GGY final exam
Approximately ________ people worldwide lack safe drinking water.
1 billion
Barrier beaches and islands occur, worldwide lying offshore of nearly ________%of earths coast lines
10
Evapotranspiration from the Earth's land surface represents ________ percent of water entering the atmosphere.
14%
A 50-year flood has an annual exceedance probability of
2%
The worldwide average salinity of seawater is
35%
Approximately what percentage of the United States' population lives in coastal areas?
53%
An estimated ________ percent of precipitation over land infiltrates the subsurface, of which ________ percent returns to the atmosphere via evapotranspiration.
76; 85
What percentage of precipitation occurs over oceans?
78%
Earth's oceans possess
97 percent of Earth's waters.
A major difference between a barrier island in a barrier split is
A berry split is connected to the main land. Where is a barrier island is not
Within the deep cold zone, average temperature and salinity
Remain fairly constant with depth
A_____ is created when the backwash of water produced by breakers flows to the ocean from the beach in a concentrated column
Rip current
On average , ocean water is
Slightly basic (pH around 8)
Regular patterns of smooth , rounded waves are called
Swells
Why are corals more prevalent on the East Coast of continents?
The water is warmer
A _________is deposited sediment that connects the shoreline with an offshore island
Tombolo
Wave action words to straighten the coast is wave energy focuses around headlands, intends to dispersed, energy, and coves in bays in a process called
Wave refraction
Which of the following is not true of wetlands?
Wetlands exacerbate flooding due to saturated soil conditions.
As the discharge of a stream increases, which of the following also happens?
Width, depth, and/or velocity increase.
base level refers to
a level below which a stream cannot erode its valley.
What fluvial process erodes the streambed by grinding it with sediment and rock fragments?
abrasion
If the load exceeds a stream's capacity, sediment accumulates in the bed in a process called
aggradation.
The maximum incline at which sediments on a slope can remain at rest before pulled downward by gravity is known as the
angle of repose
Which of the following human activities can contribute to mass movement?
any human disturbance of a slope, including road cuts, surface mining, and development
A water-bearing rock stratum is called a(n)
aquifer
Salt-crystal growth (salt weathering) is prevalent in which climate type?
arid
Which of the following is not necessary for well-developed karst to develop?
arid conditions
If groundwater mining of the High Plains aquifer were to immediately cease, how long do scientists estimate recovery would take?
at least 1,000 years
The portion of streamflow that consists of groundwater is known as
base flow
If material is to move downslope, it must overcome the force of
both friction and inertial resistance
Bed load is moved by
both saltation and traction, but not suspension.
Which of the following weathering processes is most likely to produce karst topography?
carbonation
The process whereby streams deepen their channel is known as
channel incision.
Water table lowering around wells caused by pumping rates exceeding recharge rates can create a(n)
cone of depression
An aquifer bound above and below by impermeable layers of rock or unconsolidated materials is called a(n)
conified aquifer
Which of the following was caused by accelerated chemical weathering as the result of increased air pollution and acid rain?
corrosion of the Grand Buddha at Leshan, China
Which of the following is used to measure streamflow?
current meter
A ________ is a mixture of water and loosely consolidated sediment, such as gravels, boulders, and coarse rock fragments, moving downslope.
debris flow
When a river reaches a base level, its forward velocity rapidly decelerates as it enters a larger body of standing water and a (n) ________ is formed.
delta
This tree-like drainage pattern efficiently moves water and sediment through its system due to minimization of the total length of each branch.
dendritic
A stream's volume of flow per unit of time is its
discharge
Channels running through a delta divide into smaller courses that do not reconnect to the main channel. These are known as
distributaries.
In most river basins in humid regions, discharge is highest
downstream
Watersheds are defined by
drainage divides
Natural leeves are created by
floods
Rectangular drainage patterns form primarily as a result of
flow through a faulted and jointed landscape.
Processes that are related expressly to streams and rivers are termed
fluvial.
The fact that water expands as much as 9% of its volume as it freezes is the basis of
frost wedging
The suspended load of a stream consists of particles that are
head aloft in the stream flow
Chemical weathering is greatest under conditions of
higher rainfall and temperatures
The downward trend in water consumption in the U.S. has been attributed to
increased water prices
A ________ is a type of debris flow associated with volcanic activity.
lahar
The type of mass movement in which material moves in a unit along a zone of weakness is
slides
The mass movement process responsible of the curved growing pattern in the trees and the downslope leaning of the utility posts and fences is
soil creep
In polar and alpine regions, thawing and saturation of the upper layer of soil, resulting in a slow downslope movement called
solifluction.
The scientific study of caves is known as
speleology.
These rounded granite outcrops are the result of which weathering process?
spheroidal weathering
What speleothem forms from groundwater emerging at a cavern roof, drips to the floor, evaporates, and leaving the dissolved materials it contained to accumulate as a deposit attached to the floor of the cavern?
stalagmite
In which of the following region would you expect to have the highest levels of seawater salinity?
subtropical oceans
Material deposited in along ridge extending out from the coast is called a
Barrier split
When the height of a wave exceeds it's vertical stability , the wave is called a
Breaker
Soil moisture that plants are capable of accessing and using is called
Capillary water
Which country is the world's leading hydropower producer?
China
And a tall is approximately ______ in shape, because it forms ______
Circular, around submerged volcanic islands
Of the following, which soil type has the highest field capacity?
Clay loam
Areas in which the land is typically rising in relation to sea level are called
Emergent coastlines
These features hear from Lake Michigan disrupt sediment movement along the coast
Groins
________ streams flow year-round, fed by snowmelt, rainfall, groundwater, or a combination thereof.
Perennial
Which of the following rivers is characterized by internal drainage?
Humboldt River
A drought defined based on decreases in streamflow, lowering of reservoir levels, and declines in snowpack is a(n) ________ drought.
Hydrological
Mean, sea level
Is based on average tidal levels recorded, hourly at a given site over a period of many years
Which of the following is correct of the longitudinal profile of most rivers?
It is concave in shape.
The height of a tsunami gross as it approaches, a coastline primarily because
Its wavelength shortens
The largest fresh water lake in the world by volume is
Lake Baikal.
The largest reservoir in the world by volume is
Lake Kariba.
Actual evapotranspiration for Phoenix, Arizona is highest during
March
When the sun, moon and earth are in alignment
Maxximum tidal ranges occur
Which of the following is not responsible for changes in sea level
Melting sea ice
Which of the following is true regarding freshwater on Earth?
Most of it is frozen in glaciers and ice caps.
Which of the following is true of the earth coastlines
Most of the earths coast lines are relatively young and undergoing continuous change
Increasing ocean, acidification has been attributed to
Ocean absorption of excess atmospheric carbon dioxide
In a given section of channel, the greatest flow velocities are usually
near the surface ,near the center
Which of the following is not a denudation process?
orogeny
The downslope, unchannelized flow of water across the surface is known as
overland flow
Exfoliation occurs because
overlying rock is removed, thereby allowing the underlying rock mass to expand and fracture.
Rust, formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the presence of water, is an example of
oxidation
Which of the following is incorrectly matched?
point bar - area of substantial erosion
A stony coral is a type of ________ that secretes ________ to form an organic rock home.
polyp; calcium carbonate
When the upper surface of consolidated rock undergoes constant weathering, it creates broken-up rock called
regolith
The presence of talus slopes indicates the occurrence of
rock fall
Which of the following can lead to the slope failure that causes mass movement?
saturation, oversteepening of slopes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
Undercutting action of the sea results in
sea cliffs
stream transport involves all of the following except
sheetfllow
The weathering of limestone can create circular depressions known as
sinkholes
Which of the following will favor stream terrace formation?
tectonic uplift of the headwaters
Potential evapotranspiration refers to
the amount of evapotranspiration that would occur if available water was not limited.
Which of the following is true of evapotranspiration in North America?
the lowest amounts occur in northern Canada
How are mass movements classified?
their speed and moisture content
The movement of water into the atmosphere from plants is
transpiration
The water balance for Kingsport, Tennessee exhibits
water deficits in the summer months.
