©Jason MacConnell 2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
GEOG Chapter 8 Exam Questions With
Correct Answers A+
Which of the following is incorrectly matched?
A) endogenic- internal processes
B) exogenic - external processes
C) radioactive decay heat - exogenic energy source
D) weathering - exogenic breaking and dissolving the crust - Answer✔C) radioactive decay heat
- exogenic energy source
Which of the following is endogenic in nature?
A) weathering
B) stream deposition
C) volcanism
D) glacial erosion - Answer✔C) volcanism
Which of the following is exogenic in nature?
A) earthquakes
B) volcanism
C) flows of heat and materials in the mantle
D) weathering - Answer✔D) weathering
The shape of the earth's surface results from
A) gravity.
B) the action of wind, water and ice.
C) the radioactive decay of atoms.
D) all of the above
E) gravity and wind, water, and ice only - Answer✔D) all of the above
1
, ©Jason MacConnell 2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Tectonic forces
A) erode the surface of the earth.
B) warp, fold, and uplift rock.
C) control soil formation processes.
D) form sedimentary rock. - Answer✔B) warp, fold, and uplift rock.
Which of the following is true regarding the geologic time scale?
A) The bulk of Earth's history has occurred during the Cenozoic era.
B) Over 87 percent of Earth's history has elapsed during the more recent Cenozoic, Mesozoic,
and Paleozoic eras.
C) Both relative and absolute dating methods are used in determining the sequence of the time
scale.
D) We live in the Tertiary period. - Answer✔C) Both relative and absolute dating methods are
used in determining the sequence of the time scale.
Which of the following lists the correct sequence of divisions in the geologic time scale, from
largest to smallest?
A) era, eon, epoch, period
B) eon, era, period, epoch
C) epoch, era, eon, period
D) period, eon, era, epoch - Answer✔B) eon, era, period, epoch
Which of the following lists is in the correct sequence from youngest to oldest?
A) Holocene, Pleistocene, Pliocene, Miocene
B) Holocene, Precambrian, Cenozoic
C) Paleozoic, Cenozoic, Mesozoic
D) Tertiary, Quaternary, Cretaceous - Answer✔A) Holocene, Pleistocene, Pliocene, Miocene
When geologists or archaeologists dig downward into a unit of rock or sediment, they are
digging "back in time." This fact is based on the principle of ________.
A) uniformitarianism
B) superposition
C) catastrophism - Answer✔B) superposition
2
, ©Jason MacConnell 2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Which of the following is not an example of an age-relationship based on absolute dating?
A) The oldest known rocks on Earth are 3.96 billion years old.
B) The Vishnu schist at the bottom of the Grand Canyon is 2 billion years old.
C) The dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago.
D) The Coconino formation in the Grand Canyon is older than the Kaibab formation. -
Answer✔D) The Coconino formation in the Grand Canyon is older than the Kaibab formation.
Uniformitarianism assumes that
A) Earth is quite young and is shaped by dramatic events.
B) catastrophic episodes have regularly occurred.
C) the same physical processes we see today are a key to understanding the processes that have
been operating throughout geologic time.
D) mountains, plains, and canyons formed by catastrophic events. - Answer✔C) the same
physical processes we see today are a key to understanding the processes that have been
The idea that Earth formed only a few thousand years ago is
A) basically accepted today by science.
B) based on little physical evidence and is more appropriately considered a belief.
C) referred to as uniformitarianism.
D) the basis of the geologic time scale. - Answer✔B) based on little physical evidence and is
more appropriately considered a belief.
Earth's interior is
A) evenly mixed throughout.
B) not subject to internal differentiation.
C) heated unevenly by the heat of radioactive decay.
D) arranged with lighter elements toward the center and heavier elements toward the crust. -
Answer✔C) heated unevenly by the heat of radioactive decay.
Knowledge of Earth's interior is derived from
A) direct sampling of the interior using deep-test wells.
B) work in Earth's deepest caverns and caves.
C) indirect evidence involving the analysis of seismic waves.
3
GEOG Chapter 8 Exam Questions With
Correct Answers A+
Which of the following is incorrectly matched?
A) endogenic- internal processes
B) exogenic - external processes
C) radioactive decay heat - exogenic energy source
D) weathering - exogenic breaking and dissolving the crust - Answer✔C) radioactive decay heat
- exogenic energy source
Which of the following is endogenic in nature?
A) weathering
B) stream deposition
C) volcanism
D) glacial erosion - Answer✔C) volcanism
Which of the following is exogenic in nature?
A) earthquakes
B) volcanism
C) flows of heat and materials in the mantle
D) weathering - Answer✔D) weathering
The shape of the earth's surface results from
A) gravity.
B) the action of wind, water and ice.
C) the radioactive decay of atoms.
D) all of the above
E) gravity and wind, water, and ice only - Answer✔D) all of the above
1
, ©Jason MacConnell 2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Tectonic forces
A) erode the surface of the earth.
B) warp, fold, and uplift rock.
C) control soil formation processes.
D) form sedimentary rock. - Answer✔B) warp, fold, and uplift rock.
Which of the following is true regarding the geologic time scale?
A) The bulk of Earth's history has occurred during the Cenozoic era.
B) Over 87 percent of Earth's history has elapsed during the more recent Cenozoic, Mesozoic,
and Paleozoic eras.
C) Both relative and absolute dating methods are used in determining the sequence of the time
scale.
D) We live in the Tertiary period. - Answer✔C) Both relative and absolute dating methods are
used in determining the sequence of the time scale.
Which of the following lists the correct sequence of divisions in the geologic time scale, from
largest to smallest?
A) era, eon, epoch, period
B) eon, era, period, epoch
C) epoch, era, eon, period
D) period, eon, era, epoch - Answer✔B) eon, era, period, epoch
Which of the following lists is in the correct sequence from youngest to oldest?
A) Holocene, Pleistocene, Pliocene, Miocene
B) Holocene, Precambrian, Cenozoic
C) Paleozoic, Cenozoic, Mesozoic
D) Tertiary, Quaternary, Cretaceous - Answer✔A) Holocene, Pleistocene, Pliocene, Miocene
When geologists or archaeologists dig downward into a unit of rock or sediment, they are
digging "back in time." This fact is based on the principle of ________.
A) uniformitarianism
B) superposition
C) catastrophism - Answer✔B) superposition
2
, ©Jason MacConnell 2025 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Which of the following is not an example of an age-relationship based on absolute dating?
A) The oldest known rocks on Earth are 3.96 billion years old.
B) The Vishnu schist at the bottom of the Grand Canyon is 2 billion years old.
C) The dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago.
D) The Coconino formation in the Grand Canyon is older than the Kaibab formation. -
Answer✔D) The Coconino formation in the Grand Canyon is older than the Kaibab formation.
Uniformitarianism assumes that
A) Earth is quite young and is shaped by dramatic events.
B) catastrophic episodes have regularly occurred.
C) the same physical processes we see today are a key to understanding the processes that have
been operating throughout geologic time.
D) mountains, plains, and canyons formed by catastrophic events. - Answer✔C) the same
physical processes we see today are a key to understanding the processes that have been
The idea that Earth formed only a few thousand years ago is
A) basically accepted today by science.
B) based on little physical evidence and is more appropriately considered a belief.
C) referred to as uniformitarianism.
D) the basis of the geologic time scale. - Answer✔B) based on little physical evidence and is
more appropriately considered a belief.
Earth's interior is
A) evenly mixed throughout.
B) not subject to internal differentiation.
C) heated unevenly by the heat of radioactive decay.
D) arranged with lighter elements toward the center and heavier elements toward the crust. -
Answer✔C) heated unevenly by the heat of radioactive decay.
Knowledge of Earth's interior is derived from
A) direct sampling of the interior using deep-test wells.
B) work in Earth's deepest caverns and caves.
C) indirect evidence involving the analysis of seismic waves.
3
