Geosphere Exam Flashcards
What is the age of the universe?
13.7 billion years
New sea floor is created at a:
Mid-ocean ridge
True or False? Rocks typically contain more than one type of mineral, but sometime they are composed of just one mineral?
True
What are the two most abundant elements in nebula in the universe?
Hydrogen and helium
The heat that caused melting in the Earth’s early history was supplied form which of the following events or causes?
A large impact event and radioactivity
What are the two most abundant elements of the composition of the crust?
Oxygen and silicon
Which scientist was the first to find evidence that the universe is expanding?
Edwin Hubble
What caused dust and condensing material to accrete into planetesimals?
Gravitational attraction and collisions
Which of the following volcanoes is most likely to explode violently into the atmosphere with a large pyroclastic plume?
A volcano with a high viscosity magma and high concentration of water
The layer that separates the crust from the core is the:
Mantle
It has been determined that the oldest rocks retrieved from the Moon by Apollo astronauts were formed 4.44 billion years ago, while the oldest rocks found on Earth are less than 4 billion years old. This difference is most likely because:
Earth’s oldest rocks have been recycled by plate tectonics and erosion
Why is our vulnerability to natural disasters growing?
Because the human population is increasing
What evidence did Wegener use to estimate the time of Pangaea’s break up?
Fossil Data
Which of the following is not true about minerals?
Minerals may be both naturally occurring and created synthetically
Which of the following statements is false?
Ash clouds from volcanic eruptions are too unpredictable to model accurately
The Hawaiian Islands formed at a
NOT convergent, divergent, or transform boundaries… so NONE of these
In how many chemical layers can Earth be divided?
Three
The laugh from most distant galaxies is
Shifted toward the red end of the spectrum
True or False? There are 10 abundant elements in the continental crust
False
What is thought to be the driving mechanism of plate movement?
Convection currents in the mantle
Body waves consist of the:
P and S waves
When a divergent plate boundary forms on continents, a ________ forms
Rift Valley
Which of the following statements best describes the state of earthquake prediction?
Scientists can characterize the seismic risk of an area, but can not yet accurately predict most earthquakes
Volcanism is associated with which of the following types of plate boundaries?
Divergent and convergent plate boundaries
