All Practice Exams
100+ Free Catalonia PAU Geology & Env Sci Practice Questions
Catalonia PAU Geology and Environmental Sciences (Geologia i Ciències Ambientals - PAU Catalunya 2026) practice questions are available now; exam metadata is being verified.
✓ No registration✓ No credit card✓ No hidden fees✓ Start practicing immediately
100+ Questions
100% Free
Loading practice questions...
Same family resources
Explore More Spain Catalonia PAU (Prueba de Acceso a la Universidad)
Continue into nearby exams from the same family. Each card keeps practice questions, study guides, flashcards, videos, and articles in one place.
2026 Statistics
Key Facts: Catalonia PAU Geology & Env Sci Exam
EUR 110.00+ access phase (EUR 41.30 exam right + EUR 68.70 access phase; plus EUR 13.80 per admission exercise, Generalitat de Catalunya 2026)
Base PAU registration fee set by Generalitat de Catalunya
Consell Interuniversitari de Catalunya
90 Mins
Official examination duration
CIC PAU Regulations
Min 4.0
Minimum Access Phase score required to combine with Batxillerat GPA
Generalitat de Catalunya Admission Rules
5 Modules
Internal Geodynamics, External Processes, Stratigraphy, Hydrogeology & Resources, Environmental Management
LOMLOE 2n Batxillerat Curriculum
100
Practice questions in this English-language study adaptation
OpenExamPrep
Evaluates core geological literacy, Earth system science, and environmental sustainability competencies for university admission in Catalonia.
Sample Catalonia PAU Geology & Env Sci Practice Questions
Try these sample questions to test your Catalonia PAU Geology & Env Sci exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.
1Which seismic body wave travels fastest through Earth's interior and can propagate through solid, liquid, and gaseous media?
A.Primary (P) waves
B.Secondary (S) waves
C.Rayleigh surface waves
D.Love surface waves
Explanation: Primary (P) waves are compressional longitudinal body waves that travel fastest through Earth. Because they propagate via alternating compressions and dilations, P-waves can move through solids, liquids, and gases.
2In the mechanical layer model of Earth's interior, how is the lithosphere distinguished from the underlying asthenosphere?
A.The lithosphere is composed of liquid iron, while the asthenosphere consists of solid mantle rock.
B.The lithosphere is rigid and brittle, comprising the crust and uppermost mantle, while the asthenosphere is ductile upper mantle.
C.The lithosphere extends from the lower mantle to the outer core, while the asthenosphere forms the continental crust.
D.The lithosphere is non-tectonic, while the asthenosphere forms Earth's magnetic core.
Explanation: The lithosphere is defined by its rigid, brittle mechanical behavior and comprises both the crust and uppermost solid mantle down to ~100 km depth. Below it, the asthenosphere consists of hotter, ductile upper mantle capable of slow convection.
3What type of plate boundary is characterized by two tectonic plates moving laterally past one another along horizontal strike-slip faults?
A.Divergent boundary
B.Convergent boundary
C.Transform boundary
D.Subduction zone
Explanation: Transform plate boundaries occur where tectonic plates slide horizontally past each other along strike-slip faults without creating or destroying lithosphere.
4What causes the abrupt increase in seismic wave velocity known as the Mohorovičić (Moho) discontinuity?
A.The transition from solid lower mantle to liquid outer core.
B.The boundary between the atmosphere and lithosphere.
C.The change from liquid outer core to solid inner core.
D.The compositional boundary between low-density crustal rocks and high-density mantle peridotite.
Explanation: The Mohorovičić (Moho) discontinuity marks the compositional interface separating low-density crustal rocks (feldspars, quartz) from denser, ultramafic mantle peridotite (olivine, pyroxene), causing seismic waves to accelerate.
5Which mechanism is primarily responsible for generating calc-alkaline magmatism and explosive volcanism at island arc systems?
A.Flux melting of the mantle wedge triggered by dehydration of subducted oceanic crust.
B.Decompression melting of upwelling asthenospheric mantle beneath continental rifts.
C.Isothermal decompression along mid-ocean ridge transform offsets.
D.Conductive heating of continental lithosphere over a stationary mantle plume.
Explanation: At subduction zones, descending hydrous minerals in the oceanic slab release volatiles ($H_2O, CO_2$) into the overlying mantle wedge, lowering the solidus temperature of peridotite and causing flux melting that produces calc-alkaline magma.
6How do seismic S-waves behave when they encounter the Gutenberg discontinuity at a depth of approximately 2,900 km?
A.They double their propagation speed due to increased density in the outer core.
B.They are completely stopped because the liquid outer core cannot transmit transverse shear stress.
C.They refract upward and accelerate through the mantle-core boundary transition.
D.They transform into longitudinal electromagnetic waves.
Explanation: Because liquids have zero shear modulus ($G = 0$), transverse S-waves cannot propagate through fluids and are abruptly stopped at the Gutenberg discontinuity, creating a large S-wave shadow zone beyond 103° from an epicenter.
7Which metamorphic facies forms under conditions of extremely high pressure and low temperature characteristic of deep subduction zones?
A.Hornfels facies
B.Granulite facies
C.Blueschist facies
D.Zeolite facies
Explanation: Blueschist facies metamorphism occurs under high-pressure, low-temperature conditions ($P > 0.6\text{ GPa}, T < 400^\circ\text{C}$) typical of oceanic lithosphere subducted rapidly into cool mantle depths, characterized by glaucophane amphibole.
8During the collision between the Iberian plate and the Eurasian plate that formed the Pyrenees, which structural feature developed as a result of crustal shortening?
A.Oceanic spreading ridges and oceanic transform faults.
B.Extensional grabens with normal faulting.
C.Passive continental margins with basaltic plateau lava flows.
D.Thrust faulting, fold-and-thrust belts, and nappe structures.
Explanation: The Pyrenean orogeny was driven by Late Cretaceous-Cenozoic continental collision and crustal shortening between Iberia and Eurasia, producing extensive thrust faults, south-vergent fold-and-thrust belts, and transported tectonic nappes.
9Which structural geological feature represents a fold with an upward-convex curvature in which the oldest rock layers lie in the core?
A.Anticline
B.Syncline
C.Normal fault
D.Graben
Explanation: An anticline is an arch-shaped, upward-convex fold in stratigraphy where limbs dip away from the crest and the stratigraphically oldest rocks are exposed in the central core.
10What type of fault is produced by crustal extension where the hanging wall moves downward relative to the footwall?
A.Reverse fault
B.Normal fault
C.Strike-slip fault
D.Thrust fault
Explanation: A normal fault is produced by extensional stress ($\sigma_1$ vertical), causing the hanging wall block to slip downward relative to the footwall along a steep fault plane.
About the Catalonia PAU Geology & Env Sci Practice Questions
Verified exam format metadata for Catalonia PAU Geology and Environmental Sciences (Geologia i Ciències Ambientals - PAU Catalunya 2026) is pending. The practice questions above remain available while official exam length, timing, passing score, fee, and administrator details are reviewed.