Practice Test 3 Geo

Knowing that sound waves travel 1500 meters per second in water, calculate the water depth if the signal sent out by an echo sounder takes 4 seconds to strike bottom and return to the recorder.

3000 m

Which of the following statements is TRUE concerning unconfined aquifers in urbanized coastal areas?

Any salty water in the aquifer will rise if the water table is lowered by pumping

The ________ are a geologically old mountain range folded and deformed during the Paleozoic.

Appalachians in the Eastern United States

________ proposed a hypothesis (that later became a theory) on the creation of atolls.

Charles Darwin

What is the relationship between drawdown and the cone of depression associated with a pumping well?

Drawdown is the distance between the original water table and the water level in the well.

The ________ is an example of the earliest stage in the formation of a new ocean basin

East African Rift

________ are components of the hydrologic cycle that release water vapor directly to the atmosphere.

Evaporation and transpiration

Moving from the headwaters to the mouth, in most streams, which of the following is true?

Flow velocity generally increases

Which of the following factors affect a stream's flow velocity?

Gradient, cross-sectional shape, channel size and roughness, and discharge all affect a stream's flow velocity

Which of the following best describes a graded stream?

It is basically in equilibrium, neither eroding nor depositing material

Which best explains the demise of the Farallon Plate?

It was subducting faster than it was being generated.

Consider a weathered rock or soil particle lying on a slope. How will the gravitational force pulling the particle downward along the land surface vary with the inclination of the slope?

It will decrease as the slope angle is lessened.

Incised meanders are evidence for what sequence of geologic events?

Land uplift was followed by stream downcutting

As an erosional process, how is mass movement unique from wind, water, and ice?

Mass wasting does not require a transporting medium.

Examine the words and/or phrases below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option that does not fit the pattern. - pacific - farallon - north america - mid-atlantic ridge

Mid-Atlantic Ridge

Which best describes the difference between a joint and a fault?

Motion occurs along faults, but not joints

________ is another name for the zone of saturation.

Phreatic zone

Why is a bird-foot delta like that of the present-day Mississippi below New Orleans likely to change naturally toward one with the shape of an equilateral triangle like the upper-case, Greek letter delta (∆)?

Potential, new, major distributary channels have steeper gradients than existing channels

________ describes the particle transport mode in streams intermediate between suspension and rolling along the bottom.

Saltation

Which of the following was a major factor leading to the Gros Ventre, Wyoming, slide?

Soils and shallow bedrock were very wet and locally saturated.

Which one of the following concerning stalactites and stalagmites is NOT true?

Stalagmites form on the floors of caves below the water table.

________ are specific features of karst topography

Streams flowing into depressions and continuing underground

Which of the following can logically be concluded by speleothems/dripstone hanging from a cave roof?

The cave roof was above the water table when the speleothems formed

A natural, meandering, river channel is modified into a more or less straight and smooth, canal-like channel. Which of the following statements is correct?

The natural channel had a lower gradient and higher friction than the straight channel

How do freezing, thawing, wetting, and drying contribute to soil creep?

The soil expands and contracts, lifting particles and dropping them a slight distance downslope

________ is the oceanward edge of a continental shelf

The top of the continental slope

Which one of the following statements is TRUE for an artesian aquifer?

The water table in the recharge area is at a higher elevation than the top of the aquifer in the subsurface

Which of the following is true of earthflows?

They are viscous and move at slower rates than debris flows

Which one of the following concerning artesian wells is NOT true?

When the well penetrates the aquifer, the water rises to the bottom of the aquitard above the aquifer.

A perched water table develops when ________.

a horizontal aquitard above the regional water table lies below an aquifer

Examine the words and/or phrases below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option that does not fit the pattern. - continental slope - active continental margin - continental shelf - continental rise

active continental margin

All of the following are possible indicators that creep is occurring EXCEPT for ________.

an extremely thick soil profile

Examine the words and/or phrases below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option that does not fit the pattern. - unsaturated zone - zone of soil moisture - aquifer - capillary fringe

aquifer

Examine the words and/or phrases below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option that does not fit the pattern. - aquitard - permeability - porosity - aquifers

aquitard

Highly impermeable layers such as compacted clay or shale are known as ________.

aquitards

Where in the oceans are biological communities thriving without sunlight?

around seafloor, hot spring vents

What term describes a groundwater system in which water in a well rises above the top of the aquifer without use of a pump?

artesian

Which best describes how an accretionary wedge forms?

as a result of the accumulation of sediment and oceanic crust being scraped off a descending oceanic plate during subduction

During wet weather or times when snow is melting, sometimes the downhill toe of a slump ________.

becomes an earthflow

Which of the following channel types is likely to form at the end of a glacier?

braided channel

Which of the following best defines strain?

changes in a rock's shape due to stress

Lowering of the water table around a pumping well results in a ________

cone of depression

Which mass movement process has the slowest rate of movement?

creep

A drainage pattern that resembles the branching pattern of a deciduous tree is called ________

dendritic

Darcy's law allows for the calculation of ________.

discharge

The volume of water flowing past a certain point in a given unit of time is called ________

discharge

Folds form as a result of ________

ductile deformation

Examine the words and/or phrases below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option that does not fit the pattern. - water - vegetation - earthquake - slope angle

earthquake

Examine the words and/or phrases below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option that does not fit the pattern. - floodplains - channelization - artifical levees - dams

floodplains

________ in a delta are essentially cross strata inclined toward deeper water.

forest beds

What term describes a stream which receives water through the inflow of groundwater through the stream bed?

gaining stream

The slope of a stream channel, expressed as the vertical drop of a stream over a specified distance, is called the/a________.

gradient

After ice sheets and glaciers, ________ contain(s) the next highest percentage of Earth's freshwater.

groundwater

A submerged, flat-toped seamount formed when a volcanic island sinks as it is carried away from the elevated ocean ridge or hot spot over which it formed is called a(n) ________.

guyot

A ________ is an upraised block bounded by two reverse faults.

horst

The water table slope is known as the ________.

hydraulic conductivity

Which type of metamorphism alters the basaltic rocks of the seafloor?

hydrothermal

The majority of freshwater on Earth is located where?

in glaciers and ice sheets

How does urbanization (paving, etc.) affect runoff and infiltration in a small, previously forested, drainage basin?

infiltration decreases; runoff increases

Examine the words and/or phrases below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option that does not fit the pattern. - normal fault - thurst fault - reverse fault - joint

joint

A geologist wants to locate a horizontal coal bed on a soil-covered slope where soil creep is active. A distinctive sandstone bed underlies the coal bed. On the basis of weathered sandstone fragments in the soil, where is the coal bed?

just above the highest piece of sandstone seen in the soil

Which one of the following does not apply to stream turbulence and average velocity?

laminar flow; dissolved load

The unsaturated zone ________.

lies above the water table

Which of the following geologic materials would have the highest groundwater velocities and be least effective in removing unwanted pollutants from the water?

limestone; numerous solution channels and fractures widened by dissolution

Folded limestones that occur high in the Himalayas were originally deposited as sediments in a ________.

marine basin between India and Eurasia

Examine the words and/or phrases below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option that does not fit the pattern. - wind - water - ice - mass movement

mass movement

The downslope movement of rock, regolith, and soil is called ________.

mass movement

A slow-spreading ridge will generally have ________ compared to a faster spreading ridge.

more rugged topography

Rock deformation mostly occurs ________.

near the centers of plates

Submarine canyons found on the continental slope and rise have been created ________.

none of these

Horsts and grabens are bounded by ________ faults.

normal

________ faults form in response to horizontal, tensional stresses that stretch or elongate the rocks.

normal

In which of the following locations would you most expect to encounter solifluction?

northern canada

Deep-sea fans are found ________.

on the continental rise

The term ________ refers specifically to geologic mountain building.

orogenesis

What term denotes the percentage of open space or voids in a material?

porosity

A drainage pattern comprised of streams that diverge from a central area like spokes is called ________.

radical

Examine the words and/or phrases below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option that does not fit the pattern. - natural levees - yazoo tributaries - backwamps -rapids

rapids

Examine the words and/or phrases below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option that does not fit the pattern. - rift valley - east african rift - continental rift - rio grande rift

rift valley

Deep, down-faulted structures along the axis of some segments of oceanic ridge are called ________

rift valleys

Which of the following is the fastest type of mass movement?

rock avalanche

Water depths and seafloor topography are now routinely determined by ________.

ship-mounted echo sounders

Which type of mass movement involves a downward sliding mass of rock or unconsolidated material moving along a curved surface?

slump

The Mariana Trench provides an example of a location where ________ is occurring.

spontaneous subduction

A ________ is the icicle-like speleothem that grows down from the roof of a cavern.

stalactite

Which is the correct term for water that flows in a channel, regardless of size?

stream

Examine the words and/or phrases below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option that does not fit the pattern. - seamount - abyssal plain - trench - submarine canyon

submarine canyon

The mountains and valleys of the Basin and Range Province of the western United States formed in response to ________.

tensional stresses and normal-fault movements

Examine the words and/or phrases below and determine the relationship among the majority of words/phrases. Choose the option that does not fit the pattern. - accretionary wedge - volcanic arc - forearc basin - terrane

terrane

The term karst topography was first used in ________.

the Republic of Slovenia, a province of the former Yugoslavia

Isostasy refers to ________

the concept that rocks of the crust and upper mantle are floating in gravitational balance

In thrust faulting, ________.

the crust is shortened and thickened

Excessive groundwater withdrawals can cause ________.

the water table drops or declines in elevation

Which of the following provides the best example of an active continental margin?

the west coast of South America

The relatively featureless topography of abyssal plains is due to ________.

thick accumulations of sediment covering a rugged ocean floor

Which one of the following is NOT connected in any way with submarine, hot spring vents?

thick turbidites on the continental rise

Why was the Alaskan pipeline built above ground and insulated?

to protect the pipeline against damage due to thawing ground and to keep the crude oil hot and fluid

If you are standing on the hanging wall of a normal fault, looking across the fault plane, which way would the block opposite you appear to have moved?

up

Which one of the following is an example of an isostatic movement?

uplift of areas recently covered by thick, continental ice sheets

Lahars are associated with which of the following?

volcanoes