ESS 101: GEOLOGY MIDTERM REVIEW FOR STUDENTS Questions
with Correct Solutions
Question:
1. What texture is displayed by a coarse-grained igneous rock?
Answer:
Phaneritic texture, characterized by large, visible crystals.
Question:
2. What does red-shifted light from distant galaxies indicate?
Answer:
It indicates that the universe is expanding.
Question:
3. What is thought to have formed the Moon?
Answer:
A catastrophic collision with a second, large body during the early stages of planetary
formation.
Question:
4. Can igneous rocks be formed from sedimentary rocks?
Answer:
False, according to the rock cycle, sedimentary rocks can form from igneous rocks, but not
vice versa.
Question:
5. Compared to high-grade metamorphic rocks, low-grade rocks are produced at what
temperatures?
Answer:
Low-grade rocks are produced at cooler temperatures.
Question:
6. What does regional metamorphism typically produce?
Answer:
Foliation and potentially a new mineral assemblage distinct from that prior to metamorphism.
Question:
7. Why do stratovolcanoes have steep slopes?
, Answer:
They form from many different deposits of lava and ash.
Question:
8. What kind of lava rocks are typically found at a shield volcano?
Answer:
Basalt, but andesite and rhyolite can also be present.
Question:
9. What increases a lava's viscosity?
Answer:
Increasing silica content.
Question:
10. What is an unconformity?
Answer:
It develops when new rock layers are deposited on top of eroded layers with a gap in time.
Question:
11. What is most useful in correlating sedimentary layers over long distances?
Answer:
Index fossils with rapid evolutionary change.
Question:
12. What principle can be used to determine the relative age of an igneous intrusion called a
dike?
with Correct Solutions
Question:
1. What texture is displayed by a coarse-grained igneous rock?
Answer:
Phaneritic texture, characterized by large, visible crystals.
Question:
2. What does red-shifted light from distant galaxies indicate?
Answer:
It indicates that the universe is expanding.
Question:
3. What is thought to have formed the Moon?
Answer:
A catastrophic collision with a second, large body during the early stages of planetary
formation.
Question:
4. Can igneous rocks be formed from sedimentary rocks?
Answer:
False, according to the rock cycle, sedimentary rocks can form from igneous rocks, but not
vice versa.
Question:
5. Compared to high-grade metamorphic rocks, low-grade rocks are produced at what
temperatures?
Answer:
Low-grade rocks are produced at cooler temperatures.
Question:
6. What does regional metamorphism typically produce?
Answer:
Foliation and potentially a new mineral assemblage distinct from that prior to metamorphism.
Question:
7. Why do stratovolcanoes have steep slopes?
, Answer:
They form from many different deposits of lava and ash.
Question:
8. What kind of lava rocks are typically found at a shield volcano?
Answer:
Basalt, but andesite and rhyolite can also be present.
Question:
9. What increases a lava's viscosity?
Answer:
Increasing silica content.
Question:
10. What is an unconformity?
Answer:
It develops when new rock layers are deposited on top of eroded layers with a gap in time.
Question:
11. What is most useful in correlating sedimentary layers over long distances?
Answer:
Index fossils with rapid evolutionary change.
Question:
12. What principle can be used to determine the relative age of an igneous intrusion called a
dike?
