Some large rivers, such as the Mississippi River, form a delta where they meet the ocean, with
land forming that extends into the sea. The formation of a delta is the result of erosion upstream
where the flow is more energetic. What happens in areas where the flow is less rapid?
A. Further erosion
B. Weathering
C. Deposition correct answers Deposition
Explanation: Deposition of particles in the water occurs where the current slows.
Which type of rock is formed when sand, silt, clay, gravel, and cobbles become physically
cemented or chemically fused together into hard rock?
A. Sedimentary
B. Metamorphic
C. Igneous correct answers Sedimentary
Explanation: Sedimentary rock is formed when sand, silt, clay, gravel, and cobbles become
cemented or fused together into hard rock.
Which force caused the hydrogen, helium, and lithium formed from the big bang to collect and
form stars, planets, and other objects, as well as to form the elements other than hydrogen
making up these objects?
A. Magnetism
B. Chemical bonds
C. Inertia
D. Gravity correct answers Gravity
Explanation: Gravity is the force that caused the matter formed from the big bang to evolve and
form into stars, planets, and other objects.
Which process generates the energy that stars emit?
A. Fusion of hydrogen or other small nuclei to form larger nuclei
B. Chemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen to form water vapor
C. Fission of uranium or other large nuclei to form smaller nuclei
D. Gravitational acceleration of matter to convert potential energy to kinetic energy correct
answers Fusion of hydrogen or other small nuclei to form larger nuclei
Explanation: The process of nuclear fusion of small nuclei accounts for the existence of nuclei
with larger atomic numbers and atomic masses.
Which effect is NOT caused by gravity?
, A. Solar systems being held together to form a galaxy
B. Hydrogen gas condensing to form a star
C. A planet's atmosphere retaining thermal energy
D. Planets orbiting a star correct answers A planet's atmosphere retaining thermal energy
Explanation: Gravity does not play a direct role in determining how a planet's atmosphere retains
thermal energy.
Which property characterizes the outer planets compared to the inner planets?
A. A shorter year (i.e., a shorter amount of time to go around the sun)
B. Smaller size
C. Made of high-density material
D. Gaseous and less dense correct answers Gaseous and less dense
Explanation: The outer planets each tend to be more gaseous, which contributes to them being
less dense.
When it is winter in New York City, which season is it in New Zealand, which is in Earth's
Southern Hemisphere?
A. Spring
B. Winter
C. Fall
D. Summer correct answers Summer
Explanation: When Earth's axis is tilted away from the sun in winter in the Northern
Hemisphere, Earth is pointed toward the sun in the Southern Hemisphere, producing summer.
What does a meander in a river develop primarily from?
A. Roughly equal erosion on both sides of the river
B. Erosion on the side of the river where the flow is faster and deposition on the opposite side
C. Roughly equal deposition on both sides of the river
D. Erosion on the side of the river where the flow is slower and deposition on the opposite side
correct answers Erosion on the side of the river where the flow is faster and deposition on the
opposite side
Explanation: The water moves faster along the outer curve, so it erodes the bank more tending to
make the curve move outward. The water is slower on the inner core, and there more deposition
occurs.
Many cycles of water getting into a rock and expanding by freezing have produced large cracks.
What is this is an example of?