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1 | |
That portion of the lunar surface covered by flood basalts provides evidence that ________________. |
| | A) | there has been recent volcanic activity on the Moon |
| | B) | the Moon is a dead planet |
| | C) | intense bombardment of the Moon by asteroids and comets ended nearly 3.2 billion years ago |
| | D) | the Moon has a plate-tectonic mechanism similar to the Earth |
| | E) | all of the above |
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2 | |
The Earth, unlike the Moon, has few obvious impact craters because _____________________. |
| | A) | few asteroids have struck the Earth |
| | B) | Earth's atmosphere absorbs the kinetic energy of asteroids |
| | C) | of serendipity |
| | D) | the Earth is an active and dynamic planet whose surface is constantly undergoing change |
| | E) | most impacts occur in Antarctica where they are yet to be discovered |
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3 | |
Which of the following is not a potential consequence of a large meteorite impact on Earth? |
| | A) | Formation of a complex crater with central uplift |
| | B) | Globally dispersed iridium that falls on plants and poisons animals that eat the plants |
| | C) | Darkness |
| | D) | Acid rain |
| | E) | Tsunami |
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4 | |
The most common type of meteorites discovered on Earth is _____________________. |
| | A) | astroblemes |
| | B) | iron meteorites |
| | C) | chondrites |
| | D) | tektites |
| | E) | stony meteorites |
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5 | |
The rings of icy debris encircling several of the outer gas-giant planets consist of _________________. |
| | A) | H2O |
| | B) | NH3 (ammonia) |
| | C) | CO2 |
| | D) | CH4 (methane) |
| | E) | rock debris |
| | F) | all of the above |
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6 | |
The cluster of millions of asteroids situated between Mars and Jupiter is called _________________. |
| | A) | asteroid belt |
| | B) | supramars |
| | C) | Mercury |
| | D) | the Milky Way |
| | E) | Andromeda |
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7 | |
Some groups of asteroids, such as the Apollo asteroids, have orbits that _________________. |
| | A) | never approach the Earth |
| | B) | intersect with the Sun |
| | C) | are wholly unpredictable |
| | D) | intersect Earth's orbit |
| | E) | take them outside the Solar System |
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8 | |
The names of two asteroid groups that supply asteroids that occasionally slam into the Earth are ________________. |
| | A) | Mars and Jupiter |
| | B) | Apollo and Amor |
| | C) | Tectites and Coesite |
| | D) | Scorpio and Virgo |
| | E) | Milky Way and Butterfinger |
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9 | |
Which of the following is not a known or suspected impact site? |
| | A) | Chicxulub, Mexico |
| | B) | Gubbio, Italy |
| | C) | Barringer Crater, Arizona |
| | D) | Chesapeake Bay, Maryland |
| | E) | Tunguska, Siberia |
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10 | |
The Oort cloud is _____________________. |
| | A) | a cloud that forms in the Earth's troposphere |
| | B) | an ozone-rich cloud of the stratosphere |
| | C) | a vast and diffuse envelope of encircling comets |
| | D) | an astronomical name for the Milky Way galaxy |
| | E) | none of the above |
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11 | |
The nearest approach to the Sun of any heavenly body is its ___________________. |
| | A) | eccentricity |
| | B) | sublimate |
| | C) | aphelion |
| | D) | perihelion |
| | E) | paratectic |
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12 | |
The tail of a comet is produced by ___________________. |
| | A) | its velocity |
| | B) | a mirage |
| | C) | sublimation of ice |
| | D) | interaction with the solar wind |
| | E) | both C and D |
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13 | |
The number of meteoroids that enter the Earth's atmosphere in a 24-hour period is ________________. |
| | A) | less than 1000 |
| | B) | greater than 10 billion |
| | C) | 10,000 to 20,000 |
| | D) | 10 or fewer |
| | E) | 1 million |
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14 | |
Earth is protected from most meteorite impacts by ___________________. |
| | A) | U.S. Strategic Meteorite Interception Program (SMIP) |
| | B) | its gravitational field |
| | C) | its atmosphere |
| | D) | the solar wind |
| | E) | all of the above |
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15 | |
From Figure 16.12, it is clear that the recurrence rate of impacts of 1 km-diameter asteroids is on the order of ___________________ years. |
| | A) | 103 |
| | B) | 106 |
| | C) | 108 |
| | D) | 109 |
| | E) | 1012 |
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16 | |
The smallest meteorites are likely to strike the Earth's surface because ___________________. |
| | A) | there are so few of them |
| | B) | their small surface area dissipates heat thus preventing melting |
| | C) | they have greater mass and velocity |
| | D) | they are less dense |
| | E) | of serendipity (chance) |
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17 | |
The mass of meteorite material added daily to the Earth's surface is on the order of _________________. |
| | A) | 10's of kilograms (kg) |
| | B) | 1000 kg |
| | C) | 10,000 kg |
| | D) | 100 - 1000 tons |
| | E) | a mass equivalent to the Sierra Nevada Mountains of east-central California |
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18 | |
Evidence that the depression called Meteor Crater in Arizona was the result of a meteorite impact includes ____________________. |
| | A) | a steep-sided and closed crater |
| | B) | surrounding sedimentary layers dipping away from the crater |
| | C) | inverted piles of sedimentary rocks |
| | D) | a crater floor with severely shattered rock |
| | E) | all of the above |
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19 | |
The meteorite whose impact formed Meteor Crater was ____________________. |
| | A) | a nickel-iron meteorite |
| | B) | approximately 30-m in diameter and traveling at 20 km/sec |
| | C) | both A and B |
| | D) | the result of a volcanic eruption at Strawberry Crater near Flagstaff, Arizona |
| | E) | of unknown size and undetermined velocity |
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20 | |
Evidence of a major impact at the K/T boundary (65 million years ago) includes ___________________. |
| | A) | eyewitness accounts |
| | B) | the published journals of Jules Verne |
| | C) | global distribution of iridium & shattered quartz in K/T-age sedimentary rocks |
| | D) | extinction of all mammals |
| | E) | C and D |
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21 | |
Some probable environmental effects from the Chicxulub event of 65 million years ago include __________________. |
| | A) | formation of the Gulf of Mexico |
| | B) | regional wildfires |
| | C) | increased CO2 and soot in the atmosphere |
| | D) | enormous earthquakes of more than 11.0 magnitude |
| | E) | immediate global cooling followed by years of global warming |
| | F) | answers B, C, D, and E |
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22 | |
Energy released by a meteorite impact is largely a function of __________________. |
| | A) | mass and velocity |
| | B) | density and size |
| | C) | velocity and composition |
| | D) | point of origin and orbit parameters |
| | E) | where and when it strikes |
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23 | |
Stishovite is ______________________. |
| | A) | the name of a famous World War II battleground |
| | B) | high pressure form of silica (SiO2) formed during a meteorite impact |
| | C) | a meteorite impact site in Siberia |
| | D) | a form of meteorite |
| | E) | a volcanic exhalation |
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24 | |
A resurgent dome in the center of an impact crater is the result of ___________________. |
| | A) | collapse of surrounding crater walls |
| | B) | release wave pushing rock material in the crater floor skyward |
| | C) | ejecta falling back into the crater |
| | D) | the meteorite itself |
| | E) | all of the above |
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25 | |
The risk to human life associated with a meteorite impact is ___________________. |
| | A) | infinitesimally small |
| | B) | about the same as a car crash |
| | C) | infinitesimally large |
| | D) | about the same as that of a snake or insect bite |
| | E) | about the same as that of an airplane crash |
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26 | |
The Torino Scale ________________________. |
| | A) | is a measure of earthquake magnitude |
| | B) | is a measure of size of meteorite impactors, based on crater size and geological evidence |
| | C) | involves the Coriolis effect on meteorites |
| | D) | assesses hazards associated with comet and asteroid impacts |
| | E) | is a measure of tornado wind strength |
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27 | |
NASA in its report "The Spaceguard Survey" addresses _______________________. |
| | A) | missile systems for destroying or deflecting comets |
| | B) | how to safeguard U.S. territorial waters |
| | C) | problems presented by meteorite impacts |
| | D) | risks associated with human-made satellites |
| | E) | constructing "meteorite shelters" similar to bomb shelters of the 1950's and 1960's |
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28 | |
Relatively few impact craters have been discovered on Earth because ________________. |
| | A) | some of the crust gets recycled by subduction. |
| | B) | over 70% of the Earth is covered by oceans. |
| | C) | weathering and erosion erase them. |
| | D) | sedimentation and lava flows cover them. |
| | E) | all of the above |
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29 | |
The expected rate of impact of a space-debris fragment one meter in diameter worldwide is about __________________. |
| | A) | one per day. |
| | B) | one per week. |
| | C) | one per month. |
| | D) | one per year. |
| | E) | one per century. |
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