Quiz prepared by Leslie J. Sonder, Dartmouth College.
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1 | |
The Pacific Ocean has an average depth of about 5,500 meters, which yields a theoretical deep-ocean tsunami velocity of about _________ meters per second. |
| | A) | 2 |
| | B) | 23 |
| | C) | 230 |
| | D) | 2300 |
| | E) | 23,000 |
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2 | |
Which of the following disasters would you most likely experience in San Francisco? |
| | A) | earthquakes due to movement along faults |
| | B) | meteorite impact |
| | C) | nuclear explosion |
| | D) | undersea landslides |
| | E) | volcanic activity |
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3 | |
Earthquakes that occur along faults are created when __________________. |
| | A) | melted rock is erupted along the fault zone |
| | B) | water is squeezed out of rock and released along the fault |
| | C) | stress builds up until rocks break |
| | D) | the earth shifts and moves along fractures |
| | E) | answers C and D |
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4 | |
The type of energy that shakes the Earth during an earthquake is produced by __________________. |
| | A) | gravitational attraction |
| | B) | density variations |
| | C) | shock waves |
| | D) | heat |
| | E) | solar energy |
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5 | |
Which of the following might provide evidence that a fault zone exists in an area? |
| | A) | Lines or lineaments on the surface of the Earth as seen from above the zone. |
| | B) | Streams that are offset or end abruptly. |
| | C) | Tilted layers of rock that were originally horizontal. |
| | D) | Offset rock layers. |
| | E) | all of the above |
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6 | |
A fault is a fracture plane that extends into the Earth. If the footwall of an inclined fault moves down relative to the hangingwall then the fault type is a ___________________. |
| | A) | strike-slip fault |
| | B) | normal fault |
| | C) | reverse fault |
| | D) | abnormal fault |
| | E) | transform fault |
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7 | |
If the hangingwall of an inclined fault moves down relative to the footwall then the fault type is a ________________. |
| | A) | strike-slip fault |
| | B) | normal fault |
| | C) | reverse fault |
| | D) | abnormal fault |
| | E) | transform fault |
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8 | |
On the Alpine fault in New Zealand, gold-bearing rocks and gravels were offset (refer to Figure 4.6). Gold-bearing rocks in the Nelson province were offset to the north from gold-rich gravels in the Otago province. Since most of the movement along the fault is horizontal it can be classified as a ____________________. |
| | A) | transform fault |
| | B) | left-lateral strike-slip fault |
| | C) | right-lateral strike-slip fault |
| | D) | reverse fault |
| | E) | dip-slip fault |
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9 | |
You are hiking east across a sequence of rock layers that are tilted 45° to the east. At some point you cross a small linear depression and notice that there is a repetition of the layers that you just walked over. This repetition of rock layers provides evidence that you have crossed a ________________. |
| | A) | strike-slip fault |
| | B) | normal fault |
| | C) | reverse fault |
| | D) | abnormal fault |
| | E) | transform fault |
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10 | |
The most common types of faults in an area being pulled apart between two tectonic plates are ___________________. |
| | A) | left-lateral strike-slip faults |
| | B) | right-lateral strike slip faults |
| | C) | reverse faults |
| | D) | normal faults |
| | E) | horsetail faults |
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11 | |
The most common types of faults in an area being pushed together between two tectonic plates are _____________________. |
| | A) | left-lateral strike-slip faults |
| | B) | right-lateral strike slip faults |
| | C) | reverse faults |
| | D) | normal fault |
| | E) | horsetail faults |
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12 | |
There is a common misconception that someday part of California will sink into the ocean and disappear. With your knowledge of the San Andreas fault zone and plate tectonics you can argue that this will not occur because ___________________. |
| | A) | the dominant movement on the San Andreas is reverse and part of California will move further inland |
| | B) | the dominant movement on the San Andreas is left-lateral strike slip and the part of California west of the fault zone will move further south towards Mexico |
| | C) | the San Andreas is a normal fault that dips to the east so all of the land east of fault zone will move down |
| | D) | the dominant movement on the San Andreas is right-lateral strike slip but movement on the fault has ceased |
| | E) | the dominant movement on the San Andreas is right-lateral strike slip and the part of California west of the fault zone will move further north, but it can not sink. |
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13 | |
The point at which a fault first ruptures in the earth is called the ______________. |
| | A) | hypocenter |
| | B) | hypicenter |
| | C) | hypercenter |
| | D) | epicenter |
| | E) | typocenter |
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14 | |
Which of the following is not true for P waves? |
| | A) | They have a push-pull or compression-extension motion. |
| | B) | They have the greatest velocity of all seismic waves. |
| | C) | They can move through solids, liquids, and gases. |
| | D) | They are called primary waves. |
| | E) | Their velocity depends only on the density and resistance to shearing of materials. |
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15 | |
If body waves pass from a less dense material into a more dense material the velocity of the waves will _____________________. |
| | A) | remain the same |
| | B) | decrease |
| | C) | decrease and then increase |
| | D) | increase and then decrease |
| | E) | increase |
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16 | |
Which of the following is true for S waves? |
| | A) | They move by shaking the earth at right angles to the direction of advance. |
| | B) | They arrive at seismic stations later than P waves. |
| | C) | They can move only through solids. |
| | D) | They are called secondary waves. |
| | E) | all of the above |
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17 | |
Evidence that supports the hypothesis that the asthenosphere is a weak zone due to small amounts of melting is that the velocity of S waves ____________ as they travel through this zone in the mantle. |
| | A) | remains the same |
| | B) | decreases |
| | C) | decreases to zero |
| | D) | decreases and then increases |
| | E) | increases |
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18 | |
Which of the following is not true for Rayleigh waves? |
| | A) | They advance in backward-rotating elliptical motion. |
| | B) | They only have a horizontal movement. |
| | C) | They would make you feel as if you were riding a wave as they pass. |
| | D) | They generally have lower velocities relative to body waves. |
| | E) | They can pass through both ground and water. |
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19 | |
Tsunami are deadly natural hazards that commonly are generated by _________________. |
| | A) | fault motion with vertical offset under the sea during which there is vertical offset |
| | B) | fault movements on land during which there is vertical offset |
| | C) | tides produced by gravitational attraction between the Earth and the Moon |
| | D) | hurricanes |
| | E) | fault movements on land in which there is horizontal offset only |
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20 | |
In which of the following scenarios would tsunami tend to have the greatest destructive power? |
| | A) | A section of a linear coastline where the bottom of the ocean dips gently near the coast. |
| | B) | A section of a linear coastline where the bottom of the ocean dips steeply near the coast. |
| | C) | A section of a coastline where there is a harbor and the bottom of the ocean bottom dips gently. |
| | D) | A section of a coastline where there is a harbor and the bottom of the ocean bottom dips steeply. |
| | E) | Tsunami would have the same destructive power in all of the conditions listed above. |
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21 | |
Imagine that an earthquake is recorded on a seismogram where you live. The difference in arrival times between the P and S waves is 30 seconds. The amplitude of the largest earthquake waves recorded on the seismogram is 1.5 mm. Using the Richter scale graphed in Figure 3.24, what is the magnitude of the earthquake? |
| | A) | 4 |
| | B) | 4.5 |
| | C) | 5 |
| | D) | 5.5 |
| | E) | 6 |
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22 | |
A second earthquake has just followed the earthquake described in question 21. The difference in arrival times between the P and S waves is still 30 seconds. The amplitude of the largest earthquake waves recorded on a seismogram for the aftershock is 15 mm. How much greater was the magnitude of this earthquake compared with the first? |
| | A) | 1 unit greater |
| | B) | 2 units greater |
| | C) | 10 units greater |
| | D) | 13.5 units greater |
| | E) | 15 units greater |
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23 | |
Of the earthquakes described in questions 21 and 22, how much more energy was released in this second earthquake relative to the first earthquake? |
| | A) | 1 |
| | B) | 48 |
| | C) | 2,050 |
| | D) | 80,500 |
| | E) | 2,800,000 |
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24 | |
The Mercalli intensity is useful because |
| | A) | it is the only method of assessing the energy of an earthquake. |
| | B) | it allows us to assess the magnitude of historical earthquakes for which there are no instrumented records, and thus estimate recurrence intervals for major earthquakes. |
| | C) | it helps determine the magnitude of small or distant earthquakes for which the Richter scale is inadequate |
| | D) | it predicts the next major earthquake. |
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25 | |
Which of the following scenarios would you expect to show the greatest resonance with the passing of very short-period body waves? |
| | A) | A one-story wood-framed house built on rock. |
| | B) | A one-story wood-framed house built on soft sediments. |
| | C) | A one-story brick house built on rock. |
| | D) | A one-story brick house built on soft sediments. |
| | E) | A ten-story steel-framed building constructed on soft sediments. |
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26 | |
The 1960 Chile earthquake (M 9.5) released about 1 x 1026 ergs of energy. The atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima released about 1 x 1021 ergs of energy. How many Hiroshima bombs would have to explode simultaneously to equal the amount of energy released by the Chile earthquake? |
| | A) | 10 |
| | B) | 100 |
| | C) | 1000 |
| | D) | 10000 |
| | E) | 100000 |
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