Environmental Geology
Study Guide Questions
Course Introduction
Environmental Geology examines the interactions between humans and the geological environment, focusing on how geological processes and materials impact human activities and how, in turn, human actions affect the Earths systems. The course covers topics such as natural hazards (earthquakes, landslides, floods, and volcanoes), resource management, soil and water conservation, waste disposal, and the implications of land use and urban development. Through case studies and practical exercises, students learn to assess geological risks, contribute to sustainable land planning, and develop solutions to environmental challenges resulting from the dynamic relationship between society and the Earth.
Recommended Textbook
Earth An Introduction to Physical Geology 4th Canadian Edition by Edward J. Tarbuck
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Chapter 1: An Introduction to Geology and Plate Tectonics
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________, a popular natural philosophy of the 17th and early 18th centuries, was based on a firm belief in a very short geologic history for Earth.
A)Ecospherism
B)Exoschism
C)Uniformitarianism
D)Catastrophism
Answer: D
Q2) Which of the following is closest to the currently accepted age of the Earth?
A)100,000 years
B)10 billion years
C)5 billion years
D)5 million years
Answer: C
Q3) The currently accepted age of Earth is approximately 4.6 million years.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) The thin, outer layer of Earth, from 7 to over 35 km in thickness, is called the ________.
Answer: crust
Page 3
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Chapter 2: Minerals: The Building Blocks of Rocks
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Q1) Which one of the following minerals has the greatest hardness on the Mohs hardness scale?
A)feldspar
B)calcite
C)gypsum
D)topaz
Answer: D
Q2) Minerals like diamond and graphite exist because of ________.
A)amorphous crystallization
B)different physical and chemical conditions or environments within the earth
C)the law of polymorphism
D)the metamorphism of coal
Answer: B
Q3) The real mineral jadarite has the same chemical composition as fictional kryptonite except for what?
Answer: fluorine
Q4) What are two or more minerals called if they have the same chemical composition but different physical properties?
Answer: polymorphs
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Chapter 3: Igneous Rocks
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is the dominant feldspar in basalt?
A)plagioclase
B)microcline
C)orthoclase
D)pyroxene
Answer: A
Q2) Minerals, such as plagioclase feldspar in the continuous branch of Bowen's reaction series, react with the magma to form lower temperature, more stable minerals such as hornblende or biotite.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Name two igneous rocks with glassy textures.
Answer: pumice, obsidian
Q4) The introduction of water as a flux or decompression are thought to be the main triggers to melt peridotite and generate basalt in the upper mantle.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Volcanoes and Volcanic Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) What type of volcanic eruption devastated the Caribbean island of Martinique in 1902?
Q2) What term describes a dangerous, fast moving, glowing turbulent cloud of volcanic gases and fine, partially molten, pyroclastic particles, like the 1902 eruption that destroyed St.Pierre on Martinique?
Q3) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)Deccan Traps
B)Minus Basin
C)Columbia Plateau
D)Black Tusk
Q4) How hot are mafic lava flows that they can ignite car tires and melt street lamp posts?
Q5) What volcanic events formed Crater Lake, OR? When did they take place?
A)A powerful explosion blew away the top of a composite volcano; 10 million years ago.
B)The crater of a large, extinct cinder cone filled with water; 5 million years ago.
C)Landslides and volcanic mudflows dammed the Mazama River; 500 years ago.
D)Caldera collapse followed major ash and pyrodastic-flow eruptions; 7700 years ago.
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Chapter 5: Weathering and Soil
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which one of the following statements is the best description of erosion?
A)disintegration and decomposition of rocks and minerals at the surface
B)movement of weathered rock and regolith toward the base of a slope
C)the process by which weathered rock and mineral particles are removed from one area and transported elsewhere
D)the combined processes of leaching, eluviation, and mass wasting
Q2) Oxidation of iron in ferromagnesian minerals and dissolution of calcite are two examples of mechanical weathering.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The soil material hardpan refers to a layer of highly compacted clay in the B soil horizon of some areas.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What are the environmental effects of acid rain?
Q5) The B soil horizon is called the zone of leaching.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What are the common red and brown mineral residues produced by oxidation?
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Sedimentary Rocks
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which statement concerning sedimentary rocks is false?
A)They may contain fossils that provide clues about ancient life forms.
B)They probably show some evidence of stratification.
C)They were originally deposited at depth below the bottom of the sea.
D)They are composed of materials derived from weathering and erosion of other rocks.
Q2) How do salt flats form?
Q3) Name three kinds of organisms which have built reefs at different times in Earth history.
Q4) What does the degree of rounding indicate in a sediment?
A)the distance travelled or duration of time involved in sediment transport
B)where the minerals originally came from
C)the velocity of transport
D)whether the sediment was deposited in a stream or the ocean
Q5) ________ cement produces dark red and orange colours in some sandstone.
A)Clay
B)Calcite
C)Quartz
D)Iron oxide
Q6) Why do clays settle so slowly?
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Metamorphism and Metamorphic Rocks
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Q1) ________ is a nonfoliated rock formed by the contact metamorphism of fine grained rocks like shales, mudstones, or volcanics.
A)Schist
B)Marble
C)Gneiss
D)Hornfels
Q2) A sillimanite hornfels would ________.
A)be formed at the highest grade of regional metamorphism
B)lie on the outermost edge of a contact aureole where hornfels are preserved
C)lie entirely within the core of the contact aureole occupied by the high grade D)usually form from the complete subduction of ocean crust deep into the mantle
Q3) Subduction zone metamorphism is characterized by high temperatures and low pressure.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Ductile deformation occurs at low stress rates.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What effect does the application of directed pressure have on the texture of rocks.
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Chapter 8: Geologic Time
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Sample Questions
Q1) Correlation of rock units between continents or widely separated areas is accomplished by using physical features such as colour, texture, and thickness of units.
A)True
B)False
Q2) An isotope's mass is equal to the sum of its protons and neutrons in its nucleus.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which type of microfossils are organic walled cysts of planktonic algae primarily used in relative dating?
A)acritarchs and dinoflagellates
B)coccoliths and formaminifera
C)conodonts
D)diatoms and radiolaria
Q4) In relative dating, the principle of cross-cutting relationships allows one to infer that the rock body that does the cutting is clearly older.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Crustal Deformation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which one of the following statements regarding rock deformation and strength is correct?
A)Rupture and plastic deformation occur when stresses and strain rates exceed the elastic limit of a material.
B)Rocks undergo plastic deformation less readily as temperatures and pressures increase.
C)Elastic deformation is accomplished through internal flow of material.
D)When rocks are subjected to stress for long time spans, very small, plastic deformations accumulate to produce large, permanent, elastic deformations.
Q2) Name two examples of manmade construction or engineering works which require knowledge of, and adaption to, bedrock structures and associated zones of weakness?
Q3) How wide is the San Andreas Fault Zone at its northern and southern ends?
A)<1 kilometre
B)5 kilometres
C)10 kilometres
D)>100 kilometres
Q4) A circular to elliptical structure developed by upward arching of the older central strata is a ________.
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Chapter 10: Earthquakes and Earth's Interior
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Sample Questions
Q1) Briefly relate large earthquakes to pre-existing faults.
Q2) Is the average earthquake intensity along the oceanic ridge system stronger or weaker than along the circum-Pacific belt? Is it because the crust is thinner and warmer or more brittle?
Q3) How can the exact distance to an earthquake be determined if you only have a single seismic station to record it?
A)by measuring the P-wave arrival time and its intensity and using a formula
B)by measuring the duration of the surface wave train
C)by measuring the difference between the P and S arrival times and using a travel time curve for arrival versus distance
D)You dig up your seismograph and take it to a destitute seismologist and offer to trade the instrument for the answer to your question!
Q4) The term, tsunami, means "harbour wave" in Japanese.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What happens to the energy released in an earthquake?
Q6) What is observed in paleoseismology?
Q7) Briefly describe how an earthquake's intensity differs from its magnitude.
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Q8) What two seismic wave observations support the existence of a liquid outer core?
Chapter 11: The Ocean Floor
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Questions
Q1) Which ocean basin did the H.M.S.Challenger fail to visit or sound in its 127,500 km voyage?
Q2) The chaotic accumulation of deformed sediment and scraps of oceanic crust along an active continental margin is called an ________.
Q3) How does the continental rise form?
A)tectonic uplift and tilting of the edge of the continental margin
B)outbuilding of major river deltas
C)deep sea pelagic oozes that drape guyots and seamounts
D)coalescing deep-sea fans built from turbidites
Q4) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)continental slope
B)continental rise
C)active continental margin
D)continental shelf
Q5) The average height of the continents above sea level is greater than the average depth of the ocean basins below sea level.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Name two features more likely to be characteristic of active margins.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Plate Tectonics: The Framework for Modern Geology
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Alpine Fault in New Zealand and the San Andreas fault in California are good examples of ________ plate boundaries.
Q2) Where is the inclination of Earth's magnetic field horizontal?
A)at the equator
B)at the north and south poles
C)latitudes between 45 and 50 degrees
D)in the Bermuda triangle
Q3) The former, late Paleozoic super continent is known as ________.
A)Pandemonia
B)Pancakea
C)Pangaea
D)Panatopia
Q4) The west coast of South America is associated with a ________ plate boundary.
A)convergent
B)transform
C)divergent
D)strike-slip
Q5) If you are towing a magnetometer across the ocean and encounter a region of reduced magnetic intensity, what does this mean?
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Chapter 13: Mountain Building and Continental Frameworks
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Sample Questions
Q1) What kind of crust was the Avalon Terrane prior to its accretion to the Appalachians in the Acadian Orogeny in the Silurian and Devonian?
A)microcontinental fragment rifted off Rodinia or Gondwanaland
B)supracrustal Iapetus seafloor sediments and Gondwanaland passive margin succession
C)ophiolite-Iapetus Ocean crustal sequence
D)island arc sequence
Q2) Which mountain belt did not have a stage of continent-continent collision as it formed?
A)Andes
B)Appalachians
C)Himalayas
D)Urals
Q3) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)Himalayas
B)Andes
C)Appalachians
D)Urals
Q4) Explain the process of accretionary wedge development.
Q5) Give an example of an intracratonic basin.
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Mass Wasting: The Work of Gravity
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Q1) Water saturation of soil on a slope reduces cohesion of soil particles and reduces slope stability.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Choose the option that does not fit the pattern.
A)wind
B)water
C)mass wasting
D)ice
Q3) Which of the following travels on compressed air and are usually triggered by earthquakes?
A)rockfall
B)slump
C)solifluction lobe
D)rockslide
Q4) Unconsolidated, dry, angular, granular materials such as gravel and sand will support maximum slope angles of about 33 to 35 degrees on land.What is the name for this maximum slope angle?
Q5) How can rock slopes be stabilized against rockslides?
Q6) Which process of mass wasting occurs primarily in permafrost regions?
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Running Water
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is not one of the three basic types of stream systems?
A)Annastomosed
B)Meandering
C)Braided
D)Bedrock gorge
Q2) ________ streams have interconnecting channels around unstable sandy bars.
Q3) Which of the following features characterize wide streams and valleys?
A)natural levees; broad floodplains
B)rapids; channel bed potholes
C)waterfalls; entrenched meanders
D)V-shaped valley cross-sections
Q4) The greatest erosion and sediment transport in rivers happens ________.
A)near the mouth where the discharge is the greatest
B)during floods because capacity and competence are at their maxima
C)at ordinary discharge but at particular locations where the gradient decreases
D)during winter freeze up because of velocity changes below the ice
Q5) Evapotranspiration and average stream velocity are both important components of the hydrologic cycle.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Groundwater
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Sample Questions
Q1) A stream flowing into a sinkhole is called a ________.
Q2) Where does ground water reside?
Q3) Geysers periodically boil and erupt because ________.
A)new groundwater flows in to replace that lost in the prior eruption, this takes time
B)great pressures from deep water-filled chambers prevent water from boiling until higher temperatures are reached; eventually enough heat is supplied by the hot (volcanic)rocks to expand the water and let it boil anyway
C)each injection of hot magma at depth triggers another episode of boiling in groundwater
D)the god Vulcan is at work at his subterranean forge
Q4) Highly impermeable layers such as compacted clay or shale are known as ________.
Q5) Briefly explain what allows a geyser to periodically erupt rather than slowly flowing as a hot spring?
Q6) Two ways that sink holes can form are by ________ and ________.
Q7) Who finally put to rest the false assumption that precipitation could not account for the water in springs and rivers?
Q8) Name three deleterious side effects of over-using ground water resources.
Q9) Which speleothem grows upward from the floor of a cavern?
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Chapter 17: Glaciers and Glaciation
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Sample Questions
Q1) What physical property of H<sub>2</sub>O allows glaciers to flow, particularly by basal slip?
A)dipole forces
B)pressure melting
C)spontaneous recrystallization to the cubic structure
D)high viscosity
Q2) Rapid surge movements of Earth's tectonic plates offer a convincing explanation for the advances and retreats of the Pleistocene ice sheets.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The great glaciation that affected the Southern Hemisphere supercontinent Pangaea (parts of Africa, South America, India, Australia, and Antarctica)occurred
A)300-200 million years ago in late Paleozoic time
B)800-700 million years ago in late Proterozoic time
C)56-45 million years ago in early Cenozoic time
D)3800-3600 million years ago in early Archean time
Q4) Compare and contrast the bedding, typical grain size distribution, and sorting of a till versus glacial outwash sediments, and explain why this is so.
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Chapter 18: Deserts and Winds
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Q1) ________ dunes can form in low latitude desert areas where the prevailing wind directions change with the seasons.
Q2) How is a dry climate defined?
Q3) How is desert pavement formed?
A)Deflation and sheet wash remove fine-sized materials leaving coarse, weathered, rock fragments concentrated at the surface.
B)Blowing wind removes fine-size soil particles; coarser particles abrades to sand size.
C)Running water deposits gravel and sand over the finer-sized soil particles.
D)Intense chemical weathering removes the sand- and silt-sized particles, leaving coarse rock debris covering the land surface.
Q4) Which one of the following will effectively limit further deflation in a desert area?
A)sea level
B)desert pavement
C)the water table
D)the repose level
Q5) Where are the subtropical high pressure air masses located?
Q6) What was the source of North American loess deposits?
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Chapter 19: Shorelines
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ is not a dynamic characteristic of a wave.
A)Fetch
B)Wavelength
C)Period
D)Velocity or speed
Q2) ________ are rough rock or reinforced concrete structures built parallel to the coast to protect boats and harbours from the force of large breaking waves.
A)Breakwaters
B)Groins
C)Jetties
D)Seawalls
Q3) Much of the sediment deposited in the underwater portion of the coastal profile is caused by ________.
A)longshore currents
B)rip currents
C)storms
D)tidal deltas
Q4) What would change, compared to the present tidal variation, if the moon's orbit were to exactly match Earth's axial tilt?
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Chapter 20: Mineral and Energy Resources
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Q1) The Athabasca heavy oil sand deposits were formed where biodegraded or water washed light oils left a viscous, heavy, immobile residue in porous Cretaceous sands.
A)True
B)False
Q2) ________ can be replenished over relatively short time spans like months, years, or decades.
A)Renewable resources
B)Non-renewable resources
C)Semi-renewable resources
D)Quasi-renewable resources
Q3) ________ is trapped in the pore spaces of coal seams and detrital sediments and is a potential source of energy.
A)Shale gas
B)Coal-bed methane
C)Clastic aerosols
D)Sandy propane
Q4) Foreland and intracratonic carbonate rocks are the setting for hydrothermal replacement deposits of these two metals or minerals.
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