Geology Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. An oceanic plate bends downward beneath another plate, producing a deep-ocean trench and frequent earthquakes. What type of plate boundary is this?
Transform boundary
Divergent boundary
Passive continental margin
Convergent boundary
2. A sequence of sedimentary beds has not been overturned or heavily disturbed. Which conclusion follows from the law of superposition?
The lowest bed is older than the beds above it
The bed containing the most fossils is the youngest
The thickest bed is the oldest
Every bed formed at the same time
3. A volcanic rock contains many rounded holes that were left when gas escaped from cooling lava. Which texture does the rock display?
Foliated
Vesicular
Clastic
Porphyroblastic
4. In the rock cycle, which process is necessary for solid sedimentary rock to become magma?
Compaction
Cementation
Melting
Crystallization
5. A permeable sandstone layer lies above an impermeable shale layer. Rainwater infiltrates the sandstone and moves downward. Where is groundwater most likely to accumulate?
Only at the land surface above the sandstone
Inside the shale because it transmits water rapidly
In saturated pores near the base of the sandstone above the shale
Equally throughout both layers regardless of pore space
6. A geologist rubs an unknown mineral across an unglazed porcelain plate. Which property is being tested?
Streak
Cleavage
Hardness
Specific gravity
7. Two seismic stations record the same earthquake. Station A has a larger time gap between the arrivals of the P waves and S waves than Station B. What can be inferred?
Station A is closer to the epicenter
Station A is farther from the epicenter
The earthquake was stronger at Station A
The earthquake occurred directly beneath Station B
8. Shale is exposed to elevated heat and directed pressure without melting. Which metamorphic rock commonly forms at a relatively low grade?
Marble
Gneiss
Quartzite
Slate
9. Scientists observe shallow earthquakes, volcanic activity, and newly formed oceanic crust along a mid-ocean ridge. Which plate motion best explains these observations?
Two oceanic plates move apart as magma rises between them
An oceanic plate descends beneath a continental plate
Two continental plates collide and thicken
Two plates slide horizontally past one another
10. Slightly acidic rainwater gradually enlarges cracks in a limestone outcrop. Which process is primarily responsible?
Deposition by groundwater
Mechanical weathering by frost wedging
Chemical weathering by dissolution
Metamorphism by pressure
11. An unknown mineral scratches calcite, which has a Mohs hardness of 3, but does not scratch orthoclase, which has a hardness of 6. What is the best conclusion?
Its hardness cannot exceed 1
Its hardness is exactly 3
Its hardness is greater than 6
Its hardness is greater than 3 but less than 6
12. Horizontal sedimentary layers rest on the eroded edges of older, tilted layers. What feature does this contact represent?
A disconformity
An angular unconformity
A nonconformity
A normal fault
13. Magma cools slowly several kilometers below Earth’s surface. Which rock is most likely to form?
Fine-grained basalt
Coarse-grained granite
Glassy obsidian
Clastic sandstone
14. Across a fault, the hanging wall has moved downward relative to the footwall. How is this fault classified?
Reverse fault
Thrust fault
Strike-slip fault
Normal fault
15. Which description best defines a mineral?
A mixture of one or more rocks produced by geological processes
Any solid material found naturally beneath Earth’s surface
A naturally occurring, inorganic solid with an ordered structure and characteristic chemical composition
Any crystalline substance, whether natural or manufactured
16. The same short-lived, geographically widespread fossil species is found in two rock layers located far apart. What is the strongest supported inference?
The two layers formed during roughly the same interval of geologic time
The organisms lived in exactly the same environment
The two layers are made of identical rock
The two layers have experienced identical tectonic histories