GEOGRAPHY QUIZES

A great circle does not coincide with the Earth's center.

False

An example of a large scale map would be

a city

On the Earth between 30º and 60º north latitude, winds flow from the _______ as they flow out of the _______ pressure zone toward the ________ pressure zone

west-southwest; subtropical high; subpolar low

In nature, approximately _____ of the calories in plant matter survive from the primary to the secondary trophic (feeding, nutrition) level.

10%

Approximately what percentage of the world's population lives within 100 km of the ocean?

2/5

The tilt of the Earth's axis is about a ______ ° angle, _____________ to the plane of the ecliptic (the plane of the Earths' orbit).

23.5, perpendicular

As we drive up a mountain the air temperature drops. This is an example of the normal lapse rate, when temperatures decrease rapidly with with increasing altitude, and is a rate of:

6.4° C per 1000 m 3.5° F per 1000 ft Both B and C

A soccer player in a white jersey will be less hot than a soccer player in a black jersey. This is an example of ___________.

Albedo

Which scientist is credited with proposing the ideas that led to the development of the plate tectonics theory?

Alfred Wegener

Which of the following is correct?

An ecosystem is the interaction of many communities with the abiotic physical components of their environment.

The __________ system of the earth is formed by gases arising from within the Earth's crust, interior and the exhalations of all life over time.

Atmosphere

Which of the following types of air masses, affecting North America in the winter, is: cold, dry, stable and exerts high pressure and what is the proper initial notation for the air mass type?

Continental polar, (cP)

Which type of cloud has an anvil shaped head and is associated with dark heavy storms?

Cumulonimbus

A GPS is a is a computer system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of spatial or geographical data.

False

A rock is a naturally occurring, inorganic, solid element or compound, with a definite composition or compositional range and a regular internal crystal structure.

False

A temperature inversion in the lower atmosphere prevents warmer air below the inversion layer from mixing with the air above. This traps pollution near the ground.

False

An arched-shaped upward fold is known as a syncline; the rock strata slope downward away from an imaginary center axis that divides the fold into two parts.

False

An genetic classification is one based on statistical data, such as temperature or precipitation.

False

At the aphelion position, the Earth is closest to the Sun

False

Continental crust is thicker and more dense than oceanic crust.

False

When we sweat we are experiencing the warming effect. This is because heat is being absorbed by the air around us.

False

A _____comprises at least 27 orbiting satellites, in 6 orbital planes, that transmit navigational signals to Earth-bound receivers.

GPS

Rivers east of the continental divide in the Rockies drain into the

Gulf/Atlantic drainage

Which statement is not correct

If the feedback information in a system is encouraging change in a system, it is negative feedback.

The Southern hemisphere gets more solar radiation energy during _______ compared to the Northern hemisphere in ________ , due to the earth's orbit passing closer to the sun.

January or december July or June

Which of the following features did not result from glacial processes?

Lake Nyos, Cameroon

__________ is one of the largest ______________ volcanoes on earth and is considered the most likely volcano in the Cascade Range to erupt in the coming century.

Lassen Peak, plug dome

______________ is the process of compaction, cementation and hardening of sediments into _______________ rocks.

Lithification, Sedimentary

Which is the coldest portion of our atmosphere (-90°C or -130°F) due to having a low density of molecules?

Mesopause

Humid subtropical and marine west coast are examples of which climate classification?

Mesothermal Climate

Which of the following is not true of soils?

Older soils usually have fewer horizons than younger soils.

_____________ divided the circle into 360 degrees, with each degree having _____ minutes and each minute having _______seconds

Ptolemy, 60, 60

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 lists the order of our planet's atmospheric "spheres" and "zones" correctly, from the ground to interplanetary space?

Troposphere, Tropopause, Stratosphere, Stratopause, Mesosphere, Mesopause, Thermosphere, Thermospause, Exosphere

Heat capacity is the amount of energy that a substance must absorb before it changes temperature.

True

Relative humidity is the ratio of the amount of water vapor actually in the air to the maximum amount possible at a given temperature.

True

Supercells often contain a deep, persistently rotating updraft called a mesocyclone, a spinning, cyclonic rising column of air associated with a convective storm and can range up to 6 miles in diameter.

True

The Mercator projection, while used in classroom maps, presents false notions of the size of (area) of midlatitude and pole-ward landmasses.

True

The only point where insolation arrives perpendicular to the surface (hitting directly overhead) is the subsolar point.

True

____________ is an example of a ________ and ________ Climate. In this type of climate plant growth is restricted by cold temperatures and a short growing season. Up until now, most of the land within this climate stayed covered by snow for up to 8-10 months at a time.

Tundra, Polar, Highland

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

V; U

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.

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

On June 21st, the Sun never sets over Amy's location, given this information it can be concluded that Amy is located:

above the arctic circle

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

The tectonic plates float on which semi-liquid layer?

asthenosphere

If the earth did not experience endogenic processes, the landscape would

be of very low relief as a result of weathering and erosion in the absence of uplift

________ is the process in which pieces of ice break free to form floating ice masses known as icebergs.

calving

Karst topography is formed primarily by

carbonic acid solution

_____________ volcanoes are built by gaseous lava particles violently ejected high into the air from a single vent, similar to a popcorn popper. The lava shatters into small fragments that solidify in the air and fall as cinders around the vent.

cinder cone

The dividing line between day and night is the____________.

circle of illumination

What leads to the formation of island arcs?

collision of oceanic plates

Summer afternoon thundershowers in the southeastern United States are more than likely a result of:

convectional lifting

The A horizon is usually ______ underlying layers because _______.

darker than; it contains humus

The Sun's __________ is the latitude of the subsolar point.

declination

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

14% of the water entering the Earth's atmosphere is caused by _______________.

evapotranspiration

An genetic classification is one based on statistical data, such as temperature or precipitation.

false

Rectangular drainage patterns form as a result of _____.

flow through a faulted landscape

Winds flow from areas of _____ pressure to areas of ____ pressure.

high, low

Chemical weathering is greatest under conditions of

higher mean annual rainfall and temperatures

If we consider the atmosphere by composition, the layer between the surface and 80km is called the ______ . The most common gas in this layer is ______

homosphere nitrogen

Which of the following would cause the evaporation rate to decrease?

increased relative humidity

During _______ conditions, commonly associated with a dry climate, the water table is lower than the stream channel so the stream's water flows into the ground water.

influent

While standing at the Tropic of Capricorn, Matthew's shadow points south at noon (sun time). Based on this, which of the following can definitely be concluded?

it must not be the summer solstice in Matthew's location

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

its wavelength shortens

As below freezing cP air passes over the Great Lakes it absorbs heat energy and becomes humidified. This causes heavy snowfall downwind of the Great Lakes. This phenomenon is also known as the ____________.

lake effect

Weather is powered by the tremendous amount of _______________, involved in the phase changes amount the ______ states of water.

latent heat energy, 3

Which of the following does not increase porosity?

laterization

____________ is caused by a buildup of _________ polarity between areas within a cumulonimbus cloud or between the cloud and the ground.

lightning, electrical-energy

The ______________ is divided into a number of plates that float independently over the ______________.

lithosphere, asthenosphere

If humus were lost from soil due to excessive farming or soil erosion, which of the following could occur?

loss of soil structure loss of fertility loss of water holding capacity all of the above

Which of the following occurs when the Sun, Moon and Earth are in alignment (i.e., in opposition or conjunction)?

maximum tidal ranges occur

Insolation north of the tropic of cancer and south of the tropic of capricorn is___________ because the suns rays arrive at ________ angles to Earth.

more diffuse, oblique

In the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes, north-facing slopes tend to be _______ vegetated than south-facing slopes because _______.

more; they are more moist

What is not likely to happen at a divergent boundary?

mountain formation

In recent times, false rumors have spread suggesting that California is "going to fall into the ocean." In order for this to be true, the San Andreas fault would have to be a ________ fault associated with _______ forces.

normal; tension

Bears eat both plants and animals; therefore they are

omnivores

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

only once every few years

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

Which layer of the Earth is the only completely liquid layer?

outer core

_____________ found in the _____________ protects us from most harmful wavelengths of ultraviolet light, however it does not protect us from ________ radiation.

ozone, stratosphere, UVA

Lines that run parallel to the equator in an east to west direction are also known as:

parallels

The sky is blue because:

particles scatter inversely proportional to their wavelength Blue wavelengths of light are shorter and scatter more than other wavelengths Both A and D

If the earth did not rotate, air would flow

perpendicular to the isobars, i.e. straight across the isobars

___________ volcanoes are formed by non-explosive outpourings of viscous lava that piles up around a vent, but can be preceded or followed by explosive eruptions.

plug dome

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

polyp; calcium carbonate

One of the most dangerous byproducts of a volcanic eruption, especially an eruption from a silica rich volcano, is a ________________

pyroclastic flow

When radiative cooling of a surface chills the air layer directly above the surface to the dew point temperature, creating saturated conditions, _______________ forms.

radiation fog

Chlorophyll ______ green light; which means that it _____ green light for photosynthesis.

reflects; does not use

In most areas, the upper surface of bedrock is partially weathered to broken up rock called

regolith

The acquisition of information about distant objects without having physical contact is known as

remote sensing

What type of fault is the San Andreas fault?

right lateral strike-slip

An ocean plate meets a continental plate and the heavier oceanic crust is pushed beneath the continental mass. This is an example of a _________________.

subduction zone

The variety of surface features on the Earth results from

techtonic activity gravity weathering and erosion all of the above

Frost wedging is greatest under conditions of

temperatures that reach below freezing

Ocean currents are produced by

the frictional drag of winds and the Coriolis force and water density differences

Carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane and other gases in the lower atmosphere absorb infrared radiation that is then re-emitted as heat energy. This process is called:

the greenhouse effect

The littoral zone extends indland to

the highest water line that occurs during a storm

The primary cause of the seasons is:

the tilt of the Earth

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

thrust fault

In a food chain, toxic chemicals tend to accumulate and concentrate most in the

top carnivore

Warm air can hold more water vapor than cold air.

true

The Sun emits radiant energy composed of _______________ wavelengths.

ultra-violet, x-ray, gamma-ray,visible and infrared

Mountain-valley breezes are caused by:

warm air rising upslope during the day and cooler air descending the slopes at night

An active water well, will soon go try when the __________ lowers and a _____________ forms.

water table lowers, cone of depression

___________ temporarily removes water from the supply, then returns it later. Wheras, _________ permanently removes water from a stream.

water withdrawal, consumptive use

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

water, oxygen, carbon dioxide

In the horse latitudes (20°N and 20°S) surface winds are _________ because ________.

weak; the horse latitudes are located directly under a high pressure zone characterized by descending and expanding, rather than horizontally moving air

___________ is the short term, day to day condition of the atmosphere, contrasted with __________, which is the long term average of weather conditions and extremes in a region.

weather, climate