Geology 535 – Early Earth Evolution
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Geology (GLGY 535-UCAL) Midterm Exam
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Question 1 |
A | Moon |
B | Asteroid belt |
C | Sun |
D | Venus |
E | Comets |
Question 2 |
A | ...in the terrestrial planets. |
B | ...the Earth. |
C | ...in the core of the Earth. |
D | ...the sun. |
Question 3 |
A | Could not answer the question because it is depend on the type of setting. |
B | lower than |
C | same as or very close to |
D | higher than |
Question 4 |
A | ...a closed system. |
B | ...an open system. |
C | ...a system that has underwent gradual isotopic gain. |
D | ...a crustal source. |
E | ...a mantle source. |
Question 5 |
A | 75% of all Ordinary Chondrites contains CAIs and AOAs. |
B | Ordinary Chondrites are the most common type we have today. |
C | 85% of all Ordinary Chondrites are observed falls. |
D | Most of the Ordinary Chondrites have petrologic types from 3 to 6. |
Question 6 |
A | The raised rim is more susceptible to weathering. |
B | Solar radiation and flares may have burnt out the thin and tall rim section. |
C | Later impacts may have destroyed the raised rim. |
D | Plate tectonics may have destroyed the original structure. |
Question 7 |
A | The system with large number of daughter isotopes ratio most likely have been an opened system at some point. |
B | The system with large number of daughter isotopes ratio most likely have been undergone crustal or magmatic contamination. |
C | The system with large number of daughter isotopes ratio most likely have a steeper isochron. |
D | The system with large number of daughter isotopes ratio most likely have a shallower isochron. |
Question 8 |
A | Shield is a made up of several smaller creatonic nuclei. |
B | Within the creaton, shield are areas where basement is overlaid by sediments and sedimentary rock. |
C | There are only two places on Earth with creatons; Africa and North America. |
D | The geochemical composition of creatons are homogeneous. |
E | Within the creaton, platforms are areas where basement is overlaid by sediments and sedimentary rock. |
Question 9 |
A | Pb |
B | S |
C | Mg |
D | Cu |
E | Al |
Question 10 |
A | It is a standard used to calculate type-sections and GSSPs for Geologic Time boundaries. |
B | It is the time of separation of isotope from a given reservoir. |
C | It is the time of crystallization. |
D | It is the time of primordial soup formation. |
Question 11 |
A | Shale |
B | Loess |
C | Limestone |
D | Sandstones |
Question 12 |
A | To estimate relationships between cogenetic samples. |
B | To estimate timing of melting and crystallization sequences. |
C | To analyze relatively short processes that occur for 300 million years. |
D | To estimate condensation temperatures of materials from Solar Nebula. |
E | To analyze metal-silicate-sulfide differentiation. |
Question 13 |
A | 5 half-life cycles. |
B | 13 half-life cycles. |
C | 8 half-life cycles. |
D | 4 half-life cycles. |
E | 14 half-life cycles. |
Question 14 |
A | They are part of the differentiated group. |
B | The most primitive chondrites that falls under petrologic Type 1.0 |
C | The most common chondrites that falls under petrologic Type 3.0 to 3.1 |
D | A type of chondrites with high abundance of silica and can be used to measure differentiation time period. |
Question 15 |
A | Refractory elemental abundance |
B | Fossil evidence |
C | Sm-Nd dating |
D | U-Pb dating |
Question 16 |
A | Seismic evidence shows only two parts of the crustal sections; Middle and Lower. The Upper section is distinguished by elemental studies. |
B | Over 50% of the data on major elements falls considerably outside of the range found by Eade and Fahrig's Canadian Shield Average. |
C | Trace element data are consistent from study to study. |
D | Major element data are consistent from study to study. |
Question 17 |
A | Geochemical analysis of rocks from the center of the creator. |
B | Combination of geochemical and physical analysis of rocks from center and outer rim of the creator. |
C | Size and shape of the creator. |
D | Overprinting of craters with respect to each other. |
Question 18 |
A | higher the uncertainties in |
B | larger the diffusion out of |
C | younger |
D | older |
E | larger the diffusion into |
Question 19 |
A | ...an open system. |
B | ...nothing because there is not enough information provided to answer the question. |
C | ...a closed system. |
D | ...a mantle source. |
E | ...a crustal source. |
Question 20 |
A | Neoarchean |
B | Eoarchean |
C | Paleoarchean |
D | Mesoarchean |
Question 21 |
A | Ratios of parent to daughter isotopes. |
B | Weight and electrical charge of each isotope. |
C | Alpha, beta and positron decay of isotopes. |
D | Density of isotopes. |
Question 22 |
A | I. three II. three |
B | I. two II. five |
C | I. three II. two |
D | I. two II. three |
E | I. two II. four |
Question 23 |
A | Lower than average heat flux |
B | Large variations in heat flux within a smaller area |
C | Heat flux higher than in oceanic domains |
D | Higher than average heat flux |
Question 24 |
A | They are the most abundant mineral in cratons. |
B | They have hardness of 5 in Mohs scale and therefore resistant to weathering. |
C | They have a very high closure temperature. |
D | It is easier to determine the isotopic compositions of zircons. |
Question 25 |
A | 3.69 Ga |
B | 3.69 Ga |
C | 4.23 Ga |
D | 3.55 Ga |
E | 4.56 Ga |
Question 26 |
A | Lu |
B | O |
C | Sm |
D | Hf |
E | Si |
Question 27 |
A | Crystallization age. |
B | The closure conditions. |
C | The time of formation. |
D | Initial isotopic ratio. |
Question 28 |
A | Very high condensation temperature. |
B | Type of reactivity and radioactivity of elements. |
C | Silica content of the original source of the elements. |
D | Volatility of the elements. |
Question 29 |
A | ...high abundance in volatile elements. |
B | ...high abundance in refractory elements. |
C | ...high condensation temperature. |
D | ...repeated evaporation and condensation. |
Question 30 |
A | Silicates |
B | Metal oxides |
C | Aluminum |
D | Nobel gases |
E | Ice |
Question 31 |
Facies | Profile | Zone |
A1 | Chilled flow top | Spinifex zone |
A2 | Random spinifex | |
A3 | Plate spinifex | |
B1 | - | Cumulate zone |
B2 | - | |
B3 | - |
A | B2 |
B | A3 in the plate spinifex region. |
C | A1 in the chilled flow top region. |
D | Anywhere within the cumulate zone. |
E | B1 |
F | Anywhere within the spinifex zone. |
Question 32 |
A | liquidus temperature |
B | electron affinity and reactivity |
C | maximum temperature |
D | closure temperature |
E | minimum temperature |
Question 33 |
A | It is the temperature which 50% of a given element is condensed out of the nebula gas. |
B | It is the temperature which 50% of all the elements are condensed out of the nebula gas. |
C | It is the temperature which 100% of a given element is condensed out of the nebula gas. |
D | It is the temperature which 100% of all the elements are condensed out of the nebula gas. |
Question 34 |
A | ...in several stages. |
B | ...rapidly. |
C | ...inefficently. |
D | ...extremely slowly. |
Question 35 |
A | Majority of precious metals were found in cratons. |
B | Majority of the diamond-bearing kimberlites were found in cratons. |
C | Majority of oil reserves were found in cratons. |
D | Majority of food production ("farming") occur in cratonic regions. |
Question 36 |
A | Loess |
B | Sandstones |
C | Limestone |
D | Shale |
Question 37 |
A | Chemical differentiation due to rapid exothermic reactions. |
B | Heat produced by radioactive isotopes melting the bulk Earth. |
C | Differentiation of Fe alloys and silica due to high pressure and temperature conditions. |
D | Gravitational separation of metallic iron from silicates. |
E | Migration of molten Fe alloys along grain boundaries of solid silicates. |
Question 38 |
A | All meteorites are not differentiated because they are failed planets. |
B | During differentiation of Earth, large portion of silica sank into the core of the Earth. |
C | Differentiation occurs at a extensive rate on larger plants. |
D | Differentiation is highly dependent on the pressure conditions. |
Question 39 |
A | True |
B | Partially true because in most cases model ages are older than the crystallization ages. |
C | False because the model ages are older than the crystallization ages. |
D | False because both model and crystallization age are the same. This is how we know the exact age of Earth. |
Question 40 |
A | Th |
B | U |
C | Pb |
D | Sm |
E | Nd |
Question 41 |
A | εNd and εW |
B | εW |
C | εW and εHf |
D | εNd |
E | εNd and εHf |
Question 42 |
A | 150 |
B | 10 |
C | 5 |
D | 1000 |
Question 43 |
A | Helium gas |
B | Water vapor |
C | Rocks and dust particles |
D | Hydrogen gas |
Question 44 |
A | Volatiles, silicates, metal oxides |
B | Any chemical group based on radial distance from the sun |
C | Metal oxides, silicates, volatiles |
D | Silicates, metal oxides, volatiles |
Question 45 |
A | Adiabatic decompression |
B | Orogenic events |
C | Interior temperature |
D | Surface P-T conditions |
Question 46 |
A | Chondrules |
B | Metallic portion of the matrix |
C | CAI’s |
D | Nebula |
E | Matrix |
Question 47 |
A | Hf-W dating of CAI inclusions |
B | U-Pb dating of meteorites and pelagic sediment |
C | Pb-Pb dating of meteorites and pelagic sediment |
D | Nd model age dating of Isua Supracrustal lithologies |
E | U-Pb dating of ancient zircons |
Question 48 |
A | 4500 - 4560 |
B | 542 - 2000 |
C | 3020 - 5560 |
D | 2500 - 4030 |
Question 49 |
A | If the Pb-loss was episodic/continuous event. |
B | If there is no upper intercept. |
C | If some samples plots on the concordia while others on discordia. |
D | If most of the samples plots on the concordia. |
Question 50 |
A | Kaapvaal, South Africa. |
B | Jack Hill, Australia. |
C | Isua Formation, Greenland. |
D | Western Canada Sedimentary Basin, Canada. |
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Credits: Based on the excellent class notes provided by, Dr. Rajeev Nair during Fall 2014.
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This class covers rapidly evolving subject matter. Due to cutting-edge research into Early Earth, there is a very high possibility that some of the questions may not be relevant to your current understanding. Please use this quiz with caution.