Key Exam 1: Geology 101, Fall 2001
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1. Which of the following is part of the definition of geology?
A. the study of the planet earth
B. the materials of which the earth is made
C. the processes that act on these materials
E. none of the above
2. There are several subdisciplines in geology. (a) _____ is the study of minerals and (b) _____ is the study of rocks.
B. (a) Petrology, (b) mineralogy
C. (a) Geomorphology, (b) petrology
D. (a) Paleontology, (b) geomorphology
E. none of the above combinations
3. There is a natural progression in the order of the material we will study in this geology class. We start with _____, because rocks are composed of them.
A. land masses
C. mountain chains
D. elements
E. none of the above
4. Later in the semester we will study plate tectonics. This is the theory that the earth’s crust is composed of several moving pieces, called plates. The boundaries of these plates help explain the distribution of _____.
A. rivers
B. cities
D. deserts
E. none of the above
5. The last few weeks of the semester we will study environmental issues that relate to geology. For example, I will discuss the health effects of asbestos because it is a/an _____.
A. element
B. fossil
C. rock
E. none of the above
6. Which of the following products contain minerals?
A. sandpaper
B. quartz watch
C. fertilizer
E. none of the above
7. Which of the following properties must a mineral have?
A. be naturally occurring
B. be a liquid
C. be a solid
E. none of the above
8. Another property of a mineral is that it must:
A. have a random arrangement of atoms
C. be human-made
D. exhibit the same set of physical properties all the time (e.g., all samples of the same mineral must be the same color)
E. none of the above
9. Minerals are named:
A. after places
B. based on appearance
C. based on chemistry
D. after people
10. An atom is composed of several parts. The negatively charged part of an atom is the (a)_____, the positively charged part of an atom is the (b)_____, and the neutral part is the (c)_____.
B. (a) neutron, (b) electron, (c) proton
C. (a) electron, (b) anion, (c) ion
D. (a) anion, (b) cation, (c) ion
E. none of the above combinations
11. The atomic weight of an atom is the:
A. number of protons it has
B. number of neutrons it has
C. number of electrons it has
E. none of the above
12. The size of an atom relates to:
A. where it formed
B. how it formed
C. the number of neutrons it has
E. none of the above
13. When the number of protons and electrons in an atom are unequal, the atom becomes a charged:
B. cation
C. anion
D. metal
E. none of the above
14. A/an (a)_____ has fewer electrons than protons and is (b)_____ than a/an (c)_____, which has more electrons than protons.
A. (a) anion, (b) bigger, (c) cation
B. (a) anion, (b) smaller, (c) cation
D. (a) cation, (b) bigger, (c) anion
E. none of the above combinations
15. There are approximately 90 naturally occurring elements, but only 8 of them comprise approximately 98.5% of the earth’s crust. (a)_____ is the most abundant cation, while (b)_____ is the most abundant anion in the earth’s crust.
A. (a) Oxygen, (b) silicon
C. (a) Carbon, (b) oxygen
D. (a) Carbon, (b) silicon
E. none of the above combinations
16. The two most abundant elements in the earth’s crust can combine to form:
B. calcite
C. feldspar
D. muscovite
E. none of the above
17. When atoms combine to make minerals, their electrons bond them together. The strongest bond involves sharing of electrons and is called (a)_____ bonding, while (b)_____ bonding involves electrons being removed from one atom, and is a weaker type of bond.
A. (a) metallic, (b) ionic
B. (a) ionic, (b) covalent
D. (a) ionic, (b) metallic
E. none of the above combinations
18. The physical properties of mineral’s are:
A. used to help identify minerals
B. related to the minerals crystal structure
C. any measurable or observable aspect of a mineral
E. none of the above
19. Which of the 8 most abundant elements in the earth’s crust produces dark color in minerals?
B. aluminum
C. silicon
D. oxygen
E. calcium
20. Cleavage and fracture are physical properties of minerals that deal with how minerals break. Minerals break when forces are applied. For instance, (a)_____ is an applied force and (b)_____ is the mineral’s response to it.
B. (a) strain, (b) stress
C. (a) cleavage, (b) fracture
D. (a) fracture, (b) cleavage
E. none of the above combinations
21. _____ occurs when minerals break along weak planes.
A. Elastic deformation
B. Stress
C. Fracture
E. none of the above
22. Minerals are classified based upon:
B. their main cation or cationic complex
C. their physical properties
D. where they are found
E. none of the above
23. An anionic complex is:
B. two or more elements with a positive charge
C. a group of elements whose charges sum to zero
D. a single anion
E. none of the above
24. The basis for mineral chemistry is that minerals are composed of:
B. anions and cations whose charges sum to a positive number
C. anions and cations whose charges sum to a negative number
D. neutral charged atoms
E. none of the above
25. Normally, silicon has a +4 charge and oxygen has a -2 charge. When these two elements combine to form a mineral, the sum of their charges must be (a)____, so they would combine in the ratio of (b)____.
A. (a) equal, (b) 2 silicons to 4 oxygens
B. (a) positive, (b) 1 silicon to 1 oxygen
C. (a) zero, (b) 2 silicons to 1 oxygen
E. none of the above combinations
26. Which of the following could be a mineral formula (given the charges: K+, Al3+, Si4+, O2-)?
A. KAlSi3O8
B. KAlSi2O6
C. K2Al2Si2O8
D. Al2SiO5
E. They are all possible mineral formulas.
27. The following minerals, CaCO3, MgCO3, and FeCO3, would all belong to the _____ mineral class.
A. silicate
C. phosphate
D. oxide
E. none of the above
28. I listed 9 major mineral classes. One of these, the (a)_____, has sulfur as its main anion. Another is sulfur plus oxygen and is called the (b)_____ group. These two groups are important environmentally because (c)_____ will more easily release heavy metals.
B. (a) phosphates, (b) sulfate, (c) sulfides
C. (a) oxides, (b) phosphate, (c) sulfides
D. (a) hydroxides, (b) oxide, (c) sulfates
E. none of the above combinations
29. Minerals are classed first on their chemistry and then by their _____.
A. color
B. location
C. physical properties
E. none of the above
30. Minerals are built of basic building blocks called ____.
B. elements
C. atoms
D. electrons
E. none of the above
31. The basis for mineral structures is that _____.
A. they must from underground
C. they must be liquids
D. the anions and cations must be the same size
E. none of the above
32. _____ are minerals with the same chemical formula but different structures.
A. Silicates
B. Basalts
D. Garnets
E. none of the above
33. _____ of minerals occur because minerals from at different temperatures and pressures and can have different structures.
A. Clusters
B. Sets
C. Elongation
E. none of the above
34. Silicate minerals are based on the _____.
A. aluminum tetrahedron
B. calcium tetrahedron
C. sodium tetrahedron
D. iron tetrahedron
E. none
of the above
35. The different classes of silicate minerals are the result of _____.
B. charge differences between the silicate tetrahedrons
C. minerals forming on the surface
D. minerals forming underground
E. none of the above
36. The pyroxenes and amphiboles are examples of (a)_____, while the micas and clays are examples of (b)_____.
B. (a) silicates, (b) oxides
C. (a) oxides, (b) silicates
D. (a) rocks, (b) minerals
E. none of the above combinations
37. I defined a rock as:
B. what minerals are made of
C. what elements are made of
D. composed of organic materials
E. none of the above
38. Rocks are classified into three groups based on how they formed. (a)_____ rocks form from magma, (b)_____ rocks form from sediment, and (c)_____ rocks form from existing rocks.
A. (a) Igneous, (b) metamorphic, (c) sedimentary
B. (a) Metamorphic, (b) sedimentary, (c) igneous
D. (a) Sedimentary, (b) igneous, (c) metamorphic
E. none of the above combinations
39. Rocks are further classified within each of these three groups based on their (a)_____ (i.e., what they look like) and (b)_____ (i.e., the minerals they contain).
B. (a) physical properties, (b) color
C. (a) color, (b) weight
D. (a) shape, (b) size
E. none of the above combinations
40. Geologists often study rocks by looking at thin slices of them with a microscope. In this way it is easier to distinguish an igneous rock from a sedimentary rock because the mineral grains are (a)_____ for the igneous rock and the grains often appear (b) _____ in the sedimentary rock.
A. (a) big, (b) small
C. (a) dark colored, (b) light colored
D. (a) clear, (b) opaque
E. none of the above combinations
41. _____ is the description and classification of rock’s.
B. Petrology
C. Mineralogy
D. Paleontology
E. none of the above
42. _____ is the study of rocks that deals with the rocks occurrence and formation.
A. Petrography
C. Mineralogy
D. Paleontology
E. none of the above
43. The rock cycle is used to explain how rocks are formed and change. The 3 rock types are included along with 2 non-rock products that occur in the cycle. These are (a)_____, which is/are molten rock, and (b)_____, which is/are the result of breakdown of rock.
B. (a) minerals, (b) lava
C. (a) lava, (b) minerals
D. (a) sediment, (b) magma
E. none of the above combinations
44. There are also 5 processes that occur in the rock cycle. One process, _____, occurs when a rock is heated and converts to a magma.
A. metamorphism
B. weathering
C. crystallization
E. none of the above
45. Water, like most materials, occurs in three phases: solid (i.e., ice), liquid, and vapor. Knowing which phase occurs allows us to:
A. estimate the pressure and temperature of the water
B. predict which phase would be stable at a certain pressure and temperature
C. predict how a phase would change if there are changes in pressure and/or temperature
E. none of the above
46. There are two main types of igneous rocks. (a)_____ rocks form on the surface of the earth, and (b)_____ rocks form in the earth.
C. (a) Plutonic, (b) volcanic
D. (a) Phaneritic, (b) aphanitic
E. none of the above combinations
47. The grain size of igneous rocks provides clues as to where the rock formed. If magma cools rapidly on the surface, the grains are (a)_____, but if the magma cools slowly deep underground, the grains are (b)_____.
B. (a) visible, (b) invisible
C. (a) angular, (b) rounded
D. (a) interlocking, (b) flattened
E. none of the above combinations
48. (a)_____ is the main rock type in Moscow, and (b) _____ is the rock that comprises Moscow Mountain.
B. (a) Granite, (b) basalt
C. (a) Limestone, (b) sandstone
D. (a) Sandstone, (b) limestone
E. none of the above combinations
49. We can discuss igneous rocks based on where they formed, how they formed, and what they look like. Thus, _____ could all be used as synonyms to describe the same rock - for instance, a basalt.
A. extrusive,
volcanic, aphanitic
B. intrusive, volcanic, aphanitic
C. intrusive, plutonic, aphanitic
D. extrusive, plutonic, aphanitic
E. none of the above
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