GEOL 101exam Question & Correct Answer
(100% Verified) 2024 Updates
Convergent - CORRECT ANSWER-coming together- there is a subduction of one of the plates and it is
being destroyed as it goes down-- the subduction pushes the magma up creating either an island
volcano (if with water) or a volcano on land
What happens when a convergent boundary forms - CORRECT ANSWER-Any time you have subduction
there is going to be a trench, in water, and some sort of volcanic activity
Ocean Submergence - CORRECT ANSWER-You cannot have submergence with two oceanic crusts
because think of buoyancy (think of two kayaks on the water running into each other)
Divergent - CORRECT ANSWER-the plates are being generated in the divergent setting
Continental rift zone - CORRECT ANSWER-(young plate boundary)- this would be the beginning of a new
ocean
Oceanic-continental convergent boundary - CORRECT ANSWER-compression
Reverse faulting - CORRECT ANSWER-the man hanging off the fault line, where is his head and where are
his feet-- a reverse fault is created by compression
- Foot wall- the bigger at the base-- moves down in a reverse fault
- Hanging wall- the bigger at the top-- moves up in a reverse fault
Transform Boundaries - CORRECT ANSWER-just because there are three transform boundaries does not
mean we have that many plates- there can be many transform boundaries
Fracture zones - CORRECT ANSWER-transform boundary scars- many along our mid-ocean ridges
,What is faulting? - CORRECT ANSWER-when tectonic plates move, the lithosphere fractures and is
displaced
Normal faulting (and examples) - CORRECT ANSWER-Divergence
- Mid-Ocean Ridge- a submarine mountain chain buoyed by underlying mantle heat
- Continental Rift- a divergent plat boundary is the site of the breakup of a continent and new ocean
formation
- Passive Margin- a continental shelf that forms when thinned margins of a continent slowly subside,
settle, flood and become covered by marine sediments following continental rifting; these margins
come to lie far from any plate boundary because the ocean that opened when the margins first formed
widens
Nazca and South American Plates!!!! - CORRECT ANSWER-
Crustal thickening - CORRECT ANSWER-these rocks are really far down in the Earth and have the heat
available to make it wavy like this and make it really thick when they come together (playdo)
Plate Tectonics Evidence - CORRECT ANSWER-- Earthquakes
- Volcanoes
- Topography/relief
- Age of crust
- Seafloor spreading
Paleomagnetism - CORRECT ANSWER-the study and measurement of Earth's magnetic field in the
geologic past, as preserved in minerals and rocks
Divergence Features - CORRECT ANSWER-- Uplift/doming
- Rifting
- Formation of new oceanic crust
- Mid-ocean ridge and passive margins
,Strike-slip faults - CORRECT ANSWER-depends on if you were straddling the fault and decide which side
is coming towards you- if right it is right lateral and vice-versa
- Oceanic Fracture zones
- Pull-apart basins
- Linear features
Convergence Features: Thrust Fault and Deformation/Thickening of Crust at Depth - CORRECT ANSWER-
○ Thrust fault: low angle reverse fault, horizontal movement
○Deformation/thickening of crust at depth-- these rocks are really far down in the Earth and have the
heat available to make it wavy like this and make it really thick when they come together (playdo)
Subduction zones - CORRECT ANSWER-with convergent plate boundaries, is land actually being lost or is
it being redistributed?
Both of these things happen
Evolution of the Appalachians - CORRECT ANSWER-○ ~550 MYA: supercontinent Rodinia (superseded
Pangea) breaking apart
§ Wilson Cycle- how we explain why we have super continents on the earth and then breaking apart-
the heat from the core is going to be hotter underneath the continental crust instead of the think crust
making the mantle very hot and it expands (lava lamp, heating up the liquid at the bottom making it rise
because it is more dense)
○ ~470 MYA: plate motion changes, Taconic orogeny- movement onto the continental crust
○ ~375 MYA start of Acadian orogeny with Avalon micro-continent
○ ~330 MYA N. American, now apart of Laurasia, collides with Gondwana to form Pangea
○ At that point, the Appalachians are as high as the modern day Himalayas
- The collision zones started rifting to form the Atlantic Ocean in the Jurassic (180 MYA)
Looking Glass Rock - CORRECT ANSWER-○ Igneous pluton- pluton means something that forms deep
inside the earth and igneous has to do with magma- basically this is a failed volcano, the magma was not
able to make it out of the crust, the magma moved up for so long in the thick crust that it cooled down
before it could get to the surface
§ Magma generated by heat collision
§ Too deep or viscous to rise to the surface
, § Cools below the surface
Later exposed through weathering/erosion
Weathering after orogeny events - CORRECT ANSWER-Isostasy will cause uplift concurrent with erosion
Isostasy - CORRECT ANSWER-the balance reached by Earth's crust and the lithospheric mantle as they
float upon the denser, more pliable asthenosphere. According to this principle, the elevation of the crust
depends upon its thickness and the density contrast with the asthenosphere.
Weathering - CORRECT ANSWER-○ Physical/mechanical weathering: breaks rocks into smaller pieces
○ Chemical weathering: chemically adds or removes elements from rock, transforms them
○ Biological weathering: can be chemical or physical ex: trees Erosion: movement of weathered
material ex: wind
Wilson Cycle - CORRECT ANSWER-how we explain why we have super continents on the earth and then
breaking apart- the heat from the core is going to be hotter underneath the continental crust instead of
the think crust making the mantle very hot and it expands (lava lamp, heating up the liquid at the
bottom making it rise because it is more dense)
a cycle of tectonic activity that commences with rifting and the development of an ocean, followed by
subduction and the formation of volcanic arcs and finally continent-continent collision
Layers of the Earth - CORRECT ANSWER-Crust
Lithosphere- crust and upper most part of the mantle
Asthenosphere
Mantle
Outer core
Inner core
Physical and chemical weathering - CORRECT ANSWER-More exposed surface area, more physical and
chemical weathering occurs
(100% Verified) 2024 Updates
Convergent - CORRECT ANSWER-coming together- there is a subduction of one of the plates and it is
being destroyed as it goes down-- the subduction pushes the magma up creating either an island
volcano (if with water) or a volcano on land
What happens when a convergent boundary forms - CORRECT ANSWER-Any time you have subduction
there is going to be a trench, in water, and some sort of volcanic activity
Ocean Submergence - CORRECT ANSWER-You cannot have submergence with two oceanic crusts
because think of buoyancy (think of two kayaks on the water running into each other)
Divergent - CORRECT ANSWER-the plates are being generated in the divergent setting
Continental rift zone - CORRECT ANSWER-(young plate boundary)- this would be the beginning of a new
ocean
Oceanic-continental convergent boundary - CORRECT ANSWER-compression
Reverse faulting - CORRECT ANSWER-the man hanging off the fault line, where is his head and where are
his feet-- a reverse fault is created by compression
- Foot wall- the bigger at the base-- moves down in a reverse fault
- Hanging wall- the bigger at the top-- moves up in a reverse fault
Transform Boundaries - CORRECT ANSWER-just because there are three transform boundaries does not
mean we have that many plates- there can be many transform boundaries
Fracture zones - CORRECT ANSWER-transform boundary scars- many along our mid-ocean ridges
,What is faulting? - CORRECT ANSWER-when tectonic plates move, the lithosphere fractures and is
displaced
Normal faulting (and examples) - CORRECT ANSWER-Divergence
- Mid-Ocean Ridge- a submarine mountain chain buoyed by underlying mantle heat
- Continental Rift- a divergent plat boundary is the site of the breakup of a continent and new ocean
formation
- Passive Margin- a continental shelf that forms when thinned margins of a continent slowly subside,
settle, flood and become covered by marine sediments following continental rifting; these margins
come to lie far from any plate boundary because the ocean that opened when the margins first formed
widens
Nazca and South American Plates!!!! - CORRECT ANSWER-
Crustal thickening - CORRECT ANSWER-these rocks are really far down in the Earth and have the heat
available to make it wavy like this and make it really thick when they come together (playdo)
Plate Tectonics Evidence - CORRECT ANSWER-- Earthquakes
- Volcanoes
- Topography/relief
- Age of crust
- Seafloor spreading
Paleomagnetism - CORRECT ANSWER-the study and measurement of Earth's magnetic field in the
geologic past, as preserved in minerals and rocks
Divergence Features - CORRECT ANSWER-- Uplift/doming
- Rifting
- Formation of new oceanic crust
- Mid-ocean ridge and passive margins
,Strike-slip faults - CORRECT ANSWER-depends on if you were straddling the fault and decide which side
is coming towards you- if right it is right lateral and vice-versa
- Oceanic Fracture zones
- Pull-apart basins
- Linear features
Convergence Features: Thrust Fault and Deformation/Thickening of Crust at Depth - CORRECT ANSWER-
○ Thrust fault: low angle reverse fault, horizontal movement
○Deformation/thickening of crust at depth-- these rocks are really far down in the Earth and have the
heat available to make it wavy like this and make it really thick when they come together (playdo)
Subduction zones - CORRECT ANSWER-with convergent plate boundaries, is land actually being lost or is
it being redistributed?
Both of these things happen
Evolution of the Appalachians - CORRECT ANSWER-○ ~550 MYA: supercontinent Rodinia (superseded
Pangea) breaking apart
§ Wilson Cycle- how we explain why we have super continents on the earth and then breaking apart-
the heat from the core is going to be hotter underneath the continental crust instead of the think crust
making the mantle very hot and it expands (lava lamp, heating up the liquid at the bottom making it rise
because it is more dense)
○ ~470 MYA: plate motion changes, Taconic orogeny- movement onto the continental crust
○ ~375 MYA start of Acadian orogeny with Avalon micro-continent
○ ~330 MYA N. American, now apart of Laurasia, collides with Gondwana to form Pangea
○ At that point, the Appalachians are as high as the modern day Himalayas
- The collision zones started rifting to form the Atlantic Ocean in the Jurassic (180 MYA)
Looking Glass Rock - CORRECT ANSWER-○ Igneous pluton- pluton means something that forms deep
inside the earth and igneous has to do with magma- basically this is a failed volcano, the magma was not
able to make it out of the crust, the magma moved up for so long in the thick crust that it cooled down
before it could get to the surface
§ Magma generated by heat collision
§ Too deep or viscous to rise to the surface
, § Cools below the surface
Later exposed through weathering/erosion
Weathering after orogeny events - CORRECT ANSWER-Isostasy will cause uplift concurrent with erosion
Isostasy - CORRECT ANSWER-the balance reached by Earth's crust and the lithospheric mantle as they
float upon the denser, more pliable asthenosphere. According to this principle, the elevation of the crust
depends upon its thickness and the density contrast with the asthenosphere.
Weathering - CORRECT ANSWER-○ Physical/mechanical weathering: breaks rocks into smaller pieces
○ Chemical weathering: chemically adds or removes elements from rock, transforms them
○ Biological weathering: can be chemical or physical ex: trees Erosion: movement of weathered
material ex: wind
Wilson Cycle - CORRECT ANSWER-how we explain why we have super continents on the earth and then
breaking apart- the heat from the core is going to be hotter underneath the continental crust instead of
the think crust making the mantle very hot and it expands (lava lamp, heating up the liquid at the
bottom making it rise because it is more dense)
a cycle of tectonic activity that commences with rifting and the development of an ocean, followed by
subduction and the formation of volcanic arcs and finally continent-continent collision
Layers of the Earth - CORRECT ANSWER-Crust
Lithosphere- crust and upper most part of the mantle
Asthenosphere
Mantle
Outer core
Inner core
Physical and chemical weathering - CORRECT ANSWER-More exposed surface area, more physical and
chemical weathering occurs
