International Earth Science Olympiad Mock (Set 1)

Hello Everyone! My name is Lilian Schleret, and I participated int the IESO 2016 Mie (Japan) as  a student where I won a Bronze Medal.

To help you preparing for the IESO,  I have prepared a set of questions comprised of 100 questions. For the first 50 question, there will be only ONE answer. Then, there will always be at least one good answer and one wrong. Try not to cheat by the way. In Set 1, I will be providing 30 questions. Rest of the questions will be provided very soon. Good luck!

Question 1 :

Which of these minerals is the hardest ? (using Mohs’ scale)
            A : Aragonite
            B : Apatite
            C : Quartz
            D : feldspar

Question 2 : (Please Refer to this Map)

Where is the biggest depression ?
            A : near Belarus
            B : near Serbia
            C : near Estonia
            D : near London

Question 3 :
What does a regular ophiolite look like ? (an ophiolite is a part of oceanic crust on a continent)
            A : sedimentary rocks, basalts, diorite, peridotite
            B : basalt, granulite, peridotite
            C : limestone, pillow lava, gabbros, peridotite
            D : sedimentary rocks, pillow lava, gabbros, peridotite

Question 4 :
Which of these rocks is NOT an igneous one ?
            A : Diorite
            B : pegmatite
            C : Rhyolite
            D : claystone

Question 5 :
Which stone is the most frequent in earth ? (take care, frequent doesn’t mean you see it easily…)
            A : Sandstone
            B : Peridotite
            C : Granite
            D : Basalt

Question 6 :

Where does lava come from ? (most of the time)

            A : crust

            B : mantle

            C : Extern core

Question 7 :

What kind of stone can NOT come from granite’s erosion ?

            A : Sandstone

            B : claystone

            C : limestone

            D : conglomerate

Question 8 :

Isotropy, anysotropy… What is it ? (for a stone of course)

            A : Texture

            B : it means the density is the same/different in the whole stone

            C : Structure

            D : it means the hardness is the same/different in the whole stone

Question 9 :

What is quartz ?

            A : AlSiO

            B : CaCO3

            C : Al2O3

            D : SiO2

Question 10 :

Why does the oceanic lithosphere dive during subduction ?

            A : it’s density is higher than the mantel’s

            B : the mass of sedimentary rocks on it is too important

            C : the mantle under it goes down, so the lithosphere follows

Question 11 : Which of these cloud is most likely to bring rain ?

            A : Altocumulus

            B : cirrostratus

            C : stratocumulus

            D : nimbostratus

Question 12 :

What is the correct ideal gas law ?

            A : PV = nRT

            B : PT = nRV

            C : VT = nPR

            D : PR = VnT

Question 13 :

What are the most frequent gas in air ?

            A : O2, CO2, H2O

            B : N2, O2, Ar

            C : N2, H2O, Ar

            D : O2, CO2, CH4

Question 14 :

Which unity is the best for pressure ?

            A : Bar

            B : atm (atmosphere)

            C : Pa (Pascal)

            D : torr (millimetre of mercury)

Question 15 :

What’s the composition of granite ?

            A : Feldspar, Mica, quartz

            B : Olivine and Feldspar

            C : Quartz, Feldspar, Amphibole

            D : Mostly quartz, a little bit of mica

Question 16 :

Which planet in our solar system is the hotter ?

            A : Mercury, because it’s close to the sun

            B : Venus, because it’s atmosphere is very dense

            C : Mars, because it’s atmosphere is too thin

            D : Io, because there are many volcanoes

Question 17 :

Which one of these rules is not a rule that define a planet ?

            A : it turns around a star

            B : it is shaped like a sphere

            C : there are no other thing on the planet’s orbit

            D : the barycenter between the planet and it’s satellite(s) must be inside the planet

Question 18 :

Which planets in our system has ring(s) ?

            A : Jupiter and Saturn

            B : Saturn and Uranus

            C : Saturn and Neptune

            D : Jupiter, Saturne, Uranus and Neptune

Question 19 :

Find the good answer :

            A : The sidereal day is 23h 56min 04s long

            B : The solar day is 23h 56min 04s long

Question 20 :

Using the second law of Kepler, what can you deduce about comet’s velocity ?

            A : it increased when the comet come near the Sun and decreased after that

            B : it decreased when the comet come near the Sun and increased after that

            C : It doesn’t change

            D : it is always decreasing

Question 21 :

The Earth is covered at 70% by water. Which proportion is clear water ?

            A : 3 %

            B : 9%

            C : 15%

            D : 21%

Question 22 :

And among that clear water, which proportion is iced ?

            A : 55%

            B : 65%

            C : 75%

            D : 85%

Question 23 :

What’s an Upwelling ?

            A : it’s when the ocean is too hot, a lot of water is changed in vapor

            B : it’s when it rains a lot on an ocean, causing an altitude difference of the water

            C : It’s when fault a occur, it might push the water above it

            D : it’s when deeper ocean is forced to move up because there is a lack of water on top of the ocean

Question 24 :

Which sentence is true ?

            A : the see level is raising because sea ice is melting

            B : salt in seas/oceans come from continents, carried by rivers

            C : at Earth’ deepest point (minus 11km), the pressure is too high : nothing can live there

D : CO2 is responsible for the raise of ocean’s pH

Question 25 :

What is the typical ocean’s salinity ?

            A : 10 g/kg

            B : 35 g/kg

            C : 60 g/kg

            D : 85 g/kg

Question 26 :

What is the composition of the intern Core ? (as we know so far…)

            A : Iron and nickel

            B : Iron and silicium

            C : Iron and vanadium

            D : Iron and Sulphur

Question 27 :

You are on a field, and you just found sandstone. How can you estimate how compact it is ? (if you don’t know, use your imagination : that’s the most important)

            A : scratch it with a specific mineral

            B : lick it

            C : measure it’s density

            D : knock it and listen to the sound it does

Question 28 :

Which one is the right geological time scale ?

            A : Cambrian-Devonian-Silurian-Carboniferous-Ordovician-Permian-Trias-Jurassic-Cretaceous

            B : Cambrian-Ordovician-Devonian-Silurian-Carboniferous-Permian-Trias-Jurassic-Cretaceous

            C : Cambrian-Ordovician-Silurian-Devonian-Carboniferous-Permian-Trias-Jurassic-Cretaceous

            D : Cambrian-Silurian-Permian-Devonian-Carboniferous-Ordovician-Trias-Jurassic-Cretaceous

Question 29 :

Which of these rocks is the most acid ? (take care, it has nothing to do with pH)

            A : claystone

            B : Diorite

            C : Basalt

            D : Gneiss

Question 30 :

What is the regular depth of the Moho ?

            A : 4km under oceans and 40km under continents

            B : 4 km under oceans and 20km under continents

C : 7km under continents and 35km under oceans

D : 7km under oceans and 35km under continents

End of Set 1

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