Earth Science for Environmental Majors Test
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Course Introduction
This course provides environmental majors with a comprehensive introduction to Earth science, emphasizing the dynamic processes that shape our planet. Students will explore geology, meteorology, oceanography, and astronomy, gaining insights into Earth's physical structure, natural resources, and the complex interactions among the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere. The course highlights the relevance of Earth science to contemporary environmental challenges, including climate change, natural hazards, and sustainable resource management, preparing students to apply scientific principles to real-world environmental issues.
Recommended Textbook
Environmental Geology 10th Edition by Carla
W Montgomery
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20 Chapters
1006 Verified Questions
1006 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Planet and Population: An Overview
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48 Verified Questions
48 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following statements is not true?
A) If all of the world's people enjoyed a standard of living similar to that in the United States, resource consumption would increase dramatically
B) People are unevenly distributed around the world, but resources are uniformly distributed among nations
C) Political considerations may affect resource availability
D) Increasing resource use is generally accompanied by increasing production of waste
Answer: B
Q2) The least dense minerals are found in earth's core.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Sources of heat in the early earth included
A) Compression by gravity.
B) The impact of colliding particles as they came together to form the earth.
C) Decay of radioactive elements.
D) All of the choices are correct.
Answer: D
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3
Chapter 2: Rocks and Minerals-A First Look
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is a silicate mineral?
A) Galena
B) Calcite
C) Muscovite
D) Pyrite
Answer: C
Q2) The internal regular arrangement of ions or atoms in a material makes it
A) Amorphous.
B) Non-crystalline.
C) Crystalline.
D) None of the options are correct.
Answer: C
Q3) Rocks that crystallize from magma are
A) Igneous.
B) Metamorphic.
C) Sedimentary.
D) Clastic.
Answer: A
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4
Chapter 3: Plate Tectonics
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Sample Questions
Q1) The best explanation for the distribution of Glossopteris and Mesosaurus is that they lived when continents on which their fossils are now found were once connected then later were rifted and drifted apart.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Rocks may behave differently over the long spans of geologic time than they do in short-term laboratory experiments.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) At a convergent plate boundary,
A) Sea floor is produced.
B) High mountains may be built during continent-continent collision.
C) There are very few earthquakes.
D) All of the choices are correct.
Answer: B
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Earthquakes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Fluid injection is a reliable technique that can be used to allow the release of stress that is built up in locked sections of major faults.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The Northridge and Landers earthquakes may be part of a pattern of increasing seismicity prior to failure along the segment of the San Andreas opposite Los Angeles.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The New Madrid,Missouri fault zone is a high-risk area on the U.S.seismic-risk map because
A) It is undergoing rapid creep at this time.
B) It is subject to frequent severe earthquakes.
C) It is a large transform fault.
D) It was the site of the largest earthquakes ever reported in the contiguous United States.
Q4) Unusual animal behavior precedes some,but not all,earthquakes.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: Volcanoes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Possible precursors of volcanic eruptions include.
A) Bulging, tilt or uplift of the volcano's surface.
B) Increased seismic activity.
C) Changes in composition of gases escaping from the volcano.
D) All of the choices are correct.
Q2) A major concern about possible future eruptions of Mount Rainier is the potential for mudflow damage to nearby cities.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The so-called Ring of Fire rimming the Pacific Ocean is really a ring of subduction zones.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following volcanoes is least likely to erupt violently and explosively?
A) Kilauea on Hawaii
B) Mount St. Helens in the Cascades
C) Mount Augustine in the Aleutians
D) Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines
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Chapter 6: Streams and Flooding
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Sample Questions
Q1) The suspended load of a stream consists of
A) Fine sediment carried in suspension.
B) Material rolled along the streambed.
C) Dissolved material in solution.
D) Sediment trapped in a reservoir behind a dam.
Q2) Maximum stage is used to describe the magnitude of the flood and when the maximum stage is reached the stream is said to trough.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A stream's load consists of
A) The amount of water it carries over a specified time period.
B) The amount of material (solid and dissolved) carried by the water in a stream.
C) The amount of water and solid material carried downstream.
D) The amount by which a delta increases in size in a year.
Q4) Infiltration of water below an artificial reservoir can induce earthquakes.
A)True
B)False
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8
Chapter 7: Coastal Zones and Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) When sea level falls or land rises,____________ may be formed.
A) Deltas
B) Wave-cut platforms
C) Drowned valleys
D) Fjords
Q2) Sea-level rise is increased by expansion of warmed ocean water.
A)True
B)False
Q3) When sea level rises,the rate at which the shoreline retreats landward depends partly on the slope of the beach.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Moving the Cape Hatteras lighthouse from its shore location inland is an example of
A) Hard structural stabilization.
B) Soft structural stabilization.
C) A non-structural strategy.
D) Increasing wave base.
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9
Chapter 8: Mass Movements
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Sample Questions
Q1) A thin,shallowly inclined rockslide might best be stabilized by
A) The use of rock bolts.
B) The addition of fluid to make the rock swell and stick.
C) Driving long, thin piles into rocks below.
D) Heating and baking the rocks to solidify them.
Q2) All of the following could increase the risk of landslide on a slope except
A) Use of septic tanks.
B) Building a house on the slope.
C) Planting shrubs with extensive root systems.
D) Adding fill at the top of the slope to build a road.
Q3) A landslide warning system recently tested in California could identify the areas at risk,but could not predict the time of probable sliding.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Unconsolidated material is likely to be involved in which kinds of mass movement?
A) Block glides, rock falls and rock creep
B) Creep, slumps and avalanches
C) Talus piles
D) Consolidation
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Chapter 9: Ice and Glaciers,wind and Deserts
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Sample Questions
Q1) Glaciers represent the largest single reserve of -freshwater in the world.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The two types of glaciers are
A) Continental and marine.
B) Alpine and marine.
C) Continental and polar.
D) Continental and alpine.
Q3) Deserts are classified on the basis of
A) Temperature.
B) Pressure.
C) Precipitation.
D) Plant and animal life.
Q4) Because winds blow everywhere,while surface water is found in limited areas,worldwide wind erosion is comparable in scale and impact to erosion by water.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Loess derived from glacial rock flour is rich in soluble plant nutrients.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Climate-Past, present, and Future
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Sample Questions
Q1) The albedo of the earth
A) Decreases with a warming climate because of clouds that result from increased evaporation of sea water.
B) Is part of a positive feedback cycle, where the increased albedo due to clouds causes a reduction in solar energy that reaches the earth, thus resulting in cooling.
C) Is part of a negative feedback cycle, where the increased albedo due to increased snow and ice coverage increases the effectiveness of solar energy in warming land areas.
D) None of the choices are correct.
Q2) The Arctic ice cap is more vulnerable to melting due to warming than is the Antarctic ice cap because
A) Liquid seawater is beneath the Arctic ice cap, so warmer water can cause melting from below the ice in addition to melting on the surface due to atmospheric warming.
B) The Arctic ice cap is substantially smaller than the Antarctic ice cap.
C) Ocean currents do not influence the southern hemisphere.
D) All of these answers are factors.
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Chapter 11: Ground Water and Water Resources
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58 Verified Questions
58 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Groundwater flow is best explained by
A) Newton's law.
B) Ohm's law.
C) Archimedes' principle.
D) Darcy's law.
Q2) Solar-powered distillation of water
A) Works even on very saline water, including seawater.
B) Is not energy-efficient.
C) Is very fast.
D) Requires the same amount of land area as any other method of water distillation.
Q3) Along its length,the Colorado River
A) Becomes less saline toward its confluence with the Sea of Cortez.
B) Is greatly reduced in volume by heavy use and evaporation loss from reservoirs.
C) Flows entirely over insoluble igneous rocks.
D) Receives considerable water through ground water discharge.
Q4) Artesian water is desirable because it is unusually pure and clean.
A)True
B)False
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13
Chapter 12: Weathering, erosion, and Soil Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Mechanical weathering can include all of the following except
A) Salts crystallizing in cracks in rocks.
B) Solution of limestone by acid rain.
C) Water freezing and thawing in rocks.
D) The action of plant roots working into crevices.
Q2) Soil composed of broadly similar proportions of sand,clay and silt is
A) Loam.
B) Laterite.
C) Pedocal.
D) Leached.
Q3) The process of planting alternating bands of different crops to disrupt wind flow and slow wind erosion is
A) Strip cropping.
B) Contour plowing.
C) Terracing.
D) Lateritization.
Q4) Wetland soils may serve a water-purification role.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 13: Mineral and Rock Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) An igneous rock from which larger,gem-quality diamonds may be mined is
A) Basalt.
B) Rhyolite.
C) Kimberlite.
D) Andesite.
Q2) Hydrothermal ore deposits
A) Are formed by deposition of dissolved minerals from hot fluids.
B) Are found only at seafloor spreading ridges.
C) Produce only a few kinds of valuable ores, mostly of precious metals.
D) All of the choices are correct.
Q3) An felsic igneous rock with very large crystals,often enriched in rarer elements is A) Granitic pegmatite.
B) Porphyry.
C) Kimberlite.
D) Peridotite.
Q4) The success of mine reclamation is often heavily dependent on availability of water.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: Energy Resources-Fossil Fuels
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56 Verified Questions
56 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Process of liquefaction and gasification results in a cleaner burning coal.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Coal and oil are termed "nonrenewable" resources because the processes by which they formed are no longer taking place.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following statements is not true?
A) There is sulfur in coal but not in oil or natural gas.
B) Much of the highest-quality U.S. coal, in terms of heat value is also high-sulfur coal.
C) Sulfur associated with coal can cause acid runoff from strip-mine spoils.
D) Scrubbers can remove sulfur gases from coal exhaust, but they consume considerable energy in so doing.
Q4) Exploration techniques are now so efficient that approximately one out of every two exploratory wells drilled strikes a commercially valuable deposit of oil or natural gas.
A)True
B)False
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Page 16
Chapter 15: Energy Resources-Alternative Sources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Passive-solar heating systems are so named because they do not involve mechanical devices.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Currently,the nominal lifetime (time that plants may operate,before they must be dismantled)allowed for fission-type nuclear reactors in the United States is
A) About four years.
B) About forty years.
C) About one hundred years.
D) Nuclear reactors need not be retired, because new technology developments have demonstrated that they can be fixed.
Q3) Passive solar technology features are usually more economical to design and build initially into new structures than incorporating them into homes that already exist.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Dams have a shelf life.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Waste Disposal
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Sample Questions
Q1) One concern with respect to expanding "Superfund" through a tax on disposers of toxic wastes is that such a practice might encourage more illicit waste dumping.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Steel is in such demand that it is all readily recycled.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The appeal of the Yucca Mountain disposal site is that it is in an area where no earthquakes have occurred for approximately 10,000 years.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In terms of volume,the largest liquid-waste disposal problem is A) Sewage.
B) Toxic industrial chemical waste.
C) High-level liquid radioactive waste.
D) Wastewater from mineral-processing activities.
Q5) A leaching field is the area around a landfill into which leachate percolates.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: Water Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) In an agricultural region,
A) Spring planting and application of fertilizers and herbicides can result in concentration spikes of these chemicals in rivers, due to spring rains.
B) Crops generally use the fertilizer applied to enhance their growth very efficiently.
C) Herbicides and pesticides are retained in the soil and do not present a water-pollution threat.
D) The use of filter strips in riparian zones (areas adjacent to streams) has not been demonstrated to be effective in reducing nutrient loading of streams.
Q2) Heavy metals accumulate in organisms,increasing in their amount up a food chain because they are concentrated in larger and larger organisms.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The gases produced as a byproduct of anaerobic decomposition include
A) Hydrogen sulfide and ethane.
B) Hydrogen sulfide and propane.
C) Hydrogen sulfide and butane.
D) Hydrogen sulfide and methane.
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Chapter 18: Air Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) The gas that is produced when oxygen is less and as a result of the incomplete combustions materials bearing carbon is
A) Water vapor.
B) Carbon dioxide.
C) Carbon monoxide.
D) All the choices are correct.
Q2) When a chlorine atom destroys an ozone molecule,that chlorine atom is taken "out of circulation" and locked in the product molecule so that it can do no more harm.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A thermal inversion exists when a stable warm-air layer becomes established over a colder layer below.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The automobile is the primary source of this pollutant.
A) Carbon monoxide
B) Sulfur dioxides
C) Particulate
D) All of the choices are correct.
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Chapter 19: Environmental Law and Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) In 1987,the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (Clean Water Act)was amended to require the control of this
A) Storm water (non-point-source) pollution.
B) Point source pollution.
C) The amount of chlorine in drinking water.
D) All of the choices are correct.
Q2) Laws restricting construction in areas of geologic hazard
A) Typically apply only to new construction in an area, not to existing buildings.
B) Have not yet been enacted because of vocal citizen opposition.
C) Are unnecessary because, now that hazards are well recognized, people naturally avoid the dangerous areas.
D) Are an important concern of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Q3) The Federal Flood Disaster Protection Act stipulates that,when a structure in a floodplain is damaged,by whatever cause,it cannot be rebuilt but must instead be relocated outside the floodplain.
A)True
B)False
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21
Chapter 20: Land-Use Planning and Engineering Geology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Examples of multiple use include all of the following except
A) Having a golf course atop a finished landfill site.
B) Farming and grazing cattle on land used for a power-generating windmill array.
C) Building of a ball field within a retention pond for flood control.
D) Mining deep underground while a recreational park is in use above.
Q2) Rapid development of dams for hydropower raises concerns about dam safety.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The need for land-use planning is diminishing now that geologic hazards are better understood.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The Rotterdam subway was built by
A) Raising the tunnel on stilts to keep it above the local water table.
B) Building the tunnel in segments which were flooded, sunk into position, then joined and pumped dry.
C) Draining water from below the city to allow excavation of a dry tunnel.
D) Baking the ground to harden the clays, then blasting the tunnel through.
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Page 22