Earth Science Review Questions
Course Introduction
Earth Science is an interdisciplinary field that explores the dynamic processes and complex systems that shape our planet. This course covers fundamental topics such as geology, meteorology, oceanography, and astronomy, providing a comprehensive understanding of Earth's structure, natural resources, and the interactions between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere. Students will examine phenomena like earthquakes, volcanoes, weather patterns, and climate change, and assess the impact of human activities on Earth's environment. Through laboratory work, field investigations, and data analysis, the course fosters critical thinking and scientific inquiry into the natural world.
Recommended Textbook
Elemental Geosystems 6th Edition by Robert W. Christopherson
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16 Chapters
1791 Verified Questions
1791 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Foundations of Geography
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140 Verified Questions
140 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Longitude is conveniently determined at sea using A) chronometers.
B) pendulum clocks-as in olden days.
C) magnetic compasses.
D) sextants and Sun angles.
Answer: A
Q2) (place your city here) approximate location is best described as
A) (place your latitude and longitude here as presented in lecture).
B) 105 degrees north latitude by 41 degrees west longitude.
C) north and east of Greenwich, London, England.
D) south and east of Greenwich, London, England.
Answer: A
Q3) What type of feedback maintains stability in a system, i.e., what type of feedback keeps a system functioning properly?
A) positive
B) negative
C) neutral
Answer: B
Q4) List the five principal themes of modern geographic education.
Answer: location; place; region; human-Earth relationship; movement
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Chapter 2: Solar Energy, Seasons, and the Atmosphere
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169 Verified Questions
169 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The three stable (i.e., nonvariable) gases in the atmosphere, in order of abundance from most to least, are
A) carbon dioxide, argon, and oxygen.
B) oxygen, carbon dioxide, and argon.
C) nitrogen, oxygen, and argon.
D) oxygen, argon, and nitrogen.
Answer: C
Q2) Gas mileage for 2003 vehicles was better than for 2002 vehicles.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Skin damage resulting from exposure to the Sun is \(\underline {\text { cumulative } }\), i.e., the skin never completely heals from previous sunburns.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 3: Atmospheric Energy and Global Temperatures
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130 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Insolation is the only source of energy that is \(\underline { \text { ultimately }
responsible for heating the atmosphere and driving weather phenomena.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The Celsius scale
A) is used exclusively in the United States.
B) places freezing at 0 degrees and was formerly called centigrade.
C) was developed by the British physicist Lord Kelvin.
D) was developed by Fahrenheit, who also developed the alcohol and mercury thermometers.
E) places freezing at 32 degrees and boiling at 212 degrees.
Answer: B
Q3) Which of the following would experience the least continentality?
A) central Nevada
B) north central Asia
C) a tropical island
D) 200 kilometers inland from the Gulf of Mexico
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation
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105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) On a weather map of air pressure, what can you infer from a closer spacing of isobars?
A) little without knowing temperature patterns
B) a steep pressure gradient creating a slower flow of air
C) a steep pressure gradient creating a faster flow of air
D) higher pressures
E) a weak pressure gradient creating a slower flow of air
Q2) Which of the following refers to \(\underline { \text { tertiary circulation } }\)?
A) migratory high and low pressure systems
B) subtropical high pressure systems
C) general circulation of the atmosphere
D) land-sea breezes
Q3) Which of the following is true of the polar front zone?
A) The polar jet stream is usually located above it.
B) It is a zone in which warm and cold air mix.
C) It is a zone of frequently strong winds.
D) All of the above are true.
E) A and B only
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Chapter 5: Atmospheric Water and Weather
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161 Verified Questions
161 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A strong El NiƱo usually means a large number of strong Atlantic hurricanes. A)True
B)False
Q2) Clouds that have vertical development and produce precipitation are called A) stratocumulus. B) cumulonimbus.
C) nimbostratus.
D) cumulus.
Q3) All adiabatic temperature changes occur as a result of A) the addition or removal of heat energy from the air. B) changes in the absolute humidity of the air. C) expansion or compression of the air.
Q4) Uplift and storm development occur on the ________ side of an easterly wave. A) northern B) southern C) eastern D) western
Q5) \(\underline { \text { Sublimation } }\) produces snowflakes.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 6: Water Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) The term "cone of depression" refers to
A) a change in the level of the soil water zone.
B) a depression in the water table formed by rapid ground water withdrawal.
C) a depression in Earth's surface formed by ground water withdrawal.
D) a graphical representation of the decline in the rate of ground water flow as an aquifer dries out.
Q2) Which of the following is an example of the consumptive use of water?
A) water that evaporates from an irrigated field
B) hydroelectric power production
C) using water for a bath
D) river navigation
E) all of the above
Q3) Soil moisture deficits are frequently overcome by irrigation in the arid and semi-arid agricultural regions of the world.
A)True
B)False
Q4) If the potentiometric surface reaches the surface of the ground, a spring will develop.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Global Climate Systems
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104 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The largest percentage of Earth's population lives within the A) Tropical climates.
B) Dry, Arid, and Semiarid climates.
C) Mesothermal climates.
D) Microthermal climates.
Q2) Global climate change
A) has been linked to floods, droughts, and record high temperatures.
B) in the next 50 years is expected to be greater than the last 18,000 years combined.
C) is affecting weather patterns, plant and animal distributions, and melting glaciers.
D) has increased the spread of infectious diseases.
E) all of the above
Q3) Some studies have shown that adopting policies to limit global climate change will be economically beneficial, even if climate change itself is not considered part of the financial equation.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 8: The Dynamic Planet
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Sample Questions
Q1) Silt and clay are likely to be deposited in a beach environment.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Earth's interior is
A) evenly mixed throughout.
B) not subject to internal differentiation.
C) heated unevenly by the heat of radioactive decay.
D) arranged with lighter elements toward the center and heavier elements toward the crust.
Q3) At which of the following locations is new ocean crust being formed?
A) rift zones
B) along collision zones between two continents
C) along collision zones between two oceanic plates
D) in trenches
Q4) When geologists or archaeologists dig downward into a unit of rock or sediment, they are digging "back in time." This fact is based on the principle of ________.
A) uniformitarianism
B) superposition
C) catastrophism
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Chapter 9: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
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Sample Questions
Q1) A cinder cone is formed from relatively ________ viscosity magma with a ________ gas content.
A) high; high
B) high; low
C) low; high
D) low; low
Q2) Orogenesis can involve the capture of migrating terranes.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The San Andreas fault in California and the North Anatolian fault in Turkey are both right-lateral, strike-slip faults.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Ductile rocks are more likely to bend in response to stress than are brittle rocks.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The hanging wall moves down in a reverse fault.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Weathering, Karst Landscapes, and Mass Movement
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Sample Questions
Q1) If material is to move downslope, it must overcome the force of A) friction.
B) the cohesion of particles to each other.
C) inertial resistance of the material.
D) all of these
Q2) Which of the following is used to measure streamflow?
A) stilling well and staff gauge
B) barometer and sling psychrometer
C) statistical methods of probability
D) reservoirs
Q3) A translational slide involves
A) rotational movement of surface material.
B) movement of surface material along a planar surface.
C) unconsolidated flow of material.
D) mudflow.
Q4) The uplift of mountains is caused by
A) endogenic processes.
B) aggradation.
C) denudation.
D) exogenic forces.
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Chapter 12: Wind Processes and Desert Landscapes
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73 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Relative to dune movement and form, a dune's slipface forms on which side?
A) leeward side
B) windward side
C) freedune side
D) none of these
Q2) Active and stable sand regions occur on every major continent except Antarctica.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Desert landscapes tend to be ________ in appearance because of the ________.
A) rugged and hard-edged; lack of water erosion
B) rugged and hard edged; type of resistant rock found in deserts
C) rounded and smooth; abrasion
D) rounded and smooth; type of nonresistant rock found in deserts
Q4) The wind has relatively minor effects on weathering and erosion.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Which of the following grain sizes is most readily moved by the wind?
A) large
B) intermediate
C) small
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Chapter 13: The Oceans, Coastal Processes, and Landforms
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is not an example of an erosional coastal landform?
A) sea arch
B) tombolo
C) wave-cut platform
D) notched cliff
Q2) Coral bleaching refers to
A) the killing of coral formations by chlorine bleach pollution.
B) the replacement of normal, colored algae by white algae.
C) the loss of algae from the coral.
D) All of the above are included within the definition of coral bleaching.
Q3) Which of the following is true of the ocean deep zone?
A) Temperatures remain approximately 4 degrees C (39 degrees
B) The water in this zone does not freeze because of the intense pressure exerted by the weight of overlying water.
C) The water in this zone does not freeze because of its salinity.
D) All of these are true.
E) within most of this layer.
Q4) A tombolo cuts off a portion of the ocean along a coast, forming a lagoon.
A)True
B)False
Page 14
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Chapter 14: Glacial and Penglacial Landscapes
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Sample Questions
Q1) The transformation of snow into glacial ice in Antarctica takes ________ than in midlatitude alpine glaciers because ________.
A) longer; less snow falls per year in polar regions
B) longer; less melting and refreezing occurs in Antarctica
C) less time; more snow falls each year in polar regions
D) less time; less melting and refreezing occurs in the midlatitudes
E) both A and B
Q2) Surprisingly, there are no ice caps in Iceland.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The Vostok ice core was used to detail
A) previous water levels.
B) CO2 levels over the past 200,000 years.
C) current oxygen levels.
D) pleistocene glacier formation.
Q4) Worldwide, alpine glaciers are presently increasing in size and number.
A)True
B)False
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15
Chapter 15: The Geography of Soils
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101 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Acidic soils
A) are generally defined as soils with a pH of about 6 or less.
B) cause more rapid weathering and leaching of nutrients.
C) are generally very fertile.
D) all of the above
E) Only A and B are true.
Q2) Which of the following soil layers would usually contain the greatest amount of clay in a well-developed soil?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) R
E) E
Q3) In a transect across the 98th meridian, from west to east, which of the following gives the correct sequence of soil orders?
A) Alfisols, Aridisols, Ultisols
B) Aridisols, Oxisols, Mollisols
C) Aridisols, Spodosols, Ultisols
D) Aridisols, Mollisols, Alfisols
E) Alfisols, Mollisols, Aridisols
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Chapter 16: Ecosystems and Biomes
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171 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Compared to rain forest soils, the tropical savanna soils are ________ for agriculture because ________.
A) better; they have more humus
B) better; they are better drained
C) worse; they are less fertile
D) worse; they have a prolonged period of dryness
E) both A and B
Q2) Which of the following specifically relate to the rain forest biome?
A) Oxisols
B) Aw and BS climates
C) seasonal water-balance deficits
D) precipitation of less than 100 cm, with a summer maximum
E) average annual temperature of about 25 degrees C (77 degrees F)
Q3) Which of the following is not a characteristic of much of the vegetation in the tropical savanna?
A) waxy leaves
B) thick bark
C) large leaves
D) hairy leaves
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Chapter 17: Earth and the Human Denominator
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Sample Questions
Q1) This is not one of the variables of the planetary impact equation.
A) population
B) affluence
C) technology
D) education level
Q2) This region has the highest per-capita energy use.
A) North America
B) Asia
C) Europe
D) South America
Q3) Currently, the average natural increase of human population is about ________ percent.
A) 1.2
B) 1.9
C) 2.3
D) 2.8
Q4) Most population growth is in less-developed countries.
A)True
B)False
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