Geology 100A

Midterm #1
September 25, 2015
Study guide 34 multiple-choice questions
What is the difference between catastrophism and uniformitarianism?
Be familiar with the geologic time scale, specifically the wingspan and year models.
What evidence did Wegener use to support his Continental Drift hypothesis? Why was his
idea rejected?
What evidence did Harry Hess use to support his sea floor spreading hypothesis?
What causes the volcanism at Hawaii? How was Hawaii used to support the theory of
plate tectonics?
Approximately how fast does the ocean floor spread? Be able to calculate a spreading
rate.
Fill in the following chart about plate boundaries.
Plate
Relative
What type of
Do
Name a geographic
Boundary
Motion
earthquakes
volcanoes
example.
occur here?
occur?
Divergent

Convergent
with
subduction
Convergent
without
subduction
Transform

Hot-spot
(not at a
plate
boundary)

Define the following vocabulary words: island arc, volcanic arc, deep sea trench, midocean ridge.
What causes subduction?
What two scales do we use to determine the size and intensity of an earthquake? What is
the relationship between magnitude, amplitude, and energy?
How can the location of an earthquake be determined? What information is needed?

What are the three main types of seismic waves? What are the characteristics of each
wave?
What do seismic waves tell us about the Earths interior?
What methods of heat transfer apply to the interior of the Earth?
Draw a sketch of the Earths interioryou wont have to do this on the exam, but you
need to be familiar with the layers and the characteristics of each layer. What layer is
liquid? What layer is plastic? How do we know?
Define the following vocabulary words: Atom, Atomic mass, Atomic number, Proton,
Neutron, Electron, Ion, Isotope
What are the 5 characteristics of a mineral? Be able to apply these to determine what is or
is not a mineral.
What are the 8 main groups of minerals? Provide the name of one mineral from each
group. What is the name of the group that contains the majority of minerals on Earth?
What are the 8 most abundant elements in the Earths crust? What are the 2 most
abundant elements?