Geology 103: Sample Questions for Test 4

Answers are listed at the bottom. These questions are to give you an idea of the type of questions that will be asked. They are not a complete study guide and are not a substitute for studying class outlines, pictures, and the assigned readings.

1. The age of the universe can be calculated by using which of the following formulas in conjunction with data from far away galaxies:

A. time = luminosity/distance

B. time = distance/velocity

C. time = speed of light/distance

D. time = distance/speed of light

2. What specific information is necessary for calculating the age of the universe using the correct equation from the previous question?

A. luminosity, blue shift of light

B. speed of light, red shift of light

C. luminosity, red shift of light

D. speed of light, luminosity

3. All nonradioactive elements lighter than_________ can form from fusion in stars, whereas heavier elements form by explosive nucleosynthesis.

A. titanium

B. iron

C. aluminum

D.uranium

4. Our sun will explode as a supernova in about 4 or 5 billion years.

A. True

B. False

5. Evidence for a supernova explosion triggering the collapse of the nebular dust cloud that formed our solar system includes:

A. observation of present supernova explosions.

B. calculations made by astrophyicists.

C. the ratio of parent to daughter nuclides of uranium and lead.

D. the presence of Mg²⁶ in aluminum inclusions found in meteorites.

6. The atmosphere and oceans were formed by:

A. condensation from the nebular dust cloud that formed the solar system.

B. the process of density layering as the earth formed.

C. volcanic degassing of the mantle.

D. gases brought from the sun by solar winds.

7. Excluding water vapor, what was the dominant gas in the earth's earliest atmosphere?

A. nitrogen

B. oxygen

C. methane (natural gas)

D. carbon dioxide

8. That part of a modern continent which formed during the Precambrian, and has undergone little or no mountain building since the Precambrian, is called the:

A. orogen

B. craton

C. mobile belt

D. protocontinent

9. The first granitic crust was formed from:

A. greenstone belts

B. melting of cratons

C. partial melting of oceanic crust

D. melting of the mantle

10. During the first 2 BY of life on earth, evolutionary innovations were:

A. morphological and intercellular

B. primarily multicellular

C. restricted to eukaryotes

D. biochemical and intracellular

11. What is the most simple and primitive kind of metabolism?

A. anaerobic photosynthesis

B. aerobic photosynthesis

C. photoautotrophy

D. fermentation

12. Which kind of organism manufactures its own food?

A. autotroph

B. heterotroph

13. The oldest fossil eukaryotes were what kind of organisms?

A. bacteria

B. stromatolites

C. acritarchs

D. multicellular algae

14. Which of the following suggest that life may have existed as long ago as 3.8 BY?

A. fossil stromatolites from Australia

B. fossil bacteria preserved in silica from South Africa

C. C¹² enrichment in rocks from Greenland

D. radiometric dating of fossil bacteria

15. Prokaryotes differ from eukaryotes by having:

A. organelles

B. no nucleus

C. a strict requirement for oxygen

D. arrangement of DNA into chromosomes

16. Banded iron formations have discrete bands because of silica deposition in the winter and hematite (rust) deposition in the summer.

A. True

B. False

17. How do we know that the universe is expanding?

A. Because of red shift in the light from other galaxies.

B. Because E=mc²

C. Einstein's calculations predicted the Big Bang.

D. Actually there is no evidence that the universe is expanding.

18. How did elements heavier than iron originate?

A. By nuclear fusion in the stars.

B. In Black Holes where the force of gravity crushed smaller atoms into larger atoms.

C. By explosive nucleosynthesis.

D. They formed during expansion of stars into Red Giants.

19. Which gas is dominant in the atmospheres of Venus and Mars?

A. CH₄, methane

B. CO₂, carbon dioxide

C. He, helium

D. O₂, oxygen 

20. Which chemical reaction explains the origin of the earth's modern atmosphere?

A. C0₂ + 4H₂ = CH₄ + 2H₂0

B. 12H₂S + 6CO₂ = C₆H₁₂0₆ + 6H₂O + 12S

C. 6H₂0 + 6CO₂ = C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂

 21. In addition to an oxygenated atmosphere, eukaryotes needed protection from that could only take place after development of :

A. radioactivity, a hard outer skeleton

B. gamma rays, the earth's magnetic field

C. ultraviolet radiation, the ozone layer

D. sulfur, sulfur-reducing bacteria

22. The formation of the earth's interior into concentric layers is the direct result of:

A. processes during the acretion of planetismals

B. layers formed as the nebular dust cloud collapsed

C. heating of the early earth until it was completely molten

D. the earth's magnetic field

23. The fact that only prokaryotes can live in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park indicates that:

A. the hot springs lack sufficient nutrients for eukaryotes

B. prokaryotes evolved in water at or near the boiling point

C. ultraviolet radiation in the hot springs kills eukaryotes

D. life can only evolve in boiling water

24. The North American craton is composed of Archean protocontinents and Proterozoic orogens.

A. True

B. False

25. What percentage of geologic time is represented by the Precambrian?

A. 33%

B. 50%

C. 87%

D. 95%

26. The banded iron formations formed by:

A. chemical differentiation of the earth's crust

B. iron precipitation from the ocean by photosynthetically-produced oxygen

C. secretion by iron-reducing bacteria

D. the oxidation-reduction interaction between the minerals hematite and magnetite

27. Which compound would have been poisonous to the earliest life forms on earth?

A. CO, carbon monoxide

B. H₂S, hydrogen sulfide

C. O₂, free oxygen

D. H₂SO₄, sulfuric acid

Answers:

1. B

2. C

3. B

4. B

5. D

6. C

7. D

8. B

9. C

10. D

11. D

12. A

13. D

14. C

15. B

16. A

17. A

18. C

19. B

20. C

21. C

22. C

23. B

24. A

25. C

26. B

27. C