Q 01/05

Granite underlies much of the continents, but which rock underlies most of the ocean floor?

A) Basalt

B) Limestone

C) Sandstone

D) Slate

Answer · why

A) Basalt

Basalt: it erupts as lava along the mid-ocean ridges, where new sea floor is made, and it is denser than the granite of the continents.

Q 02/05

The word 'granite' shares its Latin root with the name of which fruit?

A) Pomegranate

B) Grape

C) Cranberry

D) Tangerine

Answer · why

A) Pomegranate

Pomegranate: its name means 'apple with many seeds', from the same Latin granum, 'grain', that named granite for its grainy look. Grenade belongs to t...

Q 03/05

Which mineral, found in many granites as black or silvery specks, splits into paper-thin sheets?

A) Graphite

B) Mica

C) Pyrite

D) Hornblende

Answer · why

B) Mica

Mica: granite's black flecks are often the mica biotite and its silvery ones muscovite, which is named after 'Muscovy glass', the clear sheets once us...

Q 04/05

Which British Museum treasure is carved from granodiorite, a close cousin of granite?

A) The Lewis Chessmen

B) The Cyrus Cylinder

C) The Black Obelisk

D) The Rosetta Stone

Answer · why

D) The Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone: French army engineers found the slab in 1799 while repairing a fort near Rashid in the Nile Delta, and its three scripts became the...

Q 05/05

What is the extrusive (volcanic) equivalent of granite?

A) Rhyolite

B) Dacite

C) Andesite

D) Basalt

Answer · why

A) Rhyolite

Rhyolite: it is granite's magma erupted at the surface, where it chills too fast for big crystals to grow, so the same ingredients set as a fine-grain...