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Earth Science
Q:
Limestone and marble weather faster than granite because ________.
A) granite is more resistant to physical weathering because of its large crystals
B) limestone has many cracks and holes that allow water to infiltrate and weather the rock
C) limestone and marble can be dissolved by weak acids in rain
D) granite does not react with rainwater and only weathers by physical erosion
Q:
In which area would weathering by frost wedging probably be most effective?
A) in a moist, tropical forest
B) in cool high desert areas
C) where the subsoil is permanently frozen
D) in moist, temperate climates
Q:
Which one of the following is an important, mechanical weathering process for enlarging fractures and extending them deeper into large boulders and bedrock?
A) oxidation
B) eluviation
C) hydrologic cycling
D) frost wedging
Q:
Which of the following is most resistant to both chemical and physical weathering?
A) clay minerals
B) quartz
C) a granite
D) a limestone
Q:
Under similar warm, moist climatic conditions, why would basalt and gabbro generally have higher chemical weathering rates than rhyolite and granite?
A) The quartz in the gabbro and basalt decomposes very quickly.
B) The ferromagnesian minerals in the gabbro and basalt are subject to oxidation and chemical breakdown.
C) The plagioclase feldspars in the granite and rhyolite decompose readily to clay minerals and iron oxides.
D) The potassium feldspars and quartz in the rhyolite and granite are more susceptible to cracking by frost wedging.
Q:
Centuries ago quarrymen learned that when quarrying granite it was usually easiest to break the rock along a nearly horizontal surface. We now know this arises because ________.
A) uplift and exhumation of granites produces an unloading, which produces sheeting joints like the quarrymen used
B) frost wedging for hundreds of thousands to millions of years have produced cracks parallel to the ground surface
C) chemical weathering of granite makes the material expand, pulling it away from the underlying rock
D) it was a false observation; the quarrymen in those days couldn't measure resistance, and it just seemed easier to wedge blocks of this type
Q:
Rounding of angular edges of rock outcropping and formation of insitu, spherical boulders are both indications of ________.
A) chemical weather and associated spheroidal weathering
B) rock fall onto sharp edges breaking of angular corners of rock outcrops
C) dissolution of the rock surface by acid rain
D) humans and animals walking across the Earth's surface, wearing away the surface
Q:
Which one of the following statements concerning mechanical weathering is not true?
A) reduces grain sizes of rock particles
B) allows for faster rates of chemical weathering
C) is important in the formation of talus slopes
D) involves a major change in the mineral composition of the weathered material
Q:
Which of the following best describes sets of fractures in relatively fresh bedrock, such as granite, that are roughly parallel to the land surface?
A) thermal expansion cracks
B) sheeting fractures
C) hydrolytic failures
D) columnar joints
Q:
The finely divided, red, brown, and yellow soil-coloring minerals originate by what process?
A) mechanical weathering of very fine-grained, blue-gray clays
B) chemical weathering of quartz and feldspars
C) precipitation of iron oxides during the chemical weathering process
D) mechanical weathering of the feldspars and micas in granite and rhyolite
Q:
What two factors speed up rates of chemical reaction and weathering in rocks and soils?
A) low temperatures; very dry
B) low temperatures; very moist
C) high temperatures; very dry
D) warm temperatures; very moist
Q:
Frost wedging is the major weathering process contributing to the formation of which regolith material?
A) tropical soils
B) talus slopes
C) soil horizons
D) clay minerals
Q:
Clay minerals formed from gabbro or diorite bedrock illustrate which kind of weathering?
A) chemical
B) proactive
C) syntropical
D) mechanical
Q:
Chemical weathering rates are highest in ________.
A) hot dry climates
B) hot wet climates
C) cold wet climates
D) cold dry climates
Q:
Assume that water filling a crack in a rock undergoes cycles of freezing and melting. Which of the following statement is true?
A) Water expands as it melts, causing the crack walls to be pushed apart.
B) Water shrinks as it freezes, causing the crack walls to be drawn closer together.
C) Water expands as it freezes, causing the crack walls to be pushed apart.
D) Water shrinks as it melts, causing the crack walls to be pulled closer together.
Q:
Which of the following is not a physical weathering process?
A) frost wedging
B) salt crystallization
C) tree root growth
D) rocks reacting with organic acids from plants
Q:
All of the following are factors that affect rates of weathering except for ________.
A) rock characteristics
B) surface area
C) climate
D) geologic age of earth materials
Q:
One important relationship between chemical and mechanical weathering is ________.
A) chemical weathering can produce smaller pieces of rock that can then be modified by mechanical weathering
B) chemical weathering can form brittle materials that are easily broken into smaller pieces by mechanical weathering
C) mechanical weathering can produce smaller pieces of rock that have more surface area for chemical weathering to work on.
D) mechanical weathering forms more brittle materials that are easily broken down by chemical weathering.
Q:
Which one of the following statements best describes erosion?
A) disintegration and decomposition of rocks and minerals at the surface
B) movement of weathered rock and regolith toward the base of a slope
C) the process by which weathered rock and mineral particles are removed from one area and transported elsewhere
D) the combined processes of leaching, eluviation, and mass wasting
Q:
Mass wasting, a process that often occurs between weathering and erosion, involves ________.
A) the chemical dissolution of minerals due to water
B) the mechanical breakdown of minerals due to exposure to the Sun and atmosphere
C) the transport of material by water, wind, or ice
D) the transport of material due to gravity
Q:
What is the major distinction between internal and external Earth processes?
A) Internal processes involve heat, and external processes involve oxygen.
B) Internal processes are driven by things like Plate Tectonics, and external processes are driven by the sun.
C) Internal processes can only occur inside the Earth, but external processes can occur inside or outside the Earth.
D) Internal and external processes can occur inside and outside the Earth, but external processes must also include the oxidation of Earth materials.
Q:
What process of mass wasting is illustrated in the diagram below?
Q:
As a geologist working in a foreign country for the first time, you are asked to assess the potential for mass wasting in a particular region. What aspects or characteristics (geologic, geographic, biologic, etc.) of the region are you interested in for your assessment? Also, how could you possibly determine if mass wasting has been active in the recent geologic past (100's or 1000's of years)?
Q:
What is the feature labeled "A" in the diagram below? Also, how did it form?
Q:
Based on the examples and discussion in Chapter 4, what is the relationship of climate to weathering, both chemical and mechanical? Also, are certain climates more susceptible to certain types of weathering? Why or why not?
Q:
Although it was not discussed in Chapter 4, what are some preventive measures that can be done to reduce or lessen the impact of mass wasting? (Hint: Think about the controls and triggers of mass wasting.)
Q:
Fill in the blanks on the diagram below with the names of the soil "layers" that are labeled.
Q:
According to your textbook, soil is an interface between Earth's spheres, and all life owes its existence to soil. Explain why soil is considered to be so important.
Q:
Which process of mass wasting occurs primarily in permafrost regions?
Q:
________ involves the downslope movement of a block or blocks of unconsolidated soil and regolith along a curved, slip surface.
Q:
________ is the fan-shaped pile of broken rock fragments at the base of a steep, bedrock slope or cliff.
Q:
Unconsolidated, granular materials such as gravel and sand will support maximum slope angles of about 33 to 35 degrees. What is the name for this maximum slope angle?
Q:
________ is the basic force that moves or accelerates soil and regolith down a slope.
Q:
________ denotes the downslope movement of soils and regolith.
Q:
Which term denotes the true soil above the zone of partly weathered bedrock?
Q:
What term describes a soil that has developed from silt and clay deposited by a flooding river?
Q:
What term refers to removal of soluble inorganic components from soils?
Q:
The very fine-sized, clay mineral particles move downward from the E to the B-horizon of some soils. What is this process called?
Q:
What is the most abundant, naturally produced, weak acid involved in chemical weathering and soil formation?
Q:
Which form of chemical weathering specifically affects the iron contained in ferromagnesian, rock-forming, silicate minerals?
Q:
Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, California, and Stone Mountain in Georgia are shaped mainly by what mechanical weathering process?
Q:
What kind of weathering involves only a reduction in the sizes of bedrock, regolith, and mineral particles?
Q:
Solifluction is an important mass wasting process in areas of permafrost.
Q:
Solifluction occurs during the warmer summer months.
Q:
Repeated freezing and thawing can be important in soil creep movements.
Q:
Bedding planes and fractures can both act as slip surfaces for rockslides.
Q:
Earthflows and slumps generally involve movement of unconsolidated or weakly consolidated soil and regolith.
Q:
A scarp is the exposed portion of the rupture surface beneath a slump block.
Q:
A triggering mechanism, such as heavy rains or an earthquake, are necessary for mass wasting to occur.
Q:
Slump describes the very slow, downhill movement of soil and regolith.
Q:
Lahars are essentially mudflows associated with volcanoes and volcanism.
Q:
Ferromagnesian minerals (like olivine and pyroxene) that crystallize at high temperatures in Bowen's reaction series are generally much less susceptible to chemical weathering than quartz.
Q:
The solum or true soil includes all horizons above the C-horizon.
Q:
Removal of inorganic soil components from a soil is termed leaching.
Q:
Very fine-grained iron oxide particles account for nearly all red, yellow, and brown soil colors.
Q:
Chemical weathering in bedrock below the land surface often begins along joints and sheeting fractures.
Q:
Like most other liquids, water decreases in volume when it freezes.
Q:
Feldspars commonly decompose during weathering to clay minerals, silica, and soluble constituents.
Q:
Sheeting is mainly a process of mechanical weathering.
Q:
Abundant moisture and warm temperatures result in high rates of chemical weathering.
Q:
Quartz weathers readily to aluminum-rich clay minerals.
Q:
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern. earthquake
lahar
liquefaction
landslide
Q:
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern. frost wedging
mass wasting
sheeting
oxidation
Q:
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern. rockslide
debris flow
creep
slump
Q:
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern. slope angle
water
vegetation
earthquake
Q:
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern. oxidation
dissolution
hydrolysis
sheeting
Q:
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern. wind
water
mass wasting
ice
Q:
Examine the words and/or phrases for each question below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option which does not fit the pattern. C-horizon
A horizon
E horizon
B horizon
Q:
How do freezing, thawing, wetting, and drying contribute to soil creep?
A) The soil becomes much weaker when dry and frozen.
B) Gravity exerts a much stronger force when the soil is wet and thawed.
C) The soil expands and contracts, lifting particles and dropping them a slight distance downslope.
D) Eventually, these cause the soil and regolith to suddenly slide down the slope.
Q:
All of the following are possible indicators that creep is occurring except for ________.
A) tilted fences or power line poles
B) an extremely thick soil profile
C) curved tree trunks
D) cracks in roads or sidewalks
Q:
Which mass wasting process has the slowest rate of movement?
A) slump
B) rock avalanche
C) rock fall
D) creep
Q:
Which one of the following operates primarily in areas of permafrost?
A) rock avalanche
B) solifluction
C) soil creep
D) mudflow
Q:
How do the strength and cohesion of clay-rich regolith or soil change with the addition of water?
A) Water does not affect the cohesion but lowers the strength.
B) Water reduces the strength of clays but raises the cohesion of the soil.
C) Water increases the strength and cohesion.
D) Water lowers the strength and cohesion.
Q:
Of the following, which one would most likely be triggered by an earthquake?
A) solifluction
B) soil creep
C) slump
D) rock avalanche
Q:
Which of the following poses the greatest risk of massive loss of life and property along its path?
A) slump
B) earthflow
C) rock avalanche
D) rock fall
Q:
In deserts of southwestern North America developers often build houses in dry stream beds and build only minimal subsurface drainage systems to handle a flow of water comparable to the size of the dry stream channel. Is this a reasonable development model in the interest of public safety?
A) Yes, although flash floods can occur, using the channel size is a reasonable estimate of the maximum flood size.
B) No, flash floods can produce high viscosity mudflows that would not be captured by the drainage system and could flow out over the valley, destroying everything in its path.
C) No, giant rock avalanches could come down the valley covering houses.
D) Yes, any potential flooding catastrophe would be a 100 year flood event and would have adequate warning to evacuate people for safety, so the drainage system is adequate.
Q:
A geologist is looking at deposits along a river below a large volcano. She finds large boulders mixed with sand and mud, and all of the material is comprised of volcanic rocks, particularly the mud which is volcanic ash. She quickly realizes these deposits represent an ancient ________.
A) earthflow
B) rock avalanche
C) slump
D) lahar
Q:
________ denotes the exposed, crescent-shaped rupture surface at the head of a slump.
A) Scoop
B) Sole
C) Toe
D) Scarp
Q:
________ involves movement on a zone of compressed air.
A) A slump
B) A mudflow
C) A rock avalanche
D) Soil creep
Q:
Which statement best describes slumping, a mass wasting process?
A) A block or blocks of unconsolidated regolith slide downhill along a curved slip surface.
B) Blocks of hard bedrock rapidly slide downhill along fracture surfaces.
C) The soil and regolith move downhill very slowly.
D) A mass of soil or regolith becomes saturated with water and suddenly flows downhill to the base of the slope.