Making North America: Origins

What do the layers of sedimentary rock in the Grand Canyon show?

• That the American Southwest was once covered in huge sand dunes.

• That volcanoes erupted over and over, creating distinct layers.

• That the lowest layers are the newest and the highest layers are the oldest.

• That a shallow sea once covered the American Southwest.

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Granodiorite, the rock found at the very bottom of the Grand Canyon, has crystals of different colors and is extremely old (more than a billion years!). This rock is

• sedimentary rock

• igneous

• metamorphic

• supermineralistic

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All rock on earth originated as

• metamorphic rock

• sedimentary rock

• igneous rock

• fossil rock

The volcano in the Hawaiian Islands that has continuously erupted since the 1980s is...

• Krakatoa

• Mount Mazama

• Popocatepetl

• Kilauea

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Basalt is the rock that oceanic crust is made from while continents are composed largely of granitic rock because...

• There are different kinds of volcanoes in the ocean and continents.

• B comes before g in the alphabet.

• sometimes things just happen randomly in geology and there's no logical explanation.

• Granitic rock is less dense so it rises to the top.

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The early supercontinent that contained what is now North America is known as

• Rodinia

• Gondwanaland

• Pangea

• Norteamericasupergrande

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Palladium, mined from areas with North America's oldest rock, is used in

• catalytic converters

• variable speed transmissions

• CV joints

• steering columns

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Agates form in

• ancient seabeds like the one in the Grand Canyon.

• gas bubbles of cooling igneous rock.

• areas of intense pressure as part of the metamorphic process.

• resin baths for Amazon suppliers. Theyr'e usually fake.

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Just how deep is the volcanic rock around Lake Superior?

• up to 7 miles!

• only about 2700 feet thick.

• It's metamorphic rock, silly!

• up to 30 miles!

Seismic waves travel at different speeds

• through different types of rock.

• depending on how strong the wind is.

• which has allowed geologists to map the rocks of North America.

• which is pretty confusing for geologists.