Midterm 3

A  Vegetation in humid areas anchors the soil, which inhibits wind erosion.

B  Humid areas are only underlain by lithified bedrock and never have any loose sediment that wind can transport.

C  The sediment in humid regions is consistently gravel-sized or larger, which is difficult or impossible for wind to move.

D  Humid areas experience significantly less wind than dry regions.

A  Mechanical

B  Chemical

C  Dissolution

D  Erosional

A  Deserts are defined by their sand content.

B  Although rainfalls are infrequent, erosion and deposition related to water are more important than wind in deserts.

C  Deserts are located where there are ascending air masses and low atmospheric pressure.

D  Deserts are always located in hot, humid coastal areas.

A  All answer choices

B  Variations in the Earth’s orbit around the sun

C  Changes in the atmopsheric carbon dioxide levels

D  Plate tectonics and the movement of continents on the Earth

A  600 million years

B  since the origin of the Earth 4.5 billion years ago

C  30 million years

D  since the last glacial maximum

A  U

B  Y

C  V

D  W

A  stagnant

B  advancing

C  retreating

A  both upslope and downslope

B  Ice does not flow in a glacier.

C  downslope

D  upslope

A  Canada

B  Iceland

C  The Arctic Ocean

D  Greenland

A  They contribute to erosion

B  Upon melting, they create oceans

C  They can form from frozen seawater

D  They are required for crystallization of magma to occur

A  At the last glacial maximum, sea level was about 100 meters (~300 feet) lower than it is today.

B  At the last glacial maximum, sea level was about 10 meters (~30 feet) lower than it is today.

C  At the last glacial maximum, sea level was about 1000 meters (~3000 feet) lower than it is today.

D  At the last glacial maximum, sea level was about 25 meters (~75 feet) lower than it is today.

E  At the last glacial maximum, sea level was about 50 meters (~150 feet) lower than it is today.

A  precipitates; acidity

B  dissolves; alkalinity

C  precipitates; alkalinity

D  dissolves; acidity

A  the sun

B  friction

C  the climate

D  magma and igneous rocks

A  be drilled into the unsaturated zone

B  penetrate well below the regional water table surface

C  be drilled through an aquitard

D  be drilled into a perched aquifer

A  Permeability is expressed as a percentage, whereas porosity is not.

B  Porosity is the percentage of the total volume of rock or sediment that consists of pore spaces, whereas permeability is the ability of a rock or sediment to transmit fluid.

C  Porosity is highly concerned with the connectedness of pore spaces, whereas permeability is not.

D  Permeability is highly concerned with the volume of open space within a rock, whereas porosity is not.

E  Permeability is the percentage of the total volume of rock or sediment that consists of pore spaces, whereas porosity is the ability of a rock or sediment to transmit fluid.

A  TRUE

B  FALSE

A  plate tectonics

B  salinity

C  erosion

D  gravity

A  below the unsaturated zone

B  above the Earth’s surface

C  below the saturated zone

D  above the zone of soil moisture

A  has completely filled the pore spaces

B  does not exist

C  evaporates

D  has chemically reacted with the surrounding rock

A  flash; ice-jam

B  regional; ice-jam

C  regional; flash

D  flash; regional

A  sea level

B  lake level

C  a canyon

D  dam level

A  The river slows down and less sediments deposit from it

B  The river speeds up and more sediments deposit from it

C  The river speeds up and less sediments deposit from it

D  The river slows down and more sediments deposit from it

A  Sediment production zone

B  Continental Divide

C  Appalachian Mountains

D  Mississippi River

A  Tributary

B  Watershed

C  Divide

D  Stream

A  1

B  50

C  10

D  97

A  runoff

B  precipitation

C  evaporation

D  infiltration

A  clouds and precipitation

B  runoff

C  groundwater

D  transpiration

A  it can crack in several places, creating crevices and collapsing into sinkholes

B  it completely melts and undersaturates the soil beneath it.

C  ice within the permafrost may melt, causing the ground to slide, slump, or subside.

D  it completely melts and creates a lake where the ice used to be

A  lakes

B  glaciers

C  groundwater

D  rivers

A  soil that episodically moves downslope over time from repeated episodes of freezing and thawing

B  permanently frozen ground of tundra and subarctic climates that has remained 0°C for two years or more

C  the layer of soil that thaws to a depth of one meter during summer and refreezes during the winter

D  saturated soil that moves downhill very slowly

A  plate tectonics; plate tectonics

B  mass movement; plate tectonics

C  mass movement; erosion

D  volcanic activity; mass movement

A  adding water to sediments

B  removal of water from sediments

C  planting vegetation

D  drought

A  densely vegetated land

B  old, broad mountain

C  the great plains

D  steep slopes

A  gravity

B  glaciers

C  plate tectonics

D  water

A  subsidence; uplift

B  uplift; subsidence

C  subduction; uplift

D  uplift; subduction

A  Andean-type mountains

B  Fault-block mountains

C  Alpine-type mountains

D  Island arc-type mountains

A  Mid-Atlantic Ridge

B  Appalachians

C  Andes

D  Himalayas

A  Hot Spot

B  Convergent continental-continental plate bouundary

C  Mid-oceanic ridge

D  Subduction Zone

A  When two plates collide at their continental margins, their deformable seaward rock containing marine organisms crumples up to the top of the resulting mountains.

B  The rocks at the top of these mountains that contain fossils are oceanic terrains, which are blocks of rock that used to be various parts of oceanic crust. Thicker oceanic blocks of rock were tectonically moved toward the oceanic trench, colliding with the crustal rocks because they were too large to subduct.

C  During orogenesis, less dense oceanic crust containing marine fossils crumples up with denser continental crust during convergence. The lower density of the oceanic crust places marine fossils near the tops of the resulting mountains

D  The rocks at the top of these mountains that contain fossils are oceanic terranes, which are blocks of rock that used to be various parts of oceanic crust. Oceanic blocks of rock were tectonically moved toward the oceanic trench, colliding with the crustal rocks because they were too large to subduct due to the fact that they contained fossils.

E  The rocks at the top of these mountains that contain fossils are oceanic terranes, which are blocks of rock that used to be various parts of oceanic crust. Thicker oceanic blocks of rock were tectonically moved toward the oceanic trench, colliding with the crustal rocks because they were too large to subduct.

A  Downwarping of the continent due to crustal subsidence

B  Emplacement of batholiths

C  Crumpling of the continent through collision with another continent

D  Extension of the continent through rifting

A  a trench

B  an accretionary wedge

C  a batholith

D  a continental volcanic arc

E  a forearc basin

A  oceanic plate; sediment

B  continental plate; sediment

C  continental plate; magma

D  oceanic plate; magma

A  transform boundary

B  divergent boundary

C  convergent boundary

D  convergent boundary and transform boundary

E  divergent boundary and transform boundary