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1. What is the Mendocino Triple Junction?
A. The point where three rivers meet in northern California
B. The point off the coast of northern California where the Juan de Fuca, Pacific,
and North American plates meet, marking the beginning of the San Andreas Fault
C. A volcanic hotspot off the California coast
D. The southern end of the San Andreas Fault
Correct Answer: B. The point off the coast of northern California where the Juan
de Fuca, Pacific, and North American plates meet, marking the beginning of the
San Andreas Fault
2. Which of the following best describes the Northern San Andreas Fault in the
San Francisco Bay Area?
A. Entirely offshore with no onshore movement
B. Permanently offshore with no deformation
C. Alternates onshore and offshore, becoming permanently onshore near San
Francisco with restraining and releasing bends forming sag ponds
D. A straight fault with no bends
Correct Answer: C. Alternates onshore and offshore, becoming permanently
onshore near San Francisco with restraining and releasing bends forming sag
ponds
3. Which of the following characterizes the Central California segment of the San
Andreas Fault?
,A. Only large earthquakes occur
B. Long segment with numerous small earthquakes and constant movement
C. No seismic activity
D. Entirely offshore movement
Correct Answer: B. Long segment with numerous small earthquakes and constant
movement
4. What is the Big Bend segment of the San Andreas Fault?
A. A releasing bend forming basins
B. A restraining bend causing uplift of the Transverse Ranges
C. A transform boundary offshore
D. A volcanic uplift zone
Correct Answer: B. A restraining bend causing uplift of the Transverse Ranges
5. What was the Northridge Earthquake?
A. A magnitude 5.2 earthquake in 1989
B. A magnitude 6.7 earthquake in 1994 on the Big Bend segment of the San
Andreas Fault
C. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake in 1906
D. A volcanic eruption in California
Correct Answer: B. A magnitude 6.7 earthquake in 1994 on the Big Bend segment
of the San Andreas Fault
6. What is a releasing bend?
A. A bend that produces compressional stress
B. A bend that creates tensional stress, forming depressions and sag ponds
C. A bend that stops fault motion
D. A bend that produces volcanic activity
Correct Answer: B. A bend that creates tensional stress, forming depressions and
sag ponds
7. What is a restraining bend?
A. A bend that produces tensional stress
B. A bend that creates compressional stress, forming ridges and mountains
C. A bend that forms valleys
, D. A bend that causes subsidence only
Correct Answer: B. A bend that creates compressional stress, forming ridges and
mountains
8. What is a right-lateral strike-slip fault?
A. A fault with vertical motion only
B. A fault where movement offsets features to the right when viewed across the
fault
C. A fault that moves only upward
D. A fault with no horizontal movement
Correct Answer: B. A fault where movement offsets features to the right when
viewed across the fault
9. What is a sag pond?
A. A lake formed by glacial melting
B. A water-filled depression formed at a releasing bend along a strike-slip fault
C. A reservoir built by humans
D. A volcanic crater lake
Correct Answer: B. A water-filled depression formed at a releasing bend along a
strike-slip fault
10. What is the Salton Trough?
A. A mountain range in California
B. A basin formed by extension as Baja California separates from mainland Mexico
C. A volcanic plateau
D. A glacial valley
Correct Answer: B. A basin formed by extension as Baja California separates from
mainland Mexico
11. What was the San Francisco Earthquake?
A. A magnitude 6.0 earthquake in 1980
B. A magnitude 7.8 earthquake in 1906 on the northern San Andreas Fault
C. A magnitude 5.5 earthquake in 1975
D. A magnitude 8.5 earthquake in 2001