Geologic Processes Pre Assessment Review

Geologic Processes Pre Assessment Review

Multiple Choice

Over time, repeated cycles of heating & cooling can cause a rock to crack. The rock may then break into smaller pieces. What is this process called?

• Erosion

• Deposition

• Subsidence

• Weathering

Multiple Choice

Which produces the material for the formation of metamorphic rock?

• clasts

• magma

• sediment

• existing rock

Multiple Choice

Which type of movement is caused by gravity moving wet Earth materials?

• dune

• glacier

• hotspot

• mudslide

Multiple Choice

What can cause a chain of volcanic islands to form far from plate boundaries?

• rifting

• folding

• hotspot

• subduction

Multiple Choice

Which type of stress causes deformation that leads to earthquakes at convergent plate boundaries?

• tension

• rebound

• sheer stress

• compression

Multiple Choice

Which of these does NOT provide evidence that the continents drifted to their present location?

• current weather

• landform data

• mid-ocean ridges

• similar fossils on different continents

Multiple Choice

Which processes are best explained by the theory of plate tectonics?

• life cycles of plants

• food chains and webs

• change in air pressure

• earthquakes and volcanic eruptions

Multiple Choice

A sharp, jagged mountain becomes smoother over time. Which of these is most responsible for this change?

• Deposition

• Weathering and Erosion

• Movement of continents

• collision between continental plates

Multiple Choice

What happens when a stream slows down?

• The stream picks up larger particles

• The stream has more energy for erosion

• The stream deposits sediment

• The stream picks up more sediment

Multiple Choice

What is the approximate age of Earth?

• 4,600 years

• 46,000 years

• 4.6 million years

• 4.6 billion years

Multiple Choice

Landslides, rockfalls, and mudslides are responsible for both erosion and deposition. What force is mainly responsible for the erosion and deposition that happens in landslides, rockfalls, and mudslides?

• Ice

• Wind

• Gravity

• Temperature

Multiple Choice

Which sentence best describes the process of relative dating?

• Younger fossils are on top of older fossils.

• Older fossils are on top of younger fossils.

• Radioactive elements help determine the age of a fossil.

• Fossils are dated by comparing them with living descendants.

Multiple Choice

Which definition describes absolute dating?

• Finding the age of an object compared with other objects

• measuring the age of an object in years using any method

• determining the amount of radioactive isotope in an object

• determining the age of a rock layer by studying the fossils present

Multiple Choice

Fossils are often hardened remains of organisms that once lived, such as a bone or tooth. Which characteristic of metamorphic rock makes it unlikely for fossils to be found in this type of rock?

• Fossils are broken apart during volcanic eruptions

• high temperature and pressure destroy the fossils

• tiny sediments build up in fossils as they are deposited

• ocean watering moving across the rock carries the fossils away

Multiple Choice

A student has one older brother and one younger sister. She wants to explain relative dating to them using their ages as an example. Which statement describes their ages using relative dating?

• Their ages are 14, 12 and 9

• They are all about the same age

• The girls have different ages from the boy

• Sierra is younger than her brother but older than her sister

Multiple Choice

Which statement best describes an index fossil?

• a fossil of an animal captured in ice

• a fossil used to establish the absolute age of a rock layer

• a fossil of an insect captured in amber

• a fossil formed in soft sediment by the movement of an animal

Multiple Choice

A student is studying 3 layers of sedimentary rock in an area. The layers have not shifted from their original positions. He records the relative ages. The bottom layer is listed as oldest. The top as the youngest. What did he use to determine the relative age of the rocks?

• mineral content

• radioactive decay

• the law of superposition

• the principle of unconformity