What Geologic Feature am I? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Drumlin

Made of glacial deposits, or till, the drumlin is elongated in the direction that the glacier flowed.

Answer: Shield volcano

I am the shield volcano, a volcano with gently sloping sides that spews basaltic lava originating from oceanic crust. Volcanoes like me, with names such as Kilauea and Mauna Loa, built up the island of Hawaii.

Answer: Flood plain

Flowing north, the Nile River would overflow its banks in the summer, depositing silt and other deposits that made rich farmland. This farmland supported the wealthy civilization of ancient Egypt.

Answer: Caldera

Some say I look like a crater on the moon, but I used to be an active volcano that collapsed. My rim-like shape shows where the volcano used to be. I am not completely quiet, however- heat from the magma below my surface still turns fallen rainwater into hissing steam.

Answer: A syncline

My shape comes from tectonic activity, which bent my strata into large u-shaped folds. Although synclines look like a trough, they can actually form a hill if the topmost layer is hard and resists erosion. An example of this is the spectacular Sideling Hill in western Maryland, USA.

Answer: A strike-slip fault

I am a right lateral strike-slip fault, which means that if you look across the fault to the other side, it looks like it has moved to the right. There are also left lateral strike-slip faults. I am also the type of fault found in mid-oceanic ridges.

Answer: Plateau basalts

Plateau basalts like me originate from fissure eruptions, which are eruptions of basaltic lava from a long, widespread fracture. I can spread out and cover a huge area. I am not as destructive, however, as the famous Mount St. Helens in southwestern Washington State. That composite volcano erupted violently in 1980, destroying large areas of forest.

Answer: Karst topography

When large amounts of carbon dioxide dissolve in ground water, the resulting acidic solution can destroy large amounts of limestone. You would be amazed at the number of sinks ( large solution craters) that this process created in my area.

Answer: Angular unconformity

You can see me easily in road cuts, where some of my strata meet other strata at an angle. Sometimes, rock that was deposited over millions of years is missing, eroded away after a period when the rock was uplifted.

Answer: End moraine

I am glacial sediments deposited at the end of a glacier movement. Since a glacier can carry large amounts of sand, rocks, and even boulders, I can be quiet large. Related to me is lateral moraine, which are sediments deposited along the edges of a glacier.

I hope you enjoyed playing the quiz!