What is the basic building block in the silicate minerals?

a) SiO₂

b) (SiO₂)^-2

c) (SiO₄)^-4

d) (SiO₄)^-2

e) SiO₄

This type of seismic wave is characterized by back and forth movement of the rocks at right angles to the direction of E propagation:

a) S-waves

b) Rayleigh waves

c) tsunami waves

d) heat waves

e) P-waves

in building up an uderstanding of systems in science or engineering, we develop and continually refine a model of the system. To develop a model of the interioe of the Earth we compare the computer models that we generate with seismic results from actual earthquaeks to see if they match. The more closely the 2 match, the greater the confidence we have in the model. For our computer model of the Earth that we generate, we must specify to the computer two of the following. Which two are they?

1. the compressibility moduli 

2. the shear moduli

3. the densities

4. the distribution

a)3&2

b)4&2

c)1&2

d)5&2

e)4&5

5. the seismic velocities

A chemical analysis has been conducted on an intrusive igneous rock and the rock was found to have an "SiO₂" content of approximately 45%. which one of the following types of ore deposit has the most chance of being found in this rock?

a) porphyry copper

b) bauxite

c) banded iron formation

d) chromite

e) gold

The earths crust includes the following 5 minerals. if you could mine every last crystal of these from the crust, which one would end up providing you with the most lead?

a) potassium felspar

b) magnetite

c) chalcopyrite

d) galena

e) pyrite

The Hawaiian Islands are located where the Pacific plate is:

a) separating from the NA plate

b) migrating over a hot spot

c)diving under the NA plate

d) diving under Japan

e) being thrust over the NA plate

 One way to minimize damage from earthquakes is to build structures with appropriate builgin materials. Which of the following is the best materials to buils a structure with in order to minimize potential damage from ground shaking during an earthquake?

a) masonry

b) stucco

c) wood

d) un-reinforced concrete

e) abode

In the sea-floor spreading hypothesis of Harry Hess, the conveyor belt carrying the continental crust was thought to be:

a) the ocea crust

b) the asthenosphere

c) tectonic plate

d) mantle convection cell

d) lithosphere

Which one of the following minerals would be LEAST likely to occur in an ultramafic rock?

a)Ca-ich feldspar

b) pyroxene

c)chromite

d)olivine

e)quartz

the most violent volcanic activity is associated with:

a) flood basalts

b) composite-cone volcanoes

c) cinder cones

d) fissure eruptions

e) shield volcanoes

The oldest ocean crust in the ocean basins is found closes to:

a) Japan

b) western US

c) Red Sea

d) Iceland

e) E Pacific Mid-Ocean Ridge

The process of unloading can produce:

a) leaching

b) mud cracks

c) pillows

d) cross-bedding

e) joints

In which of these settings would one most likely find a pyroclastic flow?

a) at the site of a fissure eruption

b) at a constructive plate boundary

c) in Hawaii

d) at a destructive plate boundary

e) at a transform plate boundary

Limonite can form by chemical weathering of whcih of the following minerals?

a) quartz

b) olivine

c) K-rich clay

d) plagioclase feldpar

e) muscovite mica

Which type of soil may eventually develop in a hot wet region?

a) lahar

b) pedocal

c) pedalfer

d) laterite

e) pedoxylite

Salt domes are important for oil exploration because:

a) they form antiformal fold structures above them

b) salt is the souce rock for oil

c) salt rock squeezes iol out of the source rock

d) oil is trapped in the salt dome

e) water flusing out from the salt carries oil

If you just begin to partially melt shale, the liquid produced would have what composition?

a) gabbroic

b) granitic

c) ultramafic

d) dioitic

e) granodioritic

Which of the following ore-deposit types would be most likely to generate acid minetailings?

a) chromite

b) bauxite

c) petroleum

d) porphyry copper

e) iron formation

Magmas contain dissolved volatiles. Whcih of the following magma types will gerneally be richest in water?

a) mafic

b) granitic

c) ultramafic

d) dioritic

e) pophyritic

The most common mineral in the Earth's crust is:

a) mica

b) olivine

c) fledspar

d) quartz

e) calcite

A porphyritic igneous rock indicates:

a) a 2 stage cooling history

b) the presence of an ore deposit

c) a felsic composition

d) cooling deep in the earth

e) a high content of dissolved volatiles in the magma

Which of the following rock types has provided evidence for a change over Earth history in the levels of oxygen in the atmosphere?

a) greywacke

b) rhyolite

c) chert

d) iron formation

e) rock salt

Which of the following rock types would tend to chemically weather least rapidly?

a) diorite

b) gabbro

c) limestone

d) rock salt

e) granite

How many electron are there in the outer shell of a silicon atom?

a) 1

b) 2

c) 4

d) 6

e) 7

At which of these locations are fissure eruptions most prominent?

a) central Cnada

b) subduction zones

c) mid-ocean ridges

d) the Andes mountains

e) Mt. Pinatubo

Which of the following rocks is a NOT a chemical or biochemical sedimentary rock?

a) limestone

b) rock salt

c) potash

d) shale

e) gypsum

As a magma of diorite composition cools down from 1500°C, which of the following minerals would crystallize first?

a) biotie mica

b) olivine

c) quartz

d) Na-rich plagioclase

e) pyroxene

Which of the following types of mass movement generally has the highest velocity?

a) rock slide

b) mudflow

c) solifluction

d) creep

e) earthflow

Following a very shallow earthquake as seismic P and S waves go deeper into the Earth and cross the Mohorovicic Discontinuity (i.e., the MOHO):

a) the waves increase in amplitude

b) the waves refract away from the normal

c) the S-waves stop and the P-waves continue

d) the waves slow down

d) the P-waves stop and the S-waves continue

Which of the following lists is in correct order going from lower to higher grade of reginal metamorphism?

a) slate, gneiss, mica schist

b) mica schist, slate, gneiss

c) slate, mica schist, gneiss

d) gneiss, slate, mica gneiss

e) mica schist, gneiss, slate

With which one of the following will lahars most likely be associated?

a) earthquakes

b) felsic volcanoes

c) kimberlites

d) poillow lavas

e) gabbros

In a sequence of silicate minerals of progressively DECREASING polymerization, which of the following is true (going in the direction of decreased polymerization)?

a) Mg generally decreases

b) Si decreases

c) Fe generally decreases

d) there is an increase in shared oxygen atoms

e) K increases

Polymerization in silicate minerals refers to:

a) the covalent bonding of oxygen with positive cations

b) the sharing of silicon atoms with aluminum atoms

c) the sharing of oxygen atoms between silica tetrahedra

d) the replacement of some silicon atoms with aluminum

e) the joining of chanis with positive cations

The main importance of mechanical weathering of rocks is to:

a) the oxidize the feldspar

b) provide a weak acid solution

c) alter the feldspar to meatite

d) lower the temperature of the rock

e) increase the surface area of the rock

Differentiation of igneous rock by partial melting can only occur if:

a) as crystals form, they react with the liquid

b) the magma becomes less viscous during crystallization

c) the magma contains water

d) there is convection in the magma chamber

e) early-formed liquids are separated from the remaining rock

The textures and structures of sedimentary rocks can yield information of the conditions of their deposition. Just by looking at the grain size of a sanstone at an outcrop, one can infer:

a) the number of times the sand has been reworked by successive currents

b) the composition of the rock from which the sand weathered

c) the distance over which the sand has been transported

d) the grain size of the rocks from which the sand weathered

e) the velocity of the current by which it was deposited

Quartz and feldspar are minerals that belong to the same silicate structural type. Thier compositional difference is due to the replacement of some silicon atoms by another element to form the feldspar. What is the element that replaces the silicon?

a) K

b) Na

c) Ca

d) Al

e) Fe

A crystal of K-feldspar form a granite has beed analysed by the K-Ar method of geochronology. The ratio in the crystal of the number of 40K atoms to the number of 40Ar aroms is 3 to 1. Given that the half life for the decay of parent to daughter is 1.3 billion yrs, whcih of the following values is closes to the age of formation of the granite?

a) 0.3 b.y.

b) 0.65 b.y

c) 1.3 b.y.

d) 2.0 b.y.

e) 2.6 b.y.

A bauxite ore deposit would be most likely to occur over which of the following rocks?

a) ultramafic

b) gabbro

c) marble

d) syenire

e) sandstone

Very deep (i.e., greater than 200 km deep) eathquakes occur only at:

a) destructive plate margins

b) hot spots

c) transform faults

d) constructive plate margins

e) accreting plate margins

If the Earth's magnetic field did not occasionally reverse polarity:

a) polar-wandercurves would not exist

b) compasses would not work

c) the sea floor would not produce lineat magnetic anomalies

d) paleomagnetic analusis of a rock would not give the direction to the pole

e) continental drift would not have occurred

The continents fit togenther best in the Pangaea configuration when:

a) the outer edges of the continental shelves are matched

b) the present shorelines are matched

c) earthquake zones are matched

d) shorelines that existed in the distant past are matched

e) the mid-ocean ridges are matched

Which of the following rocks is likely to have the lowest porosity?

a) quartz sandstone

b) greywacke

c) conglomerate

d) reef limestone

e) pumice

Which of the following rocks is least likelyy to have a foliation?

a) slate

b) marble

c) gneiss

d) schist

e) migmatite

Which of the following is most likely to be associated with a paleo-placer gold deposit?

a) submarine lava flows

b) granite porphyry

c) vesicularity

d) igneous layering

e) cross-bedding

Of the following rock types, ehich is most likely to be a trap (i.e. reservoir) rock for trapping oil and gas underground?

a) quartz sandstone

b) shale/mudstone

c) granite porphyry

d) salt dome

e) greywacke

A sample of basalt in which the remanent magnetic field is oriendted vertically probably formed and cooled:

a) at the azimuth

b) near the equator

c) near the north or south pole

d) under sea water

e) at 45 degrees noth or south latitude

You have carried ou a careful chemical analysis of three rocks: granite, granodiorite and gabbro. You are now comparing the results from those analyses. As you gor from granie to granodiorite to gabbro, which of the following increases?

a) quartz content

b) density

c) Si content

d) K content

e) feldspar content

An igneous rock consists of 50% Ca-rich plagioclase. It is fine-grained. Which of the following geologic settings is it most likely to be associated with?

a) stratovolcano

b) kimberlite pipe

c) fissure eruption

d) batholith

e) loppolith

Weathering produces minerals that are more stable at the Earth's surface. Of the five minerals listed below. whic one is the most abundant product of the weathering process:

a) feldspar

b) hematite

c) limonite

d) quartz

e) clay

The production of a commodity has been growing exponentially with time ar a rate of 5% per year. The time required to quadruple the annual production at this growth rate is closest to:

a) 10 yrs

b) 20 yrs

c) 30 yrs

d) 40 yrs

e) 50 yrs

Which ore-deposit type results from the develpment in a magma chamber of a liquid that is immiscible with the silicate liquid?

a) bauxite

b) chromite

c) Ni-Cu sulphide

d) porphyry copper

e) stratiform massive sulfide

The fact that, over time in the sedimentary rock record, fossil organisms succeed one another in a definite and determinable order is the basis for:

a) the principle of original horizontality

b) the law of superposition 

c) the principle of biotic succession

d) the doctrine of catastrophism

e) the principle of cross-cutting relationships

In the carbon cycle, which of the following reservoirs in the Earth system contains the most carbon?

a) crustal rocks

b) living plants and animals

c) the oceans

d) oil and gas

e) the atmosphere

Which of the following is the reason why felsic magmas have a higher viscosity than mafic magmas?

a) they are high in Si content

b) they have a slow rate of cooling

c) they have a high % of dissolved water in the magma

d) the melting point decreases with pressure

e) none of the above; mafic magmas actually have a higher viscosity

With which rock type of rick stucture do you associate the formation of karst topography?

a) glacial till

b) basalt

c) bauxite

d) stratovolcano

e) limestone

What is the main control on the size of crystals produced in an igneous rock?

a) shape of the igneous body

b) volatile content

c) viscosity of the magma

d) rate of cooling

e) temperature of the magma

Which of the following lavas would likely have the highest viscosity?

a) one that would crystallize to form a gabbro

b) one with an "SiO₂" content of 50%

c) one with less than 1% water

d) one with a surface temperature of 1200°C

e) one that produces pyroclastic flows

A fault plane strikes north-south and dips steeply to the west. Visual evidence on the fault plane indicates that the fault movement alng the fault plane was vertical (i.e., no strike-slip compinent). The sedimentary rocks on both sides of the fault contain fossil dinosaur bones, whereas the sedimentary rocks on the west side of th fault contain fissils of the first primitive fish. What king of fault is it?

a) a normal fault

b) nobody's fault

c) a transform fault

d) a strike-slip fault

e) a reverse fault

Which of the following soils types is gerneally the most suiable one for agriculture?

a) laterite

b) pedocal

c) pedalfer

d) permafrost

e) lahar

Which of the following two ions are very close in radius, thus allowing solid solution in olivine?

a) Ca and Mg

b) Si and Al

c) Na and Ca

d) K and Ca

e) Fe and Mg

Symmetrical sand ripples are most likely produced by:

a) stream flow

b) wind

c) ocean waves

d) slope instability

e) tubidity currents

Of the following five choices, which one is the most favourable site for oil accumulation?

a) mudstones

b) glacial deposits

c) mic-ocean ridges

d) placer deposits

e) passive continental margins

Which of the following rocks would be most likely to contain olivine grains?

a) mudstone

b) greywacke

c) banded iron formation

d) limestone

e) quartz sanstone

Which of the following rock types is likely to be the most immature?

a) conglomerate

b) mudstone

c) breccia

d) limestone

e) quartz sandstone

In a layered intrusion, which igneous rock type is most likely to be at the top of the intrusion?

a) gabbro

b) granite

c) ultramafic rock

d) basalt

e) granodiorite

For an exponential equn of the form y=e^kt, where "y" is growing as a function of time ("t"), the "k" term is:

a) the growth rate of quantity "y" in percent

b) one one-hundreth of the doubling time

c) a constant whose value is the base of the natural logarithms (i.e. 2.78182...)

d) one one-hundreth of the growth rate of quantity "y" in percent

e) the doubling time

Which of the following situstions would MOST likely to provide an oil trap?

a) an antiform with quartz sandstone on top of salt

b) a salt dome surrounded by shale

c) mudstone and shale forming an antiform

d) a synform with shale on top of quartz sandstone

e) an antiform with shale on top of quartz sandstone

A thin, planar igneous rock body that intrudes across pre-existing rock layers is a:

a) batholith

b) porphyry

c) dyke

d) sill

e) stock

What percentage of the earth's crust is composed of non-silicate minerals?

a) 3%

b)10%

c) 20%

d) 75%

d) 97%

Where is the best place to look for vein-type Cu-Mo-Ag-Au-Sn porphyry deposits?

a) destructive plate margins

b) shield volcanoes in the middle of plates

c) constructive plate margins

d) transform plate margins

e) kimberlite pipes in the middle of plates

In comparing the first billion years of Earth history with the present, which of the following has INCREASED between then and now?

a) the level of CO₂ in the atmosphere

b) the rate of rotation of the Earth aout its N-S rotation axis

c) the near-surface average geothermal gradient

d) the intensity of meteorite bombardment of the Earth

e) the level of oxygene in the atmosphere

This type of seismic wave is characterized by back and forth movement of the rocks ar right angles to the direction of energy propagation:

a) S-waves

b) Rayeigh waves

c) tsunami waves

d) heat waves

e) P-waves