Eduqas GCSE Geology · 4.2

Earth Resources and Engineering

50 revision questions with answers for 4.2 Earth Resources and Engineering in Eduqas GCSE Geology (spec C480QS). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, Five Degrees, Associations, or read every question and answer below. Not official Eduqas material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1
What is an Earth resource?
Answer:
A naturally occurring substance or material that is useful to people.
Question 2
What is a reserve?
Answer:
The calculated amount of a resource that can be extracted economically under stated conditions.
Question 3
Why can a reserve change while the amount of material in the ground stays the same?
Answer:
Prices, extraction technology and costs can change which material is economic to recover.
Question 4
What is limestone used for in construction?
Answer:
It can be crushed and used as aggregate.
Question 5
How is haematite used?
Answer:
It is an iron ore used to supply iron for steel production.
Question 6
How is uranium used for energy generation?
Answer:
Uranium fuel undergoes nuclear fission, releasing energy used to generate electricity.
Question 7
Why is a known mineral occurrence not automatically a reserve?
Answer:
The amount, concentration or extraction cost may make recovery uneconomic.
Question 8
What is geological prospecting?
Answer:
Searching for potentially valuable resources using geological evidence and investigation.
Question 9
How can geological mapping assist prospecting?
Answer:
It identifies rock units and structures associated with possible deposits.
Question 10
What is a borehole?
Answer:
A hole drilled into the ground to obtain subsurface information or access fluids and rocks.
Question 11
How can boreholes be correlated?
Answer:
Compare the depth, age and characteristics of rock units, including microfossils, between boreholes.
Question 12
Why are microfossils useful in borehole correlation?
Answer:
They can be abundant in small samples and help match rock units by age.
Question 13
How does seismic surveying help find subsurface structures?
Answer:
Recorded reflections of seismic waves are used to image boundaries between rock layers.
Question 14
How can magnetic surveying help prospecting?
Answer:
It detects variations in the magnetic properties of subsurface rocks that may indicate structures or deposits.
Question 15
What does ground-penetrating radar investigate?
Answer:
It uses reflected electromagnetic pulses to image shallow subsurface features where conditions permit.
Question 16
How can geochemical prospecting identify a possible ore deposit?
Answer:
Unusually high concentrations of target elements in soil or river sediment can signal nearby mineralisation.
Question 17
Why is a geochemical anomaly not proof of an economic deposit?
Answer:
The source may be small, displaced, contaminated or too costly to extract; further investigation is needed.
Question 18
A sample contains 6 g of metal in 200 g of ore. Calculate the metal percentage.
Answer:
6 / 200 x 100 = 3%.
Question 19
Why combine mapping, geophysics and drilling?
Answer:
Independent methods constrain the location and geometry of a target and help test interpretations.
Question 20
What is a source rock?
Answer:
A rock in which organic matter generates hydrocarbons under suitable burial conditions.
Question 21
What is a reservoir rock?
Answer:
A porous and permeable rock in which hydrocarbons can accumulate and flow.
Question 22
What is a cap rock?
Answer:
A low-permeability layer that restricts the upward migration of hydrocarbons.
Question 23
Why can oil and gas migrate out of a source rock?
Answer:
They can move through connected pore spaces or fractures, driven partly by buoyancy and pressure.
Question 24
In an ideal trap containing gas, oil and water, which is generally highest?
Answer:
Gas is highest, oil lies below and water is lowest because of their contrasting densities.
Question 25
What is an anticline trap?
Answer:
A trap where hydrocarbons accumulate beneath a seal at the crest of an upward fold.
Question 26
How can a fault form a hydrocarbon trap?
Answer:
Fault movement can place a permeable reservoir against an impermeable rock or sealing fault zone.
Question 27
How can an unconformity form a trap?
Answer:
A reservoir may be truncated at an unconformity and sealed by an overlying impermeable layer.
Question 28
How can a salt dome help trap hydrocarbons?
Answer:
Rising salt deforms adjacent layers, and impermeable salt can help seal a reservoir.
Question 29
Why is porosity alone insufficient to make a productive reservoir?
Answer:
Pores must be sufficiently connected for hydrocarbons to move towards a well.
Question 30
What is hydraulic fracturing, or fracking?
Answer:
Injecting fluid under pressure to create or open fractures that improve flow from low-permeability rock.
Question 31
Give one environmental concern associated with oil and gas extraction.
Answer:
Potential water contamination, methane leakage, surface disturbance or induced seismicity, depending on the operation.
Question 32
Why is offshore extraction technologically challenging?
Answer:
Wells and equipment must operate through deep water and difficult weather while controlling pressure and leaks.
Question 33
What is an aquifer?
Answer:
A permeable rock or sediment body that stores and transmits useful quantities of groundwater.
Question 34
What is the water table?
Answer:
The upper surface of the saturated zone in an unconfined aquifer.
Question 35
What happens below the water table?
Answer:
Connected pores or fractures are generally saturated with groundwater.
Question 36
Why should a well penetrate below the water table?
Answer:
It must reach the saturated zone to draw groundwater reliably.
Question 37
How can a spring form at a geological contact?
Answer:
Groundwater flowing through permeable rock is forced to the surface where an impermeable layer blocks downward flow.
Question 38
How does permeability affect the suitability of an aquifer?
Answer:
Higher connected permeability generally allows water to flow towards a well more readily.
Question 39
Why might closely spaced wells be a concern?
Answer:
Their drawdown zones can interfere, reducing water available to each well.
Question 40
Why is the term aquifer preferable to oil reservoir for a groundwater-bearing bed?
Answer:
An aquifer is the water-bearing formation; reservoir and cap rock terminology here describes hydrocarbon traps.
Question 41
Why can a landfill above permeable rock threaten an aquifer?
Answer:
Contaminated leachate can move through connected pathways into groundwater.
Question 42
What is a geomembrane used for at a landfill?
Answer:
A low-permeability engineered liner helps reduce leakage of contaminated liquid.
Question 43
Why monitor groundwater around a waste site?
Answer:
Testing can detect contamination and indicate whether containment is working.
Question 44
Why may unfractured low-permeability rock be preferred beneath a waste site?
Answer:
It slows fluid movement, reducing the potential migration of contaminants.
Question 45
Why can faults compromise a waste-disposal site?
Answer:
Faults may provide pathways for fluids, although some faults can act as seals; the local geology must be assessed.
Question 46
What is restoration of contaminated ground?
Answer:
Actions to remove, contain or treat contamination so the site becomes safer for its intended use.
Question 47
Why do joints matter when planning a tunnel?
Answer:
They can weaken rock or permit water inflow, affecting stability and construction.
Question 48
Why is low-permeability bedrock useful beneath a reservoir dam?
Answer:
It helps limit leakage through the foundations, provided the rock is stable and fractures are controlled.
Question 49
A road cutting has steep beds dipping out of the slope. What risk should be assessed?
Answer:
Blocks may slide along bedding planes into the cutting, especially if the beds are weak or water enters.
Question 50
Why should a site evaluation consider both benefits and drawbacks?
Answer:
A decision needs a balanced comparison of stability, water, cost and other site-specific evidence.

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