Instructions:  Click on the button to see if your answer is correct or not.  I recommend keeping track of how many you get correct on your first try. 

1.  The map below shows the path of an ash cloud that resulted from the Mount St. Helens volcanic eruption. The map was developed from satellite photographs.

The path of the ash cloud was most probably determined by
A.  theory.          hypothesis.          observation.          inference.
 

2.  In the classroom during a visual inspection of a rock, a student recorded four statements about the rock. Which statement about the rock is an observation?
A.  The rock formed deep in the Earth's interior.
The rock cooled very rapidly.
The rock dates from the Precambrian Era.
The rock is black and shiny.
 

3.  Measurements of gravity are greater at the poles than at the Equator. This evidence best supports the inference that Earth has a
A.  slightly oblate shape.  slightly elliptical orbit.  perfectly spherical shape.  very elliptical orbit.
 

4.  Which diagram most accurately shows the cross-sectional shape of the Earth?
A.                       
 

Base your answers to questions 5 through 9 on the Earth Science Reference Tables, the diagrams below, and your knowledge of Earth science. The diagrams represent two different solid, uniform materials cut into cubes A and B.

5.  If cube B was dropped into water, it would

6.  A student calculates the density of a third material as 10.4 grams per cubic centimeter instead of the accepted value of 8.0 grams per cubic centimeter. What is the student’s approximate percent deviation (percent of error)?
A.  3.8%                     3.0%                      30.0%                   36.1%

7.  What is the density of cube A?
A.  0.2 g/cm³               5.0 g/cm³               12.8 g/cm³               64.0 g/cm3

8.  What is the mass of cube B?
A.  9 g                         3 g                         27 g                        81 g

9.  Assume cube B was broken into many irregularly shaped pieces. Compared to the density of the entire cube, the density of one of the pieces would be
A.  less.                       greater                    the same.

10.  If a parcel of air is cooled, its density will
A.  decrease.               increase.                  remain the same.

11.  Which object best represents a true scale model of the shape of the Earth?
A.  a Ping-Pong ball    an egg                     a football                 a pear

12.  Precise measurements of the Earth indicate that its polar diameter is
A.  shorter than its equatorial diameter.
longer than its equatorial diameter.
the same length as its equatorial diameter.

13.  The diagrams below represent photographs of a large sailboat taken through a telescope over time as the boat sailed away from shore out to sea. Each diagram shows the magnification of the lenses and the time of day.

Which statement best explains the apparent sinking of this sailboat?
A.  The tide is causing an increase in the depth of the ocean.
The change in density of the atmosphere is causing refraction of light rays.
The sailboat appears smaller as it moves farther away.
The sailboat is moving around the curved surface of Earth.

14.  The best evidence that the Earth has a spherical shape is provided by
A.  the amount of daylight received at the North Pole on June 21
photographs of the Earth taken from space satellites
the cyclic change of seasons
the changing orbital speed of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun

15.  Earth’s troposphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere contain relatively large amounts of which element?
A.  potassium                    oxygen               hydrogen                 iron

16.  Earth's hydrosphere is best described as the
A.  solid outer layer of Earth
liquid outer layer of Earth
magma layer located below Earth's stiffer mantle
gaseous layer extending several hundred kilometers from Earth into space

17.  When the time of day for a certain ship at sea is 12 noon, the time of day at the Prime Meridian (0° longitude) is 5 p.m.  What is the ship’s longitude?
A.  45° E                           75° E                45° W                     75° W

18.  Which rock type is most likely to be monomineralic?
A.  conglomerate               rhyolite               basalt                      rock salt

19.  Use the image below to answer the following question.

What is the latitude of this observer?
A.  47º South               43º South            47º North                43º North

20.  Which feature is characteristic of sedimentary rocks?
A.  glassy texture          foliation               distorted structure     layering

21.  Which group lists rocks in order by grain size from smallest to largest?
A.  shale, sandstone, conglomerate
shale, conglomerate, sandstone
conglomerate, sandstone, shale
sandstone, shale, conglomerate

22.  According to the Earth Science Reference Tables, particles of which size could have formed silt?
A.  0.0002 cm              0.02 cm               0.002 cm                 0.2 cm

Base your answer to questions 23 to 24 on the geologic cross section below, which shows limestone that was intruded. Part of the limestone (zone A) was heated intensely but was not melted.

23.  Which rock is most abundant in Zone A?
A.  Quartz               Limestone               Calcite               Marble

24.  Which mineral is most abundant in Zone A?
A.  Quartz               Limestone               Calcite               Marble

25.  Which sample best shows the physical properties normally associated with regional metamorphism?
A.                               
                                 

26.  In which of the following rocks might you find fossils?
A.  Limestone        Gneiss                     Granite                 Slate
.
27.  The diagrams below show the crystals of four different rocks viewed through the same hand lens. Which crystals most likely formed from molten material that cooled and solidified the slowest?
A.                              

28.  A clastic sedimentary rock that has many different grain sizes, from clay-sized to gravel-sized, “cemented” together, where the majority of the fragments are rounded in shape is:
A.  breccia.              metaconglomerate.             conglomerate.                      basalt.

29.  Compared to felsic igneous rocks, mafic igneous rocks contain greater amounts of
A.  aluminum           iron                                     white quartz                         pink feldspar

30.  A mineral’s crystal shape and cleavage are a direct result of the mineral’s
A.  exposure to the hydrosphere and atmosphere
arrangement of atoms
abundance in nature
hardness

31.  Which of the following is located at a diverging plate boundary?
A.  Sandwich Plate
Iceland Hotspot
Marianas Trench
Southwest Indian Ridge

32.  On which plate is the Hawaiian Hot Spot located?
A.  Pacific             African                         Nazca                         North American

33.  Which cross-sectional diagram of Earth’s asthenosphere best shows the convection currents that would cause crustal plate X to away from crustal plate Y?
A.                    

34.  Which evidence causes most scientists to believe that seafloor spreading occurs at the mid-Atlantic Ridge?
A.  Oceanic crust on both sides of the ridge shows matching patterns of reversed and normal magnetic polarity.
Oceanic crust on both sides of the ridge is less dense than continental crust.
Large sedimentary folds exist in the mantle near the ridge.
Oceanic crust is oldest at the ridge.

35.  Which inference is supported by a study of the Earth's magnetic rock record?
A.  The Earth's magnetic field is only 2 million years old.
The Earth's magnetic field is 50 times stronger now than in the past.
The Earth's magnetic poles are usually located at 0 latitude.
The Earth's magnetic poles appear to have changed location over time.

36.  What happens to the density and temperature of rock within Earth’s interior as depth increases?
A.  density decreases and temperature decreases
density decreases and temperature increases
density increases and temperature increases
density increases and temperature decreases

37.  What usually causes tsunamis?
A.  hurricanes
high-pressure weather systems
undersea earthquakes
the collision of ocean currents

38.  Base your answer on the diagram below.

What do all four rock samples have in common?
A.  The are organically formed.
The formed on the Earth's surface.
They show cleavage.
They contain minerals.

39.  The block diagram below shows the bedrock age as measured by radioactive dating and the present location of part of the Hawaiian Island
chain. These volcanic islands may have formed as the Pacific Plate moved over a mantle hot spot.

40.  Which map best represents the general pattern of magnetism in the oceanic bedrock near the mid-Atlantic Ridge?

A.                         
                        
 

41.  A seismographic station determines that its distance from the epicenter of an earthquake is 4,000 kilometers. According to the Earth Science Reference Tables, if the P-wave arrived at the station at 10:29 a.m., the time of the earthquake's origin was
A.  10:08 a.m.         10:22 a.m.             (2) 10:02 a.m.             10:10 a.m.

42.  What happens to the velocity of P-waves and S-waves if there is an decrease in the density of the materials that they are traveling through?
A.  The P-waves slow down, but the S-waves speed up.
The P-waves speed up, but the S-waves slow down.
Both the P-waves and the S-waves speed up.
Both the P-waves and the S-waves slow down.
 

Base your answers to questions 43 through 47 on the Earth Science Reference Tables and the diagram below. The diagram shows the magnetic orientation of igneous rock on the seafloor on the east (right) side of a mid-ocean ridge. The pattern on the west (left) side of the ridge has been omitted. The age of the igneous
rock and its distance from the ridge center are shown.

43.  As distance from the center of the ridge increases, the age of the rocks
A.  decreases.                     increases.                         remains the same.

44.  According to the diagram, what is the approximate rate of seafloor spreading?
A.  1 km/million years         40 km/million years           2 km/million years         50 km/million years

45.  Which diagram below best represents the pattern of magnetic orientation in the seafloor on the west (left) side of the ocean ridge?
A.

46.  Which inference can best be made from the diagram?
A.  The amount of fossil material preserved in the igneous rock has changed with time.
The elevation of sea level has changed with time.
The size of the continents has changed with time.
The orientation of the Earth's magnetic field has reversed with time.

47.  The occurrence of high-heat floors at the ridge center provides evidence of the
A.  destruction of oceanic crust.
destruction of continental crust.
existence of ancestral mountains.
existence of rising mantle convection currents.

48.  The cutaway diagram below shows the paths of earthquake waves generated at point X.

Only P-waves reach the side of Earth that is opposite the focus because P-waves
A.  can travel through liquids and S-waves cannot
travel faster than S-waves
travel faster than S-waves
are stronger than S-waves

49.  Which ocean current carries cool water toward Earth’s equator?
A.  Alaska Current         Peru Current         East Australia Current         North Atlantic Current

 50.  Active volcanoes are most abundant along the
A.  edges of tectonic plates.
eastern coastline of continents.
23.5° N and 23.5° S parallels of latitude.
equatorial ocean floor.

51.  Which part of Earth’s interior is inferred to have convection currents that cause tectonic plates to move?
A.  rigid mantle         outer core         asthenosphere         inner core

52.  Compared to the continental crust, the oceanic crust is
A.  less dense and less felsic.
less dense and less mafic.
more dense and more felsic.
more dense and more mafic.

53.  Which rock is sedimentary in origin and formed as a result of chemical processes?
A.  granite                 breccia             shale                            dolostone

54.  The igneous rock is mostly composed of potassium feldspar and quartz crystals that
have an average grain size of 3 millimeters. The igneous rock is most likely
A.  granite                    gabbro         pegmatite                     pumice

55.  The data table below shows the density of four different mineral samples.

A student accurately measured the mass of a sample of one of the four minerals to be 294.4 grams and its volume to be 73.6 cm3.  Which mineral sample did the student measure?
A.  corundum             hematite         galena                 quartz

56.  Which mineral has a metallic luster, a black streak, and is an ore of iron?
A.  galena                 pyroxene                 magnetite                 graphite

57.  The edges of most lithospheric plates are characterized by
A.  reversed magnetic orientation.
unusually rapid radioactive decay.
frequent volcanic activity.
low P-wave and high S-wave velocity.

58.  Compared to Earth’s continental crust, Earth’s oceanic crust is
A.  thinner and more dense.
thinner and less dense.
thicker and more dense.
thicker and less dense.

59.  Which statement correctly compares seismic P-waves with seismic S-waves?
A.  P-waves travel faster than S-waves and pass through Earth’s liquid zones.
P-waves travel faster than S-waves and do not pass through Earth’s liquid zones.
P-waves travel slower than S-waves and pass through Earth’s liquid zones.
P-waves travel slower than S-waves and do not pass through Earth’s liquid zones.

60.  A seismograph station recorded the arrival of the first P-wave at 7:32 p.m. from an earthquake that occurred 4,000 kilometers away. What time was it at the station when the earthquake occurred?
A.  7:20 p.m.                 7:32 p.m.                 7:25 p.m.                 7:39 p.m.

61.  Which temperature is inferred to exist in Earth’s plastic mantle?
A.  2000°C                  5000°C                     3000°C                    6000°C