GLG 121 Final Exam (& Exams 1 & 2)

Which of the following is NOT part of environmental geology?

Studying the cultural repercussions of the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1582 CE

Wet melting produces partial melting of rock when water (a so-called volatile) is added to the rock, thereby lowering the melting temperature of some of the minerals in that rock. Which plate tectonic setting produces magma through such wet melting?

Subduction zone

At what plate tectonic setting is partial melting caused by wet melting, a.k.a. wet-rock melting?

Subduction zones

What plate tectonic setting involves adding water to rock to produce partial melting?

Subduction zones

What happens to the age & depth of the seafloor moving away from a mid-ocean ridge?

The seafloor gets older and deeper as you move away from the ridge

The polarity, or orientation, of Earth's magnetic field has changed many times over geologic time.

True

How does the viscosity of motor oil in a car's engine change from the time you turn the key in the ignition to when you have driven 50 km (30 miles)?

Viscosity would decrease

Most, but not all, of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by Sun is in the _____ band.

Visible (0.2-0.9 μm)

What are some common atmospheric pollutants?

Volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide

Which process does not consume atmospheric oxygen?

Volcanic degassing of CO2

How is hydroelectric energy commonly generated?

Water falls through a series of turbines in a dam that generates electricity.

The poor spaces within a groundwater reservoir are only partially filled with water above the _____________.

Water table

Which point in the figure below represents a magma that, if cooled quickly, would most likely form basalt?

Point a (highest magma temperature and lowest silica content)

Which point in the figure below represents a magma that, if cooled quickly, would most likely form rhyolite?

Point c (highest silica content and lowest magma temperature)

In the figure above, which point represents a low pressure center?

Point c (lowest pressure)

The percentage of the total volume of a rock or sediment that consists of pore spaces is called:

Porosity

In order for a particular groundwater reservoir to be considered an aquifer it must

Produce water at a quantity and rate useful for people

Isotopes of a particular element have the same number of ______ but different numbers of ______ in their nucleus:

Protons & neutrons

The most common rock-forming minerals in the Earth's crust are:

Quartz, feldspars, and ferro-magnesium minerals

The set of processes by which groundwater is replenished is termed

Recharge

The term for the processes that replenish the water in an aquifer is:

Recharge

The amount of time matter is contained in a specific reservoir is called ______ time

Residence

Which of the following is NOT monitored as a measure of air quality?

Water vapor (H2O)

The rate of volcanic degassing of CO2, a natural source of CO2 emission to the atmosphere, is _____ than the anthropogenic CO2 emission rate.

much smaller than (<1/10)

Lead, unlike aluminum, cannot be recycled.

False

Ore deposits mined underground tend to be larger in scale than those mined in open pits.

False

Sulfur dioxide is only produced by human activities.

False

The Exxon Valdez disaster was the largest oil tanker spill in world history.

False

The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System is a permitting system established under the Clean Air Act.

False

What type of petroleum trap is "TRAP B" in this figure?

Fault trap (trap with diagonal layers & no curves)

Two important ideas were combined to form the theory of plate tectonics. What were they, and in what order were they produced?

First Continental Drift, later Seafloor Spreading

Conventional nuclear reactors rely on what process to generate energy?

Fission

What causes those seasonal variations seen in the Keeling curve?

Growth and decay of leaf material on or from deciduous trees, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere

Conditions that may result in a debris flow are:

Heavy rain or snowmelt over steep slopes

During partial melting, the melt will be _____ in silica than the original rock that is now partially melting.

Higher

House A and House B are identical in terms or their size, features, and price. House A is located on the point bar side of a meandering stream. House B is located on the cut bank side of the same stream. Which house would be the better long-term investment?

House A (near the point bar)

What does the "stage" of a river mean?

How high the river water is, relative to some fixed height called a datum

Given the quantities on the horizontal and vertical axes for the figure above, what type of plot is it?

Hydrograph (dates on x, daily mean stream flow on y)

Does urbanization near streams generally tend to increase or decrease flooding?

Increase

If the flux of material into a reservoir is greater than the flux of material out of that reservoir, the amount of material in the reservoir will:

Increase

From 2007 to 2017 global energy consumption has...

Increased by 17%

What has happened to average global temperatures since 1880 AD?

Increased by approx. 1◦C, 1.6◦C on land

What has happened to average global temperatures over the last 125 years?

Increased by approximately 1 ºC, 1.6 ºC on land

During glacial periods, the ratio of 18O to 16O in the ocean does what, relative to warmer, or interglacial, periods?

Increases

Which of the following is not a way to reduce the potential for failure on a very steep slope?

Increasing the weight of, or load on, the slope

Greenhouse gasses absorb radiation in which band of the electromagnetic spectrum?

Infrared

Gneiss and schist are ______ rocks that exhibit foliation, a planar alignment of some of the minerals making up the rock.

Metamorphic

Rocks that are formed by the crystallization of new minerals in the solid state (i.e. without melting) due to heat and/or pressure are

Metamorphic

Which of the following is NOT a benefit/true regarding nuclear energy?

Nuclear energy is renewable.

Cross-cutting relationships

Older rocks may be cut by younger rocks or features (e.g faults)

The Big Island of Hawaii marks the present-day location of a hot spot. The islands to the Northwest of the Big Island are ______ the Big Island.

Older than

What is a sustainable society?

One that can satisfy its needs without jeopardizing the needs of future generations

A mineral deposit that can be recovered with existing technology and is concentrated enough to be economically developed is called a:

Ore

The definition of a mineral includes all of the following except:

Organic

What relative-time principle assumes that layers A, B, and C in the figure above were tilted after deposition?

Original horizontality

An old meander that is cut off is called a(n):

Oxbow lake

What is the most common element in Earth's crust?

Oxygen

Which of the following is not a greenhouse gas?

Oxygen

What are the two most common elements in Earth's crust?

Oxygen & silicon

______ in the ______ is important because it prevents damaging ultraviolet radiation from being too intense on Earth's surface.

Ozone & stratosphere

What is the order of arrival of the different types of seismic waves?

P first, then S, finally surface waves

Creep is a faster mass wasting process than debris flows.

False

Gasses escape more easily from which type of magma?

Low viscosity

What type of plot is shown above, with time on the horizontal axis and discharge on the vertical axis?

Hydrograph

Gravel is usually carried as what kind of load in a stream?

Bed load

Coal comes from:

Large deposits of dead land plants

What do we call waste from smelting?

Slag

If radioactive decay began with 800,000 parent isotopes, how many would be left after four half-lives?

50,000

What is the approximate air pressure at 5.5 km compared to the surface (sea level)? Hint: Sea level pressure is roughly 1 bar.

0.5 bar

Say Alaska experiences a major earthquake of magnitude 8, which is followed by an aftershock of magnitude 4. How much more energy is released by the initial (mag. 8) quake relative to the aftershock (mag. 4)?

1,000,000X more

Say earthquake A is of magnitude 9, while earthquake B is of magnitude 5. How much more energy was released by earthquake A than earthquake B?

1,000,000X more

Given that it took a few hundred million years to develop the fossil fuel deposits we have to today, and the fact that global consumption will likely consume them within a few hundred years, how much faster are humans consuming fossil fuels than they are produced?

1,000,000x

Say there's an earthquake of magnitude 6 near Los Angeles, followed by an aftershock of magnitude 4. How much more energy is released by the initial (mag. 6) quake relative to the aftershock (mag. 4)?

1,000X more

The speed of tectonic plate motion is approximately

1-10 cm per year

What percentage of global proven natural gas reserves are located in North America?

1.5%

Over the last 900 thousand years (kyrs), the main timescale of variation between cold and warm periods has been:

100 kyr

Approximately how fast is a tsunami?

100's of km/hr

Milankovitch cycles: which are the correct respective periods of variation for eccentricity, obliquity, and precession?

100, 41, 23 kyr

Say we have a parcel of air at 36.5 ºC and 25% rel. humidity. It must be cooled to approximately what temperature to reach saturation (100% rel. humidity)? This is the dew pointfor this parcel of air.

12ºC

Over the last 2.75 million years periods of major northern hemisphere glaciation (glacial times) have alternated with periods of relatively reduced glaciation (interglacial times). As recorded by foraminifera found in ocean sediments, what happens to the ratio of 18O to 16O in the oceans as Earth goes from a interglacial (less ice on land) to a glacial (more ice on land) state?

18O/16O increases

In recent decades we have regularly set new "hottest year" records, in terms of global temperature. When was the last time we set new "coldest year" record?

1909

How many seismograph stations are required in order to locate the epicenter of an earthquake?

3

The ice-core record of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels over the last several hundred thousand years indicates that the highest CO2 concentration prior to the industrial revolution was approximately ______ ppm, while modern values are over 405 ppm.

300

Say you have a parcel of air at 30ºC (86 ºF) and with a relative humidity of 50%.That implies (see the graph) an absolute humidity of roughly 17 g/m3. What would be the approximate absolute humidity of this air parcel if it were at saturation (100% relative humidity)?

34 g/m3

What is the approximate age of Earth?

4.6 Billion Years

Approximately when did large numbers of fossils first appear in the geologic record?

542 million years ago

Approximately when did dinosaurs, exclusive of birds, become extinct?

65 million years ago

Approximately how much of Earth's surface is covered by ocean water?

70-71%

Say a mineral sample formed with 100 radioactive parent atoms and no daughter atoms. Knowing that parent atoms lost due to radioactive decay become daughter atoms, how many daughter atoms are there after two half lives?

75

What percentage of overall domestic (U.S.) energy consumption is from fossil fuels?

80%

Which image represents the boundary between the Pacific and N. American plates along the western edge of California?

A (Transform)

Artesian conditions require

A confined aquifer

Say a river-side town just experienced a 50-year flood. That means that

A flood event of that size has a probability of 1-in-50 (or 2%) chance of occurrence in the next year.

Say a river-side town just experienced a 100-year flood. In the context of recurrence interval analysis, this means that:

A flood of that size has a probability of 1-in-100 (or 1%) of occurring in the next year.

What is the term for a mineral deposit that is assessed to possibly be valuable, through more work needs to be done to confirm this assessment?

A prospect

Which of the following is a renewable energy resource?

All are renewable (hydropower, wind power, biomass, geothermal energy)

Beyond the globally-averaged warming expected as a consequence of anthropogenic enhancement of the greenhouse effect, global sea level is expected to rise because of...

All of the above (melting of the large ice sheets on Antarctic and Greenland; melting of mountain (or alpine) glaciers; thermal expansion of ocean water)

How do we know that the recent rise in atmospheric carbon-dioxide concentration is primarily due to burning of fossil fuels?

All of the other answers are correct (Atmospheric carbon dioxide contains decreasing amounts of radioactive carbon (14C), relative to 12C, indicating a very old (fossil) source; Atmospheric oxygen concentration is declining as carbon-dioxide concentration is increasing, indicating the the carbon dioxide comes from burning of organic carbon, not volcanic degassing of inorganic carbon dioxide; Atmospheric carbon dioxide contains a decreasing amount of 13C relative to 12C, indicating a plant-based (not volcanic) source (either modern or fossil organic carbon))

Which is a source of carbon monoxide?

All of the other answers are correct (charcoal burners; exhaust from cars; kerosene; gasoline-powered generators)

Closed systems:

Allow energy only to move in or out

Open systems:

Allow matter and energy to move in and out.

Which of the following is not one of the indications that the burning of fossil fuels is causing the recent rise in CO2 levels?

An increase in atmospheric O2 concentration

Which igneous rock type below is one that formed from an intermediate-composition magma that cooled quickly?

Andesite

The steepest stable slope that an unconsolidated, or loose material can maintain is that material's ________.

Angle of repose

To make coal plant material must accumulate in what kind of environment?

Anoxic -extremely poorly oxygenated

What is the highest grade (most metamorphosed) coal?

Anthracite

What type of petroleum trap is TRAP A in the figure above?

Anticline (fold) trap (curve)

In the analogy of snail and plate-tectonic motion, what layer in the geosphere is analogous to snail slime?

Asthenosphere

Where is the youngest ocean crust found?

At mid-ocean ridges

Which image represents the boundary between the S. American and African plates?

B (Divergent)

The name for the type of volcanic rock formed at mid-ocean ridges is ______ . (Hint: this rock is dense and makes up most of the upper portion of the ocean crust)

Basalt

Which igneous rock type below is one that formed from a mafic (low silica, high magnesium and iron) magma that cooled quickly?

Basalt

Where would gravel normally be carried in a stream: as part of the dissolved load, suspended load, or bed load?

Bed load (a.k.a. bedload)

___________________________ is the process in which rocks are separated and valuable minerals are concentrated.

Beneficiation

When is life thought to have begun?

Between 4.2 & 3.5 billion years ago

In the pressure map below, where would you expect the wind speeds to be the highest

Between III and IV (biggest difference between zones)

What is the formula for population growth rate?

Birth rate - death rate

Which of the following areas are an example of a divergent plate boundary? (Choose the best option)

Both A & B (South-Atlantic Ridge, Red Sea)

Which image represents the boundary between the Nazca and S. American plates? Assume we are looking towards the South in each image, such that the left is East, and the right is West.

C (Convergent)

What's the most common metal dissolved in our local drinking water?

Calcium

A ______ is something that participates in, but is not consumed by, a chemical reaction.

Catalyst

Suppose you are told that the area where you lived was once a shallow sea which has since evaporated away. What kind of rock is most likely to be left behind by the evaporation of that shallow sea?

Chemical

What is the name for the class of compounds that slowly decompose in the atmosphere to generate the chlorine that participates in ozone destruction?

Chlorofluorocarbons

Concrete is formed by adding cement and water to a mixture of sand and gravel. This could be seen as an analog for the formation of what type of sedimentary rock?

Clastic

Sandstone and conglomerate are examples of what type of sedimentary rock?

Clastic

How do people contribute to landslide problems?

Clearing vegetation with deep roots decreases the slope's resisting forces; Septic systems, swimming pools, or leaking water pipes add fluid to the slope; Excavation may locally steepen slopes, interrupting normal drainage patterns and introducing higher driving stress; Buildings add weight to slopes, increasing driving forces for the slope to fail.

Where are the deepest earthquakes generally located?

Close to oceanic trenches

The environmental consequences of a mine that operated a hundred years ago, but damaged the environment is regulated under the:

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act

The environmental consequences of a mine that operated a hundred years ago, but presently damages or endangers the environment is regulated under the:

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.

If a low permeability layer (a.k.a. an aquitard) overlies an aquifer, the aquifer is said to be:

Confined

Granite is a rock that is typical of the:

Continental crust

The presence of curved tree trunks along steep slopes illustrates what mass wasting process?

Creep

What is the proper order of Earth's compositional layers from the outer surface, where we live, down into the interior?

Crust, mantle, core

Which involves water-saturated material flowing downslope?

Debris flow

All other things remaining the same, urbanization in an area that was previously a forested landscape will tend to

Decrease recharge to the local groundwater system

As the velocity of a stream decreases, it's ability to carry coarser sediment:

Decreases

Adding a small amount of water to dry soil or sediment may add some cohesion (e.g. damp sand for making sand castles). However, adding appreciable water to soil or sediment on slopes will

Destabilize the slope by reducing frictional resistance to sliding.

What is the mathematical relationship between discharge, area, and velocity of a river?

Discharge = area * velocity

The figure above is a longitudinal profile plot for a stream. The quantities on the horizontal and vertical axes for such a plot, are, respectively:

Distance along the stream & elevation

The boundaries between watersheds of all sizes are elevated areas called:

Divides

A continent-continent collision zone is associated with significant ______ activity but little-to-no ______ activity.

Earthquake & volcanic

Say students at University of Miami get so sick of folks confusing them with Miami University students that they fire a ballistic missile toward Oxford, Ohio. Being your intellectual inferiors, they forget to consider the Coriolis effect. Where does their missile land?

East of Oxford Ohio

Earth's orbit around the Sun varies from more circular to more elliptical, and back again, through time. What is the name for the measure of the elliptical character of the orbit and over what timescale does it vary.

Eccentricity, which varies on a 100 thousand-year timescale

What is the theory for how earthquakes work, in which rocks are strained and then suddenly break?

Elastic rebound

_________ is the transportation of sediment by movements of water, wind, and ice.

Erosion

When a dog is panting, it is attempting to use the process of _______ to cool itself.

Evaporation

The change in organisms over successive generations that leads to new forms and functions, and even new species, is referred to as:

Evolution

Which process can raise the water table?

Extended periods of rain

Which of the following is not a type of pyroclastic material?

Fissure, dome

Which of the following are potential downsides to installing dams on streams?

Flooding upstream of the dam; Accumulation of sediment upstream of the dam; Changes in the natural processes of erosion and deposition downstream, effecting the riverine habitat;For dams with large reservoirs, the weight of the water may induce earthquakes

Superposition

For an undeformed sequence (stack) of rocks, the younger rocks overlie the older rocks

While we can use hot spots to tell us about plate motion on time scales of millions of years, what about motion on a shorter time scale, such as over a day, an hour, or a minute? What technologies would be useful on these shorter time scales?

GPS, RADAR, Classic optical surveying (e.g., theodolites)

In the seismogram above, which seismic station (labeled NEE or GSC) is closer to the earthquake epicenter?

GSC (closer to P-waves)

Which igneous rock type below is one that formed from a mafic (low silica, high magnesium and iron) magma that cooled slowly?

Gabbro

What is the difference between basalt and gabbro?

Gabbro is more crystalline than basalt, because, as a plutonic igneous rock, it cooled more slowly.

Most freshwater on Earth is in what component of the hydrosphere?

Glaciers & ice sheets

Which igneous rock type below is one that formed from a felsic (high silica, low magnesium and iron) magma that cooled slowly?

Granite

The key driving force behind slope failure is:

Gravity

After ice (ice sheets & glaciers), what is the next biggest component of the freshwater portion of the hydrosphere?

Groundwater

Looking at the figure above, which of the following areas are(is) an example of a divergent plate boundary?

I (Aleutian trench & islands)

Jello begins as a liquid mixture of boiling water and flavored gelatin. After it cools it forms a solid (if wobbly) material. This could be seen as an analog for the formation of what type of rock?

Igneous

The three broad categories of rock are sedimentary, metamorphic, and:

Igneous

Earth emits its electromagnetic radiation in the _____ band, while the Sun emits most of its radiation in the _____ band.

Infrared (Earth) & Visible (Sun)

In what direction do winds tend to travel around a low pressure center, such as the one you just identified? [Hint: this is for the Northern Hemisphere]

Inward and counterclockwise, or cyclonic

Oceanic crust has more of these elements than the continental crust:

Iron and magnesium

What are the four most common elements in the Earth's geosphere (the whole Earth)?

Iron, oxygen, silicon, magnesium

What is true about a hypothesis?

Is a tentative explanation consistent with what researchers know about a situation

The figure above is an air pressure map for the United States, with the contours representing lines of equal pressure, in units of millibars. What is the specific term for those contour lines of equal pressure?

Isobars

What is true about a scientific theory?

It explains a large set of observations and relationships that have been independently verified by many researchers

What has happened to the average global temperature over the last ~140 years?

It has increased by approximately 1 ºC

Why is stratospheric ozone important?

It helps terrestrial (land-based) organisms by preventing damaging ultraviolet radiation from being too intense on Earth's surface

Say Seven Mile Creek just experienced a 10-year flood last year. Based on recurrence-interval theory, how likely is that another 10-year flood will occur this year?

Just as likely as it was last year

Globally-averaged temperature rose by 0.8-1ºC over the last century+. That includes warming over the ocean and over land. On average, would you expect more warming over land or ocean?

Land

The ____________ is the drop in temperature with elevation in the troposphere.

Lapse rate

Which is younger, rock layer D or X, and which relative-time principle tells us that?

Layer D & superposition

Which is older, rock layer O or fault J, and what relative time principle tells us that?

Layer O & crosscutting

Liquid that pools at the base of a landfill is referred to as

Leachate

What is the lowest grade (least metamorphosed) coal?

Lignite

The protolith of the metamorphic rock marble is:

Limestone

This earthquake-generated hazard can occur when seismic waves shake water-saturated soil or sediment.

Liquefaction

The relatively rigid outer portion of the geosphere, consisting of the coolest, outer most mantle and the crust, is called the ______ , which is broken up into several tectonic plates which move relative to each other. Those tectonics plates sit on top of the relatively easily deformable (or ductile) layer of the geosphere called the ______ .

Lithosphere & asthenosphere

What does lithified mean?

Loose "unconsolidated" material has become a solid rock

Which type magma most likely has the lowest viscosity?

Low silica, high temperature

_______ rocks and minerals have more iron and magnesium, and less silica, relative to _______ rocks and minerals.

Mafic & Felsic

Which magma is most likely to form basalt or gabbro once it completely cools?

Magma A

Magma A has a high viscosity, and magma B has a low viscosity. Which magma is more likely to result in a violent (explosive) eruption, and why?

Magma A because gases cannot easily escape

Decompression melting produces partial melting of rock as that rock experiences a decrease in pressure (i.e., decompression). This occurs as the rock is being brought closer to Earth's surface, lowering the pressure and thereby lowering the melting tem- perature of some of the minerals in the rock. Which plate tectonic setting produces magma through such decompression melting?

Mid-ocean ridges

Which of the following leads to acid rock drainage?

Mining of high sulfur minerals

Which scale reflects an earthquake's impact (e.g., shaking, damage) on a particular location?

Modified Mercalli

What is the name for the initial global agreement to address atmospheric ozone destruction?

Montreal Protocol

The projected globally averaged warming is 2-4 ºC by 2100. That is over the entire surface of the planet, 70% of which is ocean. We mostly live on land. Will land-based temperature rise more or less?

More

The atmosphere that preceded today's atmosphere is called the second atmosphere. It is thought that the second atmosphere contained ______ carbon dioxide (CO2) and ______ oxygen (O2) than today's atmosphere.

More & less

Say I tell you that I'm going drive the 250 miles from Oxford, OH, to Chicago, IL, and ask "How long will the drive take me?" What missing information do you need to answer that question?

My anticipated driving speed

Which point in the figure below represents the most viscous (most resistant to flow) magma, and why is that magma likely to generate a violent (explosive) eruption?

NOT point c

What act requires federal agencies to integrate environmental values into their decision making processes by considering the environmental impacts of their proposed actions and reasonable alternatives to those actions?

National Environmental Policy Act.

Where are the deepest and largest earthquakes generated?

Near subduction zones

Earth is a ______ system.

Nearly closed

What is the order of planets, from farthest from the Sun to closest to the Sun?

Neptune (farthest), Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Earth, Venus, Mercury (closest)

What is the most abundant gas in our present-day atmosphere?

Nitrogen

The two most abundant gasses in Earth's atmosphere today are:

Nitrogen & oxygen

Ignoring water vapor, the top three atmospheric gasses by weight in the atmosphere are:

Nitrogen, oxygen, argon

At present, can we predict earthquakes?

No

A ______ resource is one that is naturally replenished more slowly than it is being consumed

Nonrenewable

______ faults are most common at divergent plate boundaries

Normal

What is the name of the supercontinent that Wegner hypothesized existed some 250 million years ago?

Pangaea

The ease with which fluids pass through a rock is referred to as the rocks:

Permeability

Say you are analyzing reconstructed temperature variations derived from oxygen isotope measurements in planktonic foraminifera shells found within ocean sediment cores. Further, say you notice a regular variation in the temperatures, with cold periods happening every 23,000 years. Which natural climate change cycle is most likely responsible for those temperature variations?

Precession

Which igneous rock type below is one that formed from a felsic (high silica, low magnesium and iron) magma that cooled quickly?

Rhyolite

What plate tectonic setting produces partial melting due to decompression as rock moves toward the surface?

Rifts and mid-ocean ridges

The ______ cycle is a cycle that describes how igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks are continually being transformed from one type to another over geologic time.

Rock

Which type of mass movement is the fastest?

Rock fall

Which of the following is a sedimentary rock that chemically precipitates from solution?

Rock salt

Which of the following are the primary sources of acid rain?

SO2 and NOx

After several million years, the relative movement of the Pacific and North American plates will move LA (on the Pacific plate) closest to the present-day location of:

San Francisco (North)

Generally, does sand, or its rock equivalent, a sandstone, have more porosity?

Sand

All of the following are part of the hydrosphere except:

Sandstone

Hawaii is an example of this type feature.

Shield volcano

All of the following are part of the biosphere except:

Slate

The type of mass movement where material moves downslope accompanied by rotation is called:

Slump

What do we call mass movement wherein unstable material slides downward and outward along a concave surface similar in shape to the bowl of a spoon. This is also called a rotation slide

Slump

The term "smog" derives from combining what two words?

Smoke and fog

The major form of high-level nuclear waste in the U.S. is:

Spent fuel rods from nuclear power plants

What term refers to interested or affected parties or people who participate in public hearings and whose input is required in an Environmental Impact Statement

Stakeholders

In what layer of the atmosphere are low amounts of ozone a concern?

Stratosphere

The so-called "ozone hole" is an area of decreased ozone concentration in what atmospheric layer over Antarctica.

Stratosphere

What type of volcano is Mount St. Helens?

Stratovolcano

Streams G and H have the same depth and discharge. The velocity of stream H is one third (1/3) of the velocity of stream G. Which stream is wider?

Stream H

What type of fault is the San Andreas?

Strike slip

All other things remaining the same, if Earth's rotational axis was tilted more, the contrast between summer and winter would be:

Stronger

Karst terrain is characterized by:

Subsidence; large areas of water-soluble materials, such as halite or limestone; underground caves and caverns; sinkholes

Which of the following does not qualify as a mineral?

Sugar

Air Quality and Mineral Resource Production: What is an environmentally damaging gas that can be emitted from smelters?

Sulfur dioxide

Which of the following is NOT a component of the hydrosphere?

Sun

Possible consequences of excessive groundwater withdrawal include:

Surface subsidence due to compaction of aquifer rocks; shallow wells going dry; lowering of the water table

Most of the structural damage from earthquakes worldwide is caused by:

Surface waves

As what type of load would silt normally be carried by a stream?

Suspended load

Venus is what type of planet?

Terrestrial

The primary reason there are seasons on Earth is because

The Earth's rotational axis is tilted with respect to the plane of its orbit

Which listed area in the lower 48 United States has active volcanoes?

The Pacific Northwest

Which region in the continental U.S. has the highest hazard associated with volcanoes and why?

The Pacific Northwest-convergent plate boundary

What do we call the maximum angle at which unconsolidated (i.e., loose) material remains stable (i.e., doesn't move)?

The angle of repose

Earth's magnetic field is produced by:

The circulation of metal within the liquid outer core, itself produced by a combination of heat and Earth's rotation.

Say we have a conglomerate which is made up of a bunch of pieces of gneiss and granite which have been cemented together. Which is younger, the pieces of gneiss in the conglomerate, or the conglomerate itself, and what relative-time principle tells us that?

The conglomerate & inclusions

What is NOT true about tailings?

The contain large amounts of valuable minerals.

The P and S-waves generated by a particular earthquake will arrive at a seismograph station at different times because of their different speeds. The difference in the arrival times of P and S-waves tells us what about the earthquake that generated them?

The earthquake's distance from the seismograph station

A river's base level is:

The elevation where a river cannot flow further or erode deeper

Open pit mining is done because:

The mineral deposits are either exposed or near to the land surface.

The epicenter of an earthquake is:

The point on the Earth's surface above the focus

The focus of an earthquake is:

The point on the fault surface where seismic energy is first released

The water table is

The top of the saturated zone, and the base of the unsaturated zone

An example of erosion is:

The transportation of rocks by movements of water, wind, & ice

The rotation of Earth causes moving objects to be deflected. This phenomena is referred to as the Coriolis effect. In what direction are objects deflected in the Northern Hemisphere?

To the right

Zone 2 in Figure 1 includes the San Andreas Fault running through much of California, produced by the Pacific and N. American plates sliding past each other. Which term is used to indicate this type of plate boundary?

Transform

Which of the following is NOT a component of the geosphere?

Trees

Two streams have the same velocity, but stream A has a cross-sectional area that is three times greater than that of stream B. The discharge from stream A is _____ that of stream B.

Triple

Earthquakes or heavy rains may trigger landslides.

True

Landfills can be used to produce energy.

True

Most oil and gas comes from the remains of organisms that once lived in the oceans.

True

Naturally occurring concentrations of some toxic elements, such as arsenic, may exceed both recommended safe levels and wastewater standards for industry.

True

Repeated cycles of freezing and thawing can be important in causing soil creep.

True

The organization that protects the nation's water quality is:

US Environmental Protection Agency

Which of the isotopes listed in the chart would be most useful for dating rocks that formed shortly after the Earth formed?

Uranium 238

What process below describes fission?

Uranium is hit by a slow neutron and it splits apart into lighter elements, other neutrons and heat

What do we call the set of destructive processes that, through both physical disintegration and chemical decomposition, change rock that has been exposed at Earths surface?

Weathering

When it was first proposed, Alfred Wegener's continental drift hypothesis was heavily criticized by earth scientists. What was one of their primary objections to the continental drift hypothesis?

Wegener did not offer a compelling explanation for how the continents move.

What is a subduction zone?

Where one lithospheric plate slides under another lithospheric plate.

Which of the following areas from figure 1 is an example of an ocean-ocean collision, a type of convergent plate boundary?

Zone 1 (Aleutian trench)

Which of the following areas from figure 1 is an example of an ocean-continent collision, a type of convergent plate boundary?

Zone 3 (Peru-Chile trench & Andes mountains)

Looking at figure 1, which of the following is or are an example of a continent-continent collision zone, a type of convergent plate boundary?

Zone 6 (Himalaya mountains)

Looking at figure 1, which of the following areas is or are an example of a divergent plate boundary?

Zones 8 (South-Atlantic ridge) & 4 (East African rift)

All of the following are causes of natural subsidence except:

injection of large amounts of groundwater