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

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

C  Deserts are defined by their sand content.

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

A  Plate tectonics and the movement of continents on the Earth

B  Variations in the Earth’s orbit around the sun

C  Changes in the atmopsheric carbon dioxide levels

D  All answer choices

A  since the last glacial maximum

B  since the origin of the Earth 4.5 billion years ago

C  30 million years

D  600 million years

A  Y

B  U

C  V

D  W

A  stagnant

B  retreating

C  advancing

A  Ice does not flow in a glacier.

B  both upslope and downslope

C  upslope

D  downslope

A  Iceland

B  Greenland

C  Canada

D  The Arctic Ocean

A  They contribute to erosion

B  They are required for crystallization of magma to occur

C  They can form from frozen seawater

D  Upon melting, they create oceans

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

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

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

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

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

A  dissolves; alkalinity

B  dissolves; acidity

C  precipitates; alkalinity

D  precipitates; acidity

A  friction

B  the sun

C  magma and igneous rocks

D  the climate

A  be drilled into a perched aquifer

B  penetrate well below the regional water table surface

C  be drilled into the unsaturated zone

D  be drilled through an aquitard

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

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

C  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.

D  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.

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

A  FALSE

B  TRUE

A  plate tectonics

B  gravity

C  erosion

D  salinity

A  below the unsaturated zone

B  below the saturated zone

C  above the zone of soil moisture

D  above the Earth’s surface

A  evaporates

B  does not exist

C  has chemically reacted with the surrounding rock

D  has completely filled the pore spaces

A  regional; flash

B  flash; ice-jam

C  regional; ice-jam

D  flash; regional

A  a canyon

B  lake level

C  sea level

D  dam level

A  The river speeds up and more sediments deposit from it

B  The river speeds up and less sediments deposit from it

C  The river slows down and less sediments deposit from it

D  The river slows down and more sediments deposit from it

A  Continental Divide

B  Mississippi River

C  Sediment production zone

D  Appalachian Mountains

A  Watershed

B  Divide

C  Tributary

D  Stream

A  10

B  97

C  50

D  1

A  evaporation

B  infiltration

C  precipitation

D  runoff

A  groundwater

B  clouds and precipitation

C  runoff

D  transpiration

A  it completely melts and undersaturates the soil beneath it.

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

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  rivers

D  groundwater

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

B  saturated soil that moves downhill very slowly

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

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

A  volcanic activity; mass movement

B  mass movement; plate tectonics

C  plate tectonics; plate tectonics

D  mass movement; erosion

A  drought

B  adding water to sediments

C  removal of water from sediments

D  planting vegetation

A  the great plains

B  steep slopes

C  densely vegetated land

D  old, broad mountain

A  gravity

B  plate tectonics

C  glaciers

D  water

A  subduction; uplift

B  uplift; subsidence

C  uplift; subduction

D  subsidence; uplift

A  Andean-type mountains

B  Alpine-type mountains

C  Fault-block mountains

D  Island arc-type mountains

A  Appalachians

B  Andes

C  Mid-Atlantic Ridge

D  Himalayas

A  Hot Spot

B  Convergent continental-continental plate bouundary

C  Mid-oceanic ridge

D  Subduction Zone

A  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.

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  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.

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

E  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

A  Emplacement of batholiths

B  Extension of the continent through rifting

C  Downwarping of the continent due to crustal subsidence

D  Crumpling of the continent through collision with another continent

A  a trench

B  an accretionary wedge

C  a forearc basin

D  a batholith

E  a continental volcanic arc

A  oceanic plate; magma

B  oceanic plate; sediment

C  continental plate; sediment

D  continental plate; magma

A  convergent boundary and transform boundary

B  transform boundary

C  divergent boundary and transform boundary

D  convergent boundary

E  divergent boundary