Kecia Littlejohn


Which of these organisms would have the best chance of becoming part of the fossil record? Fish


As the temperature of lava increases, ____.its viscosity decreases


Which of the following must be true for a fossil organism to be useful as an index fossil?all of the above


In what type of rocks are most fossils found? sedimentary rocks


In diagram A of Figure 11-2, where would the oldest rock layers be located? at C


Before being engulfed, matter that is pulled into a black hole should become very hot and emit ____.X-rays


7 Stars of which color have the coolest surface temperature?red


At divergent plate boundaries in the ocean, magma rises and melts because of ____.a decrease in pressure


What event may have triggered the great Paleozoic extinction? climatic change


Most intraplate volcanic activity occurs where ____ Hot mantle plumes rise toward the surface within a plate


Which of the following causes earthquakes?elastic rebound


Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is believed to be a ____. Cyclonic storm


Which of the following plays a major part in determining the form of a volcano? magma composition


Which main-sequence stars are the least massive? Red


The radiometric date of a metamorphic rock most likely represents when the rock was ____. heated during metamorphism


The most obvious difference between the terrestrial and the Jovian planets is ____. Size


The age of the rocks in the ocean basins was determined by ____.ocean drilling


Which of the following lists includes the major types of mountains? folded, fault-block, volcanic


Wegener’s idea that tidal forces might cause continental drift was shown to be impossible when it was ____. shown that the tidal forces needed to move continents would stop Earth’s rotation


In the early Paleozoic, life was restricted to the ____. Seas


The first accurate measurement of the size of Earth was made by ____.Eratosthenes


A lens-shaped intrusive igneous mass close to Earth’s surface is called a ____.laccolith


The mass of a star can be determined by studying ____.binary star systems


Which of the following factors affects the melting point of rock? all of the above
During the period that the moon’s phases are changing from new to full, the moon is ____.waxing


Which of the following is currently responsible for shaping Mars’ surface? Wind


In areas where unconsolidated sediments are saturated with water, earthquakes can turn stable soil into a fluid through a process called ____.liquefaction


Most of the information about Earth’s interior was obtained by studying ____. earthquake waves


According to the ancients, the stars traveled around Earth on the transparent, hollow ____. celestial sphere


The formation of the Hawaiian Islands is associated with ____.no plate boundary of any kind
What instrument records earthquake waves? Seismograph


Which of Jupiter’s moons is volcanically active? Io
Structures that form from the cooling and hardening of magma beneath Earth’s surface are ____. Plutons
Which seismic waves travel most rapidly?P waves


Evidence about ancient climates indicates that ____ .glacial ice once covered much of what is now India and Australia


Which color has the most energetic photons? Violet


All changes in the original shape and/or size of a rock body are called ____.deformation


Which of the following is a geographic example of a transform fault boundary?the San Andreas Fault


What likely contributed to the extinction that marks the end of the Mesozoic Era?a meteorite collision


Magma forms when solid rock in the crust and upper mantle ____.melts


Which animals did NOT survive the Mesozoic extinction? Dinosaurs


One group of reptiles, characterized by the fossil Archaeopteryx, led to the evolution of ____.Birds


Petrified wood is an example of what type of fossil? altered remains


What hypothesis states that the continents were once joined to form a single supercontinent? continental drift


Major earthquakes are sometimes preceded by smaller earthquakes called ____. Foreshocks


Tensional stresses commonly cause which of the following? normal faults


The product of nuclear fusion is ____. Helium


Which of the following is used in an attempt to make short-range predictions of when earthquakes will occur? strain in rocks near faults


When did abundant fossil evidence appear in the geologic record? 540 million years ago


Which of the following is NOT a major factor that influences the strength of a rock? age of rock


The Black Hills of South Dakota were formed by what type of orogenesis? Upwarping


The igneous activity in Yellowstone National Park is associated with what tectonic setting? intraplate setting


The footprints of a dinosaur are an example of what type of fossil? trace fossil


What characteristic distinguishes Neptune from the other planets? Neptune is extremely windy.


Which of the following is important if an organism is to become a fossil?rapid burial and hard parts


A break that separates older metamorphic rocks from younger sedimentary rocks immediately above them is a type of unconformity called a(n) ____. Nonconformity


An unconformity is a(n) ____. gap in the rock record


Which color has the longest wavelength? Red


The atmosphere of Venus is composed primarily of ____. carbon dioxide
Earth’s axis slowly but continuously points in different directions, a move

ment known as ____.Precession


The Hawaiian Islands are associated with what type of volcanism? intraplate volcanism


The distance between a seismic station and the earthquake epicenter is determined from the ____. arrival times of P and S waves


Which period makes up nearly all of the Cenozoic Era? Tertiary


Continental volcanic arcs are associated with what type of plate boundary? convergent oceanic-continental boundary


Which statement best explains why the moon has more craters than Earth? Weathering and erosion do not occur on the moon.


The hypothesis that explains the release of energy during an earthquake is called the elastic rebound hypothesis.


Why did amphibians diversify so rapidly during the late Paleozoic? They had little competition from other land dwellers.


Which magnitude would be associated with the brightest star? –5


What type of volcano is built almost entirely from ejected lava fragments? cinder cone
Mammals became dominant only after ____. dinosaurs became extinct


The radiometric dating of an igneous rock provides ____. a date for when the rock formed


Which of the following factors helps determine whether a volcanic eruption will be violent or relatively quiet? all of the above


Compressional stresses can result in the formation of ____.thrust faults


Which of the following is an example of mountains formed as a result of ocean-ocean convergence? the mountains of Japan


Which planet has a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere and high surface temperatures?Venus


What kind of plate boundary occurs where two plates grind past each other without destroying or producing lithosphere? transform fault boundary


An example of folded mountains can be seen in ____. the Alps in Europe


Which astronomer spent 20 years plotting the positions of the planets? Brahe


What type of mountains are produced by ocean-ocean convergence?mainly volcanic mountains
Sedimentary rocks record past geological events and ____.changing life forms of the past


Which seismic waves compress and expand rocks in the direction the waves travel?P waves


What happened to all the continents by the close of the Paleozoic? They fused into Pangaea.


Which planet shows evidence of water erosion? Mars


Deformation in which the object returns to its original shape and size after the stress is removed is called ____.elastic deformation


Which planet has a greater mass than the combined mass of all the remaining planets and their moons?Jupiter


What is the shape of a planet’s orbit? Elliptical


Which of the following is proportionally more abundant on terrestrial planets than on Jovian planets? silicate minerals