Regents Earth Science Test Preparation Practice

    Erosion And Natural Agents Of Erosion

    1
    2
    3

    Base your answers to questions 4 on the passage and map below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The map shows glacial features found in Mendon Ponds Park.

    Mendon Ponds Park

    Mendon Ponds Park, in New York State, is listed in the National Registry of National Landmarks due to its outstanding glacial landscape features. Glacial ice that covered most of New York State retreated northward at the end of the last ice age. As this glacial ice melted, great amounts of sediments were deposited at the glacier’s southern edge. Four glacial features dominate the park’s landscape. Kettles are bowl-shaped depressions formed when buried blocks of glacial ice melt. If the depressions fill with water, they are called kettle lakes. The Mendon Park ponds are all kettle lakes. Eskers are ridges of sorted sediments deposited within streams flowing beneath the melting glacier. Kames are small hills of unsorted sediment deposited at the base of waterfalls formed by streams flowing over the edge of a melting glacier.

    geologic-history, reference-tables, earth-history, earth-history, geologic-time-units-and-the-events, standard-1-math-and-science-inquery, changing-length-of-a-shadow-based-on-the-motion-of-the-sun, standard-6-interconnectedness, models fig: esci62017-exampwr_g33.png

    4

    Base your answers to questions 5 on the passage and map below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The map shows the location of the epicenter ( 🞽) of a major earthquake that occurred about 1700 years ago. Point A represents a location on a tectonic plate boundary. Plates X and Y represent major tectonic plates. The island of Crete; the Anatolian Plate, which is a minor tectonic plate; and the Hellenic Trench have been labeled. Arrows indicate the relative directions of plate motion.

    Crete Earthquake

    Scientists have located the geological fault, off the coast of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea, that likely shifted, causing a huge earthquake in the year 365 that devastated life and property on Crete. The southwestern coastal region of Crete was uplifted, as evidenced by remains of corals and other sea life now found on land 10 meters above sea level. Scientists measured the age of these corals to verify when this event occurred. This earthquake caused a tsunami that devastated the southern and eastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. It is estimated that earthquakes along the fault, associated with the Hellenic Trench, may occur about every 800 years.

    reference-tables, tectonic-plates, dynamic-earth, plate-tectonics, standard-1-math-and-science-inquery, changing-length-of-a-shadow-based-on-the-motion-of-the-sun, standard-6-interconnectedness, models fig: esci62019-examw_g34.png

    5

    Base your answers to questions 6 on the block diagram below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The block diagram represents a landscape that was produced by a meandering stream. One landscape feature is labeled X. Letters A, B, C, and D represent locations on the stream banks.

    Bedrock layers

    landscapes, erosion-and-natural-agents-of-erosion, standard-6-interconnectedness, models fig: esci82016-examw_g29.png

    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Base your answers to questions 11 on the passage and data table below, which describe the exploration and characteristics of one of Saturn’s moons, Titan.

    Huygens Probe Lands on Titan

    The Huygens probe was carried to Saturn by the Cassini spacecraft and parachuted to the surface of Saturn’s giant moon, Titan. The Huygens probe’s landing site was littered with smooth, rounded, rocklike objects. Photographs taken of Titan’s surface show drainage channels leading to an apparent shoreline. The question is, what are they draining? One of the photographs seems to show ground fog consisting not of water, but perhaps of ethane or methane.

    landscapes, erosion-and-natural-agents-of-erosion, dynamic-earth, landforms, landscapes fig: esci12013-exam_g46.png

    11

    Base your answers to questions 12 on the landscape diagram below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The diagram represents a long river system from its origin (source) in the mountains to its end (mouth) at the ocean.

    landscapes, development-of-landscape-features, standard-6-interconnectedness, systems-thinking fig: esci12015-examw_g54.png

    12

    Base your answers to questions 13 on the passage and the map below and on your knowledge of Science Earth science. The map indicates the epicenter (*) of a major earthquake that occurred at 38° N 142° E. This map also shows some smaller plates believed to be part of the major tectonic plates shown in the Earth Reference Tables. Letter A represents a location on a plate boundary.

    Devastating Tsunami

    On March 11, 2011, one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded (magnitude 9.0) produced a 7-meter-high tsunami that devastated Japan’s eastern coast. Thousands of people died and billions of dollars in damage occurred. Several hours after the earthquake, the tsunami reached the Hawaiian Islands and parts of North America’s west coast.

    dynamic-earth, landforms, landscapes, standard-1-math-and-science-inquery, changing-length-of-a-shadow-based-on-the-motion-of-the-sun, standard-6-interconnectedness, models fig: esci12016-examw_g43.png

    13

    Base your answers to questions 14 on the modified Mercalli scale of earthquake intensity below, on the map of Japan in image provided, and on your knowledge of Earth science. The modified Mercalli scale classifies earthquake intensity based on observations made during an earthquake. The map indicates the modified Mercalli scale intensity values recorded at several locations in Japan during the March 11, 2011 earthquake, which triggered destructive tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean.

    dynamic-earth, plate-tectonics, standard-1-math-and-science-inquery, use-isolines-to-determine-a-source-of-pollution, standard-6-interconnectedness, models fig: esci62015-exam_g42.png

    14

    Base your answers to questions 15 on the passage below.

    Meteorite Composition

    Meteors that strike Earth’s surface are called meteorites. Analysis of meteorite composition has provided scientists with information regarding the formation of Earth and our solar system, and possibly the development and evolution of life on Earth.

    Two types of meteorites are iron meteorites and chondrites. Iron meteorites consist mostly of iron and nickel, and are inferred to be from core materials of early planetary bodies in our solar system. More than 60% of meteorites studied have been identified as chondrites. Chondrites are made of millimeter-sized spheres of olivine and pyroxene crystals embedded in a mass of mineral and metal grains. The chondrites are thought to represent fragments of the earliest solid materials in our solar system. One type of chondrite, the carbonaceous chondrite, contains water, organic compounds, and minerals that represent the chemical composition necessary for life to form.

    15