THIS TEST WILL NOT BE DEPOSITED IN THE LIBRARY RESERVE

BROCK UNIVERSITY

ERSC 1P01 Planet Earth – Solid Earth

Midterm Test – 25th February 2020

Duration 50 minutes

No aids allowed

ERSC 1P01 Planet Earth – Solid Earth Number of pages: 8

Midterm test: 25th February 2020 Number of students: 168
Place of test: Thistle Rm 247 Duration: 50 mins
Time of test: 1100–1150 hrs Instructor: Prof. Martin J. Head

Name

Student number

No examination aids are permitted (this regulation does not preclude special arrangements being made for
students with disabilities). Use or possession of unauthorized materials or electronic devices will result in a
charge of academic misconduct under the University’s Academic Integrity Policy.

There are fifty-five (55) questions in total. All questions are of equal weight. NO marks are deducted for
incorrect answers. Choose only ONE answer for each question. Mark your answers on the computer sheet
provided. Instructions on the computer sheet must be followed EXACTLY to avoid incorrect scoring.
(You may write notes on this question paper, but it will not be used in the marking process. You MUST
hand in this question sheet along with your completed computer sheet).

1. He showed that planets travel around the Sun not in strictly circular orbits but elliptical ones. He was
a. Copernicus
b. Kepler
c. Newton
d. Galileo
e. Ptolemy

2. Eratosthenes measured the angle of a shadow cast by a tower in Alexandria at a time when a well in
Aswan was fully illuminated by the Sun. Knowing the distance between the two, this allowed him to
determine
a. the Earth’s angle of tilt when spinning
b. the fact that Earth is spinning on its axis
c. the weight (mass) of the Earth
d. the circumference of the Earth
e. the distance between the Earth and the Sun

3. The commonest elements in our solar system are

a. nitrogen and oxygen
b. iron and magnesium
c. hydrogen and helium
d. carbon and silicon
e. iron and nickel

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4. A red shift in the spectra of distant galaxies means that they are
a. rotating rapidly
b. moving away from us
c. moving towards us
d. warming up
e. cooling down

5. On which of the following planets does the Sun NOT appear to rise in the east?
a. Mercury
b. Mars
c. Jupiter
d. Venus
e. Earth

6. The Earth’s magnetic field is caused by

a. magnetic minerals in the Earth’s crust
b. Van Allen radiation belts
c. the aurora borealis
d. magnetic minerals in the Earth’s mantle
e. Earth’s metallic core

7. The layer of Earth’s atmosphere in which we live, where vertical circulation, convection and clouds
occur, is known as the
a. hyposphere
b. troposphere
c. cloudosphere
d. vertigosphere
e. stratosphere

8. Nevil Maskelyne compared the gravitational pull of the Earth with that of a nearby mountain to
determine
a. that gravity really existed
b. the overall mass of the Earth
c. the diameter of the Earth
d. the density of surface rocks
e. that the earth spins on its axis

9. The lithosphere is
a. the rigid part of the upper mantle
b. both the oceanic and continental crust
c. only the oceanic crust
d. the crust and rigid uppermost part of the upper mantle
e. part of the outer core

10. Continental drift was proposed by

a. Arthur Holmes
b. Alfred Wegener
c. Charles Darwin
d. Leonardo da Vinci
e. Mark Twain

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11. Significant early resistance to accepting continental drift was that
a. there was no known viable mechanism
b. there was no easy way to fit the present continents together
c. fossil evidence did not support it
d. ancient glaciation on different continents did not fit together
e. the idea contradicted the doctrines of the church

12. Which one of the following statements is TRUE?

a. Declination is the angle of dip made by Earth’s magnetic field at the surface
b. Iceland today lies across both the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate
c. It is not possible to determine paleomagnetism from sedimentary rocks
d. Heat flow at the sea floor increases with increasing distance from a mid-ocean ridge axis
e. Magnetic inclination at the magnetic equator is 90°

13. At temperatures below the Curie point, magnetite

a. turns from liquid to solid (i.e. it crystallizes)
b. reverts to its polymorph hematite
c. will acquire a preferred magnetic alignment
d. will chill to form a glass
e. both a and b

14. Magnetic anomalies on the sea floor result from sea floor spreading in conjunction with
a. the repeated reversal of Earth’s magnetic polarity
b. the alternation of magnetic and non-magnetic magmas injected into mid-ocean ridges
c. the alternation of magnetic and non-magnetic sediments on the sea floor
d. episodic (stop–start) activity along spreading ridges
e. both b and c

15. With respect to sea-floor spreading, the Canadian J. Tuzo Wilson recognized the importance of
a. the fit of the present continents
b. fracture zones at mid-ocean ridges
c. magnetic anomalies on the sea floor
d. ocean trenches and subduction
e. abyssal plains

16. Apparent polar wander paths for N. America and Europe coincide for the time interval 280–180 Ma
(millions of years ago) and then diverge. This is because during this time
a. N. America and Europe were physically separated
b. N. America and Europe were physically joined together
c. the north pole separated into two magnetic components (vectors)
d. the two separate magnetic components (vectors) of the north pole came together
e. none of the above

17. The margins of continents that occur within the interior of a lithospheric plate are called
a. passive margins
b. active margins
c. subducting margins
d. internal margins
e. inert margins

18. The two sides of a spreading ridge are primarily pulled apart by
a. slab pull
b. asthenosphere upflow
c. ridge push
d. the Moon’s gravitational field
e. both a and c

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19. The principal evidence for the subduction of one plate under another along a dipping plane comes from
a. volcanoes
b. fossils
c. paleomagnetism
d. earthquakes
e. geothermal gradients

20. The San Andreas Fault in California is an example of a

a. convergent plate boundary
b. transform plate boundary
c. divergent plate boundary
d. triple junction
e. hot spot

21. The Hawaiian islands are situated at a

a. convergent plate boundary
b. transform plate boundary
c. divergent plate boundary
d. triple junction
e. hot spot

22. The partial melting of oceanic plate as it subducts under another oceanic plate results in
a. a volcanic island arc
b. a hot spot
c. an accretionary prism
d. a transform fault
e. a mountain fold belt

23. Which of the following is not a mineral?

a. synthetic diamond
b. glass
c. malachite
d. graphite
e. both a and b

24. Which one of the following statements is FALSE?

a. A geode is a cavity with crystals growing inward
b. The arrangement of atoms in crystals can be determined using x-ray diffraction
c. Crystals of a particular mineral always have the same angles between adjacent faces
d. Diamond (10 on the Mohs scale) is twice as hard as Apatite (5 on this scale)
e. Olivine is a silicate

25. Quartz is an example of a

a. a silicate having independent tetrahedra
b. sheet silicate
c. a silicate having double-chain tetrahedra
d. framework silicate
e. a silicate having single-chain tetrahedral

26. The imaginary framework of atoms within a crystal is known as a crystal

a. inclination
b. lattice
c. track
d. trellis
e. stack

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27. Pyrite is
a. a halide
b. an oxide
c. a sulphide
d. a sulphate
e. a silicate

28. When rock in the asthenosphere is brought from deeper to shallower depths it
a. may melt or partially melt because of the reduced pressure
b. will always stay solid because the temperatures are too low for melting
c. will increase in density
d. may melt or partially melt because of the increasing temperature
e. none of the above because the asthenosphere consists only of magma

29. A vertical sheet of intrusive igneous rock is called a

a. batholith
b. dam
c. sill
d. dike
e. laccolith

30. In Bowen’s reaction series, minerals crystallize from a cooling magma in the following order
a. olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, quartz
b. amphibole, pyroxene, quartz, olivine
c. pyroxene, amphibole, olivine, quartz
d. quartz, amphibole, olivine, pyroxene
e. olivine, quartz, amphibole, pyroxene

31. Fractional crystallization in a magma causes the remaining magma to become increasingly
a. less viscous
b. rich in mafic (Mg and Fe) minerals
c. rich in silica
d. rich in the mineral olivine
e. both a and c

32. The coarse-grained equivalent of rhyolite is a

a. gabbro
b. diorite
c. peridotite
d. granite
e. basalt

33. The chemical weathering of pyrite to hematite occurs through

a. hydrolysis
b. oxidation
c. dissolution
d. calcification
e. mineralization

34. The products of an eroding granite mountain have been transported for a very long distance to the coast,
where they have accumulated as mature beach sand. This sand is dominated by
a. rounded quartz grains
b. a mixture of lithic clasts, feldspar, and clays
c. a mixture of lithic clasts and feldspar
d. a mixture of quartz grains, lithic clasts, and feldspar
e. angular lithic clasts

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35. These minerals are arranged according to their rate of weathering, starting with the slowest weathering
a. halite, calcite, orthoclase, quartz
b. halite, quartz, calcite, orthoclase
c. quartz, calcite, halite, orthoclase
d. quartz, orthoclase, calcite, halite
e. quartz, calcite, orthoclase, halite

36. About 7 million years ago, the Mediterranean

a. froze over
b. dried out
c. became a sea of lava
d. was hit by a large meteorite
e. None of the above

37. An unsorted and unstratified deposit called “till” is associated with

a. wind deposition
b. river deposition
c. turbidity currents
d. lake deposition
e. glacial deposition

38. A succession of marine shale, beach sandstone, coal, and redbeds, in that order of deposition,
indicates
a. a relative sea-level rise
b. a marine transgression
c. a marine regression
d. no change in relative sea level
e. both a and b

39. A biochemical sedimentary rock formed from siliceous ooze that results from the accumulation of
siliceous sponges and siliceous microplankton on the sea floor is known as
a. chalk
b. sandstone
c. travertine
d. micrite
e. chert

40. Which one of the following is NOT a foliated metamorphic rock

a. slate
b. phyllite
c. schist
d. hornfels
e. gneiss

41. The growth of garnet crystals in a metamorphosed shale is an example of

a. neocrystallization
b. pressure solution
c. phase change
d. recrystallization
e. plastic deformation

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42. Which ONE of the following statements about metamorphism is TRUE?
a. A migmatite is a kind of slate
b. Cleavage in slate does not necessarily run parallel to the bedding planes
c. A fault breccia forms deep below the surface
d. Shocked quartz is typical of contact metamorphism
e. The amphibolite facies represents low temperatures and high pressures

43. Kyanite is a high-pressure polymorph of

a. quartz
b. garnet
c. biotite
d. chlorite
e. andalusite

44. Ancient metamorphic rocks form a large area of Canada known as the
a. Greenland–Baltic belt
b. North American belt
c. Canadian shield
d. Canadian belt
e. metamorphic table

45. Which one of the following is an index mineral representing the highest grade of metamorphism?
a. quartz
b. biotite
c. chlorite
d. white mica
e. sillimanite

46. A metamorphic rock that forms deep in a fault zone and is characteristic of dynamic metamorphism is
known as a
a. dynamite
b. gneiss
c. schist
d. granulite
e. mylonite

47. For a high-grade metamorphic rock to convert to a low-grade metamorphic rock during exhumation
(retrograde metamorphism), there must be
a. further heating to near-melting conditions
b. abundant quartz in the original metamorphic rock
c. the addition of H2O
d. the addition of CO2
e. the removal of H2O and CO2

48. Lava erupted underwater in multiple globular masses up to about 1 m across is known as
a. blocky lava
b. ropy lava
c. pillow lava
d. spherical lava
e. bulbous lava

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49. A volcano, such as Mount Fiji or Vesuvius, with a “classic” volcano profile and made up of alternating
lava and pyroclastic layers is known as a
a. stratovolcano
b. fissure volcano
c. shield volcano
d. basaltic volcano
e. cinder volcano

50. The Snake River Plain, Idaho, is known for its

a. lahars
b. stratovolcanoes
c. granite batholiths
d. cinder cones
e. flood basalts

51. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of basaltic lava?

a. Its eruption is usually relatively non-explosive
b. It erupts at relatively low temperatures
c. Its silica content is relatively high
d. It flows at low speeds and over short distances
e. Its viscosity is relatively high

52. Which ONE of the following statements is TRUE?

a. Volcanism is presently known only on planet Earth
b. Gases are rarely associated with volcanic eruptions
c. A nuée ardente is a rapidly-flowing river of lava
d. Tephra is a general term for unconsolidated debris erupted from volcanoes
e. Vesuvius is the largest volcanic eruption ever documented on Earth

53. Pyroclastic debris in the form of pea- to plum-sized fragments is known as

a. ash
b. conglomerate
c. lahar
d. lapilli
e. bombs

54. If a volcano occurs within a volcanically active region, but has not erupted for hundreds of thousands of
years, it is said to be
a. active
b. hibernating
c. fossilized
d. extinct
e. dormant

55. This volcanic eruption in 1815 caused the “year without a summer” in 1816. It was
a. Tambora
b. Vesuvius
c. Mt. St. Helens
d. Krakatau
e. Pinatubo

END

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