As two tectonic plates collide, mountains form. As the mountains are pushed higher, the gravitational potential energy of the rocks increases. Four students have different ideas on which property of rocks remain unchanged. Which student has the most accurate idea?

• Student A: Hardness is unchanged

• Student B: Structure is unchanged

• Student C:

  Total Mass is unchanged

• Student D: Mean density is unchanged

Looking at this topographic map, which side of this hill is the steepest?

• North

• South

• East

• West

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-2

Letters A through D on the map are locations on Earth's surface. Which letter is closest to a major zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic activities?

• A

• B

• C

• D

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

NGSS.MS-ESS3-2

Which recent geologic processes commonly occur in the Coastal Plain region of VA?

• Crustal uplift and rock deformation

• Rifting and intrusion

• Erosion and deposition

• Subduction and metamorphism

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-4

An earthquake shear wave generally travels faster as the wave moves deeper into Earth's interior because greater depths have...

• less confining pressure

• greater rock temperatures

• lower melting points

• greater rock density

Which of the following does NOT provide evidence for the plate tectonics theory?

• matching magnetic patterns on each side of a mid-ocean ridge to the geomagnetic reversal time scale

• finding similarities in discovered fossils on different continents

• discovering that ages and types of rocks in the coastal regions of widely separated areas match closely

• suggestion that continents plow through rock of the ocean floor

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS2-3

Which of the following best describes the composition of ocean crust?

• relatively thin, young, and dense

• relatively thick, old, and less dense

• relatively thick, young, and very dense

• relatively thin, old, and very dense

What physiographic province in VA, having flat-lying sedimentary rocks, contains most of the states coal resources?

• Coastal Plain

• Blue Ridge

• Appalachian Plateau

• Valley & Ridge

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS3-1

Which VA province has long parallel ridges and valleys underlain by ancient folded and faulted sedimentary rocks?

• Valley & Ridge

• Piedmont

• Coastal Plain

• Blue Ridge

• Appalachian Plateau

Which VA province has rolling hills underlain by mostly ancient igneous and metamorphic rocks?

• Appalachian Plateau

• Blue Ridge

• Coastal Plain

• Piedmont

• Valley & Ridge

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4