Geology 111 Final Exam
Approximately 40,000 people died as a result of the 1883 eruption of Krakatau. What were the two volcanic hazards responsible for these deaths?
tsunamis and pyroclastic flows
A transform plate boundary involves
two plates sliding laterally past each other
What are the two most abundant gases in magmas?
water vapor and carbon dioxide
Liquefaction occurs when _____.
when saturated soil and other unconsolidated Earth materials lose their strength during an earthquake and behave like a liquid.
Yellowstone's most recent eruption was _______. There is evidence that Yellowstone has errupted _____ in the last 2.3 million years.
~600,000 years ago, 3 times
As of 2017, what is the approximate CO2 level in Earth's atmosphere?
400 ppm
Which factors contribute to sea-level rise from global warming?
melting land ice and heating and expansion of sea water
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2014 estimated that Earth's average surface temperature would likely rise by how much above preindustrial levels by 2050?
two degrees Celsius
Seismic waves are used to determine that the interior of the Earth is divided into layers of rock with different properties. Seismic waves will accelerate or slow down depending on the density of the material they're traveling through. When seismic waves reach the boundary between two layers, some waves will also reflect (bounce) off that boundary and some will refract (bend) at the boundary.
1. Accelerate 2. Density 3. Reflect 4. Refract
Which of these conditions will cause a rock to melt? Increase in temperature with pressure remaining the same High water content Decrease in pressure with temperature remaining the same
1. Increase in temperature with pressure remaining the same 2. High water content 3. Decrease in pressure with temperature remaining the same
How many states were directly affected by the 1993 Flood?
9
The wetlands surrounding New Orleans are rapidly disappearing. Why?
A and B
HWK 1: Earth diagram
A. Crust B. Mantle C. Core D. Oceanic Crust E. Continental Crust F. Lithosphere G. Asthenosphere Boundary between the crust and mantle: Moho
Fill in the blanks in the following four statements. 1. [A] crust is denser and thinner than (B] crust.2. The [C] is the weak layer in the mantle that allows the tectonic plates to slip, collide, and separate.3. Oceanic lithosphere is created at [D] and returns to the mantle at [E].4. At convergent plate boundaries, the subducting oceanic plate grinds along the base of the overriding plate, generating large [F].
A. Oceanic B. Continental C. Asthenosphere D. Mid-Ocean Ridges E. Subduction Zones F. Earthquakes
What contains the largest reservoir of carbon?
Carbonate Rock
Which town's levee failure was credited with saving St Louis, Missouri from flooding.
Columbia, IL
Q3: Which of the following is true according to the diagram below?
Deeper earthquakes are generally further from the trench than shallower earthquakes.
Match the three major types of plate boundaries to the motion at those boundaries.
Divergent Plate Boundary: The plates are moving away from each other at mid-ocean ridges. Convergent Plate Boundary: The plates are colliding with each other, and oceanic plates subduct under continental plates. Transform Plate Boundary: The edges of the plates slide past each other.
Which of the following did not occur during the Dec. 16, 1811, New Madrid earthquake?
Downed power lines caused numerous small fires along the Mississippi River.
Due to the force of the water that hit the Vajont Dam, the dam itself sustained severe damage.
False
The October 1963 Vajont Dam landslide occurred without any warning.
False
Where in North America are sinkholes most prevalent and why?
Florida, because it is almost all limestone and has abundant groundwater
What was unique about the 2014 Oso Landslide?
Given the height of the slope, the slide debris traveled 5 times farther than it should have.
Why does the intensity map for the Dec. 16, 1811, earthquake not show any intensities on the west side of the map?
Intensities are not shown on the west side of the map because the population of European settlers in that part of the U.S. was sparse.
Which is the product of a non-explosive style of eruption?
Lava flows
What do the red and blue dots represent on the graph and small map?
NOAA observatory stations
The gradual process of subsidence can result from all of the following activities except
Not sure
How does pahoehoe lava differ from aa lava?
Pahoehoe is ropy-looking, and aa is clinkery.
Which of the following would be a modern analogy to the Midcontinent Rift of North America?
The East African Rift Valley
In the spring of 2003, some unusual events occurred in Yellowstone that caused some to worry that Yellowstone might erupt. Select the 3 events that occurred in 2003.
The ground heated up and cracks opened up. A pack of bison died from poisonous gas. Steamboat Geyser, a geyser that can be dormant for up to 50 years, began erupting.
Why is Yellowstone's supervolcano so explosive?
The magma beneath Yellowstone is full of gas and very viscous because it is silica-rich.
Which of the following was the main reason why most scientists did not believe in the concept of continental drift?
The originator of the concept of continental drift did not adequately explain how the continents could move.
A rapid retreat of the shoreline can indicate a tsunami wave is imminent.
True
A tsunami ripped the Dutch ship Berouw from its moorings and deposited it 0.5 miles upstream from the ocean. A subsequent wave picked it up again and carried it another mile upstream.
True
Based upon the Modified Mercalli Shake Map, the highest intensity estimated for the New Madrid December 16, 1811 earthquake was _____.
X+
What is the source of Yellowstone's volcanism?
Yellowstone sits on a hotspot.
What is the primary cause of landslides
gravity exceeds strength of the slope
Rapid global warming may result in all the changes listed below except...
migration of people to coastal areas
What are two main causes of tsunami?
subduction-zone earthquakes and landslide into the ocean
What is the principal difference between the inner core and outer core?
the inner core is solid while the outer core is liquid
What does the Richter Magnitude Scale depend on?
the maximum amplitude of earthquake waves on a seismograph
When Charles Keeling began monitoring CO2 at the Mauna Loa Observatory in 1960, he recorded CO2 levels at around 320 ppm. Calculate the rate of change in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels between 1960 and 2017?
1.5 ppm/yr
Increases in precipitation lead to increased landslide risk. On average, how many landslide-related deaths occur in Nepal during each monsoon season?
100
The October 1963 Vajont Dam landslide killed around 2,500 people. How long did it take for the mass movement to flow out of the reservoir, over the dam, and into the valley below?
12 minutes
Between 20,000 - 800,000 years ago, there were several ice ages (periods of global cooling interspersed with periods of warming). During these extended periods of cooling (we call these glaciations), ice advanced over the land and CO2 concentrations decreased. During warming periods (we call these interglacials) atmospheric CO2 concentrations increased. What was the average atmospheric CO2 concentration during the ice ages?
185 ppm
Approximately what year did CO2 levels start to noticeably increase from the pre-industrial levels? This part of the animation moves quickly so you will have to pause and rewind.
1850
Approximately when did the rapid increase in human-produced atmospheric CO2 begin?
1950
After scientists installed seismographs, how many earthquakes per week did they record?
25
From the time the siren went off and the tsunami hit the city of Sendai, how long did the residents of Sendai have to evacuate to higher ground before the tsunami hit?
3 minutes
How long before a flood can someone purchase insurance from the National Flood Insurance program?
30 days
An unusually wet summer was the primary cause of the 1993 Flood. The jet stream became locked over the midwest and ____ inches of rain fell over ____ months.
30, 6
Review the portion of the animation that spans the hundreds of thousands of years before industrialization (between the year 1800 and 800,000 BCE). What is the largest amount of atmospheric CO2 during that time?
300 ppm
Over the last 800,000 years before industrialization (between the year 1800 and 800,000 BCE), when was the largest peak of CO2?
325,000 yrs ago
What was the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere on January, 2019?
411
According to the video, how many people died in the Oso Landslide?
43
How many states in the United States are affected by landslides
50
During the 1993 flood, Quincey, Illinois experienced flooding at the ________ recurrence interval.
500 years
The 1993 Flood had a recurrence interval of ______.
500 years
What is the elevation of the city of New Orleans?
7-10 feet below sea level
What would the Volcanic Explosivity Index be if Yellowstone erupts?
8
The Japanese islands formed from a volcanic island arc. At convergent ocean - ocean boundaries volcanoes form when the subducted plate is at what depth?
80 - 100 km
It was assumed that Yellowstone's heat source was an extinct volcano. What event made scientists realize that Yellowstone was still active and prompted them to take a closer look at the seismic activity of the national park?
A large earthquake in Yellowstone National Park in 1959.
Which of the following is not true concerning tsunamis on the open ocean?
A tsunami in the open ocean will look like a huge wall of water to a ship in its path.
Earthquakes associated with normal faulting cause the extension of Earth's crust. This type of faulting is generally associated with which type of plate boundary?
Divergent
Which of the following would not be a part of the Ring of Fire?
Hawaii
Which of the following is not true with respect to the San Andreas fault?
The San Andreas fault represents the convergent boundary between the North American and the Pacific plates.
Natural gas was the largest source of electricity/power generation in the United States in 2016.
True
According the Case Study, what do residents of Houston blame for exacerbating flooding in their neighborhoods?
Unregulated development/building in the area
Why did the 17th Street and London Street canals fail?
Water soaked into the underlying peat layer and weakened the soft sediments beneath the levee wall.
What is Anak Krakatau?
a small volcano that has formed over the site of the original Krakatau.
Like all hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Katrina began as _____.
a storm off the west coast of Africa.
VEI stands for ______.
a volcano's explosivity index.
How do we know about the internal structure of the earth?
By using the behavior of seismic waves as they travel through the earth.
The Reelfoot Rift formed when the supercontinent of Pangaea began to split apart around 700 million years ago.
False
The terms 'tsunami' and 'tidal wave' mean the same thing and are interchangeable when discussing a seismic sea wave.
False
According to the intensity map of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the greatest intensity experienced during this earthquake was ______.
IX
Which proxy records are used in the NOAA CarbonTracker reconstruction of the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations before modern direct measurements and monitoring stations?
Ice cores
If you are at the beach and feel a large earthquake, what should you do, and when should you do it?
Immediately run up slope as far as possible.
Eye witness accounts reported that the Mississippi River flowed backward during at least one of the larger earthquakes during the New Madrid 1811-1812 earthquake swarm. What is the best explanation for why the river 'flowed backward?'
Intense shaking along the river caused water to bounce from one side of the river to the other. This formed waves that flowed upriver, making it appear that the river was flowing backwards.
Select all the methods used to mitigate or reduce the impact of natural hazards to people.
Land use planning, Public education, Insurance
After the eye of Hurricane Katrina passed over New Orleans, why did the flood waters continue to rise in the low-lying areas of the city?
Levee along two canals failed and water from Lake Ponchartrain drained into the city center.
Which of the following is true?
Much of the initial problems associated with the nuclear reactors was due to flooding of the generators, brought on by the tsunami.
The originator of the theory of continental drift called the single landmass _______.
Pangaea
Water can be removed from a wet, unstable slope in all the following ways except...
Placing a load on the slope to squeeze water out
Which town's levee withstood the flood?
Prairie du Rocher, IL
Besides wind, what is the biggest hazard from hurricanes?
Storm surge
Which of the following is true with respect to the underlying geology in the Vajont River valley?
The Vajont River valley is underlain by rocks that dip (tilt) into the valley.
What caused the Industrial Canal & Intercoastal Waterway levees to fail?
The storm surge sent a huge wave of water up the Intercoastal Waterway, over-topping the canal walls and scouring away the earthen levees.
Which of the following is not true with respect to the strongest aftershock during the 1811-1812 earthquakes?
The strongest aftershock caused the formation of the bluffs along the Missouri River near Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Why would a home built on the floodplain behind a levee be safe from flooding?
This statement is not true.
In a coastal area, why build a groin? (a series of groins are shown in the picture)
To stop longshore drift and trap sand to extend the beach.
The most recent supervolcano to erupt was _________ and it occurred ________ years ago. This volcano may have nearly ended human life on earth.
Toba; 74,000
The island of Hispaniola, which Haiti is a part of, has a history of devastating earthquakes.
True
The theory of continental drift was explained and replaced by the theory of plate tectonics.
True
When the Dec. 16, 1811 New Madrid earthquake occurred in Missouri, people as far away as New York and North Caroline felt the shaking.
True
What is Yellowstone?
Yellowstone is a caldera that overlies an active magma chamber.
Beach nourishment _______________.
a coastal engineering method that replenishes the sand to provide a recreation beach and helps protect coastal properties from erosion by widening the beach
If a 100-year flood occurred this year, when is the next 100-year flood possible?
anytime
Which type or types of seismic waves can travel through the mantle of the Earth and be recorded by seismographs?
both P and S waves
Select all the things that can occur BEFORE a catastrophic landslide.
extensional cracks near the top of a slope slumping of soils and sediments on a slope small landslides
On average, more people die from which type of natural disaster than any other?
flash floods and flooding
As a tsunami approaches land, the height of a tsunami wave ____.
increases primarily because the water depth and velocity decreases.
We can see the correlation between the start of industrialization (increasing manufacturing) and the increasing CO2 levels. What activity related to industrialization would add increasingly large amounts of CO2 to the atmosphere?
increasing use of fossil fuels
Earth emits most of its radiation in the _________ part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
infrared
Over the last 30 years, hurricanes have become more ______ due to _______.
intense, warmer ocean temperatures
All the engineering approaches below are put in place to prevent a river from flooding except...
jetties
What kind of natural hazards are not normally insurable?
landslides
All the engineering structures below are used to alter or slow coastal wave erosion except...
levee
When pore spaces in sediment becomes saturated with water, the sediment loses strength and cohesion. This phenomenon is called __________.
liquifaction
The current flowing parallel to and just offshore of a beach is called
longshore current
The costs of catastrophic events continue to increase primarily because ____.
more people are moving into areas at high risk for natural disasters
Earthquakes
occur on faults when rocks rupture, releasing stored up stress as energy
The residential construction that sustained the least amount of damage during the Haiti earthquake was _____.
one-story shanties made of mud and twig walls, sheet metal roofs, and earthen floors.
The massive loss of life in the 2010 Haiti earthquake was primarily due to _____.
poor construction and lack of attention to building design in residential homes.
An unstable marine sediment with a disorganized structure that can flow like water if disturbed is called _________.
quick clay
Greenhouse gases include all of the following except ____.
radon
The effect of aerosols can be best described as ____.
reflecting sunlight and cooling the atmosphere
Streams receive water from 2 primary sources:
runoff and groundwater
Other than limestone, what types of rocks are soluble in water and can form cavities that collapse?
salt and gypsum
Why are seacliffs so prone to erosion?
seacliffs are exposed to wave action, and they are also steep slopes, which can make them susceptible to landslides
When you watch the segment for 1979-2011, you'll see the CO2 levels fluctuate (most dramatically at monitoring stations in the northern mid and low latitudes - around the equator) during each year. Why is this?
seasonal changes in vegetation photosynthesis
Which of the following does NOT affect the amount of runoff from a precipitation event?
shape of the stream
Marine organisms preserve the current oxygen-isotope ratio in their _______________.
shells
The 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes were different from most California earthquakes because
the New Madrid earthquakes were centered in a plate interior
Using LIDAR mapping and carbon dating, geologists found evidence that _______.
the area around Oso had a history of landslides
The recurrence interval for a flood of a given magnitude is defined as...
the average number of years between occurrences of a flood of that magnitude or greater.
The background in the painting, The Scream, by Edvard Munch is evidence of what?
the high amount of sulfur dioxide put into the atmosphere by the eruption of Krakatau in 1883.
Why does the damming of rivers sometime contribute to coastal erosion?
the supply of new sand to replenish beaches is cut off
When waves approach the shore and enter shallow water
the waves slow down and the wave height increases
How did mountain ranges like the Himalayas, Alps, and Appalachians form?
they all formed along continent-continent convergent plate boundaries
The sun's peak radiation is in the _______ part of the electromagnetic spectrum.
visible light
The force of the October 1963 Vajont landslide was enough to _____.
All of the above are results of the 1963 Vajont Dam landslide.
A tsunami may occur when _____.
All of the above have the potential to cause a tsunami.
Which does NOT control the characteristics or shape of a coastline
dominant wind direction
The point along a fault where movement first occurs during an earthquake is called the earthquake's ______.
focus
How might global warming exacerbate coastal hazards?
global warming is accompanied by sea level rise
Which of the following is the major driving force in all mass movements?
gravity
One of the geologists listed some potential precursors to a Yellowstone eruption. The precursors he listed are earthquake swarms, heating of the ground, increasing hydrothermal events, and _____.
ground uplift.
Highly explosive magmas are controlled by which of the following?
high silica content and high water
Select all the factors that contributed to the destabilization of the slope and led to the 2014 landslide.
higher than average precipitation undercutting of the slope by the Stillaguamish River slope composed of glacial sediments with high porosity
What does the Mercalli Intensity Scale depend on?
how much damage the shaking caused
The Great Tohoku earthquake occurred _______.
in the Japan trench subduction zone.
Most of Earth's active volcanoes are found _____.
in the Ring of Fire.
Select the 3 methods inspired by the 1993 Flood to prevent future damage and loss from flooding.
- Elevating homes above flood level - Returning agricultural land to natural wetlands - Leaving crop residue on the land to reduce soil erosion and run-off
Select all the engineering systems or structures mentioned in the video that were put in place in New Orleans to deal with potential flooding.
- Levees - Flood walls - Pumps - Drainage canals
In the days preceding Hurricane Katrina, many people decide to stay in New Orleans even though they were instructed to evacuate. Why did some people stay in the city? (select all the reasons given in the video)
- They were elderly or sick - They did not have transportation - They had survived previous hurricanes without evacuating.
Select the 3 ENGINEERING flood-control methods.
- dams - levees - channelization
Which agency manages the rivers, dams, and levees in the United States.?
Army Corp of Engineers
Based upon knowledge of landslide physics, where did geologists direct rescue workers to search for survivors?
At the distal edge of the slide
The 1883 eruption of Krakatau had a VEI of 6, yet it is still one of the most catastrophic volcanic eruptions known to humankind. Why is this?
because nearly 40,000 people died in this eruption.
In what way can the construction of dams and levees INCREASE flood damage (both loss of property and life) on a floodplain?
by giving a false sense of security that encourages building and living on the floodplain
Moment magnitude depends on what main factor(s)?
amount of movement on the fault, strength of the faulted rocks, and total surface area of the fault plane
The Reelfoot Rift formed _______.
as a result of the breakup of Rodinia over 700 million years ago.
The 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes occurred _______.
All of the above
What was (were) the cause(s) of the La Conchita mudslides of 1995 and 2005?
All of the above.
What makes Houston susceptible to flooding?
All the above
Why does a delta form when a river meets the ocean?
All the above
Greenhouse gases include all of the following. Which gas is thought to have the greatest effect on global warming or increasing global temperatures?
carbon dioxide