Geology Trivia Questions
Total Questions: 96
What is the largest pure nugget ever discovered, weighing over 150 lbs., called The Welcome Stranger, made of?
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gold
What is the color of pure marble?
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white
What type of geological formation is Indonesia's Mount Marapi, whose name means 'fire mountain'?
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volcano
According to Abraham Gottlob Werner's Neptunism theory, what did he incorrectly claim once covered the Earth?
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water
What is the formation of calcium carbonate that builds up on the floor of a cave due to water dripping from a stalactite?
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stalagmite
What is the name of the luminescent effect that some minerals display, which was named after a specific mineral?
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fluorescence
What name is given to the innermost part of the Earth, which consists of one liquid and one solid region?
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core
What is the luminescent effect called that some minerals show, named after fluorite?
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fluorescence
Which mountain range was formed by the collision of the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate?
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andes
What is the central part of the Earth that is larger than the planet Mars?
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core
What is a type of rock often found as nodules in chalk deposits that produces a spark when struck by steel?
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flint
In which country does Tanzanite occur naturally?
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tanzania
What mineral are marbles called 'aggies' made of?
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agate
In 1669, where did Nicolaus Steno discover that the oldest layers of rock are always located in sediment?
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bottom
What is magma called after it is expelled from a volcano?
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lava
Stalactites and stalagmites are primarily composed of travertine, which is a form of what type of stone?
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limestone
Which metal is primarily obtained from the ore cuprite?
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copper
What is the term for a hot spring that intermittently ejects steam and boiling water?
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geyser
What fuel has main types including peat, lignite, bituminous, and anthracite?
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coal
What common substance is halite, often used in its 'table' variety?
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salt
What is magma called when it reaches the earth's surface?
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lava
What metal do scientists believe primarily makes up the Earth's core, designated by the symbol Fe?
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iron
What color is obsidian, a natural glass formed by rapidly cooling lava?
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black
In which type of geological time division are we currently living, specifically in the Holocene epoch of the Quaternary period of the Cenozoic period?
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era
What layer of the earth lies directly above the core, marked by the Gutenberg Discontinuity?
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mantle
What type of fine-grained quartz creates a spark when struck against steel?
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flint
What is the aluminum ore that was discovered at Le Bau, France?
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bauxite
What is the term for molten substance that can surface as lava or cool and harden into igneous rock?
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magma
What substance is commonly seen issuing from a fire fountain through a vent in the ground in Hawaii?
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lava
What substance, also known as halite, is formed when seawater evaporates?
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salt
What geological feature forms when a cone collapses, creating a caldera?
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volcano
What type of 'grainy' rock is the Balanced Rock in Colorado's Garden of the Gods made of?
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sandstone
What branch of geology studies the composition of rocks and might sound like a reference to oil?
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petrology
What rock, also known as chert, was used by early humans to make tools?
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flint
If shale has undergone significant alteration, it would identify itself by saying, 'My name is what?'
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mud
What is the name of the soft, white form of limestone formed from the remains of small marine creatures?
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chalk
What transparent crystalline material, along with feldspar, primarily makes up granite?
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quartz
In which solid layer beneath the earth's crust is mafic magma thought to originate?
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mantle
What type of stone is brownstone, particularly if you consider its 'grain' similarity?
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sandstone
What is the mineral that has natural industrial forms known as bort, ballas, and carbonado?
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diamond
What type of rock, including its fossils, undergoes the process of dolomitization to become dolomite?
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limestone
What is the geological process called that involves the wearing away of a surface by wind, rain, or other elements?
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erosion
What color does hematite add to marble?
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red
According to Peterson's guide, which metal, along with iron, should you look for to identify a meteorite?
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nickel
What soft and greasy-feeling form of carbon can be confused with molybdenite?
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graphite
What metal, along with nickel, is the main component of the Earth's inner core?
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iron
What is the highest number on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness?
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10
What material, not glass, are real aggies marbles made out of?
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agate
What is the geologic term for the center of the Earth?
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core
What type of volcanic rock, whose name means 'foam', floats on water and is used as an abrasive?
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pumice
What is the mineral that early man chipped to form tools and is found in layered beds or as nodules in chalk?
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flint
What type of coal is known for being shiny, black, and the hardest of all coals?
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anthracite
What rock is shale transformed into through the process of metamorphism?
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slate
What substance do Hawaiians call 'aa' once it has hardened into rock?
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lava
What is the name of the soft black mineral that, unlike diamond, is made of pure carbon but has a different crystal structure?
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graphite
In which desert are some of the oldest-known mines for a decorative blue-green stone located?
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turquoise
What is the term for the shallow body of water that is enclosed within an atoll?
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lagoon
Developed from buried peat deposits, what is the initial stage in the formation of a common fossil fuel?
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coal
In caverns made of which sedimentary rock will you find both stalactites and stalagmites?
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limestone
What is the name of the violet quartz gem that was considered one of the most precious until large deposits were discovered in South America?
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amethyst
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