Multiple Choice
Identify the
choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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1.
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What is the study of the atmosphere and the processes that produce weather and
climate?
a. | oceanography | c. | meteorology | b. | geology | d. | astronomy |
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2.
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The area of Earth science that examines the
physical and biological changes that have occurred in Earth’s past is called ____. a. | meteorology | c. | physical geology | b. | oceanography | d. | historical
geology |
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3.
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Earth’s four major spheres are the ____.
a. | hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere | b. | hydrosphere,
atmosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere | c. | hydrosphere, asthenosphere, lithosphere, and
biosphere | d. | hydrosphere, geosphere, lithosphere, and
asthenosphere |
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4.
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Which of Earth’s spheres includes the
oceans, groundwater, lakes, and glaciers? a. | the atmosphere | c. | the biosphere | b. | the hydrosphere | d. | the geosphere |
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5.
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The life-forms of the biosphere are located in the ____.
a. | geosphere only | b. | hydrosphere and atmosphere
only | c. | atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere | d. | hydrosphere
only |
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6.
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The theory of plate tectonics helps scientists
explain ____. a. | how ocean currents move over Earth’s surface | b. | why hurricanes
occur | c. | how earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur | d. | why Earth’s
core is less dense than the mantle |
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7.
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What is the driving force for the movement of the lithospheric plates?
a. | heat from the sun | b. | unequal distribution of heat within
Earth | c. | heat in the atmosphere | d. | unequal distribution of heat in the
oceans |
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8.
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According to the plate tectonics model, what layers form Earth’s rigid,
mobile plates?
a. | inner and outer core | c. | crust only | b. | upper and lower mantle | d. | crust and uppermost
mantle |
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9.
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The distance, measured in degrees, north and south of the equator is referred to
as ____.
a. | longitude | c. | the prime meridian | b. | latitude | d. | the poles |
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10.
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On the global grid, the prime meridian is at
____. a. | 0 degrees latitude | c. | 0 degrees longitude | b. | 90 degrees latitude | d. | 90 degrees
longitude |
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11.
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How could two points 35 degrees north of the equator—one in North America
and the other in China—be distinguished using map coordinates?
a. | by their elevation | c. | by their longitude | b. | by their map projection | d. | by their
latitude |
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12.
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Differences in elevation are best shown using a
____. a. | Mercator projection map | c. | Robinson projection
map | b. | gnomonic projection map | d. | topographic map |
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13.
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Earth is considered a system because all of its
parts ____. a. | represent separate closed systems | b. | interact | c. | were formed at the
same time | d. | are powered by the same energy source |
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14.
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Which of the following is an environmental hazard
created by humans? a. | air pollution | c. | hurricane | b. | flood | d. | earthquake |
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15.
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How could the building of a dam affect the Earth system?
a. | A dam could cause the flooding of a nearby forest | b. | A dam could destroy
a fish species that needs swiftly moving water | c. | A dam could block the migration of spawning
fish | d. | all of the above |
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16.
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Which of the following is an example of a
renewable resource? a. | iron | c. | energy from flowing water | b. | petroleum | d. | coal |
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17.
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Resources that can be replenished over a relatively short time span are called
____.
a. | fossil fuels | c. | nonrenewable resources | b. | renewable
resources | d. | mineral
resources |
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18.
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The most abundant element in Earth’s continental crust (by weight) is
____.
a. | oxygen | c. | calcium | b. | silicon | d. | iron |
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19.
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The central region of an atom is called the ____.
a. | proton | c. | nucleus | b. | electron | d. | neutron |
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20.
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Isotopes of the same element differ in the number of ____.
a. | protons | c. | neutrons | b. | electrons | d. | nuclei |
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21.
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What is a naturally occurring, inorganic solid with an orderly crystalline
structure and a definite chemical composition?
a. | a mineral | c. | an isotope | b. | an element | d. | a compound |
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22.
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Minerals form from bodies of water due to the process of ____.
a. | condensation | c. | melting | b. | precipitation | d. | cooling |
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23.
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The process of mineral formation from magma is called ____.
a. | evaporation | c. | crystallization | b. | precipitation | d. | melting |
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24.
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A mineral that contains carbon, oxygen, and the metallic element magnesium would
be classified as a(n) ____.
a. | silicate | c. | carbonate | b. | oxide | d. | sulfate |
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25.
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All minerals in the sulfate and sulfide groups contain what element?
a. | silicon | c. | oxygen | b. | sulfur | d. | carbon |
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26.
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The most common mineral group in Earth’s crust is the ____.
a. | oxides | c. | sulfides | b. | carbonates | d. | silicates |
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27.
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Which of the following properties is generally the least useful in identifying
minerals?
a. | hardness | c. | cleavage | b. | streak | d. | color |
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28.
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The appearance or quality of light reflected from the surface of a mineral is
called ____.
a. | streak | c. | cleavage | b. | color | d. | luster |
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29.
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The resistance of a mineral to being scratched is called ____.
a. | streak | c. | hardness | b. | fracture | d. | cleavage |
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30.
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The color of the powdered form of a mineral is called ____.
a. | cleavage | c. | luster | b. | streak | d. | fracture |
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31.
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Mohs scale is used to determine what property of minerals?
a. | cleavage | c. | hardness | b. | density | d. | luster |
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32.
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The tendency of minerals to break along smooth flat surfaces is called
____.
a. | fracture | c. | streak | b. | cleavage | d. | crystal form |
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33.
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What is the uneven breakage of a mineral called?
a. | fracture | c. | crystal form | b. | cleavage | d. | hardness |
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34.
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What is a naturally occurring, solid mass of mineral or mineral-like
matter?
a. | a rock | c. | lava | b. | a mineral | d. | a fossil |
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35.
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The three groups of rocks are classified by ____.
a. | color | c. | chemical composition | b. | grain size | d. | how they formed |
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36.
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If granite undergoes high temperatures and high pressures at depth within Earth,
what type of rock will be formed? Assume that the granite does not melt.
a. | a sedimentary rock | c. | magma | b. | a metamorphic rock | d. | an igneous rock |
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37.
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Where is the energy source found that drives the processes that form igneous and
metamorphic rocks?
a. | the sun | c. | Earth’s interior | b. | the
wind | d. | moving
water |
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38.
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A rock that forms when magma hardens beneath Earth’s surface is called an
____.
a. | intrusive metamorphic rock | b. | intrusive igneous rock | c. | extrusive
sedimentary rock | d. | extrusive igneous rock |
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39.
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When large masses of magma solidify far below Earth’s surface, they form
igneous rocks that have a ____.
a. | glassy texture | c. | fine-grained texture | b. | clastic texture | d. | coarse-grained
texture |
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40.
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The igneous rock texture that is characterized by two distinctly different
crystal sizes is called ____.
a. | coarse-grained texture | c. | glassy texture | b. | fine-grained texture | d. | porphyritic
texture |
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41.
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As the rate of cooling of igneous rocks increases, the size of the crystals that
form ____.
a. | decreases | c. | is not affected | b. | increases | d. | cannot be
determined |
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42.
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A conglomerate is a rock that forms as a result of ____.
a. | intense heat and pressure | c. | rapid cooling | b. | compaction and
cementation | d. | slow
cooling |
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43.
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Which of the following represents the correct order of the processes involved in
sedimentary rock formation?
a. | erosion, weathering, compaction, cementation, deposition | b. | compaction,
cementation, deposition, weathering, erosion | c. | deposition, cementation, compaction, erosion,
weathering | d. | weathering, erosion, deposition, compaction, cementation
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44.
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What type of sedimentary rock is formed from weathered particles of rocks and
minerals?
a. | clastic sedimentary rock | c. | chemical sedimentary
rock | b. | biochemical sedimentary rock | d. | intrusive sedimentary
rock |
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45.
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Fossils are only found in ____.
a. | intrusive igneous rocks | c. | sedimentary
rocks | b. | foliated metamorphic rocks | d. | nonfoliated metamorphic rocks |
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46.
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Sedimentary rocks with ripple marks suggest that the rocks formed ____.
a. | along a beach or stream bed | b. | when ancient animals walked over
them | c. | from the shell fragments of ancient sea-dwelling animals | d. | when wet mud dried
and shrank |
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47.
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A foliated metamorphic rock forms when crystals ____.
a. | combine and form visible bands | b. | combine but do not form visible
bands | c. | become less compact | d. | align themselves parallel to the direction of
the forces acting on them |
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48.
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Which of the following metamorphic rocks has a nonfoliated texture?
a. | slate | c. | marble | b. | gneiss | d. | schist |
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