Earth History, Characteristics
Which is an Igneous Rock?
A. Marble
B. Limestone
C. Shale
D. Basalt
D. Basalt
Which of the following components of hydrologic cycle depends upon processes related to living organisms?
A. infiltration
B. precipitation
C. condensation
D. transpiration
D. Transpiration
Earth's weather occurs in which of the following layers of the atmosphere?
A. Mesosphere
B. troposphere
C. thermosphere
D. Stratosphere
B. troposphere
Which of the following planets has the greatest gravitational constant?
A. Earth
B. Mars
C. Saturn
D. Mercury
C. Saturn
*-Planets gravitational force is directly related to its mass
Which of the following discoveries about light was made in the early part of the 1900s by scientists Max Planck and Albert Einstein?
A. The speed of light is different in different optical materials
B. Light behaves as both a particle and a wave
C. The color of light is related to its frequency
D. Light is just a small segment of the electromagnetic spectrum
B. Light behaves as both a particle and a wave
One of the major driving forces for the movement of tectonic plates across the surface of the earth is:
A. the difference in density between continental and oceanic crust
B. expansion of heated rocks and gases in magma chambers
C. Convection currents beneath the plates
D. The gravitational pull of the moon and the sun
C. Convection currents beneath the plates
The primary source of power for the hydrologic cycle is:
A. The Coriolis effect
B. Wind
C. Solar Energy
D. Gravity
C. Solar Energy
The increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leads to further warming of the planet primarily through which of the following mechanisms?
A. Absorbing solar radiation and transferring it to the earth's surface?
B. increasing the rate of evaporation of the surface waters on the earth
C. absorbing and trapping thermal radiation emitted from the earth's surface
D. increasing the intensity of ultraviolet radiation hitting the earth's surface
C. absorbing and trapping thermal radiation emitted from the earth's surface
The existence of which of the following planets was predicted by Newtonian physics before it was discovers in 1846?
A. Saturn
B. Mercury
C. Neptune
D. Mars
C. Neptune
Alfred Wegener is best known for his contribution to the development of which of the following concepts?
A. genetic basis of heredity
B. the universal gas law
C. continental drift
D. the big bang
C. continental drift
The Hawaiian Islands were formed primarily as a result of:
A. Plate Divergence
B. A transform fault
C. Plate Convergence
D. A Hot Spot
D. A hot spot
An oxbow lake is generally formed when which of the following occurs?
A. A wide meander or loop is cut off when a river charts a straighter course
B. A drought causes part of a river to become dry
C. A large load of sediment is deposited that cuts off a section of a river
D. A tributary to a river is diverted by animal or human activity
A. A wide meander or loop is cut off when a river charts a straighter course
A positive feedback loop that increases the rate of melting Arctic sea ice occurs primarily as a result of which of the following factors?
A. Ocean water is denser than sea ice
B. The movement of ice floes increases wave action
C. Melting sea ice reduces the salinity of the water
D. Water absorbs more sunlight than ice does
D. Water absorbs more sunlight than ice does
Which of the following planets has an axis that lies almost in the plane of the planet's orbit?
A. Saturn
B. Uranus
C. Venus
D. Jupiter
In a closed system, an input of energy is required to increase the orderliness of the system. This relationship is most closely related to which of the following concepts?
A. conservation of energy
B. entropy
C. kinetic theory
D. power
B. entropy
Chemical weathering by carbonic acid is most likely to affect which of the following rocks?
A. Basalt
B. Sandstone
C. Granite
D. Limestone
D. Limestone
Which of the following would most impede the movement of groundwater?
A. Silt
B. gravel
C. clay
D. sand
C. Clay
A possible positive feedback loop that increases the rate of global warming could occur as carbon dioxide and methane are released from:
A. Melting glaciers
B. Thawing permafrost
C. Exposing salt marshes
D. Eutrophying lakes
B. Thawing permafrost
Which of the following objects is believed to be the center of the Milky Way Galaxy?
A. a neutron star
B. a black hole
C. a gas nebula
D. a solar system
Research results become part of the body of scientific knowledge only if they are repeatable. Which of the following components of the scientific process is most effective at ensuring the repeatability of results?
A. peer review
B. independent replication
C. formal publication
D. data analysis
B. Independent replication
Slate is a metamorphic rock created by the metamorphism of:
A. Marble
B. Gneiss
C. Shale
D. Mica
C. Shale
Which of the following factors is primarily responsible for driving seasonal turnover in a freshwater lake?
A. changes in water density resulting from changes in water temp
B. varying amounts of photosynthetic activity and dissolved oxygen in different zones of the lake
C. cycles of freezing and thawing of surface ice
D. increasing levels of nutrient accumulation and productivity in the lake
A. changes in water density resulting from changes in water temperature
The short-term change in climate called El Nino is caused primarily by which of the following occurrences?
A. the warming of waters in the eastern pacific ocean
B. a shift in the prevailing winds blowing from the Pacific Ocean to South America
C. the upwelling of cold water off the western coast of South America
D. a semipermanent high pressure system over the eastern Pacific Ocean
A. the warming of waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean
Which of the following best describes retrograde motion of a planet?
A. an apparent backward movement of a planet as seen from the earth
B. the movement of a planet behind the sun as seen from the earth
C. the eclipsing of one planet by another planet as seen from the earth
D. the dimming of a planet as it reaches the point of its orbit farthest from the earth
A. an apparent backward movement of a planet as seen from the earth
In order to be accepted by other scientists, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection required acceptance of the previous work of:
A. Lyell and the age of the earth's rock layers
B. Watson and Crick and the genetic basics of heredity
C. Lamarck and the inheritance of acquired characteristics
D. Hutton and the view of the earth as a dynamic system
A. Lyell and the age of the earth's rock layers