Regents Earth Science Test Preparation Practice

    Earth Surface Features

    Base your answers to questions 1 on the drawing below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The drawing represents a swamp-forest environment that existed in North America at the base of the Acadian Mountains during the Carboniferous Period. Organism A lived in this swamp-forest.

    geologic-history, reference-tables, earth-history, evolution-of-life-forms-and-the-free-oxygen-in-the-atmosphere, standard-1-math-and-science-inquery, changing-length-of-a-shadow-based-on-the-motion-of-the-sun, standard-6-interconnectedness, models fig: esci12015-examw_g49.png

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    Base your answers to questions 6 on the passage below.

    Crustal Activity at Mid-Ocean Ridges

    Mid-ocean ridges are found at one type of tectonic plate boundary. These ridges consist of extensive underwater mountain ranges split by rift valleys. The rift valleys mark places where two crustal plates are pulling apart, widening the ocean basins, and allowing magma from the asthenosphere to move upward. In some cases, mid-ocean ridges have migrated toward nearby mantle hot spots. This explains why mid-ocean ridges and mantle hot spots are found together at several locations.

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    Base your answers to questions 9 on the passage below and on your knowledge of Earth science.

    Island Arcs

    Island arcs are long, curved chains of oceanic islands associated with seismic activity and mountain-building processes at certain plate boundaries. They occur where oceanic tectonic plates collide. Along one side of these island arcs, there is usually a long, narrow deep-sea trench.

    At island arcs, the denser plate is subducted and is forced into the partially molten mantle under the less dense plate. The islands are composed of the extrusive igneous rocks basalt and andesite. The basalt originates most likely from the plastic mantle. The andesite originates most likely from the melting of parts of the descending plate and sediments that had accumulated on its surface.

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    Base your answers to questions 10 on the map in image provided, on the table below, and on your knowledge of Earth science. The map shows a portion of the Nazca Plate under the southeastern Pacific Ocean. Plate A represents another tectonic plate. The table shows some data for islands and seamounts (undersea volcanoes that do not rise above the ocean surface) that originally formed at the Easter Island Hot Spot.

    dynamic-earth, earth-surface-features, landscapes, standard-1-math-and-science-inquery, eccentricity-rate-gradient-standard-error, standard-6-interconnectedness, models fig: esci-v202-exam_g44.png

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    Base your answers to questions 11 on the cross section in image provided and on your knowledge of Earth science. The cross section represents several geologic structures. Line AB represents a fault. C and D represent rock units.

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    Base your answers to questions 12 on the cross section below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The cross section represents rock formations that exist in the southwestern part of the United States. Names of the faults and rock units are indicated on the diagram.

    rocks-and-minerals, formation-classification-and-application-of-rocks, standard-6-interconnectedness, systems-thinking, standard-6-interconnectedness, models fig: esci82013-exam_g36.png

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    Base your answers to questions 13 on the cross section of part of Earth’s crust in image provided and on your knowledge of Earth science. On the cross section, some rock units are labeled with letters A through I. The rock units have not been overturned. Line XY represents a fault. Line UV represents an unconformity.

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    Base your answers to questions 14 on the block diagram in image provided and on your knowledge of Earth science. The diagram represents the pattern of normal and reversed magnetic polarity of the seafloor bedrock on the east side of a mid-ocean ridge center. The magnetic polarity of the bedrock on the west side of the ridge has been omitted. Arrows represent the direction of seafloor movement on either side of the ridge.

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    Base your answers to questions 15 on the map in image provided and on your knowledge of Earth science. The map shows the generalized ages of surface bedrock of Iceland, an island located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge rift. The location of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge rift is indicated. Points A and B represent locations on the surface bedrock, which is igneous in origin. The ages of the surface bedrock, in million years (my), are indicated in the key.

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