Role-specific Earth Science Interview Questions & Answers:

1. The site of photosynthesis is?

No Answer is Posted For this Question

2. In 1962, Harry Hess at Princeton University hypothesized that the topography of the seafloor could be explained if the seafloor were moving sideways away from the oceanic ridge. This came to be called the Hess hypothesis of:

Seafloor Spreading

3. A limestone cave that is open to the sky or whose roof has collapsed is now called a:

Sinkhole

4. What are the names of the tides that occur when the suns tidal bulges and the moons tidal bulges are at right angles to each other?

Neap Tides

5. What is the common name for the test that gives the hardness of the material by the size of an indent left in it by a standard steel ball?

The Brinell Test

6. What is the fossilized resin of ancient trees which forms through the natural polymerization of sap:

Amber

7. What kind of rocks are formed by the lithification of sediments:

Sedimentary Rocks

8. What is the upper surface of the saturated zone of groundwater called:

The Water Table

9. What is the professional name for the person who studies fossils?

Paleontologist

10. What is the term for groundwater emerging naturally at the ground surface, where the water table intersects the surface:

Spring

11. What is the name given to the region of the Earths mantle located from about 75 to 300 kilometers below the surface, where rocks have little strength?

Asthenosphere

12. The name of this mineral is derived from the Latin word which means "to flow". One of its major uses is as a flux to help melt iron ore. What is its name?

Fluorite

13. Give the common name of the historic mineral that was the original source of radium and the first substance in which helium was discovered on earth:

Pitchblende

14. Which equinox marks the moment when fall begins in the Northern Hemisphere?

Autumnal Equinox

15. What is the only common mineral to be strongly magnetic other than magnetite:

Pyrrhotite

16. What common type of paper contains substantial amounts of corundum and magnetite?

Sand Paper

17. As glaciers erode the surface over which they move, sets of parallel linear grooves are sometime worn into the rock surface. These grooves are called:

Striations

18. What is the name for the margin where two plates in the lithosphere slide past each other?

Transform Fault Margins

19. A solid compound whose internal structural pattern is expressed as plane faces that can be seen with the unaided eye is generally known as a:

Crystal

20. On the day of the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, the sun can be seen directly overhead at what location around the globe?

Tropic Of Capricorn

21. Magma that reached the Earths surface is called:

Lava

22. During which equinoxes are day and night of equal length around the world:

Autumnal And Vernal Equinoxes

23. This mineral has the nickname "bloodstone" because it gives a deep red color on a streak test. What is its chemical formula?

Fe2O3

24. Name 2 places on earth where continental glaciers exist:

Antarctica And Greenland

25. In what layer of the Earths atmosphere does most of our weather occur?

Troposphere

26. Order the following minerals from the hardest to the softest:

Topaz; Corundum; Quartz; Fluorite

Answer: Corundum; Topaz; Quartz; Fluorite

27. Which of the following is an example of a metamorphic rock:

1. gneiss
2. granite
3. sandstone
4. limestone

Answer: A

28. Which of the following minerals best illustrates the property of cleavage:

1. quartz
2. chrysotite
3. pyrite
4. mica

Answer: D

29. Steep-sided volcanoes such as Mounts Rainier, Hood, and Fuji, are examples of what kind of volcanoes:

1. stratovolcanoes
2. tephra cone volcanoes
3. shield volcanoes
4. tower volcanoes

Answer: A

30. Ground depressions in areas of Karst topography are called:

1. kettles
2. grabens
3. sinkholes
4. cirques

Answer: C

31. The angle of insolation on the Earth's surface is most direct at which latitude:

1. 0o
2. 90oNorth or South
3. 66 ½oNorth or South
4. 23 ½oNorth or South

Answer: A

32. A low-gradient stream would most likely form a:

1. V-shaped valley
2. waterfall
3. meander
4. straight channel

Answer: C

33. The physical property used in mineral identification for the way a minerals surface reflects light is called:

1. streak
2. polish
3. refractivity
4. luster

Answer: D

34. What is the name for a roughly circular coral reef enclosing a shallow lagoon:

1. barrier reef
2. fringing reef
3. shallow reef
4. atoll

Answer: D

35. Which is NOT true about the concentration of methane gas in the atmosphere:

1. it is generated by biological activity related to rice cultivation
2. it is generated as a byproduct of the digestive processes of cattle
3. it is generated as a byproduct of refrigerants and aerosols
4. it has an atmospheric lifetime of about 10 years

Answer: C