APES Unit 4
Based on the soil texture triangle, which of the following would describe soil that was 25% clay, 25% silt, and 50% sand?
Sandy clay loam
Corn is a crop that grows best in soil that drains well. Which of the following soils is best suited to grow corn?
Sandy loam because it has large amounts of sand and less than clay.
Which of the following best explains why City B regularly receives less precipitation than City A?
The rain shadow effect causes City B to be drier because the mountain blocks precipitation from reaching the city.
This layer of Earth's atmosphere has the highest density of any atmospheric layer and contains most of the water vapor in the atmosphere.
Troposphere
At which of the following sites does seafloor spreading result in rifts and possible volcanoes?
A
Which soil horizon is best developed in areas with dense vegetation, such as forests and grasslands, since the horizon consists of decomposing leaves and other plant material?
A
Which of the following would be the best control sample for the study?
A sample of water collected just downstream of the northern forest
Which latitude shown on the diagram experiences 24 hours of daylight on December 21?
E
Reasons that human populations historically have settled in floodplains include which of the following?
All of the above are correct.
Which of the following describes a transform boundary?
An area where two tectonic plates slide past one another
At which of the following sites would activity result in volcanoes, island arcs, and mountains?
B
This area is most susceptible to erosion, leading to increased suspended solids and increased turbidity downstream.
B
At which of the following sites is an earthquake most likely to occur as two plates slide sideways past each other?
C
Which soil horizon has very little organic matter and accumulates soluble metals and nutrients that are transported from other soil layers?
C
Of the following, which has the greatest permeability?
Clay
Of the following, which is the most likely composition of the soil sample?
Clay 10% - Silt 10% - Sand 80%
Which of the following is the correct order of soil particles in order of increasing size?
Clay—silt—sand
The graph below shows the altitude and temperature for different layers of Earth's atmosphere.
Cloud formation occurs in the stratosphere.
Which soil horizon is the least weathered horizon and contains rock that is starting to break down into soil?
D
Which of the following is a biome found at and as seen in the diagram?
Deserts
Earth currently rotates on an axis at an angle of 23.5 degrees. If that axis changed to 20 degrees, so that the axis was closer to vertical, which of the following would be expected to occur?
Earth would experience a change in seasonal timing and length.
At which of the following statements correctly explains the tectonic plate activity on the west coast the United States
Earthquakes occur at the San Andreas Fault when stored energy is released from locked plates.
The high sea surface temperature in 1998 was most likely due to
El Niño
Which of the following properties is most likely associated with soils that contain more sand-sized particles than soils that contain more clay-sized particles?
High permeability
El Niño and La Niña are natural phenomena associated with changing water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. The occurrence of these events can result in changes in global weather and ocean circulation patterns.
Increased phytoplankton concentrations
Which of the following correctly characterizes one of Earth's atmospheric layers?
Layer is the stratosphere, where meteors are found.
The graph shows the relative solar energy received at local noon each day of the year at two different locations. Based on the graph, which of the following can be concluded about the latitudes of the two locations?
Location 1 is close to the equator, and Location 2 is in the Northern Hemisphere.
A team at a university in Pennsylvania has concerns about the health of streams in a watershed because of the various land uses in the area. There has been an increase in road repair work, and the area has many dairy farms. Which of the following would be most effective at preventing sediment runoff into the streams of the watershed?
Maintain zones of grass at least wide on the sides of streams in the area.
The shaded area in New York State, Pennsylvania, and Ohio in the northeast United States is referred to as a snowbelt. On average, this region receives much more snowfall than surrounding areas. Which of the following best explains why the shaded area receives more snowfall than the other parts of New York,
Moisture picked up from the warmer water in the Great Lakes is deposited as snow downwind.
Which of the following is the most abundant gas by volume in the atmosphere?
N2
Which of the following properties of the soil sample most influences the flow of water through the sample?
Permeability
Students sampled several different gardens near their school and measured the percentages of silt, sand, clay, and humus content present in each sample. Their results are shown in the table below.
Sample D
The following question refers to the soil composition diagram below. What are the proportions of sand, silt, and clay for the soil at point T?
Sand 60% - Silt 30% - Clay 10%
Which of the following best describes why the engineer chose to calculate the permeability of the soil sample in the experimental design in order to evaluate a natural containment system to protect groundwater?
Soils that have low permeability would best help protect groundwater because the soil traps pollutants so that chemical and biological breakdown can occur.
Which of the following is the source of energy driving the circulation pattern labeled C in the diagram?
Solar radiation
Based on the data in the diagrams, in which layer of the atmosphere would short wave radio signals be reflected?
Stratosphere
This layer of Earth's atmosphere contains the ozone layer that absorbs the sun's ultraviolet rays.
Stratosphere
Which of the following best describes why understanding a watershed and its boundaries is important in designing housing developments along a river?
Surface water and stormwater runoff will drain downstream within the watershed boundaries, so it is important to understand the flow of water through the watershed.
Which of the following correctly describes the season and length of day at the Tropic of Cancer at the time of year shown in the diagram?
The Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun so it is winter at the Tropic of Cancer and daylight is less than twelve hours per day.
If the diagram illustrates Earth's relative position on December 21 of a given year, which of the following statements would be correct?
The Tropic of Cancer has a shorter day and lower solar radiation intensity because there is a direct relationship between day length and radiation intensity.
Which of the following areas receives the most intense solar radiation at the time of year shown in the diagram, and why?
The Tropic of Capricorn, because this latitude is nearly horizontal to incoming solar radiation.
Hoover Dam is the largest dam in the United States, built on the Colorado River to supply hydroelectric power and flood control. Which of the following best describes a downstream environmental effect of Hoover Dam on the Colorado River watershed?
The damming of the Colorado River led to a change in stream flow, preventing river water and sediments from reaching the delta area.
Which of the following is the dependent variable in the study?
The density of a species of algae growing along the bottom of the river?
Which of the following should be included in a watershed map to best determine the non-point source of a pollutant, such as fertilizer, found in a river?
The land use upstream of the river and water quality indicators in streams that run downstream into the river
Which of the following best describes the independent variable in this research design?
The sample of material chosen as the potential container material is the variable being tested, so it is the independent variable.
Which of the following does NOT exert a major influence on Earth's overall climate?
The seasonal development of temperature inversions in geographical basins
Which of the following best explains why the lower portion of the troposphere is warmer than the upper portion?
The surface of Earth absorbs sunlight, heating the lower portion of the troposphere more than the upper part.
Which of the following factors is fundamentally responsible for seasons on Earth?
The tilt of Earth's axis of rotation
In the desert regions of the southwestern United States, daily high and low temperatures will frequently fluctuate by 40 degrees F or more. Which statement below best explains the large variation in temperature?
There are no bordering oceans or large bodies of water to provide a stabilizing humidity to the air.
This layer of Earth's atmosphere contains the fewest molecules of the layers shown, and the low density of gas leads to very few molecules transferring heat to an object. In this layer, ultraviolet radiation causes photodissociation of molecules, creating ions.
Thermosphere
In which of the following atmospheric layers does most weather occur?
Troposphere
Which of the following explains the variable that would be the best for students to measure to determine the direct impact of soil erosion caused by the construction project on the river?
Turbidity, because a decrease in water clarity would indicate an increase in soil erosion.
Which of the following agricultural practices would most likely lead to improved water quality in nearby streams and rivers?
Using crop rotation in fields
Which of the following causes the air to rise high into the atmosphere in the areas labeled A, B, and C on the diagram?
Warm, moist air that is less dense than the surrounding air
Which of the following is the most likely effect of a strong El Niño event on the weather patterns in the United States?
Wetter weather and cooler than average temperatures in the southeastern states and warmer temperatures in the Pacific Northwest
Most deserts on Earth are located near the 30° north and 30° south latitudes because humidity is lower at 30°. The best explanation for the lower humidity is that
warm air rises at the equator, cools, and sinks at 30° latitude
Most of the Earth's deserts are at approximately 30° latitude, north and south, because these latitudes are characterized by
descending dry air currents
The Sun's radiation provides the energy for all of the following EXCEPT
plate tectonics
The low anchovy catch in 1998 was most likely the result of
reduced ocean upwelling along the coast
