BYU EARTH SCIENCE MAIN EXAMINATION 2025/2026
QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
✔✔Which type of boundary produces the most frequent and most powerful quakes? -
✔✔convergent boundaries
✔✔Most quakes occur on or near what? - ✔✔the edges of plates
✔✔Where in North America are most quakes found? - ✔✔West Coast
✔✔What is the process called by which trenches form at convergent boundaries? -
✔✔convergent
✔✔Where is new ocean floor being formed? - ✔✔Along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
✔✔Which boundary produces the most violent eruptions? - ✔✔convergent
✔✔In which direction is South America moving? - ✔✔West
✔✔Is the island of Iceland formed along a plate boundary, or is it a hot spot island? -
✔✔Divergent plate boundary
✔✔Which boundary is associated with the Ring of Fire? - ✔✔convergent
✔✔seismologists - ✔✔one who studies earthquakes and related events
✔✔volcanologists - ✔✔one who studies volcanoes and related events
✔✔hot spot - ✔✔a region of higher-than-normal heat in the earth.
✔✔magma - ✔✔underground molten rock; as it reaches the surface, it is called lava.
✔✔Which boundary or type of volcano produces very fluid lava? - ✔✔divergent
boundaries and hot spot volcanos
✔✔Which of the following absorbs the greatest percentage of the sun's energy? -
✔✔surface (land and oceans)
✔✔Which of the following is best at reflecting sunlight back into space? - ✔✔clouds
✔✔About what percent of the sun's energy that reaches the earth is reflected back into
space from the atmosphere, clouds, and surface combined? - ✔✔30%
, ✔✔Which fossil fuel is most abundant in the United States? - ✔✔Coal
✔✔How does plant and animal matter become fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural
gas? - ✔✔It must be subjected to high heat and pressure,
It must be buried for millions of years,
The plant and animal matter must be buried under layers of mud, silt, and dirt.
✔✔Why are fossil fuels considered to be nonrenewable? - ✔✔They take millions of
years to form and cannot be quickly replenished.
✔✔What does the term specific heat capacity mean? - ✔✔the quantity of heat required
to raise the temperature of a unit of mass of a substance by a unit change in temp
✔✔If a planet radiates back into space less energy than it gets from the sun, what
would happen to its temperature? - ✔✔the planet would warm up
✔✔In what form does energy escape from the earth's surface back into space? -
✔✔infrared waves
✔✔What is the largest reservoir of fresh water? - ✔✔ice caps
✔✔Groundwater is how many times more abundant than surface water? - ✔✔3 times
✔✔The oceans cover about how much of the globe? - ✔✔75%
✔✔The concentration of toxic chemicals can be increased by food chains through what
process? - ✔✔bio-magnification
✔✔capillary action - ✔✔the ability of water to move into small spaces and pores
✔✔bipolar or polarity - ✔✔molecules with a positive charge on one side and negative
on the other
✔✔surface tension - ✔✔force between surface molecules
✔✔dissolving - ✔✔the breaking apart of a substance atom by atom or molecule by
molecule
✔✔ion - ✔✔an atom or molecule with a positive or negative electric charge
✔✔specific heat - ✔✔the ability of a substance to absorb heat energy
QUESTIONS WITH SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
✔✔Which type of boundary produces the most frequent and most powerful quakes? -
✔✔convergent boundaries
✔✔Most quakes occur on or near what? - ✔✔the edges of plates
✔✔Where in North America are most quakes found? - ✔✔West Coast
✔✔What is the process called by which trenches form at convergent boundaries? -
✔✔convergent
✔✔Where is new ocean floor being formed? - ✔✔Along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
✔✔Which boundary produces the most violent eruptions? - ✔✔convergent
✔✔In which direction is South America moving? - ✔✔West
✔✔Is the island of Iceland formed along a plate boundary, or is it a hot spot island? -
✔✔Divergent plate boundary
✔✔Which boundary is associated with the Ring of Fire? - ✔✔convergent
✔✔seismologists - ✔✔one who studies earthquakes and related events
✔✔volcanologists - ✔✔one who studies volcanoes and related events
✔✔hot spot - ✔✔a region of higher-than-normal heat in the earth.
✔✔magma - ✔✔underground molten rock; as it reaches the surface, it is called lava.
✔✔Which boundary or type of volcano produces very fluid lava? - ✔✔divergent
boundaries and hot spot volcanos
✔✔Which of the following absorbs the greatest percentage of the sun's energy? -
✔✔surface (land and oceans)
✔✔Which of the following is best at reflecting sunlight back into space? - ✔✔clouds
✔✔About what percent of the sun's energy that reaches the earth is reflected back into
space from the atmosphere, clouds, and surface combined? - ✔✔30%
, ✔✔Which fossil fuel is most abundant in the United States? - ✔✔Coal
✔✔How does plant and animal matter become fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural
gas? - ✔✔It must be subjected to high heat and pressure,
It must be buried for millions of years,
The plant and animal matter must be buried under layers of mud, silt, and dirt.
✔✔Why are fossil fuels considered to be nonrenewable? - ✔✔They take millions of
years to form and cannot be quickly replenished.
✔✔What does the term specific heat capacity mean? - ✔✔the quantity of heat required
to raise the temperature of a unit of mass of a substance by a unit change in temp
✔✔If a planet radiates back into space less energy than it gets from the sun, what
would happen to its temperature? - ✔✔the planet would warm up
✔✔In what form does energy escape from the earth's surface back into space? -
✔✔infrared waves
✔✔What is the largest reservoir of fresh water? - ✔✔ice caps
✔✔Groundwater is how many times more abundant than surface water? - ✔✔3 times
✔✔The oceans cover about how much of the globe? - ✔✔75%
✔✔The concentration of toxic chemicals can be increased by food chains through what
process? - ✔✔bio-magnification
✔✔capillary action - ✔✔the ability of water to move into small spaces and pores
✔✔bipolar or polarity - ✔✔molecules with a positive charge on one side and negative
on the other
✔✔surface tension - ✔✔force between surface molecules
✔✔dissolving - ✔✔the breaking apart of a substance atom by atom or molecule by
molecule
✔✔ion - ✔✔an atom or molecule with a positive or negative electric charge
✔✔specific heat - ✔✔the ability of a substance to absorb heat energy
