Geology Final Exam Questions And Answers
Which of the following is accurate about Louis Agassiz?
A. He offered ideas that explain the timing of ice-age events but not the severity of temperature
change associated with ice ages.
B. He stated that there are changes in the amount and distribution of insolation received on the Earth.
C. He stated that there are cyclical changes in the Earth's orbit and axial tilt.
D. He stated that the presence of erratics in Europe was due to large continental ice sheets.
d
Ice
A. is transparent if pure, but milky white if it's cracked or contains air bubbles.
B. has a low albedo, which explains why it floats.
C. is denser than water.
D. is no longer slippery at extremely cold temperatures.
a
Which of the following is a type of mountain (alpine) glacier?
A. continental glacier
B. valley glacier
C. ice shelf
D. continental shelf
b
Identify the true statement
A. Polar glaciers move along a wet cushion of liquid at their base.
B. The uppermost layer of ice in a glacier moves by plastic deformation; the base, by brittle
deformation.
C. Parts of a glacier all move at the same rate.
D. Continental glaciers spread across the landscape laterally in response to their own weight.
d
Continental ice sheets today are found only in
A. Alaska and Iceland.
B. Antarctica and Iceland.
C. Antarctica and Greenland.
D. Greenland and Iceland.
c
Which of the following climate conditions would most likely allow glaciers to form?
A. a heavy snowfall in winter, coupled with relatively cool summers
B. temperatures below freezing for one month straight
C. mild winters with lots of snow, coupled with very hot summers
D. high winds that produce low chill factors
a
,Identify the true statement
A. When a glacier retreats, its ice contracts and flows back toward the glacier's point of origin.
B. Glaciers can grow smaller by melting, sublimation, or calving.
C. Glaciers always retreat when they reach an elevation of fewer than 5,000 feet.
D. The zone of ablation is the area of the glacier where each year more snow falls than melts.
b
Which of the following statements is true?
A. Roughly half of a floating block of ice lies below the surface of the water.
B. Sheets of ice lying on seawater may be ice shelves (extensions of continental glaciers) or sea ice
(the frozen surface of the sea itself).
C. Growlers are floating blocks of ice larger than icebergs.
D. Bergy bits, by definition, are free-floating chunks of ice that are at least 6 m above water and at
least 15 m long.
b
Identify the true statement
A. The boundary between the zone of accumulation and the zone of ablation is called the terminus.
B. When the rate of ablation equals the rate of accumulation, the glacier retreats.
C. During glacial retreat, the rate of ice accumulation exceeds the rate of ablation.
D. During glacial advance, the toe moves downslope for mountain glaciers and outward for
continental glaciers.
d
Which of the following terms is related to glaciers?
A. levees
B. talus
C. lag deposits
D. drumlins
d
Scientists can determine the direction of movement of continental glaciers by looking at glacial
A. firn.
B. horns.
C. striations.
D. cirques.
c
Identify the true statement
A. The process by which icebergs break off of coastal glaciers is called surging.
B. Narrow, steep-sided, deep inlets of seawater in glacial valleys are called fjords.
C. Today, glaciers cover 30% of the land; in the ice age, they covered 70%.
D. Pluvial lakes are lakes that form on the surface of a glacier.
b
, Which of the following statements is true?
A. A firn is a pyramid-like peak that results when several cirques eat away at a mountain peak.
B. Glaciers' average speeds are between a few tens and a few hundred meters per year.
C. Tarn is rocky material that has been carried along and deposited by the ice of a glacier.
D. Glaciers rework U-shaped stream valleys and change them into V-shaped valleys.
b
Identify the true statement
A. Modern streams flowing in oversized valleys are signs of past glaciation.
B. Continental glaciers create spectacular scenery filled with horns, arêtes, cirques, and truncated
spurs.
C. When a tidewater glacier melts, it leaves a hanging valley above the main glacial valley.
D. A roche moutonnée forms when a block of ice breaks off a receding glacier and forms a circular
depression.
a
When rock surface has been eroded by glacier, the pattern shows long, parallel grooves in the rock
are called
A. eskers.
B. striations.
C. chatter marks.
D. drumlins.
b
Which of the following forms by glacial erosion?
A. esker
B. erratics
C. rock flour
D. drumlin
c
Identify the true statement
A. Terminal, recessional, medial, and lateral are all varieties of mountain (alpine) glaciers.
B. Glaciers grind down the land they move over, producing a fine material called kame.
C. Large boulders carried long distances by glaciers and dumped where they obviously don't belong
are called erratics.
D. Snow that has lost much of its air and turned into packed, granular material is called loess.
c
Elongate hills of glacial till that are molded by glaciers that flow over them are called
A. kettle holes.
B. drumlins.
C. eskers.
D. loess.
b
Which of the following is accurate about Louis Agassiz?
A. He offered ideas that explain the timing of ice-age events but not the severity of temperature
change associated with ice ages.
B. He stated that there are changes in the amount and distribution of insolation received on the Earth.
C. He stated that there are cyclical changes in the Earth's orbit and axial tilt.
D. He stated that the presence of erratics in Europe was due to large continental ice sheets.
d
Ice
A. is transparent if pure, but milky white if it's cracked or contains air bubbles.
B. has a low albedo, which explains why it floats.
C. is denser than water.
D. is no longer slippery at extremely cold temperatures.
a
Which of the following is a type of mountain (alpine) glacier?
A. continental glacier
B. valley glacier
C. ice shelf
D. continental shelf
b
Identify the true statement
A. Polar glaciers move along a wet cushion of liquid at their base.
B. The uppermost layer of ice in a glacier moves by plastic deformation; the base, by brittle
deformation.
C. Parts of a glacier all move at the same rate.
D. Continental glaciers spread across the landscape laterally in response to their own weight.
d
Continental ice sheets today are found only in
A. Alaska and Iceland.
B. Antarctica and Iceland.
C. Antarctica and Greenland.
D. Greenland and Iceland.
c
Which of the following climate conditions would most likely allow glaciers to form?
A. a heavy snowfall in winter, coupled with relatively cool summers
B. temperatures below freezing for one month straight
C. mild winters with lots of snow, coupled with very hot summers
D. high winds that produce low chill factors
a
,Identify the true statement
A. When a glacier retreats, its ice contracts and flows back toward the glacier's point of origin.
B. Glaciers can grow smaller by melting, sublimation, or calving.
C. Glaciers always retreat when they reach an elevation of fewer than 5,000 feet.
D. The zone of ablation is the area of the glacier where each year more snow falls than melts.
b
Which of the following statements is true?
A. Roughly half of a floating block of ice lies below the surface of the water.
B. Sheets of ice lying on seawater may be ice shelves (extensions of continental glaciers) or sea ice
(the frozen surface of the sea itself).
C. Growlers are floating blocks of ice larger than icebergs.
D. Bergy bits, by definition, are free-floating chunks of ice that are at least 6 m above water and at
least 15 m long.
b
Identify the true statement
A. The boundary between the zone of accumulation and the zone of ablation is called the terminus.
B. When the rate of ablation equals the rate of accumulation, the glacier retreats.
C. During glacial retreat, the rate of ice accumulation exceeds the rate of ablation.
D. During glacial advance, the toe moves downslope for mountain glaciers and outward for
continental glaciers.
d
Which of the following terms is related to glaciers?
A. levees
B. talus
C. lag deposits
D. drumlins
d
Scientists can determine the direction of movement of continental glaciers by looking at glacial
A. firn.
B. horns.
C. striations.
D. cirques.
c
Identify the true statement
A. The process by which icebergs break off of coastal glaciers is called surging.
B. Narrow, steep-sided, deep inlets of seawater in glacial valleys are called fjords.
C. Today, glaciers cover 30% of the land; in the ice age, they covered 70%.
D. Pluvial lakes are lakes that form on the surface of a glacier.
b
, Which of the following statements is true?
A. A firn is a pyramid-like peak that results when several cirques eat away at a mountain peak.
B. Glaciers' average speeds are between a few tens and a few hundred meters per year.
C. Tarn is rocky material that has been carried along and deposited by the ice of a glacier.
D. Glaciers rework U-shaped stream valleys and change them into V-shaped valleys.
b
Identify the true statement
A. Modern streams flowing in oversized valleys are signs of past glaciation.
B. Continental glaciers create spectacular scenery filled with horns, arêtes, cirques, and truncated
spurs.
C. When a tidewater glacier melts, it leaves a hanging valley above the main glacial valley.
D. A roche moutonnée forms when a block of ice breaks off a receding glacier and forms a circular
depression.
a
When rock surface has been eroded by glacier, the pattern shows long, parallel grooves in the rock
are called
A. eskers.
B. striations.
C. chatter marks.
D. drumlins.
b
Which of the following forms by glacial erosion?
A. esker
B. erratics
C. rock flour
D. drumlin
c
Identify the true statement
A. Terminal, recessional, medial, and lateral are all varieties of mountain (alpine) glaciers.
B. Glaciers grind down the land they move over, producing a fine material called kame.
C. Large boulders carried long distances by glaciers and dumped where they obviously don't belong
are called erratics.
D. Snow that has lost much of its air and turned into packed, granular material is called loess.
c
Elongate hills of glacial till that are molded by glaciers that flow over them are called
A. kettle holes.
B. drumlins.
C. eskers.
D. loess.
b
