Download Nature of the Earth and Universe Spring 2011 Exam 2 Name: April

Nature of the Earth and Universe
Spring 2011 Exam 2
Name:_______________________________________
April 28, 2011
1. The drainage basin of one stream is separated from the drainage basin of another stream by an
imaginary line called a _____.
A. separation
B. drainage pattern
C. divide
D. water gap
E. overland
2. Along curved stretches of a stream, the highest water velocities are near the _____ of the channel, just
below the surface.
A. center
B. outer bank
C. inner bank
D. bottom
E. the point of highest velocity can’t be predicted
3. As velocity drops abruptly when a stream or river enters quieter waters of an ocean or lake a
depositional feature called a _____ is formed.
A. floodplain
B. slump
C. delta
D. yazoo
E. alluvial fan
4. The drainage pattern that forms when there are alternating layers of resistant and less resistant rocks is
called _____.
A. rectangular
B. dendritic
C. radial
D. hummocky
E. trellis
5. Raising a stream’s base level will cause the stream to _____.
A. meander
B. deposit
C. erode
D. change course
E. stop flowing
6. When a river cuts through to follow a shorter, straighter channel it leaves an abandoned bend called
a/an _____.
A. oxbow lake
B. cutoff
C. incised meander
D. alluvial fan
E. distributary
7. Groundwater represents the largest reservoir of fresh water that is readily available to humans.
A. True
B. False
8. Permeable rocks or sediments that can store and transmit groundwater freely are called _____.
A. wells
B. aquitards
C. porosities
D. aquifers
E. none of the above
9. Karst topography can include a serious geological hazard called a _____.
A. sinkhole
B. spring
C. subsidence
D. lake
E. dripstone
10. Depositional features found on the floor of caverns and extending upward are called _____.
A. karst
B. stalactites
C. soda straws
D. stalagmites
E. all of the above
11. Glaciers are part of the _____.
A. rock cycle
C. hydrosphere
E. all of the above
B. hydrologic cycle
D. a and c
12. If the terminus of a glacier slowly retreats upvalley, the flow within the glacier itself _____.
A. flows forward
B. recedes upvalley
C. spreads laterally
D. stops
E. none of the above
13. Which of the following conditions could contribute to the development of continental ice sheets?
A. seasonal variations
B. changes in oceanic circulation
C. landmasses in higher latitudes
D. cooler than average temperatures
E. all of the above
14. The Yellowstone caldera formed from the collapse of the shield volcano Mt. Mazama.
A. True
B. False
15. Which one of the following is not a factor that determines the violence of a volcanic
eruption?
A. size of the volcanic cone
B. the magma's composition
C. amount of dissolved gases in the magma D. temperature of the magma
16. Rocks can melt as a result of _____.
A. an increase in temperature (heat)
C. increased volatiles
E. all of the above
B. decrease in pressure (decompression)
D. a and c
17. Partial melting of crustal rocks will most likely produce _____.
A. a mantle wedge
B. a more silica-rich magma
C. an iron-rich magma
D. a geothermal gradient
E. all of the above
18. Based on composition alone, we can expect silica-rich (felsic) rocks to melt at _____
temperatures compared with mafic rocks.
A. the same
B. higher
C. lower
19. A magma's viscosity is directly related to its iron content.
A. True
B. False
20. Current models for mantle convection indicate convection may occur _____.
A. within the asthenosphere
B. within the lower mantle
C. mantle plumes
D. throughout the whole or entire mantle
E. all of the above
21. The "Ring of Fire" is an area of earthquake and volcanic activity that encircles the Pacific
Ocean basin.
A. True
B. False
22. The type of plate boundary where plates move together, causing one of the slabs of
lithosphere to be consumed into the mantle as it descends beneath an overriding plate, is
called a _____ boundary.
A. convergent
B. transform
C. divergent
D. transitional
E. gradational
23. Which of the following is not evidence Wegener presented in the early 1900s?
A. fit of South America and Africa
B. igneous rocks in Brazil and Africa
C. Mesosaurus fossile
D. lithospheric plates
E. all of the above
24. Fluids (gases and liquids) cannot transmit P waves.
A. True
B. False
25. The epicenter of an earthquake is located using the distances from a minimum of
____________ seismic stations.
A. three
B. four
C. five
D. six
E. seven
26. Most of Earth's seismic activity, volcanism, and mountain building occur along ____.
A. parallels of latitude
B. random trends
C. plate boundaries
D. lines of magnetism
E. hot spots
27. Which of the following is not considered a mechanism for plate motion?
A. slab pull
B. ridge pull
C. slab suction
D. ridge push
E. none of the above
28. The name given by Alfred Wegener to the supercontinent he believed existed prior to the
current distribution of continents was_____.
A. Euroamerica
B. Pantheon
C. Panamerica
D. Atlantis
E. Pangaea
29. Typical rates of seafloor spreading average around _____ centimeters per year.
A. 5
B. 10
C. 15
E. 25
D. 20
30. The age of the Hawaiian islands _____.
A. cannot be measured
B. decreases away from the Big Island of Hawaii
C. is random in relation to the Big Island of Hawaii
D. increases away from the Big Island of Hawaii
E. is constant for all the islands
31. The location on the surface directly above the earthquake focus is called the _____.
A. epinode
B. epicenter
C. epicycle
D ephemeral
E. none of the above
32. Sea water contains about _____ dissolved salt.
A. 10%
B. 20%
C. 35%
D 3.5%
E. 0.35%
33. An abrupt change in temperature of sea water with depth is known as the _____.
A. temperature boundary
B. thermocline
C. pyconcline
D inversion
E. none of the above
34. A _____ is any large system of rotating ocean currents.
A. spiral
B. ephemeral current
C. gyre
D Gulf Stream
E. hurricaine
35. _____ is the long term equivalent of weather.
A. global warming
B. El Nino
C. seasons
D climate
E. none of the above
36. The descent from the continental shelf to the ocean bottom is known as the _____.
A. coastline
B. epicenter
C. continental slope
D continental shelf
E. none of the above
37. A long narrow depression formed in the sea floor where one tectonic plate is being subducted
beneath another is _____.
A. a deep sea trench
B. an abyssal deep
C. present along the Texas coastline
D present only in the Pacific Ocean
E. impossible
38. Identify each of the sand dune types by writing the answer in the corresponding blank. [ Word bank:
barchan, irregular, longitudinal, longshore, parabolic, star, stretched, transverse ] [Counts as two
questions.]
A._Barchan________
B._Longitudinal____
C._Transverse______
D._Parabolic_______
F._Star ___________
39. Indicate the nature of the erosive agent applicable for each of the following using the key
words listed below. Counts as 4 questions.
Ground Water – G-Water
Glaciers – Ice
Surface Water – S-Water
Deserts/Wind - Wind
Deflation
__Wind___________
Ablation
__Ice____________
Oxbow
__ S-Water ________
Aquifer
__G-Water________
Artesian
__ G-Water________
Hanging Valley __Ice____________
Barchan
__ Wind___________
Karst
__G-Water__________
Drumlin
__Ice _____________
Dendritic
__S-Water __________
Calving
__ Ice ____________
Stalactite
__ G-Water _________
Spring
__ G-Water________
Cirque
__ Ice______________
Blowout
__ Wind___________
Cutbank
__ S-Water _________
Permeability
__ G-Water________
Ephimeral
__ S-Water __________
Aeration
__ G-Water________
Delta
__ S-Water __________