Do you wish you were a little boulder during the science portion of your local pub’s trivia night? Are you tired of being a stone’s throw away from victory? Then it’s time to polish your rock, mineral, and gem knowledge to a beautiful luster with these geology trivia questions and answers. Ready to get down to bismuth? Of quartz you are.
When it comes to the study of earth, seis does matter, and this geology quiz delivers a motherlode of rock, gem, and mineral questions that leave no stone unturned. We suggest grabbing a snack– preferably a pome-granite– and leaving your quarries behind.
After you’ve impressed all your friends with your mad mineral skills, take a refresher course on other science topics like our chemistry quiz, physics questions, or space trivia quiz. After all, igneous is bliss, but knowledge is power.
Rocks are broken down by the elements by what gradual process?
Weathering
Burning
Dissolution
Longshore drift
What name is given to a volcano that is made up of layers of volcanic ash and that has a steep, conical shape?
Cinder volcano
Fissure volcano
Composite volcano
Shield volcano
Moonstone is a pearly variety of which of these rocks?
Feldspar
Quartz
Limestone
Chalk
Which name is given to a form of rich soil?
Gravel
Loam
Cement
Snow
Which color indicates that soil is rich in organic matter?
Yellow
Black
Red
Brown
Columbia is the capital of which American state?
North Carolina
South Dakota
West Virginia
South Carolina
What word is used to describe the energy obtained from the Earth’s interior?
Nuclear energy
Gravitational Energy
Geothermal energy
Centrifugal force
In what sort of rock do most caves occur?
Sandstone
Limestone
Chalk
Lava
What color is the distinctive lapis lazuli gemstone?
Yellow
Clear
Blue
Red
What type of rock is cooled lava from a volcano?
Fossil
Metamorphic
Igneous
Sedimentary
What is the name of the molten rock that is found deep inside volcanoes?
Magna
Magnum
Magma
Magners
In maritime navigation, what name is given to an area of rocks just below the surface of the sea?
Reef
Sill
Row
Race
In science, what ‘L’ is a type of fertile soil consisting of sand, silt, clay, and organic material?
Lexagon
Larvikite
Lime
Loam
The mineral ‘galena’ is the most important source of which metal?
Iron
Lead
Tin
Copper
What type of rocks form when hot, liquid rock from deep in the earth cools and becomes solid?
Metamorphic
Igneous
Sedimentary
Fossil
What abrasive rock is produced by gases frothing in volcanic lava?
Granite
Nacre
Pumice
Coal
Growing plants without soil is called what?
Steroponics
Hydroponics
Microponics
Radioponic
Which rock consists of quartz, feldspar and mica crystals?
Chalk
Pumice
Marble
Granite
What do biostratigraphers do?
Study soil
Research fossils
Analyze rock samples
Study Oil patterns
On which continent is the Great Rift Valley?
Europe
South America
Africa
Australasia
Which two colors make up the naturally occurring gemstone known as ‘watermelon tourmaline’?
Yellow and purple
Black and white
Green and pink
Blue and orange
Which of these is NOT a cause of erosion of rocks and soil?
Water
Gravity
Wind
Fire
Which tectonic plate lies between the Pacific Plate and the South American Plate?
Mizca Plate
Rozca Plate
Cuzca Plate
Nazca Plate
Which gemstone can be blue, orange, yellow or colorless?
Amethyst
Topaz
Ruby
Sapphire
What name is given to the scale of hardness of minerals on which Talc registers 1 and Diamond registers 10?
Moh’s Scale
Doppler Effect
Ohm’s Law
Moore’s Law
After two defeats, which European Ryder Cup captain bounced back in 1995 with a memorable victory on US soil?
Tony Jacklin
Seve Ballesteros
Bernard Gallacher
Sam Torrance
What is the name of the study of rocks and the earth’s crust?
Speliology
Geology
Biology
Astronomy
Which of these is a precious stone?
Graphite
Diamond
Colgate
Malachite
Which of these is a taiga soil?
Podsol
Top soil
Humus
Litter
What term is used for the part of the soil that is always frozen in cold climates?
Rain
Snow drift
Dry ice
Permafrost
What do you call a person who studies rocks?
Thermologist
Geographer
Rockologist
Geologist
What color is the gemstone ‘peridot’?
Green
White
Red
Yellow
Which two elements make up the greater part of the Earth’s inner core?
Silicon and silver
Mercury and carbon
Copper and lead
Iron and nickel
The gemstones rhodochrosite and almandine are always shades of which color?
Green
Pink
Blue
Yelow
The word geology orginates from which language?
French
Greek
Dutch
Italian
Which of these soil types does NOT contain any rock particles?
Chalky
Sandy
Clay
Peat
Which country in the North Atlantic ocean is built entirely of volcanic rocks?
France
Ireland
Iceland
Greece
How many times have Brazil won the World Cup on European soil?
Once
Four times
Twice
Five times
What name is given to the wearing away of rocks and soil?
Climate change
Extraction
Corruption
Erosion
In geology, what are the distinct layers into which sedimentary rocks are divided?
Streaks
Streak
Strata
Strakes
Which of these rocks is the hardest?
Sandstone
Chalk
Granite
Slate
What name is given to the useless stony minerals that occur with a metallic ore?
Gangue
Tangue
Sangue
Dangue
When studying rocks and soils, which of these could you use to separate small particles from bigger ones?
Sieve
Scales
Spring
Magnet
By mass, which element makes up 26 per cent of the Earth’s crust?
Aluminium
Silicon
Oxygen
Carbon
In 1587, who was the first child born to English parents on American soil?
Virginia Dame
Virginia Date
Virginia Dane
Virginia Dare
What color is the peridot stone?
Clear
Blue
Green
Red
Which of these does not drain as well as the others?
Clay soil
Sand
Chalk soil
Pebbles
By mass, which of these elements is the second most common element on Earth ?
Carbon
Oxygen
Silicon
Aluminium
Columbus is the state capital of which U.S.A. state?
Ohio
New York
Texas
Alaska
Rocks emit which kind of radiation?
Delta
Gamma
Alpha
Beta
By mass, which gas is most common in the compounds that make up the Earth’s Crust?
Oxygen
Chlorine
Hydrogen
Nitrogen
How much more powerful is an earthquake that measures 6 on the Richter scale than one that measures 5?
x 6
x 20
x 10
x 1.2
Amorphous means what in the world in geology?
Rigid
Gas
Oil
Without shape
Where would you find the extinct volcano, Olympus Mons?
Mars
Venus
Moon
Saturn
What is the name for dark volcanic glass?
Obsidian
Brimstone
Amber
Sulphur
What color is the gemstone ‘jet’?
Black
Red
White
Purple
What name is given to molten rocks thrown out by a volcano?
Keystone
Granite
Hailstone
Lava
What stone is only mined in Mount Kilimanjaro?
Tanzanite
Red Diamonds
Benitoite
Poudretteite
Which of these processes is responsible for America’s Monument Valley?
Tornado
Meteor landing
Erosion
Earthquake
After oxygen and silicon, by mass, what is the most abundant element in the Earth’s Crust?
Iron
Aluminum
Calcium
Tin
Soil below the surface of a tundra that remains frozen permanently is called what?
Conice
Alwacold
Everfreeze
Permafrost
Which of these types of coal occurs deepest in the ground?
Lignite
Bituminous coal
Anthracite
Sub-bituminous coal
What sort of rock makes up the walls of the Grand Canyon?
Igneous
Metamorphic
Fossil
Sedimentary
Which rock forms the greater part of the White Cliffs of Dover?
Marble
Limestone
Talc
Chalk
Which is the only type of rock that floats?
Ruby
Marble
Pumice
Granite
What is the name of the cells which take up water from the soil?
Root eye cells
Root nail cells
Root hair cells
Root toe cells
Which country produced almost all known diamonds until 1725?
India
Brazil
Persia
South Africa
Sapphire is usually which color?
White
Green
Red
Blue
A break in the sequence of sedimentary rocks, usually seen as an eroded surface, is called… what?
Orphan layer
Summer
Unconformity
Erratic
Which of these increases the nitrogen compounds in soil?
Hurricanes
Earthquakes
Frost
Lightening
Which of these planets is made up of gas rather than rocks?
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
In the earth’s structure, what is the name for the sharp boundary between the crust and the mantle?
Habo
Javo
Gamo
Moho
Which of these rocks is hard and impermeable?
Sandstone
Marble
Clay
Chalk
The mineral ‘cubic zirconium’ can be cut and polished to look like which precious stone?
Ruby
Emerald
Sapphire
Diamond
What name is given to any naturally occurring chemical found in the Earth?
Mineral
Metamorphic rock
Fossil fuel
Ore
What is the name given to the ancient remains of living things preserved in rocks?
Soil
Crystals
Fossils
Stalagmites
What piece of equipment is used to break up clods of soil and to cover seeds after sowing?
Sickle
Farrow
Plough
Harrow
What name is given to the semi-molten rock found in the Earth’s mantle?
Magners
Magenta
Magnum
Magma
What sort of stone is the Derbyshire gorge, Dovedale, formed out of?
Chalk
Sandstone
Granite
Limestone
Which geographical feature can consist of vents, side pipes and a magma chamber?
Geyser
Tectonic plate
Rift valley
Volcano
What element makes up most of the weight of water and about half the weight of most rocks?
Hydrogen
Carbon
Oxygen
Quartz
By mass, what percentage of the Earth’s crust is made up of just 8 elements?
0.75
0.92
0.87
0.98
Which of these is the name of a type of soil?
Foam
Roam
Loam
Soam
The soil type in deciduous woodlands is what?
Brown soil
Pink soil
Yellow soil
Green soil
Earthworms in the soil help to do what?
Take the nutrients
Remove nutrients
Mix the nutrient
Loose nutrients
Petrology is the study of rocks from which perspective?
Thermal
Theoretical
Biological
Chemical
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