. joints

Question 11

Major earthquakes are often followed by somewhat smaller events known as ______.
a. aftershocks
b. Foreshocks
c. tremors
d. hyposhocks

Answer 11

a. aftershocks

Question 12

When an earthquake occurs, energy radiates in all directions from its source; the source within the earth is referred to as the _____.
a. inertial point
b. epicenter
c. focus/hypocenter
d. seismic zone

Answer 12

c. focus/hypocenter

Question 13

The position on Earth’s surface directly above the Earthquake sources is called the ____.
a. epicenter
b. inertial point
c. focus
d. seismic zone

Answer 13

a. epicenter

Question 14

Most of Earth’s strongest earthquakes tend to occur along _____.
a. transform boundaries
b. divergent boundaries
c. convergent plate boundaries at subduction zones
d. the interiors of continents

Answer 14

c. convergent plate boundaries at subduction zones

Question 15

_____ have the highest velocities (are the fastest)
a. primary waves
b. secondary waves
c. love waves
d. rayleigh waves

Answer 15

a. primary waves

Question 16

On a typical seismogram, _____ will show the highest amplitudes
a. P waves
b. S waves
c. surface waves
d. None of these

Answer 16

c. surface waves

Question 17

The distance between a seismological recording station and the earthquake sources is determined from the _______.
a. earthquake magnitude
b. intensity of the earthquake
c, length of the seismic record
d. comparing the arrival times of P and S waves

Answer 17

d. comparing the arrival times of P and S waves

Question 18

The amount of destruction caused by earthquake vibrations is affected by _____.
a. design of structures
b. intensity and duration of the vibrations
c. nature of substrate (rock)
d. All of the above

Answer 18

d. all of the above

Question 19

The zone of greatest seismic activity on Earth is called the _____
a. mid-ocean ridge
b. ring of earthquakes
c. circum-Pacific belt
d. circum-polar belt

Answer 19

c. circum-Pacific belt

Question 20

S waves cannot travel through _____.
a. the outer core (liquid)
b. the inner core (solid)
d. crust (solid)
e. they can travel through all of these

Answer 20

a. the outer core

Question 21

During ______, a near-surface layer of water-saturated sand changes rapidly from a solid to a liquid, causing buildings to float in earth.
a. sublimation
b. liquefaction
c. solufaction
d, floatification

Answer 21

b. liquefaction (double check)

Question 22

The downslope movement of rock, regolith, and soil is called _______.
a. weathering
b. erosion
c. mass wasting
d. liquefaction

Answer 22

c. mass wasting

Question 23

What is the driving force behind all mass wasting?
a. slope angle
b. gravity
c. the presence of water
d. the presence of vegetation

Answer 23

b. gravity

Question 24

Consider a weathered rock or soil particle lying on a slope.
How will the gravitational force pulling the particle downward along the land surface vary with the slope’s inclination?
a. it will increase as the slope is lessened
b. it will decrease as the slope angle is lessened
c. it is not affected by the slope angle
d. it will possibly increase/decrease as the slope angle is lessened, depending on other factors.

Answer 24

b, it will decrease as the slope is lessened

Question 25

All of the following are factors affecting mass movement EXCEPT for ____.
a. gravity
b. water
c. slope angle
d, geologic age of the rocks

Answer 25

d. geologic age of rocks

Question 26

How do the strength and cohesion of clay-rich regolith/soil change with the addition of vast amounts of water?
a. vast amounts of water does not affect the cohesion but lowers the strength
b. vast amounts of water reduces the strength of clays but raises the cohesion of the soil
c. vast amounts of water increases the strength and cohesion
d. vast amounts of water lowers the strength and cohesion

Answer 26

d. vast amounts of water lowers the strength and cohesion

Question 27

Slopes that have been stable for many years may sometimes fail catastrophically. What is a common trigger for these failures?
a. growth of vegetation on the slope
b. draining of water from the slope
c, reducing the gradient of the slope
d. addition of water to the slope

Answer 27

d. addition of water to the slope

Question 28

_____ are the sudden failure of the slope resulting in transport of debris downhill by slumping, sliding, falling/rolling.
a. slope failures
b. sediment flows
c. earthquakes
d. pyroclastic flows

Answer 28

a. slope failures

Question 29

Which of the following mass movement processes has the slowest rate of movement?
a. slump
b. rock fall
c, mud flow
d. creep
e. debris flow

Answer 29

d. creep

Question 30

Which type of mass movement involves a downward sliding mass of rock or unconsolidated material moving along a curved surface?
a. slump
b. earthflow
c. lahar
d. slide

Answer 30

a. slump

Question 31

Which of the following mass movements is likely to occur in a geologic setting where the rock strata are inclined?
a. debris flow
b. slump
c. creep
d. slide

Answer 31

d. slide

Question 32

Refer to the image in question 32. What did this?
a. mudflow
b. rock fall
c. debris flow
d. creep
e. snow avalanche

Answer 32

b. rock fall

Question 33

Which of the following operates primarily in areas of permafrost?
a. debris avalanche
b. solifluction
c. creep
d. mudflow
e. lahar

Answer 33

b. solifluction

Question 34

Which of the following statments concerning mudflows is NOT true?
a. mudflows may be caused by heavy rains/melting snow
b. in hilly areas, mudflows move down the canyons and stream valleys.
c. mudflows deposit talus slopes
d. mudflows contain >50% fines

Answer 34

c. mudflows deposit talus slopes

Question 35

At the base of most cliffs is an accumulation of fallen material called _____.
a. debris
b. talus
c. trellis
d. terminus

Answer 35

b. talus

Question 36

Unconsolidated granular particles assume a stable slope at the angle of ____.
a. revenge
b. strike
c. dip
d. repose
d. none of the above

Answer 36

d. repose

Question 37

Which is the correct (geological) term for water that flows in a channel regardless of size?
a. river
b. stream
c. channel
d. meander

Answer 37

b. stream

Question 38

Which of the following is located in the headwater region of a river system?
a. zone of sediment production
b. zone of transportation
c. zone of deposition

Answer 38

a. zone of sediment production

Question 39

A drainage pattern comprised of streams that diverge from a central area like spokes is called _____.
a. dendritic
b. radial
c. rectangular
d. trellis

Answer 39

b. radial

Question 40

The slope of a stream channel, expressed as the vertical drop of a stream over a specified distance (rise/run), is called the/a ____.
a. water gap
b. wetted perimeter
c. gradient
d. discharge

Answer 40

c. gradient

Question 41

When water moves in nearly straight-line paths parallel to the stream channel in slow-moving streams, this is called _____.
a. turbulent flow
b. laminar flow
c. straight-line flow
d. parallel flow

Answer 41

b. laminar flow

Question 42

The volume of water flowing past a certain point in a given unit of time is called _____.
a. flow velocity
b. discharge
c. gradient
d. wetted perimeter

Answer 42

b. discharge

Question 43

Moving from the headwaters to the mouth, in most streams, which of the following is true?
a. discharge typically decreases
b. sediment size typically increases
c. flow velocity generally increases
d. channel slope generally increases

Answer 43

c. flow velocity generally increases

Question 44

______ describes the total sediment load transported by a stream.
a. capacity
b. discharge
c. competence
d. hydro-load factor

Answer 44

a. capacity.

Question 45

_____ accounts for the largest percentage of groundwater usage in the US.
a. domestic
b. public supply
c. irrigation
d. mining
e. livestock

Answer 45

c. irrigation

Question 46

The unsaturated zone ______.
a. lies above the water table
b. contains pore spaces filled with water
c. is a well-oxygenated, shallow aquifer
d. lies below the capillary fringe zone

Answer 46

a. lies above the water table

Question 47

The water table is _____.
a. a boundary between unsaturated bedrock and an underground river
b. a boundary between unsaturated rock below and saturated bedrock above
c. an underground mass of partly saturated rock
d. a boundary between saturated rock below and unsaturated rock above

Answer 47

d. a boundary between saturated rock below and unsaturated rock above

Question 48

_____ are characteristics found in all good aquifers
a. high porosity and high permeability
b. low permeability and high portability
c. high portability and high portability
d. low porosity and low permeability

Answer 48

a. high porosity and high permeability

Question 49

Highly impermeable layers like compacted clay or shale are known as _____.
a. aquifers
b. aquitards
c. discharge areas
d. recharge areas

Answer 49

b. aquitards

Question 50

What term denotes the percentage of open pore space or voids in a material?
a. porosity
b. permeability
c. saturation
d. permeosity

Answer 50

a. porosity

Question 51

Referring to the picture on page 9: What type of aquifer is aquifer A?
a. confined
b. unconfined
c. perched
d. aquitard

Answer 51

b. unconfined

Question 52

Referring to the picture on page 9: What type of aquifer is aquifer B?
a. confined
b. unconfined
c. perched
d. aquitard

Answer 52

a. confined