Sedimentary Rocks Test
 Lancaster High School Geology

 

Directions: Mark the blank on your answer sheet for the response that best completes the statement or answers the question.

 


1.     Sedimentary Rocks __________.

a.        may contain fossils

b.        hold important clues to Earth’s history

c.        are layered

d.        may be economically important

e.        all of the above

 

2.     Detrital or clastic sedimentary rocks are classified (named) primarily on the basis of

a.        color.

b.        type of bonding.

c.        mineral composition.

d.        particle size.

 

3.     When sandstone contains appreciable quantities of feldspar, the rock is called 

a.        limestone

b.        breccia

c.        coquina

d.        travertine

e.        arkose

 

4.     Which rock type is associated with a high-energy environment (such as a very turbulent stream)?

a.        conglomerate

b.        shale

c.        both conglomerate and shale

d.        neither conglomerate nor shale

 

5.     Which pair of minerals is most common in detrital or clastic sedimentary rocks?

a.        quartz and olivine

b.        calcite and clay

c.        halite and feldspar

d.        clay and quartz

e.        dolomite and gypsum

 


6.     Detrital or clastic sediments would be predominant in all of the following environments except a

a.        swamp

b.        salt flat

c.        river floodplain

d.        delta

 

7.     Compaction would probably be most significant as a lithification process for

a.        shale.

b.        sandstone.

c.        conglomerate.

d.        chert.

e.        breccia. 

 

8.     Sedimentary rocks account for about ____ percent of rock exposures on the continents.

a.        5

b.        20

c.        35

d.        50

e.        75

 

9.     The most abundant chemical sedimentary rock is

a.        limestone

b.        dolomite

c.        chert

d.        rock salt

e.        sylvite

 

10. Which of the following lists presents forms of coal in the correct order from the lowest grade to the highest grade?

a.        lignite, bituminous, anthracite

b.        bituminous, anthracite, lignite

c.        anthracite, lignite, bituminous

d.        lignite, anthracite, bituminous

e.        anthracite, bituminous, lignite

 


11. Which of the following is not a process whereby sediment is lithified into solid sedimentary rock?

a.        compaction

b.        foliation

c.        cementation

 

12. Which of the following minerals is rapidly transformed by chemical weathering?

a.        feldspar

b.        quartz

c.        clay

d.        hematite

 

13. Common detrital or clastic sedimentary rocks, in order of increasing particle size, are 

a.        shale, sandstone, conglomerate.

b.        sandstone, shale, conglomerate.

c.        conglomerate, shale, sandstone.

d.        sandstone, conglomerate, shale.

e.        shale, conglomerate, sandstone.

 

14. A black shale is black because it contains abundant 

a.        clay.

b.        hematite.

c.        sulfur.

d.        carbon.

e.        silica.

 

15. A sedimentary rock that is made of clay and breaks into chunks or blocks is called

a.        shale

b.        blockstone

c.        siltstone

d.        mudstone

e.        sandstone

 

16. The degree of similarity in particle size in a sedimentary rock is referred to as

a.        sorting.

b.        porosity.

c.        rounding.

d.        permeability.

e.        none of the above.

 


17. Which origin of limestone is by far the most common?

a.        inorganic

b.        detrital (clastic)

c.        marine biochemical

d.        evaporate

e.        none of the above.

 

18. When a sedimentary rock consists of angular, gravel-sized particles, it is called

a.        mudstone

b.        conglomerate

c.        coquina

d.        breccia

e.        sandstone

 

19. Rounded grains in a sedimentary rock likely indicate transportation by

a.        glaciers.

b.        wind.

c.        either a or b.

d.        water.

e.        either b or d.

 

20. The most abundant sedimentary rock is

a.        sandstone.

b.        limestone.

c.        siltstone.

d.        conglomerate.

e.        shale.

 

21. When the particles within a single sedimentary layer gradually change from coarse at the bottom to fine at the top, the layer exhibits a type of bedding called _______ bedding.

a.        ripple

b.        regular

c.        angular

d.        graded

e.        selective

 


22. Earth materials that are not used as fuels or processed for the metals they contain are referred to as _______ mineral resources.

a.        exceptional

b.        essential

c.        nonmetallic

d.        secondary

e.        chemical

 

23. If the particles in a rock are composed from shell fragments the rock is called

a.        sandstone.

b.        conglomerate.

c.        siltstone.

d.        breccia.

e.        coquina.

 

24. Separating sedimentary strata are ________, flat surfaces along which rocks tend to separate or break.

a.        contour planes

b.        sills

c.        cleavage surfaces

d.        inclusions

e.        bedding planes

 

25. ______ is a soft, porous sedimentary rock made up almost entirely of the hard parts of microscopic marine organisms no larger than the head of a pin.

a.        Claystone

b.        Breccia

c.        Travertine

d.        Shale

e.        Chalk