GeoSystems Exam 4 Quiz Questions

Which of the following rivers is characterized by internal drainage?

Humboldt River

Which of the following is correct of the longitudinal profile of most rivers?

It is concave in shape.

Which of the following is true of evapotranspiration in North America?

The lowest amounts occur in Northern Canada

Why are corals more prevalent on the east coasts of continents?

The water is warmer.

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.

A major difference between a barrier island and a barrier spit is

a barrier spit is connected to the mainland, whereas a barrier island is not.

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

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.

An atoll 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

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)

confined 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

Areas in which the land is typically rising in relation to sea level are called

emergent coastlines.

Natural levees are created during

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

These features, here from Lake Michigan, disrupt sediment movement along a coast.

groins

The suspended load of a stream consists of particles that are

held aloft in the stream flow.

Chemical weathering is greatest under conditions of

higher rainfall and temperatures

A drought defined based on decreases in streamflow, lowering of reservoir levels, and declines in snowpack is a(n) ________ drought.

hydrological

The downward trend in water consumption in the U.S. has been attributed to

increased water prices.

Mean sea level

is based on average tidal levels recorded hourly at a given site over a period of many years

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

its wavelength shortens.

A ________ is a type of debris flow associated with volcanic activity.

lahar

Base level refers to

level below which a stream cannot erode its valley

When the Sun, Moon, and Earth are in alignment (i.e., in opposition or conjunction)

maximum tidal ranges occur.

Which of the following is not responsible for changes in sea level?

melting sea ice

In a given section of channel, the greatest flow velocities are usually

near the surface, near the center.

Earth's oceans possess

ninety-seven percent of Earth's waters.

Increasing ocean acidification has been attributed to

ocean absorption of excess atmospheric carbon dioxide.

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

Undercutting action of the sea results in

sea cliffs

Stream transport involves all of the following except

sheetflow

The weathering of limestone can create circular depressions known as

sinkholes

The type of mass movement in which material moves in a unit along a zone of weakness is

slides

On average, ocean water is

slightly basic (pH around 8)

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

Regular patterns of smooth, rounded waves are called

swells

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

How are mass movements classified?

their speed and moisture content

A ________ is deposited sediment that connects a shoreline with an offshore island.

tombolo

The movement of water into the atmosphere from plants is

transpiration

The water balance for Kingsport, Tennessee exhibits

water deficits in the summer months.

Wave action works to straighten a coast as wave energy focuses around headlands and tends to disperse energy in coves and bays in a process called

wave refraction.

Which country is the world's leading hydropower producer?

China

Which of the following can lead to the slope failure that causes mass movement?

saturation, oversteepening of slopes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.

The presence of talus slopes indicates the occurrence of

rockfall

Approximately ________ people worldwide lack safe drinking water.

1 Billion

Barrier beaches and islands occur worldwide, lying offshore of nearly ________% of Earth's coastlines.

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

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

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's coastlines?

Most of the Earth's coastlines are relatively young and undergoing continuous change.

Which of the following is not a denudation process?

Orogeny

________ streams flow year-round, fed by snowmelt, rainfall, groundwater, or a combination thereof.

Perennial

When the upper surface of consolidated rock undergoes constant weathering, it creates broken-up rock called

Regolith

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

Material deposited in a long ridge extending out from a coast is called a

barrier spit.

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.

When the height of a wave exceeds its vertical stability, the wave is called a

breaker

Soil moisture that plants are capable of accessing and using is called

capillary water

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

The oceans physical structure. Schematic of the average vertical zonation as sampled along a line from Greenland to the South Atlantic. 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