GLG 111 Final Practice Questions

How are ores below the ground extracted and processed into metals that are useful for humans?

an open pit porphyry mine; drilling, blasting, and hauling rock; crushing, grinding, and separating ore minerals; smelting (extraction of metal from its ore by a process involving heating and melting)

Soils formed in broken down bedrock are _______________ soils.

residual soils

What are three (3) ways scientists are able to tell that our climate is currently warming?

sea level rise, surface temperature increase, sea surface temperature increase, arctic ice cover shrinking

How do ores concentrate through the process of river deposition? What kind of rock (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary) would that ore be, technically?

sediments containing that metal/ore continue to build up; sedimentary

How are earthquakes caused?

sudden movements inside Earth send out seismic waves of energy that shake the ground

Modern climate change poses an enormous challenge to human life. How have other major environmental challenges (such as water pollution and air pollution) been addressed in the past, and what was the result? Given those examples, what do you think should be done about our challenges today, and why?

the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970 and has decreased concentrations of ozone, lead, CO, NO2, and SO2 by 73%; the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972; because of which the Cuyahoga River stopped catching fire; government regulation of environment threats is key, and is also important for individuals to do their part; but most important, nations should work together and regulate corporations

What is causing frequent earthquakes in Oklahoma?

wastewater disposal

Which land cover (tilled agriculture, no-till agriculture, urban development) will likely experience the MOST soil erosion, and why?

urban development; there is no vegetation to hold the soil in place

Would revegetation be a viable solution to frequent rockfalls from a cliff? Why or why not?

yes; the roots of the vegetation would help to hold the soil in place

True or False: Transform plate boundaries, such as along the San Andreas Fault, produce the highest-magnitude earthquakes of all plate boundary types.

false; convergent

Presume you have been instructed to build a house in a seismically active area. Which of the following materials would be the most dangerous on which to build? Granite bedrock Ancient sandstone formation Glacial till on highlands Alluvium (sand, silt and clay deposited by a river) near a wetland

Alluvium (sand, silt and clay deposited by a river) near a wetland

Alaska and California are both prone to frequent, and sometimes high-magnitude earthquakes, yet are not considered equally hazardous to human life and infrastructure. Why is this?

California has a much higher population and much more infrastructure than Alaska, thus putting more people and communities at risk.

Which of the following materials would be the safest on which to build? Granite bedrock Ancient sandstone formation Glacial till on highlands Alluvium (sand, silt and clay deposited by a river) near a wetland

Granite bedrock

A friend is looking for scientific sources for a climate change paper and asks you if Greenpeace, an environmental activism organization, is a reliable scientific source. How do you advise your friend?

Greenpeace is funded through donations and based mainly on scientific research. But like all sources, it is important to double-check facts and the credibility of the source.

Which of the following is an environmental condition that will NOT encourage mass wasting? Removal of support at the base of a hill, steepening the slope Heavy rains High clay content Growth of deep-rooted plants on a hillside

Growth of deep-rooted plants on a hillside

How does ocean circulation influence Earth's climate? It holds and distributes much of the heat energy that is absorbed from the sun It generates wind that lowers Earth's temperatures It records oxygen isotopes during glacial periods It prevents the ocean from freezing over during the winter

It holds and distributes much of the heat energy that is absorbed from the sun

Which seismic wave is the first to reach seismometers after an earthquake? Rayleigh S P Uncertain; it depends on the distance of the seismometer from the earthquake epicenter

P wave

Which of the following is an example of an agricultural adaptation to climate change? Planting crops that do not require as much water Breeding and raising more livestock Moving livestock ranches near the oceans where there is more water Increasing agricultural tillage to aerate the soil

Planting crops that do not require as much water

A petroleum geologist looking for oil reserves would be most likely to find it accumulated under which of the following rocks/structures? Quartz sandstone; horizontal Shale; anticline Quartz sandstone; anticline Shale; syncline

Shale; anticline

A flow moves downhill as a ___________. Cohesive block Solid rock Turbid fluid Free-falling solid

Turbid fluid

It might get very cold this winter, and undoubtedly some uninformed person will say, "So much for global warming!" You know better than to believe them, because: Al Gore told you they are wrong Weather and climate are different things Unseasonably cold temperatures are an expected component of global warming in Minnesota ...actually, they are right; global warming is an elaborate hoax scientists concocted to get rich

Weather and climate are different things

Why are lahars more dangerous to humans than solifluction? How do these processes differ?

a lahar is more dangerous because it moves more rapidly than a solifluction; a lahar is a form of fast mass wasting; solifluction is a form of slow mass wasting and happens in permafrost (creep)

What was likely the main driver of climate change fluctuations over the last 800,000 years on Earth?

change in atmospheric composition (carbon, methane)

What are the five major factors of soil formation?

climate, organisms, relief/topography, parent material, time

How does coal differ from oil and natural gas in terms of its formational processes and extraction methods?

coal is formed from plant matter, while oil and natural gas are formed from algae and plankton; hydraulic fracking is used to extract natural gas, oil can be extracted from oil shale and tar sands (open-pit extraction)

Which type of plate boundary has mostly shallow and low-magnitude earthquakes?

divergent

How do ores form through the process of crystal settling? What kind of rock (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary) would that ore be, technically?

early formed minerals sink out of magma (differentiation); igneous

What causes creep?

freezing and thawing of soil

What are geologic resources? How are the size, location, and power structures of human societies related to geologic resources?

geologic resources are valuable materials of geologic origin that can be extracted from the Earth; sizeable human societies use lots of resources; location of human societies also limits the kinds of resources available or encourages trade; power structures dominate the distribution across society (who gets what)

How do Antarctic ice cores indicate to paleoclimatologists what Earth's atmosphere and climate was like 200,000 years ago?

ice cores contain oxygen isotopes, dust, ash, soot, and pollen; air bubbles inside indicate past atmospheric gas concentration (each layer of ice = one year)

Why are there earthquakes in Nevada?

intraplate faults (near but not on a plate boundary)

What is the dominant source of electricity in Ohio?

natural gas

Explain what nitrogen fixation is, and the role of soil microorganisms in this process.

nitrogen fixation is the process in which atmospheric nitrogen is converted into nitrogen that can be used by plants; microorganisms (bacteria) allow for this process to occur

In what way is pollen from lake bottom sediments a useful paleoclimate proxy? Explain.

pollen shows the type of plants (trees=wet, grass=dry)

How will soil fertility be affected by processes that remove carbon from soil, such as frequent tilling/cultivation, and why?

soil fertility will decrease as carbon is removed from the soil, as the carbon allows for plants to grow

What is causing climate change in modern times? How, specifically, do scientists know it's not occurring only through natural cycles?

solar radiation, atmospheric composition, ocean circulation, tilt, spin, revolution of Earth; natural causes are not strong enough to account for all, or even most, of the warming; type of carbon being released comes specifically from buried plant matter, algae, and plankton

Which factor(s) of soil formation will likely change if Ohio's climate warms and gets wetter as predicted over the next several decades? Explain.

the climate, organisms, and relief/topography will change; if the climate warms and becomes wetter, biodiversity may change/decease in Ohio; also, the water may cause erosion and loosen the soil

Why are prairie grasses more effective at preventing soil erosion than agricultural crops? Explain.

they have deeper root systems that hold the soil together

What is the purpose of cover cropping in agriculture?

to keep the soil in place and add organic matter to the soil

What are the top two sources of anthropogenic greenhouse gases emitted in the United States, based on the most recently available data?

transportation (28.2%) and electricity production (26.%)

Soils formed in glacial deposits or alluvial (river) deposits are examples of _______________ soils.

transported soils

What causes earthquakes in Hawaii?

volcanic activity caused by a hotspot