GL101 Exam Review 2025 Questions and Answers with
complete solution
The Precambrian (Hadean, Archean and Proterozoic Eons) accounts for ________.
A) the first 88% of Earth history and the geologic time scale
B) the segment of geologic time prior to uniformitarianism taking effect
C) all of the periods after the Permian
D) the first 8% of Earth history - A
Which sequence is in the correct order through time for "fossil succession" assuming strata
successively from: Late Precambrian, Cambrian, Silurian, Jurassic, Tertiary
A) multicelled organisms, hardbodied marine invertebrates, first land plants, dinosaurs,
mammals
B) flowering plants, birds, reptiles, first trees, first fishes, blue green algae
C) one-celled organisms, first fishes, first amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs
D) land plants, insects, marine plants, trilobites, humans - A
The ________ theory is the leading hypothesis that describes the formation of the Sun, Earth,
and other planets of the solar system
A) planoassemblar
B) nebular
C) astrostellar
D) solar flareup - B
The Earth's core was formed from ________.
A) a massive nickle iron asteroid that was the nucleus upon which Earth condensed
B) high density radioactive carbon
C) the left over nickle and iron that would not fit into the earlier formed crust and mantle
D) molten iron and nickle that separated from silicates and sank due to its higher density - D
,In the early part of the 20th century, ________ argued forcefully for continental drift.
A) Karl Wagner
B) Edwin Rommel
C) Alfred Wegener
D) Alfred the Great - C
Pangaea was ________.
A) a large, ocean basin that opened in the Triassic and closed in the Paleocene
B) a large, Precambrian shield area in Africa and South America that broke apart late in the
Proterozoic Eon
C) a huge mountain range that formed when Africa pushed northward into Europe in Eocene
time
D) a super continent that formed in the late Paleozoic and broke apart in Triassic time - D
Wegener's supercontinent that began to break up about 200 million years ago was named
A) Gondwanaland
B) Laurasia
C) Pangaea
D) Rodinia - C
According to Wegener, where was southern Africa located during the Late Paleozoic?
A) up by the north pole
B) 30° south of the equator
C) along the equator
D) over the south pole - D
The ________ forms the relatively cool, brittle plates of plate tectonics.
A) asthenosphere
,B) lithosphere
C) astrosphere
D) eosphere - B
A typical rate of lithospheric (tectonic) plate movement is ________.
A) 2 metres per year
B) 0.1 centimetres per year
C) 20 metres per year
D) 5 centimetres per year - D
New seafloor is created at ________ plate boundaries.
A) convergent
B) divergent
C) transform
D) hot spot - B
The ________ is the thinnest layer of the Earth.
A) crust
B) outer core
C) mantle
D) inner core - A
The oceanic crust is made of mafic rock called ________ and is about ________ thick on
average.
A) basalt, 7 km
B) marine sedimentary rocks, 25 km
C) basalt, 70 km
D) granite, 35-40 km - A
, The mantle is made of dense rock ________ called ________.
A) <3.0 g/cm3, basalt
B) <2.9 g/cm3, granite
C) ~3.3 g/cm3, peridotite
D) >3.4 g/cm3, shergottite - C
In correct order from the centre outward, Earth includes which units?
A) core, inner mantle, outer mantle, crust
B) inner core, outer core, mantle, crust
C) inner core, crust, mantle, hydrosphere
D) core, crust, mantle, hydrosphere - B
The asthenosphere is actually a part of the ________ of the Earth.
A) outer core
B) crust
C) inner core
D) mantle - D
The continental crust extends ________.
A) only to where their shorelines occur; beyond that is oceanic crust
B) beneath the continental shelf through to the toe of the continental slope
C) beneath about half of the ocean basins wherever it is shallow
D) deep into the mantle wherever there are subduction zones - B
________ are the three, basic categories of rocks in the rock cycle.
A) Crustal, lithospheric, and transform
B) Sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic
C) Sedimentary, igneous, and volcanic
complete solution
The Precambrian (Hadean, Archean and Proterozoic Eons) accounts for ________.
A) the first 88% of Earth history and the geologic time scale
B) the segment of geologic time prior to uniformitarianism taking effect
C) all of the periods after the Permian
D) the first 8% of Earth history - A
Which sequence is in the correct order through time for "fossil succession" assuming strata
successively from: Late Precambrian, Cambrian, Silurian, Jurassic, Tertiary
A) multicelled organisms, hardbodied marine invertebrates, first land plants, dinosaurs,
mammals
B) flowering plants, birds, reptiles, first trees, first fishes, blue green algae
C) one-celled organisms, first fishes, first amphibians, reptiles, dinosaurs
D) land plants, insects, marine plants, trilobites, humans - A
The ________ theory is the leading hypothesis that describes the formation of the Sun, Earth,
and other planets of the solar system
A) planoassemblar
B) nebular
C) astrostellar
D) solar flareup - B
The Earth's core was formed from ________.
A) a massive nickle iron asteroid that was the nucleus upon which Earth condensed
B) high density radioactive carbon
C) the left over nickle and iron that would not fit into the earlier formed crust and mantle
D) molten iron and nickle that separated from silicates and sank due to its higher density - D
,In the early part of the 20th century, ________ argued forcefully for continental drift.
A) Karl Wagner
B) Edwin Rommel
C) Alfred Wegener
D) Alfred the Great - C
Pangaea was ________.
A) a large, ocean basin that opened in the Triassic and closed in the Paleocene
B) a large, Precambrian shield area in Africa and South America that broke apart late in the
Proterozoic Eon
C) a huge mountain range that formed when Africa pushed northward into Europe in Eocene
time
D) a super continent that formed in the late Paleozoic and broke apart in Triassic time - D
Wegener's supercontinent that began to break up about 200 million years ago was named
A) Gondwanaland
B) Laurasia
C) Pangaea
D) Rodinia - C
According to Wegener, where was southern Africa located during the Late Paleozoic?
A) up by the north pole
B) 30° south of the equator
C) along the equator
D) over the south pole - D
The ________ forms the relatively cool, brittle plates of plate tectonics.
A) asthenosphere
,B) lithosphere
C) astrosphere
D) eosphere - B
A typical rate of lithospheric (tectonic) plate movement is ________.
A) 2 metres per year
B) 0.1 centimetres per year
C) 20 metres per year
D) 5 centimetres per year - D
New seafloor is created at ________ plate boundaries.
A) convergent
B) divergent
C) transform
D) hot spot - B
The ________ is the thinnest layer of the Earth.
A) crust
B) outer core
C) mantle
D) inner core - A
The oceanic crust is made of mafic rock called ________ and is about ________ thick on
average.
A) basalt, 7 km
B) marine sedimentary rocks, 25 km
C) basalt, 70 km
D) granite, 35-40 km - A
, The mantle is made of dense rock ________ called ________.
A) <3.0 g/cm3, basalt
B) <2.9 g/cm3, granite
C) ~3.3 g/cm3, peridotite
D) >3.4 g/cm3, shergottite - C
In correct order from the centre outward, Earth includes which units?
A) core, inner mantle, outer mantle, crust
B) inner core, outer core, mantle, crust
C) inner core, crust, mantle, hydrosphere
D) core, crust, mantle, hydrosphere - B
The asthenosphere is actually a part of the ________ of the Earth.
A) outer core
B) crust
C) inner core
D) mantle - D
The continental crust extends ________.
A) only to where their shorelines occur; beyond that is oceanic crust
B) beneath the continental shelf through to the toe of the continental slope
C) beneath about half of the ocean basins wherever it is shallow
D) deep into the mantle wherever there are subduction zones - B
________ are the three, basic categories of rocks in the rock cycle.
A) Crustal, lithospheric, and transform
B) Sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic
C) Sedimentary, igneous, and volcanic
