Geography- All Quiz Answers

An example of a small scale map would be

1:5,000,000

Which of the following volcanic hazards is not correctly matched?

Kilauea, USA = pyroclastic flow

Which gas is the most abundant in the homosphere?

Nitrogen

Land surfaces heat more rapidly than water for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

Ocean currents disperse heat energy from the ocean's surface

Which of the following is not true?

On December 22nd the subsolar point is at the Tropic of Cancer

A primary characteristic of Geography is its:

global perspective and interest in interrelationships

Which of the following is NOT a class of sedimentary rock:

gniess

Which of the following would you NOT expect to change when a mid latitude cyclone passes over a region?

humidity

Temperatures in the stratosphere __________ with increasing altitude because __________.

increase; ozone absorbs ultraviolet radiation from the sun and then reradiates it at infrared wavelengths

If the earth did not rotate, air would flow

perpendicular to the isobars, i.e. at 90 degrees to the isobars

Frost wedging is greatest under conditions of

temperatures that reach below freezing

A cliff along the coast line may be the result of which of the following processes:

uplit and erosion resulting in wave cut platforms

When a cold front approaches, the weather becomes _____.

violent with rain and cumulonimbus clouds.

Which of the following are the principal active agents involved in chemical weathering?

water, oxygen, carbon dioxide

Which of the following does NOT influence the characteristics of a mass wasting event?

wind

Approximately ____ percent of the stored energy in each trophic level is passed onto the next tropic level.

10

The Coriolis effect causes all of the following EXCEPT:

Counter clockwise circulation of water in sink drains in the Northern hemisphere

Which of these is NOT one of the four earth systems that we study in Physical Geography?

Earthosphere

Who first proposed the theory of uniformitarianism?

James Hutton

Which of the following accurately describes Earth's distance from the sun?

The earth is 91.5 million miles from the sun in January, and 94.5 million miles from the sun in July.

Which of the following is NOT true about the troposphere?

The troposphere is the second highest layer of the atmosphere.

Which of the following is true of objects and wind moving over a distance on Earth's surface?

They are apparently deflected clockwise from a straight path in the Northern hemisphere.

Which of the following statements about shield volcanoes is true?

They form from basaltic magma

Unlike a stream-cut valley that assumes a characteristic ________-shape, a glacially-carved valley evidences a characteristic _________-shape.

V; U

The construction of a dam across a river is likely to cause ______ upstream of the dam, and _______ downstream.

aggradation; erosion

Which of the following matches is incorrect relative to air circulation?

anticyclone = clockwise circulation in the Southern hemisphere

Tropical cylones...

are considerably smaller than mid latitude cyclones.

Tornadoes

are usually associated with cold front activity

Sun energy is most concentrated:

at the subsolar point, which varies throughout the year

The belief that large disasters and sudden upheavals have produced most of the major features of the earth is called:

catastrophism

Wave erosion is most intense along:

cliffs and headlands

The visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum:

comprises a very small portion of the overall electromagnetic spectrum

Overall, ecosystems can be described as:

constantly changing and adapting to modifications in the physical geography.

Rivers shape the landscape by all of the following EXCEPT:

creating new lakes through moraine deposits

The lowering of land surface by the lifting and removal of light material, leaving only heavy material is termed ________, whereas the grinding of rock surfaces with a 'sandblasting' action is termed _________.

deflation; abrasion

Karst topography is formed primarily by

dissolution through carbonic acid solution

If City A is located west of city B, the time for City A is ________ than that at City B because the earth rotates from __________ when viewed from the North Pole. HINT: draw a diagram

earlier; west to east (i.e. counterclockwise)

Which of the following is NOT a key consideration when classifying climate?

elevation

Rectangular or trellis drainage patterns form as a result of _____.

flow through a faulted or tilted stratrigraphy

A mercator map projection

greatly distorts the area of landmasses near the poles

Which of the following is not a way in which we define the atmosphere in geography?

height

The IPCC has stated with ______ confidence that temperature warming in the Arctic is ______ than the global average.

high; higher

Chemical weathering is greatest under conditions of

higher mean annual rainfall and temperatures

Ozone in the stratosphere

is beneficial: it blocks harmful ultra violet radiation

The theory of plate tectonics....

is relatively new, built from evidence gathered in the mid-20th century

The principles of buoyancy and balance, when applied to the Earth's crust, helps us to explain fluctuations in Earth's outer crust, a property known as

isostasy

The height of a tsunami grows as it approaches a coastline primarily because

its wavelength shortens

An air mass must be:

large, uniform in the horizontal direction and travel as a unit

Wind is ______ effective at eroding and transporting materials than other geomorphic agents because its density is ______ that of other geomorphic agents.

less; less

Isolines can be used on a map to portray all of the following except:

location of cities

Which of the following is not a correct match?

mT = mesothermal airmasses

Mediterranean climates (Cs) are typified by:

modest precipitation in the winter and dry summers

On the Earth between 0º and 30º north latitude, winds flow from the _______ as they flow out of the _______ pressure zone toward the ________ zone

northeast; subtropical high; ITCZ

How often would you expect an earthquake of greater than 8.0 on the Richter scale, or XII on the Mercalli scale to occur?

once per year

Land-sea breezes are caused by

onshore (toward the land) air flows that develop in the afternoon as the land heats faster than the nearby water surfaces

Air flows ________ high pressure area because the density of the air in the high pressure zone is ___________ than that of the surrounding air

out of; more dense

Seafloor spreading was confirmed through what two main lines of evidence?

paleomagnetisism and core sampling

The primary difference between plutonic and volcanic igneous rocks is:

plutonic rocks cool slowly below the earth's surface, while volcanic rocks cool rapidly on the earth's surface.

If you were afraid of earthquakes, which of the following areas would be the safest to live?

shield

The sky is blue because

short wavelengths are scattered more than long and blue is the most dominant short wavelength

Sedimentary rocks are more a product of _________ whereas metamorphic and igneous rocks are more a product of __________.

surface processes; heat from the earth's interrior

Net primary productivity

tends to be highest on land in the tropics where there is high precipitation and high insolation.

Biogeography studies:

the interaction between biotic and abiotic systems

In a landscape that has experienced glaciation...

the landscape has been transformed by indiscriminate weathering and transportation of large amounts of material.

The occurrence of contact metamorphism would be direct evidence for

the local intrusion of magma

If you lived in an area with monotonous weather -- the same day after day -- except for occasional violent weather systems, you would be located in...

the low latitudes

Remote sensing is

the monitoring of objects without physical contact

In order for a hypothesis to be scientific,

there must be some test or possible observation to disprove it

Continental crust is _______, whereas oceanic crust is ________

thick, but less dense; thin and dense

Compressional stress along a fault can result in a dropped footwall block relative to the hanging-wall side, producing a

thrust fault

GPS are used to do all of the following except

track lost pets in real time

What portion of the atmosphere does the earth's surface primarily interact with?

troposphere

Which of the following features DO NOT result from glacial processes?

yardangs

The daily insolation received at 90*N in June is so high because...

The 24 hour day length allows a very high total insolation, despite a lower instantaneous insolation

A coral is a type of ______ that secretes _______ to form an organic rock home.

polyp; calcium carbonate

Which of the following is not a cementing agent for clastic sedimentary rocks?

salt

It is 10PM and you are inside in the middle of a large building. Your cell phone is dead so you cannot use wifi or cell signals to find your location. Unfortunately, your GPS unit cannot find your location either! This is because:

your GPS unit cannot receive satellite signals when you are indoors away from windows

98% of the mass of the atmosphere is found within ____ kilometers of the surface of the earth

26 km

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased from pre-industrial levels of about _______ to current levels of about ______.

280ppm; 401ppm

You are in a ship that is located at 20* west. If you wanted to be in a location that was two hours earlier (sun time) you would need sail ... HINT: Draw a diagram

30 degrees west

At the present time (according to your text), the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere is

401 ppm (parts per million)

Ice cores in Antarctica provided climate data going back ______ years.

800,000

The precambrian eon comprises about ____ percentage of our Earth's history?

88

Which of the following is not true about a GIS:

A GIS communicates directly with a network of satellites to locate your position on earth

Which of the following is an example of an open system?

A city, a river drainage basin, and a hurricane: All of these are examples of open system

The Asian monsoons are the result of:

A high pressure cell causing offshort wind from the continental landmass in the winter, and a low pressure cell causing onshow wind the continental landmass during the summer.

Ocean currents are produced by

A&B: the frictional drag of winds and the Coriolis force and water density differences

Why are the winds in a hurricane and tornado so strong?

All of the above: The pressure gradient is strong. The pressure at the center of the storm is very low. Tremendous amounts of condensation occur in the center of the storm, releasing latent heat energy.

The variety of surface features on the Earth results from

All of the above: tectonic activity gravity weathering and erosion

The Pacific Northwest region of the US is a moist environment because of

All of the above: the effect of maritime air masses the presence of mountains & the predominant direction the winds blow at that latitude (45 to 50 degrees north)

Which of the following is true regarding the Richter scale?

An 4.0 on the scale releases about 32 times more energy than a 3.0

In order to control flooding, levees are frequently constructed along the banks of rivers to confine flow to the channel. Given this, what happens to the flow velocity and erosive power of the stream during a flood, before the water overflows the levee? (Consider the equation Q=wdv when answering this question.)

Velocity increases because the width does not increase, and the erosive power increases.

As the discharge of a stream increases, which of the following also happens?

Width, depth, and velocity all increase.

An oxbow lake results from:

a cutoff from a meandering stream

The most accurate map would be:

a globe

Ocean-Continental convergence results in:

a mountain range formed inland along the continent's edge, with a parallel ocean trench.

The layer within the earth that lies directly below the lithosphere, but above the upper mantle, is best described as

a plastic-like layer that flows in response to heat and pressure

On a weather map of air pressure, what can you infer from a closer spacing of isobars?

a steep pressure gradient creating a faster flow of air

Which of the following is an example of an active remote sensing device?

a video camera

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that hurricane:

activity and instensity has been increasing but there is not currently definitive evidence ties it to anthropogenic climate change.