ERSC 1P92 Extreme Earth Example questions for the midterm test. The following provides example questions from each of the 4 sections that have been covered in the course prior to the midterm test. These sections include: 1. Scientific Ideas, Geology 001, a brief History of Geology and Catastrophism in the 20th Century. 2. The Origin of the Solar System and its bodies, Comets, meteorites and asteroids; Near Earth Objects and risk of collision; craters on Earth and elsewhere in the solar system. 3. Continental Drift: the history of an idea; Geomagnetism Note that several of the following questions will be included in the 50 questions that will make up the midterm test. Answers for each question are given at the end of this document. 1. A hypothesis is best defined as: a) An opinion of which someone feels strongly. b) An explanation that fits the facts. c) An explanation that explains some aspects of a phenomenon. d) An absolutely correct explanation which ties together a wide range of ideas. e) None of the above are even close. 2. The first book about minerals was written by: a) Aristotle b) Leonardo Da Vinci c) Theophrastus d) St. Thomas Aquinas e) Alfred Wegener
3. What type of rock may be made up of either interlocking crystals or discrete particles? a) An igneous rock. b) A metamorphic rock. c) A weathered rock. d) A sedimentary rock. e) A granite. 4. The breakdown of a rock exposed at the Earth s surface is termed: a) Erosion. b) Rock decay. c) Deflation. d) Saltation. e) Weathering. 5. Luis and Walter Alvarez provided good evidence for what major geological event? a) The creation of the Earth. b) The collision of India and Asia. c) The impact that caused the extinction of the Dinosaurs. d) The movement along the San Andreas Fault. e) The evolution of mammals. 6. Which of the following planets differs most from all of the other planets in the list? a) Jupiter b) Uranus c) Saturn d) Mercury e) Neptune 7. What caused the Nebula to begin to spin early in the formation of the Solar System? a) A combination of gas pressure forces and gravitational forces. b) Centrifugal forces only. c) A combination of gravitational and centrifugal forces. d) The initial force of a primordial explosion. e) All of the above.
8. Asteroids are classified on the basis of : a) The gases that they contain. b) Their brightness or albedo. c) Their chemical composition. d) Their distance from Earth. e) None of the above are true. 9. A bolide is: a) A meteoroid that lands on the Earth s surface. b) A particularly bright meteor that often explodes. c) An asteroid that has its own satellite. d) A meteoroid that skips off of the Earth s surface and returns to space. 10. How many times larger than the impacting object is an impact crater? a) 2 times larger. b) 10 times larger. c) 30 times larger. d) 100 times larger. e) None of the above are even close. 11. Over the past couple of hundred million years mass extinctions have taken place, on average, approximately, every: a) 5 million years. b) 66 million years. c) 157 million years. d) 26 million years. e) 211 million years. 12. The companion star of our sun, that has been suggested as the cause of the regular period between mass extinction events, is named: a) Sol 2. b) UB 2006 NH. c) Nemisis. d) The enemy. e) The cause of the regular period between mass extinctions on Earth.
13. The first person to suggest that the continents were once together but had separated over time was: a) Alfred Wegener. b) Frances Placet. c) Frances Bacon. d) Fred Vine. e) Ben Runcorn. 14. The mechanism by which the Earth s magnetic field is produced is referred to as: a) A Geodynamo. b) A Geothermal Magnet. c) A Convectional Magnet. d) The Earth-Core Magnet. 15. In the northern hemisphere the Earth s magnetic force acts: a) Upward, away from the Earth s surface. b) Downward, towards the Earth s surface. c) More-or-less parallel to the Earth s surface. d) At right angles to the Earth s surface. 16. Sea floor stripes are due to: a) Magnetic anomalies. b) Polar reversals. c) The formation of new oceanic crust along the oceanic ridge axis. d) Sea-floor spreading. e) All of the above. 17. What is the difference between the inner and outer cores? a) The inner core is largely Iron while the outer core is largely nickel. b) The inner core produces a positive magnetic anomaly while the inner core produces a negative magnetic anomaly. c) The inner core is solid and the outer core is liquid. d) The inner core is very dense while the outer core has a low density.
18. The uppermost, rigid portion of the upper mantle is termed: a) The crust. b) The solidosphere. c) The convection zone. d) The lithosphere. e) The mafic zone. Answers: 1b, 2c, 3d, 4e, 5c, 6d, 7a, 8b, 9b, 10c, 11d, 12c, 13b, 14a, 15b, 16e, 17c, 18d,