Q 01/05

Which famous American residence was built of porous Aquia Creek sandstone and sealed with a lime-based coating?

A) Mount Vernon

B) Monticello

C) White House

D) The Hermitage

Answer · why

C) White House

White House walls were whitewashed with lime, rice glue, casein and lead to seal the stone, and that coating gave the building both its colour and its...

Q 02/05

Which ancient city in Jordan, nicknamed the Rose City, was carved straight into sandstone cliffs?

A) Petra

B) Palmyra

C) Jerash

D) Baalbek

Answer · why

A) Petra

Petra is entered through the Siq, a natural split in the rock that narrows in places to just three or four metres wide.

Q 03/05

California's tilted sandstone Vasquez Rocks earned the nickname Kirk's Rock from appearances in which TV series?

A) Lost in Space

B) The Twilight Zone

C) The Outer Limits

D) Star Trek

Answer · why

D) Star Trek

Star Trek used the slanted outcrop as an alien world in four episodes of the original series, then came back to it for later films and spin-offs.

Q 04/05

Which giant sandstone monolith in Australia's Northern Territory glows red at dawn and sunset?

A) Nitmiluk

B) Uluru

C) Kata Tjuta

D) Bald Rock

Answer · why

B) Uluru

Uluru stands 348 metres high, yet most of its bulk lies hidden underground.

Q 05/05

Which sandstone block used to crown Scottish kings was taken from Westminster Abbey by four students in 1950?

A) Blarney Stone

B) Kensington Runestone

C) Stone of Scone

D) London Stone

Answer · why

C) Stone of Scone

Stone of Scone turned up the following April, left on the altar of Arbroath Abbey by the people who had been hiding it.