IN_PH_EN_SC_ES_09_GA_DT_00001
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Uniformitarianism means that the forces observed today
B. / are unique to this time period.
C. / have been at work for a long time.
D. / are limited to a certain number of years.
ANS: C / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_01_50
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_1201
2. What inspired Alfred Wegener to devise his continental drift hypothesis?
B. / educated guesses
C. / observations and evidence from the natural world
D. / experiments carried out in a laboratory
ANS: C / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_489
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_0902
3. What major discovery did the Greek philosopher Aristotle make in Earth science?
B. / He developed a model for predicting lunar eclipses.
C. / He concluded that Earth was round, instead of flat.
D. / He developed a star catalog.
ANS: C / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_381
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_2201
4. Which statement best explains why scientists are eager to conduct more in-depth studies of Mars?
B. / Liquid water may have once flowed on Mars’s surface.
C. / Mars is relatively close to Earth.
D. / Mars has seasons, much like Earth.
ANS: B / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_02_152
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_2303
5. What was one of the main reasons the Copernican model of the solar system required revision by Kepler, Galileo, and other astronomers?
B. / The planets did not move in the perfectly circular paths predicted by Copernicus.
C. / Copernicus stated that the sun was the center of the solar system.
D. / Copernicus stated that Earth was the center of the solar system.
ANS: B / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_490
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_2203
6. Who was the first scientist to formulate and test the law of gravitational force?
B. / Kepler
C. / Brahe
D. / Newton
ANS: D / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_02_130
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_2203
7. What enabled Johannes Kepler to formulate his laws of planetary motion?
B. / the invention of the telescope
C. / Tycho Brahe's extremely precise data
D. / the discovery of red-shift and blue-shift
ANS: C / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_491
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_2203
8. James Hutton is sometimes called the “father of modern geology.” What was one of his major contributions to the field of geology?
B. / He discovered the crater caused by the meteorite impact that wiped out the dinosaurs.
C. / He published his principle of uniformitarianism in a book called Theory of the Earth.
D. / He was the first to notice that fossils preserved evidence of past life forms.
ANS: C / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_492
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_1201
9. What two pieces of evidence support the big bang theory?
B. / red shifts and blue shifts of galaxies
C. / cosmic background radiation and red shifts of galaxies
D. / the nebular formation of the solar system and cosmic background radiation
ANS: C / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_03_11
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_2511
10. The big bang theory is an idea that explains
B. / how galaxies move away from the sun.
C. / the formation of the universe.
D. / the formation of the solar system.
ANS: C / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_03_9
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_2511
11. Which of the following is not a subdivision of Earth science?
B. / astronomy
C. / biology
D. / oceanography
ANS: C / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_12
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_0101
12. How did scientists determine when the solar system formed? I. by studying meteorites II. by studying satellites of other planets III. by studying rocks on Earth and the moon IV. by studying star life cycles
B. / II and III
C. / I and III
D. / II, III, and IV
ANS: C / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_02_231
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_2302
13. What does the outer core of Earth consist of?
B. / layer of the rock peridotite
C. / solid layer of iron-nickel alloy
D. / layer of granite
ANS: A / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_46
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_0811
14. Use the graph to determine what fraction of the parent element remains after four half-lives.
B. / one-quarter
C. / one-eighth
D. / one-sixteenth
ANS: D / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_56
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_1209
15. One gas missing from Earth’s original atmosphere was
B. / nitrogen.
C. / water vapor.
D. / carbon dioxide.
ANS: A / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_01_57
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_1303
16. What role do certain bacteria in the soil and plant roots play in Earth’s nitrogen cycle?
B. / They use the nitrogen gas to photosynthesize.
C. / They release nitrogen gas into the soil so that the nitrogen can be directly used by plants.
D. / They absorb nitrogen gas and use it to produce forms of nitrogen that can be used by plants.
ANS: D / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_02_193
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_0504
17. A collection of ecosystems that share a similar climate, vegetation, and wildlife is called a
B. / biome.
C. / piedmont.
D. / population.
ANS: B / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_508
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_1508
18. Which of the labeled features in the diagram represents a mid-ocean ridge?
B. / feature E
C. / feature B
D. / feature D
ANS: A / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_239
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_0904
19. Georgia is not located near any major tectonic plate boundaries. As a result, the most common geologic hazards in Georgia are
B. / earthquakes.
C. / volcanoes.
D. / landslides.
ANS: D / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_493
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_0509
20. A large accretionary wedge of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks is most likely to form at a(n)
B. / oceanic-oceanic convergent boundary.
C. / mid-ocean ridge.
D. / continental rift.
ANS: A / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_494
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_1110
21. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge divides the Atlantic Ocean basin, which is slowly accumulating sediments on its floor. What result will plate motions have on the Atlantic Ocean basin over the next few thousand years?
B. / The basin will widen due to sea-floor spreading.
C. / The basin floor will disappear during subduction.
D. / The basin will remain the same size it is today.
ANS: B / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_495
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_0905
22. What part of California would experience the fastest rates of chemical weathering?
B. / the cold and dry Klamath Mountains
C. / the warm and moist Coast Ranges
D. / the cold and moist Sierra Nevada
ANS: C / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_01_166
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_0503
23. Which of the soil horizons would contain the lowest amount of organic material?
B. / B horizon
C. / C horizon
D. / All horizons contain the same amount of organic material.
ANS: C / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_202
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_0505
24. Which of the following could trigger a mass movement on a slope?
B. / unusually low amounts of rainfall in the area
C. / planting ground cover and other types of vegetation on the slope
D. / unusually high winds in the area
ANS: A / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_480
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_0509
25. What happens when a stream that is transporting large sediment grains slows down and loses energy?
B. / the large grains will be deposited
C. / the stream will be able to erode more of its banks
D. / the large grains will become cemented in the stream bed
ANS: B / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_355
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_0607
26. Which Earth reservoirs are involved in the carbon cycle?
B. / carbonate rocks and fossil fuels
C. / biomass and volcanoes
D. / all of the above
ANS: D / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_01_4
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_0308
27. What is the age relationship between the batholith, dike B, dike A, and the sill?
B. / The batholith is much younger than the other units.
C. / The batholith formed first, followed by the sill and dike B, followed by the formation of dike A.
D. / The sill and the batholith are the same age and are much younger than both dike B and dike A.
ANS: C / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_01_51
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_1203
28. Which of the following principles can be applied to interpret the history of these rock layers?
B. / principle of cross-cutting relationships
C. / principle of original horizontality
D. / all of the above
ANS: D / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_01_228
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_1203
29. Which of the following situations is most likely to produce a fossil?
B. / A fish dies in the ocean and is covered by sand.
C. / A squirrel dies under a tree.
D. / A fly dies in midair.
ANS: B / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_7
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_1207
30. The most useful means of correlating rocks of similar age in different regions are
B. / index fossils.
C. / angular unconformities.
D. / inclusions.
ANS: B / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_406
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_1207
31. Which of the following major geologic events occurred in the Cenozoic Era?
B. / breakup of Pangaea
C. / oxygen first present in the atmosphere
D. / major period of continental glaciation
ANS: D / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_288
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_1308
32. Which of the following events contributed most directly to the formation of Earth's oceans?
B. / the evolution of photosynthetic plants
C. / the meteorite impact at the end of the Mesozoic era
D. / the cooling of Earth
ANS: D / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_509
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_1303
33. Heat is distributed around Earth through
B. / tectonism and volcanism.
C. / deep ocean currents and the doldrums.
D. / wind systems only.
ANS: A / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_01_74
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_1704
34. An air mass gets its characteristic properties from
B. / density currents and upwelling.
C. / the area over which it forms.
D. / energy generated deep within Earth.
ANS: C / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_496
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_2002
35. The windward side of a mountain will generally be
B. / cool and dry.
C. / warm and moist.
D. / warm and dry.
ANS: A / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_368
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_2102
36. Deserts are characterized by
B. / low rainfall and high rates of evaporation.
C. / low rainfall and low rates of evaporation.
D. / low temperatures and high rainfall.
ANS: B / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_378
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_2109
37. Climate models predict that global warming might cause the polar ice caps and sea ice to melt. What is most likely to happen as a result of this reduction in Earth's ice-covered area?
B. / Less water vapor will enter the atmosphere.
C. / Sea levels will drop.
D. / Earth's temperature will cool.
ANS: A / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_497
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_2115
38. The greenhouse effect is the ability of certain gases in Earth’s atmosphere to
B. / scatter and reflect solar energy.
C. / retain heat to cause global warming.
D. / reflect heat back into space to cool Earth’s atmosphere.
ANS: A / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_02_71
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_2113
39. Which of the following climates described in the Koppen climate classification system would have cool, rainy winters?
B. / humid tropical climate
C. / dry climate
D. / humid mid-latitude climate
ANS: A / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_374
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_2106
40. Coal is considered a nonrenewable resource because it
B. / takes millions of years to form.
C. / is rare in the United States.
D. / can only be obtained by digging deep within Earth.
ANS: B / PTS: 1 / OBJ: PH_EN_SC_ES_2009_498
TOP: PH_EN_SC_HSES_2009_0112
41. According to the fossil record, the extinction of the dinosaurs resulted in