Geography · Science General

Rocks and Earth Materials

1,176 Questions

Study geographical questions centered around rocks, minerals, and earth materials. The focus is on the formation and identification of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. These earth science topics are commonly tested in civil services and state level examinations.

Igneous rocksSedimentary rocksMetamorphic processEarth materialsGeomorphic symbols

Rocks and Earth Materials Questions

Multiple choice

Which of the following is the cooled portion of magma chambers, that cools in the deeper depth of the crust and develops in the form of large granitic domes?

  1. Batholiths

  2. Lacoliths

  3. Lapolith

  4. Phacolith

  5. Sills
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

A large body of magmatic material that cools in the deeper depth of the crust develops in the form of large domes. They appear on the surface only after the denudational processes remove the overlying materials. They cover large areas, and at times assume depth that may be several km. These are granitic bodies. Batholiths are the cooled portion of magma chambers.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is found in a metamorphic rock?

  1. Petroleum

  2. Marble

  3. Natural gas

  4. Granite
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Marble is a metamorphic rock formed from limestone under heat and pressure. It is widely used in sculpture and architecture. Petroleum and natural gas are found in sedimentary rocks, while granite is an igneous rock.

Multiple choice

What is the peeling of rocks into layers of sheets called?

  1. Landslide

  2. Exfoliation

  3. Earth flow

  4. None of these
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Exfoliation is a weathering process where rocks peel off in concentric layers or sheets due to pressure release as overlying material erodes, or from thermal expansion and contraction. This is common in granitic rocks and creates dome-shaped formations like Half Dome in Yosemite. Landslide involves mass movement, and earth flow is a type of slope failure.

Multiple choice

Which of the following represents wall like formation of solidified magma and are mostly perpendicular to the beds of the sedimentary rocks?

  1. Dyke

  2. Sills

  3. Lapilli

  4. Breccia
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

A dyke is a wall-like formation of solidified magma that cuts across sedimentary rock beds, usually perpendicular to them. Sills are sheet intrusions parallel to bedding planes. Lapilli are small volcanic rock fragments, and breccia is a rock composed of broken fragments.

Multiple choice

Which of the following characteristics are associated with great masses of metamorphic rocks generally resulting from regional metamorphism?

  1. Such rocks become wholly crystalline
  2. Such rocks become partially crystalline.
  3. A streaking or parallel arrangement of their constituent crystals which lie with their longer axes pointing in the same direction.

  1. 1, 2 and 3

  2. 1 and 2

  3. 2 and 3

  4. 1 and 3
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Regional metamorphism affects large areas under high pressure and temperature but varying conditions. The rocks become partially crystalline (not wholly) due to differential metamorphism. The parallel arrangement of crystals (foliation/schistosity) with longer axes aligned in the same direction is characteristic of regional metamorphic rocks like gneiss and schist.

Multiple choice

Consider the following statements: 'Vulcanicity' refers to

  1. all those processes in which molten rock material or magma rises into the crust.
  2. the greater bulk of the volcanic rocks of the earth's surface were erupted from volcanoes.
  3. the process of solidification of rock into crystalline of semicrystalline from molten rocks material after being poured out on the surface. Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. 1, 2 and 3

  2. 1 and 2

  3. 2 and 3

  4. 1 and 3
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Vulcanicity encompasses all processes where magma rises into the crust (1) and solidifies (3). Statement 2 is incorrect because most volcanic rocks on Earth's surface come from fissure eruptions and extensive lava plateaus, not from individual volcanic cones. The bulk of volcanic material is extruded through cracks, not central volcanoes.

Multiple choice

Which one of the following is the correct chronological order of the mountain building?

  1. Alpine-Caledonian-Harcynian-Precambrian

  2. Precambrian-Harcynian-Caledonian-Alpine

  3. Precambrian-Caledonian-Harcynian-Alpine

  4. Caledonian-Precambrian-Alpine-Harcynian
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Mountain building epochs from oldest to youngest: Precambrian (oldest, >570 million years) → Caledonian (~420-390 Ma) → Hercynian (also called Variscan, ~360-280 Ma) → Alpine (youngest, ~65-2 Ma). Option C correctly orders them. The Alpine orogeny includes the Himalayas and is still active.

Multiple choice

Match List I (characteristic of weathering) with List II (Relationship of Various Aspects of Weathering) and select the correct answer using the code given below: List I List II A. Distintegration of rocks 1. A universal feature in weathering without chemical alteration B. Rotting and decomposition of rocks 2. Red, yellow and brown tints on chemical weathering C. Process of oxidation 3. Mechanical weathering D. Effect of oxidation upon iron 4. Chemical weathering E. Compounds 5. Dominant weathering process of the humid temperate regions

  1. A 1 B 3 C 4 D 5

  2. A 3 B 4 C 1 D 2

  3. A 1 B 5 C 2 D 4

  4. A 3 B 4 C 2 D 1
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Multiple choice

Which of the following is correct?

  1. Feldspar has light cream to salmon pink colour and is used in ceramics and glass making.

  2. Pyroxene is white or colourless and used in radio and radar, and is one of the most important components of granite.

  3. Quartz is commonly found in meteorites and is in green or black in colour.

  4. Olivine is commonly found in igneous and metamorphic rocks, and is used in electrical instruments.

  5. Mica is in green or black colour, and is used in asbestos industry.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

This is correct. Half of the earth’s crust is composed of feldspar. It has light cream to salmon pink colour and is used in ceramics and glass making.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is incorrect?

  1. The basic source of all minerals is the hot magma in the interior of the earth.

  2. When magma cools, crystals of minerals appear and a systematic series of minerals are formed in sequence to solidify, so as to form rocks.

  3. A mineral is a naturally occurring organic substance, having an orderly atomic structure and a definite chemical composition and physical properties.

  4. All of the above statements are incorrect.

  5. None of the above statements is incorrect.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

This is correct, as this statement is incorrect. A mineral can be organic as well as non organic. Thus, this is incomplete and incorrect.

Multiple choice

Which of the following types of rocks are formed by the process of lithification?

  1. Igneous rocks

  2. Sedimentary rocks

  3. Metamorphic rocks

  4. All types of rocks

  5. Sedimentary and Igneous rocks
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Rocks on the earth's surface break up into various sizes and fragments, and are deposited by different exogenous agencies. These deposits through compaction turn into rocks. This process is called lithification. Sedimentary rocks undergo the process of lithification.