Regents Earth Science 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which process transports sediment from one location and deposits it in another, forming features like deltas and sandbars?
- Weathering
- Erosion and deposition (Correct answer)
- Metamorphism
- Subduction
Correct answer: Erosion and deposition
Erosion picks up and transports sediment via water, wind, or ice, which is then deposited when energy decreases, forming landforms like deltas.
Question 2: What causes the apparent daily motion of the Sun across the sky from east to west?
- The Sun orbiting Earth
- Earth's revolution around the Sun
- Earth's rotation from west to east (Correct answer)
- The tilt of Earth's axis
Correct answer: Earth's rotation from west to east
Earth rotates from west to east on its axis, making the Sun appear to move across the sky from east to west each day.
Question 3: Which mineral is the hardest on the Mohs scale and can scratch all other minerals?
- Quartz
- Corundum
- Feldspar
- Diamond (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Diamond
Diamond rates 10 on the Mohs hardness scale — the highest — and can scratch every other known natural mineral.
Question 4: A weather station reports dew point temperature equal to air temperature. What does this indicate?
- 0% relative humidity
- Relative humidity of 100% (Correct answer)
- A cold front approaching
- Very dry desert conditions
Correct answer: Relative humidity of 100%
When air temperature equals the dew point, the air is saturated (100% relative humidity), and condensation or fog is likely to form.
Question 5: Which type of unconformity occurs when tilted or folded sedimentary layers are eroded and then covered by new horizontal layers?
- Disconformity
- Nonconformity
- Angular unconformity (Correct answer)
- Parallel unconformity
Correct answer: Angular unconformity
An angular unconformity features older tilted or folded strata below an erosional surface overlain by younger, horizontal sedimentary layers.
Question 6: Which phenomenon explains why New York City experiences longer days in June than in December?
- Earth is closer to the Sun in June
- Earth's axis is tilted toward the Sun in June (Correct answer)
- The Sun is larger in summer
- Earth rotates faster in June
Correct answer: Earth's axis is tilted toward the Sun in June
Earth's 23.5° axial tilt causes the Northern Hemisphere to be angled toward the Sun in June, producing longer days and higher Sun angles.
Question 7: Which rock type would most likely preserve fossils of ancient organisms?
- Granite
- Basalt
- Marble
- Limestone (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock that commonly forms in marine environments where organisms with hard shells or skeletons are preserved as fossils.
Regents Earth Science 5
Which process transports sediment from one location and deposits it in another, forming features like deltas and sandbars?