geology questions

Exam III GEO 107

Multiple Choice Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

____ 1. Why does a mass of air get cooler as it rises over a mountain?

a. The air gets cooler because it loses heat to its surrounding cool air. b. The air gets cooler because nearby ice and snow are cold. c. The air gets cooler because the dry air at high elevations conducts heat away easily. d. Air with a certain amount of heat expands as it rises so that heat is distributed through a

larger volume. e. The air gets cooler because there is more air pressure at the top of the mountain.

____ 2. An example of anthropogenic source of greenhouse gas is a. Volcanoes b. lightening storms c. burning of fossil fuels d. heating of the upper atmosphere e. Earthquakes

____ 3. Why are storms found at both warm fronts and cold fronts? a. In both cases, the warm, more-humid air rises rapidly over cold air, cooling, condensing,

and raining. b. Where a warm front collides with a cold front, the friction between them generates heat

and storms. c. In both cases, the northward-moving front goes to the right, so the storm cell formed turns

counterclockwise. d. Warm fronts concentrate static positive charges; cold air concentrates negative charges.

They storm where the two collide. e. Warm and cold airs do not mix easily because of their different densities, so the turbulence

causes storms.

____ 4. In the Greenhouse effect a. Short wavelength radiation is blocked by greenhouse gases b. long wavelength radiation is blocked by greenhouse gases c. the albedo is reduced through increaseed growth of forests d. the Milankovich cycles spin out of control e. the world freezes over if greenhouse gases get to high

____ 5. The process by which plants give up moisture to the air is called ____. a. sublimation b. evaporation c. transpiration d. evapotranspiration e. none of these

____ 6. Which of the following always decreases as we go upward in the atmosphere? a. wind b. temperature c. pressure

d. moisture e. all of these

____ 7. What is Albedo? a. The effect of solar winds on the magnetic field b. the color of snow in summer c. the influence of heat on the ocean d. a measure of how reflective the surface is e. a measure of the magnitude of solar radiation coming from the sun

____ 8. The main reason for warmer summers in middle latitudes is due to what? a. The Earth is closer to the sun in summer. b. The sun is higher in the sky, and we receive more direct solar radiation. c. Ocean currents transport heat from the tropics to middle latitudes. d. Plants in the mid-latitudes enhance the greenhouse effect. e. Global warming causes this.

____ 9. Of the following the Milankovich cycles involve a. Eccentricity of the Earth b. The tilt of the Earth c. The wobble of the Earth d. a,b and c e. none of the above

____ 10. Which isotope is preferentially locked up into the ice during colder periods a. Oxygen-18 b. Oxygen-16 c. Iron d. Uranium-238 e. Purple

____ 11. Measurements show that a. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are rapidly increasing over the past century b. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are rapidly decreasing over the past century c. Carbon dioxide levels are unchanged from the last 1 million years d. We are now entering a new Ice Age e. All greenhouse gases have been at a constant level for thousands of years and have not

changed

____ 12. Meandering streams can be expected to occur a. in steep gradients b. in rocky steep terrain c. in shallow gradient regions d. only where channels have been altered by the Army Core of of Engineers e. only where there is little rain

____ 13. If a 100-year floodplain was flooded in 2003, when should we expect the next 100-year flood? a. next year b. 10 years c. 100 years d. 200 years e. anytime

____ 14. A 100 year flood has a a. 10 percent chance of occurrence in any given year b. a 5 percent chance of occurrence in any given year c. a 100 percent chance of occurrence in any given year d. a 1 percent chance of occurrence in any given year e. a very high probability of occurring next year

____ 15. Good uses for floodplains do NOT include which of the following? a. agriculture b. parks c. playing fields d. golf courses e. shopping centers

____ 16. Roughly what depth of flowing stream is dangerous to drive through? a. 10 cm (4 inches) b. 30 cm (1 foot) c. 60 cm (2 feet), since water would then be over the axels d. 120 cm (4 feet), since water would then be window height e. 180 cm (6 feet), since water would then be above the roof of the car

____ 17. Which of the following statements is NOT true about the effects of mining sand or gravel from a streambed or banks? a. There aren't any negative effects; the stream merely brings in more sand and gravel. b. Removal of sediment makes the stream erode its channel deeper. c. Increased erosion by the stream can affect roads and bridges. d. Deepening the channel lowers the water table and affects agriculture. e. Deepening the channel can affect water supplies.

____ 18. Straight stream channels will form where a. gradients are steep b. gradients are shallow c. there is no gradient d. rainfall is very low e. there is very little bedrock and lots of soft sediments

____ 19. What is avulsion? a. A flooding stream permanently leaves its old channel to form a new floodplain channel. b. The tendency of a stream to avoid moving in a straight line; it tends to meander. c. Streams often drop most of their sediment load quickly as the water velocity drops after a

flood peak. d. Streams tend to maintain a nearly constant meander radius for a given discharge. e. Streams tend to be locked into their meandering channels, avoiding changing channels

during a flood.

____ 20. Where do people most commonly get the material to build an artificial river levee? a. from quarries in the nearby hills b. from the local sand and gravel company c. from the river channel, by dredging d. from coastal dunes or beaches e. old composted landfill material

____ 21. Why is it almost impossible to keep water from seeping under a levee and out onto a floodplain?

a. Bigger rocks are typically placed at the bottom of levees, and they are most permeable. b. Levees are built on floodplains marked everywhere by old permeable stream channels. c. People building levees often forget to line the stream channel with plastic. d. all of these e. none of these

____ 22. Hurricanes are most common in the months of a. December, January, February b. May, June, July c. October, November, December d. August, September, October e. March and April

____ 23. Hurricanes need the following to form a. warm moist air, warm sea temperatures, strong low pressure b. high pressure, dry air, and cooler sea temperatures c. low pressure air flow out of Canada d. cool Atlantic temperatures e. heavy snow winters

____ 24. What are the best detection devices to warn people of an already moving debris flow? a. a tripwire b. natural sounds created by the flow c. an acoustic flow monitor d. a visual film monitor e. a natural barrier

____ 25. Where does a tropical cyclone or hurricane get its energy? a. in the heat and moisture rising from a low pressure cell of the equatorial ocean b. from heat of the sun shining off a hot desert near the equator c. from high temperatures of a humid high pressure weather cell near the equator d. from high summer temperatures over humid equatorial jungles e. none of these

____ 26. Where do hurricanes striking North America originate? a. the central Pacific Ocean, near the equator b. in the Gulf of Mexico c. off the north Coast of South America, near the equator d. near-equatorial latitudes off the west coast of Africa e. in the steamy jungles of the Congo, in western Africa

____ 27. Where in a hurricane is the atmospheric pressure lowest, and approximately how low can that be? a. lowest in the zone of high winds, just outside the eye; as low as 950 millibars b. lowest just outside the eye wall; as low as 920 millibars c. lowest in the eye; as low as 920 millibars d. lowest in the eye; as low as 1,200 millibars e. lowest in the zone of high winds, midway between the eye and its outer fringes; as low as

950 millibars

____ 28. Greater rainfall totals from hurricanes is likely to occur from a. slow moving storms b. fast moving storms c. tropical storms, but not hurricanes

d. category 5 hurricanes only e. the eye of the hurricane

____ 29. The following is true for hurricanes a. fatalities have increased with time, while costs from damages have decreased b. both fatalities and costs from damage have increased with time c. fatalities have only occurred in the Gulf of Mexico region, but not along the East coast of

the U.S. d. fatalities have decreased over time, but costs from damages have increased e. none of these

____ 30. What is the approximate diameter of most hurricanes and of a hurricane's eye? a. Hurricane diameter is about 50 to 150 km with an eye about 1 to 2 km. b. Hurricane diameter is about 50 to 150 km with an eye about 40 to 100 km. c. Hurricane diameter is about 160 to 800 km with an eye about 20 to 50 km. d. Hurricane diameter is about 200 to 600 km with an eye about 1 to 2 km. e. Hurricane diameter is about 500 to 2,000 km with an eye about 10 to 25 km.

____ 31. What is the approximate forward speed of a hurricane (how fast does it approach the coast)? a. about 5-10 km/hour b. about 25 km/hour c. about 100 km/hour d. about 200 km/hour e. about 500 km/hour

____ 32. Where in a hurricane are the winds strongest? a. in the eye b. just outside the eye (in the eye wall) c. half way out to the outer fringe of the hurricane d. at the outer fringe e. center of the surge

____ 33. What local circumstances also raise the height of a storm surge onshore close to the beach? a. A surge moving into a bay funnels the water and raises the surge. b. Approaching the coast, the hurricane moves faster toward the coast. c. Approaching the coast, the hurricane moves slower toward the coast. d. Coastal vegetation, such as thick groves of mangroves, raise the height of a storm surge

onshore close to the beach. e. Low sand dunes raise the height of a storm surge onshore close to the beach.

____ 34. In regard to hurricane Katrina a. many factors of the disaster were predicted b. the storm damage was completely unexpected because few realized that New Orleans was

below sea level c. the storm damage was greatest from the high winds but flooding provided very little

damage d. most damage occurred to offshore oil rigs, but New Orleans escaped disaster e. it was only a category 5 storm

____ 35. What should you do to avoid being killed by lightning if caught out in the open in a storm with no place to take cover? a. Lie flat on the ground, so you are as low as possible. b. Stand very still, so your target is smaller.

c. Run for cover under the nearest dry tree. d. Crouch down on the balls of your feet with your feet together. e. Crouch with your feet apart.

____ 36. What is a wall cloud? a. a cloud that sheds a wall of rain b. a slowly rotating cloud that sags below the main storm cloud base c. a cloud that moves along the "wall" of the Rocky Mountain Front d. the vertical "wall" of the edge of a storm cloud e. a slowly rotating steep-sided stratocumulus cloud

____ 37. When is the main tornado season in the central United States? a. May b. June c. July d. August e. varies upon location

____ 38. The problem with New Orleans is that a. the levees cannot withstand a category 5 hurricane and the area continues to sink b. the city continues to experience uplift c. there is not enough good music there d. there is not enough good food there e. they have summers that are not hot enough for swimming

____ 39. What causes the loud boom that we hear as thunder? a. supersonic movement of the leading end of a lightning bolt b. supersonic expansion of air heated by a lightning bolt c. supersonic movement of air pushed aside by a lightning bolt d. supersonic vaporization of water droplets as they flash into steam when heated by the

lightning e. sudden generation of the sound wave as the "+" and "−" charges from the lightning

connect

____ 40. Which of the following is correct? a. All tornadoes rotate in a counterclockwise direction. b. Tornadoes never strike the same place twice. c. All tornadoes make a distinctive roar. d. The United States has more tornadoes than any other country in the world. e. none of these

____ 41. Where do asteroids originate in space? a. They originate in a belt between Mars and Jupiter. b. They orbit the Earth. c. They are fragments of the moon. d. They follow an eccentric belt around the sun. e. They are from far outside our solar system.

____ 42. How is the tail of a comet oriented? (Which way does it point?) a. points away from the sun b. points toward the sun⎯from its gravitational attraction c. back from the direction of travel

d. in the direction of its afterburner e. randomly in space

____ 43. How fast do asteroids travel in space? a. about 2 to 4 km per minute b. about 15 to 40 km per minute c. about 2 to 4 km per second d. about 15 to 25 km per second e. about 150 to 400 km per second

____ 44. What are shatter cones? a. funnel-shaped cones of rock pointing downward (closed downward) and outward b. streaked cones of rock radiating down (closed upward) and out from the point of impact c. cone-shaped depressions caused by hypervelocity impact d. cones of rocks (closed downward) and with vertical axes e. vertical cracks caused by impact and radiating outward from the point of impact

____ 45. Which of the following would NOT follow impact of a large asteroid on Earth? a. widespread fires from heat of impact and spray of molten droplets of magma b. dust and smoke from fires blot out the sun so animals freeze and starve c. acid rain kills vegetation d. global wars over food e. vaporization of much of Earth's oceans

____ 46. Why would astronomers have difficulty spotting a large incoming asteroid headed for Earth? a. Coming in directly, it remains in position in space, so astronomers cannot see its

trajectory. b. It comes in so fast that they don't have time to see it. c. It is dark before becoming heated in Earth's atmosphere. d. Most of them aren't looking for such an incoming body. e. It would be too big to see.

____ 47. What are comets made of? a. ice and some rock b. ice c. high magnesium and iron rocks d. nickel-iron e. close-packed hydrogen

____ 48. A rock that enters Earth's atmosphere and survives to reach the ground is a(n) ____. a. meteor b. meteorite c. comet d. asteroid e. space rock

____ 49. The asteroid belt, orbiting the sun, contains asteroids in a belt between the orbits of ____. a. Venus and Earth b. Earth and Mars c. Jupiter and Saturn d. Mercury and Venus e. Mars and Jupiter

____ 50. On average, how often does a 6-meter diameter asteroid collide with Earth? a. once every five years b. once every ten years c. once every year d. once every fifty years e. once every century