Earth Science

Q: Match the earthquake with the type of fault or plate boundary that generated it. (Note: Some choices may be used more than once.) A) Transform boundary B) Convergent boundary C) Intraplate fault 1. Japan (2011) 2. Loma Prieta, California (1989) 3. New Madrid, Missouri (1811-1812) 4. Turkey (North Anatolian Fault, 1999) 5. Charleston, South Carolina (1886)

Q: Below is a list of cities that were all struck by earthquakes. However, in the case of these disasters, hazards associated with earthquakes accounted for more deaths than the earthquake itself. Match the event with the hazard it is most associated with. A) Tsunami B) Fire C) Subsidence/landslides D) Liquefaction 1.San Francisco, California (1906) 2. Alaska Earthquake/Good Friday Earthquake (1964) 3. Earthquake in Marina District in Loma Prieta, California (1989) 4. Japan (2011)

Q: Match the seismic hazard with the correct definition. A) Large ocean waves generated. B) Collapse and lowering of the land surface. C) Seismic energy transforms stable soil into mobile material incapable of supporting buildings. D) Rhythmic sloshing of water in lakes and enclosed basins. 1. Liquefaction 2. Landslide 3. Seiche 4. Tsunami 5. Subsidence

Q: Match the choices below to the correct description. A) R waves B) L waves C) S waves D) P waves 1. This body wave is a compressional wave. 2. This body wave is a shear wave. 3. This surface wave moves from side to side. 4. This surface wave moves up and down.

Q: Match the earthquake location with the year of the disaster. A) 1964 B) 1886 C) 1995 D) 2010 E) 1811-1812 F) 1906 1. San Francisco 2. Charleston 3. Haiti 4. Kobe 5. New Madrid 6. Anchorage

Q: Short-range earthquake predictions are reliable and widely used to get people to safety.

Q: A tsunami is a tidal wave.

Q: The first sign of a tsunami's approach is a rapid retreat of water from the shoreline.

Q: Tsunamis travel as a single wave across the ocean.

Q: Earthquakes with a Richter magnitude less than 2.0 are generally not felt by humans.

Q: There is no theoretical upper limit to the Richter Scale.

Q: S waves will not travel through liquids.

Q: Surface waves will move equally in all directions away from the focus.

Q: Rupture along a fault can stop if there is a large kink in the fault.

Q: Slippage along faults occurs all at once.

Q: Most faults are locked in place, except for brief, abrupt movements when sudden slippage produces earthquakes.

Q: Normal faulting is generally not associated with massive earthquakes.

Q: Monitoring foreshocks has become a reliable indicator for predicting earthquakes.

Q: Earthquakes occur along preexisting faults only.

Q: As of 2015, what was the strongest earthquake on record, and when did it occur? A) 1960 Chilean Earthquake B) 1964 Good Friday Earthquake (Alaska) C) 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake (California) D) 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake (Sumatra)

Q: What is the highest level on the Mercalli Intensity Scale? A) IX B) X C) XII D) XV

Q: Earthquake A is classified as a 3 on the Richter Scale. Earthquake B is classified as a 6. How many times more energy has Earthquake B released than Earthquake A? A) 3 times B) 96 times C) 1,000 times D) 33,000 times

Q: What are the two categories of seismic waves? A) Primary wave and secondary waves B) Body waves and surface waves C) Air waves and ground waves D) Compression waves and tension waves

Q: The ground shaking produced by large earthquakes is not only ________, but takes a ________ time than shaking produced by slippage along small fault segments. A) stronger; longer B) stronger; shorter C) weaker; longer D) weaker; shorter

Q: Which of the following earthquake disasters was associated with a megathrust fault? A) 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake B) 2011 Tohoku earthquake (Japan) C) 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake (Sumatra) D) 2015 Nepal earthquake E) 2011 Tohoku and 2004 Indian Ocean earthquakes

Q: During an earthquake, energy waves radiate outward in all directions through the interior from the ________ whereas energy waves radiate outward in all directions along the surface from the ________. A) epicenter; focus B) megathrust; fault C) hypocenter; focus D) focus; epicenter

Q: When the entire length of a fault ruptures during a single seismic event, the slip will propagate at a speed of ________ kilometers per second. A) 10-12 B) 8-9 C) 5 D) 2-4

Q: The Denali Pipeline in ________ was designed to withstand displacement from earthquakes in order to prevent oil spills. A) California B) Hawaii C) Alaska D) Mexico

Q: Which tectonic plates are responsible for the majority of seismic activity in the Alpine-Himalayan Belt, extending through the Mediterranean Sea and through the Himalayas? A) African, Antarctic, and Eurasian plates B) Eurasian, North American, and Pacific plates C) North American, South American, and Cocos plates D) Eurasian, African, and Indian plates

Q: Which plate boundary along the Circum-Pacific Belt is responsible for the majority of that belt's earthquakes? A) Convergent B) Divergent C) Transform

Q: Which of the following zones has the greatest seismic activity on Earth? A) Circum-Pacific Belt B) Alpine-Himalayan Belt C) San Andreas Fault D) Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Q: Seiches are dangerous to begin with, but which of the following situations is particularly dangerous during seiche formation? A) Lake B) Reservoir behind an earthen dam C) Restricted bay D) In-ground swimming pools

Q: You are monitoring a seismograph in Seattle. One morning, your instrument records an earthquake approximately 2000 km away. From that information, can you determine where the earthquake occurred? A) Yes, because seismographs can indicate direction as well as distance. B) Yes. You could take the distance and match it up with known fault lines to find the epicenter. C) No, because seismographs can't pick up earthquakes from that far away. D) No, because you would need information from more than one seismograph to plot the epicenter.

Q: As of 2012, which was the only ocean basin to have significant tsunami warning buoy coverage? A) Pacific Ocean B) Atlantic Ocean C) Indian Ocean D) Arctic Ocean

Q: Which of the following does not contribute to destruction from seismic vibrations? A) Intensity and duration of vibrations B) Geologic material beneath the structure C) Building materials and practices D) Proximity to water sources

Q: Which of the following would be the most unstable during an earthquake? A) Sedimentary strata B) Unconsolidated sediments C) Crystalline bedrock D) Concrete foundations

Q: Liquefaction will ________. A) amplify the power of seismic waves B) lessen the power of seismic waves C) do nothing to the power of seismic waves

Q: The ________ is a newer scale that measures the total energy released during an earthquake by determining the average amount of slip on the fault, the area of the fault surface that slipped, and the strength of the faulted rock. A) Mercalli Intensity Scale B) Richter Scale C) Beaufort Scale D) Moment Magnitude Scale

Q: Which of the following best describes a seismic gap? A) Unusually quiet zones along typically active faults B) A downdropped valley bound by normal faults C) Faults that have not been active for several million years D) An erosional valley that has developed in an inactive fault

Q: Generally speaking, which seismic waves will have the greatest amplitude on a seismogram? A) P waves B) S waves C) Surface waves

Q: What information is needed to determine the distance from the focus of an earthquake to the seismic receiving station? A) The velocity of the P and S waves B) The amplitude of the seismic waves on a seismogram C) The magnitude of the earthquake D) The time interval between the P and S waves

Q: When going from a 5 to a 6 on the Richter Scale, what is the increase in amplitude of seismic waves? A) 1 time B) 2 times C) 10 times D) 32 times

Q: Which seismic waves are released first during an earthquake? A) P waves B) S waves C) L waves D) R waves

Q: ________ are instruments that sense earthquake waves and transmit them to a recording device. A) Seismology B) Seismograms C) Seismometers D) Seismic relays

Q: ________ are records of seismic waves. A) Seismographs B) Seismograms C) Seismometers D) Seismic relays

Q: Where was the earliest seismograph developed? A) China B) Japan C) Italy D) United States

Q: As of 2015, which of the following earthquakes was observed to have the greatest displacement, exceeding 40 meters? A) Christchurch, New Zealand (2010) B) Sumatra (2004) C) Tohoku, Japan (2011) D) New Madrid, Missouri (1812)

Q: ________ is a measurement of displacement on the fault surface. A) Fault propagation B) Fault creep C) Divergence D) Fault slip

Q: What is the term used to describe slow, gradual displacement along a fault without the accumulation of significant strain? A) Megathrusting B) Fault creep C) Fault propagation D) Elastic rebound

Q: Which tectonic boundary is responsible for the most powerful and destructive earthquakes recorded? A) Transform B) Divergent C) Convergent

Q: Which tectonic boundary is associated with megathrust faults? A) Transform B) Divergent C) Convergent

Q: ________ are smaller earthquakes of lesser magnitude that follow a major earthquake. A) Aftershocks B) Ripples C) Foreshocks D) Displacement

Q: The elastic rebound associated with earthquakes is an example of ________ deformation. A) elastic B) ductile C) brittle D) permanent

Q: Which of the following researchers coined the term elastic rebound after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake? A) Charles Richter B) Giuseppe Mercalli C) Zhang Heng D) H. F. Reid

Q: What is the definition of the focus? A) The exact location on the fault where slippage occurs B) The location where three monitoring stations overlap C) The location on Earth's surface directly above the point of slippage D) The build-up of potential energy in a new location after an earthquake

Q: You are watching TV with a friend when there is a special bulletin about a city in California being devastated by an earthquake. The news anchor reports that the epicenter of the earthquake is 45 miles east of Los Angeles. How would you explain the definition of the epicenter to your geologically impaired friend? A) The exact location on the fault where slippage occurs B) The contact point between two tectonic plates C) The location on Earth's surface directly above the point of slippage D) The location of migrating magma in the crust

Q: What is the term for stored-up energy released by earthquakes? A) Tectonic B) Seismic C) Geophysical D) Structural

Q: Match the diagram of the fold with the correct name. A) Anticline B) Syncline C) Monocline 1. 2. 3.

Q: Which of the following images is correct for a strike-and-dip symbol for a rock layer trending N 45 W and dipping 23 SW? A) B) C) D)

Q: What kind of geologic structure is present? A) Syncline B) Basin C) Anticline D) Dome

Q: What kind of fault is present in this image? A) Normal fault B) Reverse fault C) Left-lateral strike-slip fault D) Right-lateral strike-slip fault

Q: What feature, evidence of dip-slip activity, is shown in this image? A) Anticline B) Slickensides C) Fault scarp D) Joints

Q: What kind of fault is present in this image? What kind of stress generated it? A) Normal fault; tensional stress B) Reverse fault; compressional stress C) Strike-slip fault; shear stress D) Thrust fault; compressional stress

Q: Using this image, indicate which is the hanging wall and which is the footwall by matching the correct term to the correct block. A) Hanging wall B) Footwall 1. Left 2. Right

Q: What kind of fold is visible in this figure? A) Anticline B) Syncline C) Monocline D) Overturned fold

Q: What structural features are visible in this image?

Q: What kind of stress is deforming this block? A) Shear B) Compression C) Tension

Q: Assume that this square is a rock that is being subjected to differential stress. Also assume that the length of the arrows reflects the amount of force in each direction, so the longer the arrow, the more the force affecting the rock. How will the size or shape of the square change? Select the choice that best reflects this change. A) (No change) B) C) D)

Q: Assume that this square is a rock that is being subjected to confining pressure. Also assume that the length of the arrows reflects the amount of force in each direction, so the longer the arrow, the more force affecting the rock. How will the size or shape of the square change? Select the choice that best reflects this change. A) (No change) B) C) D)

Q: Explain the difference in orientation between a nonplunging anticline and a plunging anticline.

Q: Compare rock deformation in near surface environments to that deep within Earth's crust. Which deformation style will be more common in each location?

Q: Explain how stress is different from strain.

Q: Compare and contrast thrust faults and reverse faults.

Q: The Basin and Range province is an extensional region in the American Southwest characterized by roughly parallel mountains ranges separated by broad, flat-bottomed valleys. What sort of structural features would you expect to find in this region?

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