99 Geology And Minerals Trivia Questions with Answers
99 public questions with answers, drawn from the well. How many can you answer?
Which boundary type is represented by California’s San Andreas Fault?
Answer
Transform boundary
Which rock type forms when magma cools slowly beneath Earth’s surface?
Answer
Intrusive igneous rock
What type of volcano is Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano on Earth?
Answer
Shield volcano
What is the name of the seismic discontinuity separating Earth’s mantle from its outer core?
Answer
Gutenberg discontinuity
Who devised the Mohs scale used to compare the scratch hardness of minerals?
Answer
Friedrich Mohs
Which mineral is the chief ore of tin, with the chemical formula SnO₂?
Answer
Cassiterite
Which mineral is the main ore of chromium?
Answer
Chromite
Which sedimentary rock consists mainly of rounded gravel-sized clasts?
Answer
Conglomerate
Which mineral is the most common natural magnetic mineral?
Answer
Magnetite
What is the name for a mineral’s resistance to being scratched?
Answer
Hardness
What is the name of the process in which minerals crystallize from cooling magma?
Answer
Crystallization
Which mineral is widely used to make plaster of Paris?
Answer
Gypsum
What is the most common volcanic rock in Earth’s crust?
Answer
Basalt
Which type of plate boundary creates new oceanic crust at mid-ocean ridges?
Answer
Divergent boundary
Which mineral is the main ore of zinc and has the chemical formula ZnS?
Answer
Sphalerite
Which rock is formed when molten magma or lava cools and solidifies?
Answer
Igneous rock
Which mineral is the principal ore of copper and has the formula CuFeS₂?
Answer
Chalcopyrite
Which rock is the world’s main source of aluminum?
Answer
Bauxite
Which mineral produces a violet variety called amethyst?
Answer
Quartz
What is the name of the boundary between Earth’s crust and mantle?
Answer
Mohorovičić discontinuity
Which mineral group makes up most of Earth’s continental crust?
Answer
Feldspar