Name: _______________________________________________________ Period: _____ Date: _____ ID: A
Unit 7 Practice
Circle the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question and write the
letter on the blank.
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1. What term describes the movement of rock materials from one place to another?
A erosion
B flooding
C deposition
D weathering
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2. Which is the best definition of the term fossil?
A process that changes the surface of Earth
B preserved remains or traces of a living thing
C energy-rich resource formed from once-living organisms
D type of rock formed by weathering and deposition
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3. Which term best describes mechanical processes that break down rocks?
A gravity
B deposition
C physical weathering
D chemical weathering
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4. What process is most directly involved in oil formation?
A changes in the ocean environment
B erosion of sediments on the sea floor
C formation of fossils of sea organisms
D breakdown of organisms’ remains into hydrogen and carbon
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5. When coal forms, several factors affect the quality of the coal that is produced. Which would cause
better quality coal to be produced?
A greater amounts of plant materials
B faster rate of burial of plant remains
C greater amounts of heat and pressure
D faster rate of change in environmental conditions
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6. Woolly mammoths lived in the past but are now extinct. Using fossils as evidence, what have
scientists learned about woolly mammoths?
A They were able to live in the very cold climate of the ice age.
B The more fur on their bodies, the older they were.
C Their fur helped block spears from hunters.
D Their bodies became too large and caused them to become extinct.
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7. Emilio’s school was having an addition put on. Once the ground was dug up, his teacher brought
the class out to examine the exposed rock layers in the ground. The students were able to see
fossils such as coral, clams, and fish. What did this tell them about the environment many years
ago?
A An ocean once covered the area.
B The environment was once cold and icy.
C At one time there was a forest in this area.
D Desert sand used to cover the school grounds.
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8. Which of the following fossils would make a good index fossil?
A a snail that lived in a large area during most of Earth's history
B a trilobite that lived in all areas east of the Mississippi River, in large populations
during the Paleozoic
C a fern that lived in a small geographic area in a small population during the
Mesozoic
D a magnolia that lived in small populations during several geologic periods
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9. If you visit the La Brea tar pits in California, you will learn that the fossilized plants there are not
much different from plants that live in that area today. What can be inferred?
A None of the plants has changed since that time.
B Rainfall amounts have changed greatly in this area.
C The present-day climate is not much different from what it was back then.
D The animals that lived there in the past are very different from today’s animals.
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10. Rock salt and gypsum are two kinds of sedimentary rock. Which process is involved in their
formation?
A water freezing and melting in rock cracks
B wind blasting rocks in hot deserts
C animal bones being buried, heated, and compressed
D water evaporating and leaving minerals behind
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11. Which is a similarity shared by chemical and physical weathering?
A It can be caused by water.
B It involves chemical reactions.
C It involves mechanical processes.
D It usually causes rapid changes to rock.
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12. Which of the answers below most completely lists the processes by which wind can change Earth’s
surface?
A erosion
B erosion and deposition
C deposition and weathering
D erosion, deposition, and weathering
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13. Which of the answers below best explains the relationship between the slope of a hill and the
weathering that occurs?
A Steeper slopes result in slower rates of weathering.
B Steeper slopes result in more rapid rates of weathering.
C The steepness of the slope is unrelated to the rate of weathering.
D The steepness of the slope determines if mechanical or chemical weathering
occurs.
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14. Julian was given a bag with several fossils in it from the rock layers shown below.
If one of the fossils is older than layer 1, but younger than layer 3, which rock layer was it
collected from?
A 1
B 2
C 3
D 4
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15. In the diagram above, which fossil would not be a good index fossil?
A a fossil found in every rock layer
B a fossil found only in a top rock layer
C a fossil found in the oldest rock layer
D a fossil found in rock 300 million years old
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16. What can you conclude about a fossil that appears in many rock layers?
A The fossil is useful for scientists.
B The organism lived in many places in the world.
C The organism lived for a geologically short period of time.
D The organism lived for a geologically long period of time.
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17. In some rock, water can form caves. What can you infer about rock that form caves?
A It is very hard.
B It dissolves in water.
C It doesn’t react with water.
D It is mostly made of sand.
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18. Cave formation occurs under certain conditions. In which kind of environment would a cave be
most likely to form?
A a wide desert
B a cool prairie
C a rainy hillside
D a windy mountainside
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19. In a class experiment, equal amounts of gravel were placed on four trays. The trays were then set
at different angles to model different slopes. Students used a garden hose to keep the water running
at a steady rate down each tray. They recorded the following data:
Analyze the information. What is the most reasonable explanation that can be constructed?
A Water erodes gravel easily.
B Ice and wind erode materials at different rates than water.
C Steeper slopes cause water erosion to occur more quickly.
D Erosion rates do not change based on the angle of the slope.
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20. Which event is most likely to contribute to underground cave formation?
A groundwater flow
B severe weather
C a landslide
D a drought
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21. Oil and natural gas are fossil fuels. What is oil formed from?
A shells of tiny sea organisms
B stalks and leaves of sea plants
C shells and bodies of sea organisms
D hydrogen and carbon from sea organisms
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22. The drawing below shows the processes leading to the formation of the three kinds of rocks.
According to the drawing, which of these correctly sequences the processes that lead to the
formation of sedimentary rock?
A heat and pressure; melting; erosion
B melting; weathering and erosion; compaction and cementation
C compaction and cementation; heat and pressure; erosion and weathering
D weathering and erosion; formation of sediments; compaction and cementation
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23. Which of the following is a way that flowing water in a river or stream causes rocks to break
apart?
A It blasts sand on them.
B It warms and cools them.
C It pulls nutrients from them.
D It causes them to crash together.
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24. Which statement describes a similarity between the formation of fossil fuels and the formation of
sedimentary rock?
A Both were formed at the surface of Earth.
B Both require pressure and a long time to form.
C Both were formed when melted rock cooled.
D Both were formed through the process of weathering.
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25. What is the first step in the process of the formation of sedimentary rocks?
A
B
C
D
Sediments are cemented together.
Sediments are compacted due to pressure.
Sediments are deposited in a new location.
Existing rock is broken down to form sediments.
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26. People are concerned about fossil fuels because—
A they produce carbon dioxide when they are burned
B they are not easily replenished
C they are not renewable fuel sources
D all of the above
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27. Most of the energy used in the United States comes from fossil fuels. Where on Earth are most
fossil fuels located?
A deep underground
B near the ocean’s surface
C in desert sand dunes
D near the African coast
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28. A common type of fossil fuel forms when dead plants are under great amounts of pressure and
high temperature for a long period of time. What type of fuel is it?
A oil
B coal
C gasoline
D natural gas
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29. Oil and natural gas are two types of fossil fuel used to heat homes. What did oil and natural gas
form from?
A plants
B ocean fish
C gravel and sediment
D remains of tiny marine organisms
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30. An investigation to explore the processes that led to the formation of fossil fuels would most likely
include a model of which process?
A rocks and soil being eroded by water
B landforms being changed by weathering
C remains of organisms being buried by sediment
D minerals replacing the tissues in the remains of organisms
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31. Which investigation would explore a process that directly leads to the formation of sedimentary
rock?
A modeling how plains and canyons form
B measuring how temperature affects cooling of rocks
C determining how pressure affects layers of gravel
D observing the rate at which waves change a shoreline
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32. Which is least likely to cause changes to rocks on Earth’s surface?
A ice
B wind
C water
D fire
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33. Which change would increase the rate of weathering of a rock on Earth’s surface?
A a decrease in the amount of rain
B a moderate increase in temperatures
C an increase in the time the rock has been exposed
D a decrease in the size of the exposed area of the rock
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34. The Green River Formation in Wyoming is made of layers of rock that contain many fish fossils,
which provide evidence of past living organisms. The figure below shows the type of fossils that
are found in these rocks.
What most likely occurred to allow the fish to be preserved as a fossil?
A The fish was rapidly buried in sediment after it died.
B The fish moved along until it landed in a safe, quiet place.
C The temperature increased until conditions were right to form fossils.
D Animals ate the fish so the bones were clean and ready to turn into fossils.