• 60 questions

DSST Introduction to Geology Practice Test

Unofficial practice on the four areas of the DSST Introduction to Geology outline, from minerals and rocks to climate change.

Mica peels apart into thin, smooth flakes. Which physical property of minerals does that show?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with Prometric. Bank checked October 13, 2026.

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All 60 questions

Core knowledge 18

  • A bed of gypsum was left behind as a body of water evaporated. To which group of sedimentary rocks does it belong? National Park Service, "Sedimentary Rocks". DSST outline area I (30%), c. Sedimentary rocks: characteristics, interpretation
  • A bed of shale preserves a network of polygonal cracks that taper downward. What do they say about the place where the mud was laid down? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 5.4, "Sedimentary Structures". DSST outline area I (30%), c. Sedimentary rocks: characteristics, interpretation
  • A drop of dilute hydrochloric acid fizzes on a white mineral. Which mineral is it most likely to be? National Park Service, "Minerals". DSST outline area I (30%), a. Earth materials: minerals and rocks
  • The Andes rise along the western edge of South America, beside the Peru-Chile trench. Which plate interaction built them? U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Understanding plate motions". DSST outline area I (30%), f. Plate tectonics: geomagnetics, plate boundaries, plate movements
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Core knowledge, continued

  • Bowen's reaction series runs from ultramafic rock at the top to felsic rock at the bottom. Which components increase toward the felsic end? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 4.2, "Bowen's Reaction Series". DSST outline area I (30%), b. Igneous rocks: intrusive, extrusive
  • By the hotspot explanation of the Hawaiian chain, where should the youngest volcanic rock be found? U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Hotspots". DSST outline area I (30%), f. Plate tectonics: geomagnetics, plate boundaries, plate movements
  • Diorite is wholly crystalline, with crystals large enough to see with the naked eye. What does that texture say about how the rock formed? National Park Service, "Igneous Rocks". DSST outline area I (30%), b. Igneous rocks: intrusive, extrusive
  • Iceland straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and is slowly splitting in two. Which kind of plate boundary runs through it? U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Understanding plate motions". DSST outline area I (30%), f. Plate tectonics: geomagnetics, plate boundaries, plate movements
  • In the rock cycle, what must happen to a sandstone for it to become a metamorphic rock? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 6.2, "Metamorphic Processes". DSST outline area I (30%), e. Rock cycle
  • Mica peels apart into thin, smooth flakes. Which physical property of minerals does that show? National Park Service, "Minerals". DSST outline area I (30%), a. Earth materials: minerals and rocks
  • Most transform faults lie on the ocean floor, where they offset spreading ridges. Which of these is one of the few exposed on land? U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Understanding plate motions". DSST outline area I (30%), f. Plate tectonics: geomagnetics, plate boundaries, plate movements
  • Rock is altered by heat in a narrow zone where it touches a body of magma. What is this local change called? National Park Service, "Metamorphic Rocks". DSST outline area I (30%), d. Metamorphic rocks
  • Shale, sandstone and conglomerate are all clastic sedimentary rocks. What mainly decides which name a clastic rock gets? National Park Service, "Sedimentary Rocks". DSST outline area I (30%), c. Sedimentary rocks: characteristics, interpretation
  • Stripes of normally and reversely magnetized rock lie in matching rows on either side of a mid-ocean ridge. Which idea did this pattern support? U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "Developing the theory". DSST outline area I (30%), f. Plate tectonics: geomagnetics, plate boundaries, plate movements
  • What gives slate, schist and gneiss their layered or banded look? National Park Service, "Metamorphic Rocks". DSST outline area I (30%), d. Metamorphic rocks
  • What property of a mineral does the Mohs scale rank? National Park Service, "Minerals". DSST outline area I (30%), a. Earth materials: minerals and rocks
  • Which of these is a requirement that every mineral must meet? National Park Service, "Minerals". DSST outline area I (30%), a. Earth materials: minerals and rocks
  • Which volcanic rock has the same silica-poor, mafic composition as the plutonic rock gabbro? National Park Service, "Igneous Rocks". DSST outline area I (30%), b. Igneous rocks: intrusive, extrusive

Surface processes 18

  • A mountain valley has a broad U-shaped cross-section, and the canyon beside it is V-shaped. What does the U shape show? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 14.5, "Glacial Landforms". DSST outline area II (30%), e. Glaciers and glaciation
  • A well is dug down into saturated rock. At about which level does the water in the well come to rest? U.S. Geological Survey, Ground Water, "How Ground Water Occurs". DSST outline area II (30%), d. Groundwater and karst
  • Curved tree trunks, bent fences and tilted poles on a hillside are signs of which kind of mass wasting? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 10.3, "Landslide Classification and Identification". DSST outline area II (30%), b. Mass wasting
  • Discharge equals velocity times the channel's cross-sectional area. A stream channel narrows while its discharge stays the same. What happens to the water? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 11.7, "Surface Water". DSST outline area II (30%), c. Streams and floods
  • During floods a river drops sediment right beside its channel, building low ridges along the banks. What are these ridges called? National Park Service, "River Systems and Fluvial Landforms". DSST outline area II (30%), c. Streams and floods
  • Hydrolysis is the main chemical weathering process that breaks down silicate rock. What does it turn feldspar into? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 5.2, "Weathering and Erosion". DSST outline area II (30%), a. Weathering and soil
  • In a soil profile, which horizon is the topsoil, a mix of humus and mineral sediment? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 5.2, "Weathering and Erosion". DSST outline area II (30%), a. Weathering and soil
  • Longshore drift carries sand along a coast. Where the drift reaches the quieter water of a bay or inlet, what landform begins to grow? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 12.2, "Shoreline Features". DSST outline area II (30%), f. Oceanic and coastal systems
  • On a meandering river, where is erosion strongest? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 11.7, "Surface Water". DSST outline area II (30%), c. Streams and floods
  • Over several years more ice melts in a glacier's zone of ablation than is added in its zone of accumulation. What happens to the glacier? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 14.4, "Glacial Budget". DSST outline area II (30%), e. Glaciers and glaciation
  • Sediment left behind directly by a melting glacier is called till. What is till like? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 14.5, "Glacial Landforms". DSST outline area II (30%), e. Glaciers and glaciation
  • Sinkholes, sinking streams, caves and springs mark a karst landscape. What process creates it? National Park Service, "Karst Landscapes". DSST outline area II (30%), d. Groundwater and karst
  • Water seeps into a crack in a rock and freezes overnight. Why does repeated freezing and thawing pry the rock apart? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 5.2, "Weathering and Erosion". DSST outline area II (30%), a. Weathering and soil
  • What is the angle of repose? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 10.1, "Slope Strength". DSST outline area II (30%), b. Mass wasting
  • When rain falls on a forest, part of the water is transpired. Which of these describes transpiration? U.S. Geological Survey, Ground Water, "How Ground Water Occurs". DSST outline area II (30%), h. Hydrologic cycle
  • Which coastal landform is a long body of sand lying parallel to the shoreline, often cut off from the mainland by a lagoon? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 12.2, "Shoreline Features". DSST outline area II (30%), f. Oceanic and coastal systems
  • Which of these would make the best aquifer? U.S. Geological Survey, Ground Water, "How Ground Water Occurs". DSST outline area II (30%), d. Groundwater and karst
  • Wind and water strip the fine particles from a desert surface and leave a sheet of rock fragments that shields what lies beneath. What is this surface called? U.S. Geological Survey, Deserts: Geology and Resources, "Eolian Processes". DSST outline area II (30%), g. Deserts and wind

Tectonic earth processes 18

  • A canyon wall shows flat-lying, undisturbed sedimentary strata. Which principle lets a geologist say that the lowest stratum formed first? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 7.1, "Relative Dating". DSST outline area III (30%), a. Geologic time: planetary geology, relative time, absolute time, field relations
  • A half-life is the time it takes for half of a radioactive parent isotope to decay. A crystal now holds one quarter of its original parent atoms. How many half-lives have passed? National Park Service, "Radiometric Age Dating". DSST outline area III (30%), a. Geologic time: planetary geology, relative time, absolute time, field relations
  • The accepted age of the Earth, 4.54 billion years, rests mainly on measurements of what? U.S. Geological Survey, Geologic Time, "Age of the Earth". DSST outline area III (30%), a. Geologic time: planetary geology, relative time, absolute time, field relations
  • An earthquake starts 20 kilometers below a town. What is the point on the surface directly above the place where it started called? U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquakes, "How Earthquakes Happen". DSST outline area III (30%), d. Geophysics: earthquakes and seismology, interior of the Earth, gravity and isostasy
  • The crust is pulled apart, and the block lying above a sloping fault plane slides down it. Which kind of fault is this? U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquakes, "How Earthquakes Happen". DSST outline area III (30%), b. Structural geology: folding, faulting, mountain building
  • Earthquake waves speed up sharply as they pass downward through the Moho. Which boundary inside the Earth is it? U.S. Geological Survey, "The Interior of the Earth". DSST outline area III (30%), d. Geophysics: earthquakes and seismology, interior of the Earth, gravity and isostasy
  • Horizontal strata rest on older strata that are tilted. What is the surface between them called? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 7.1, "Relative Dating". DSST outline area III (30%), a. Geologic time: planetary geology, relative time, absolute time, field relations
  • In the Grand Canyon a body of granite cuts through the metamorphic schist around it. By the principle of cross-cutting relationships, which is younger? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 7.1, "Relative Dating". DSST outline area III (30%), a. Geologic time: planetary geology, relative time, absolute time, field relations
  • Mauna Loa has broad, gently sloping sides. What builds a shield volcano of this kind? U.S. Geological Survey, Volcanoes, "Principal Types of Volcanoes". DSST outline area III (30%), c. Volcanoes and volcanic hazards
  • The Richter scale is logarithmic. How does the ground motion recorded for a magnitude 7 earthquake compare with that for a magnitude 6? U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquakes, "Measuring Earthquakes". DSST outline area III (30%), d. Geophysics: earthquakes and seismology, interior of the Earth, gravity and isostasy
  • Rock layers are bent into an arch. Erosion planes the top of the arch flat. Where on the surface are the oldest beds exposed? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 9.4, "Folds". DSST outline area III (30%), b. Structural geology: folding, faulting, mountain building
  • Thousands of years after an ice sheet melts, the land it covered is still slowly rising. What is this local rise of the land called? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 14.6, "Ice Age Glaciations". DSST outline area III (30%), d. Geophysics: earthquakes and seismology, interior of the Earth, gravity and isostasy
  • What is Earth's core presumed to be made of, for the most part? U.S. Geological Survey, "The Interior of the Earth". DSST outline area III (30%), d. Geophysics: earthquakes and seismology, interior of the Earth, gravity and isostasy
  • When India collided with Eurasia, why was neither landmass subducted beneath the other? U.S. Geological Survey, This Dynamic Earth, "The Himalayas: Two continents collide". DSST outline area III (30%), b. Structural geology: folding, faulting, mountain building
  • Which pairing of a plate setting with its most common kind of faulting is correct? U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquakes, "How Earthquakes Happen". DSST outline area III (30%), b. Structural geology: folding, faulting, mountain building
  • Which radiometric method suits charcoal from a hearth that is a few thousand years old? National Park Service, "Radiometric Age Dating". DSST outline area III (30%), a. Geologic time: planetary geology, relative time, absolute time, field relations
  • Which volcanic hazard is a slurry of water, ash and rock fragments, like wet concrete, that races down a volcano's flanks? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 4.5, "Volcanism". DSST outline area III (30%), c. Volcanoes and volcanic hazards
  • Why does thick, pasty lava tend to erupt more violently than thin, runny lava? U.S. Geological Survey, "Volcanoes". DSST outline area III (30%), c. Volcanoes and volcanic hazards

Applications 6

  • During strong shaking, loosely packed, water-logged sediment can suddenly lose its strength. What is this earthquake hazard called? U.S. Geological Survey, Earthquakes, "How Earthquakes Happen". DSST outline area IV (10%), b. Environmental geology
  • How do ice cores from Antarctica and Greenland preserve samples of the ancient atmosphere? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 15.4, "Prehistoric Climate Change". DSST outline area IV (10%), c. Climate change
  • Milankovitch cycles help set the timing of glacial and interglacial periods. What are they? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 14.6, "Ice Age Glaciations". DSST outline area IV (10%), c. Climate change
  • What makes a body of mineral-bearing rock an ore deposit? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 16.2, "Mining". DSST outline area IV (10%), a. Mineral and energy resources
  • What risk does intensive pumping of fresh groundwater create in some coastal areas? U.S. Geological Survey, Ground Water, "Quality of Ground Water". DSST outline area IV (10%), b. Environmental geology
  • Which list puts the stages of coal in order of increasing heat and pressure? An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher), section 16.3, "Fossil Fuels". DSST outline area IV (10%), a. Mineral and energy resources

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the exam content outline in the DSST fact sheet for Introduction to Geology (Prometric, Rev 06/2018, https://getcollegecredit.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/IntroductionToGeology.pdf, read 2026-10-13): Core Knowledge 30%, Surface Processes 30%, Tectonic Earth Processes 30%, Applications 10%. This bank holds 60: 18, 18, 18 and 6, the same shares. Every fact was read on 2026-10-13 on the public page named under its question: general interest publications of the U.S. Geological Survey, geology pages of the National Park Service, and the open textbook An Introduction to Geology (Johnson, Affolter, Inkenbrandt and Mosher) as carried by LibreTexts. Two answers are arithmetic from a rule the source states. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

How it works

This DSST Introduction to Geology practice test has 60 questions of our own in the fact sheet's four areas. It is unofficial and not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Prometric, which owns the DSST exams.

Read the full guide

What the exam covers

The fact sheet (Rev 06/2018) weights four areas. Core knowledge is 30%: minerals, igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, the rock cycle and plate tectonics. Surface processes are 30%: weathering and soil, mass wasting, streams, groundwater and karst, glaciers, coasts, deserts and the hydrologic cycle. Tectonic earth processes are 30%: geologic time, folds and faults, volcanoes and geophysics. Applications are 10%. The bank holds 18, 18, 18 and 6.

  • Many terms come in pairs: intrusive and extrusive, cut bank and point bar, normal and thrust fault, anticline and syncline, focus and epicenter.

Questions and answers

How many questions are on the DSST Introduction to Geology exam?

100 questions in 2 hours, according to the fact sheet, and some of them are pretest questions that are not scored. The timed exam here runs at the same pace: 50 questions in 60 minutes.

What score do you need on the DSST Introduction to Geology exam?

There is no pass mark in percent. The fact sheet carries the American Council on Education's recommendation: 3 semester hours of lower-level baccalaureate credit at a minimum score of 400. The school that receives your score decides.

Is there a DSST Introduction to Geology study guide?

Prometric's fact sheet is free and gives the outline, its weights and four reference textbooks. Every explanation here names the U.S. Geological Survey page, National Park Service page or open textbook section the answer was read on.

Are these real DSST Introduction to Geology questions?

No. All 60 were written for this page from the lines of the outline. Nothing is copied or reworded from the exam or from the sample questions in the fact sheet, so treat a score here as practice only.

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