Environmental Issues
Textbook Exam Questions
Course Introduction
This course offers a comprehensive exploration of contemporary environmental issues affecting the planet, including climate change, air and water pollution, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion. Students will examine the scientific, social, economic, and political dimensions of these challenges, gaining a foundational understanding of their causes and consequences. The course also explores strategies for mitigation and adaptation, encourages critical thinking about sustainability, and highlights the importance of environmental policy and community action in addressing global environmental concerns.
Recommended Textbook
Introduction to Environmental Geology 5th Edition by KELLER
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792 Verified Questions
792 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Philosophy and Fundamental Concepts
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ growth implies that a constant percentage of humans are added each year.
Answer: Exponential
Q2) Environmental geology is particularly concerned with ________ geologic time.
Answer: recent
Q3) What has caused the Aral Sea to shrink dramatically over the past 40 years?
A)global climate change
B)water diversions in streams feeding the sea
C)excessive growth of shoreline plants due to excessive agricultural fertilizer runoff
D)extremely high evaporation rates
Answer: B
Q4) The law of ________ states that rocks with similar fossils are most likely of a similar geologic age.
Answer: faunal succession
Q5) A closed system is not amenable to scientific scrutiny.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: Internal Structure of Earth and Plate Tectonics
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Sample Questions
Q1) What driving force of plate movement is likely dominant?
A)ridge push
B)slab pull
C)mountain rise
D)valley fall
Answer: B
Q2) ________-waves pass through the outer core.
Answer: P
Q3) How does the lithosphere differ from the asthenosphere?
A)The lithosphere is stronger than the asthenosphere.
B)The asthenosphere is stronger than the lithosphere.
C)The asthenosphere is part of the core, while the lithosphere is part of the mantle.
D)The asthenosphere is less dense than the lithosphere.
Answer: A
Q4) S-waves accelerate as they enter the outer core.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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4
Chapter 3: Minerals and Rocks
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Sample Questions
Q1) Sulfide minerals are potential environmental hazards because
A)they are weak minerals
B)they are rich in calcium, which contributes to water degradation
C)they can combine with oxygen and water to form sulfuric acid
D)they are important sources of iron
Answer: C
Q2) In a metallic bond
A)chains or sheets of atoms are held together by weak forces
B)atoms are joined by electrical charges
C)electrons are shared between all atoms in a solid mass
D)electrons are shared between a limited number of atoms
Answer: C
Q3) Rock folds typically form under the influence of compressive stress.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) The term "clay" refers to both texture and mineralogy.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Page 5
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Chapter 4: Ecology and Geology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Seawalls can decrease biodiversity by narrowing beaches.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Landslides in Southern California mountains can benefit steelhead trout.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A(n) ________ species has an effect on its ecological community disproportionate to its abundance.
Q4) A(n) ________ is a group of individuals capable of interbreeding.
Q5) The dominant processes in an ecosystem are
A)life and death
B)damage and restoration
C)energy flows and chemical cycles
D)interactions of biota and geologic environment
Q6) Sea otter reintroduction in Alaska has led to
A)extinction of sea urchins
B)increase in kelp forests
C)decrease in kelp forests
D)ecosystem degradation
Q7) Wolves and sea otters are examples of ________ species.
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Chapter 5: Introduction to Natural Hazards
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Sample Questions
Q1) How is the risk of a particular event defined?
A)Risk is the probability of occurrence of an event multiplied by its consequences.
B)Risk is the level of consequences of a false prediction.
C)Risk is the number of people that will be killed if an event occurs.
D)Risk is the amount of land that will be affected by a hazardous event.
Q2) Why are hazard warnings sometimes problematic?
A)people do not believe scientists
B)warnings are occasionally inaccurate
C)people do not want to hear bad news
D)the probability of natural hazards is so low that warnings are irrelevant
Q3) The risk of a particular event is the product of the event's occurrence multiplied by the ________.
Q4) A(n) ________ is a disaster from which recovery is long and involved.
Q5) Population increase is important because it buffers the impacts of hazardous event.
A)True
B)False
Q6) One benefit of volcanic eruptions is nutrient-rich ________.
Q7) Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans when a(n) ________ broke.
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Earthquakes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Shake maps are used to predict where shaking is likely to occur in a future earthquake.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Why might the emission of radon gas be useful in predicting earthquakes?
A)Potentially active faults emit large amounts of radon.
B)Radon gas indicates activity in the mantle, which drives plate tectonics.
C)Fracturing of the rocks allows radon to move more readily.
D)Radon gas causes seismic gaps.
Q3) The New Madrid and Charleston earthquakes were ________ earthquakes.
Q4) Why are nearby earthquakes often described as "jolting" while distant earthquakes are described as "rolling"?
A)because high frequency waves are attenuated as they move away from the epicenter
B)because distant earthquakes only generate S-waves
C)because buildings only are destroyed by high frequency surface waves
D)because the amplitude of waves from distant earthquake are amplified by unconsolidated sediments
Q5) A(n) ________ fault has not experienced movement in the last 2 million years.
Q6) The process of ________ releases elastic strain during and after an earthquake.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Tsunamis
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Sample Questions
Q1) The 2004 tsunami was generated by a(n)
A)volcanic eruption
B)submarine landslide
C)earthquake
D)meteorite impact
Q2) Tsunamis can be detected on the open ocean through
A)measurement of changes in pressure exerted on the sea bottom by the water column
B)shipboard observations of wave heights
C)seismometer records
D)measurement of wave speeds with Doppler radar
Q3) A megatsunami might be produced by ________ impact.
Q4) The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami originated off the coast of the country of ________.
Q5) Tsunami can take several hours to cross the ocean because
A)they move slowly
B)they are so high that wind impedes their progress
C)the travel distances are great
D)the ocean is too deep to transmit the waves
Q6) The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami caused death and damage as far away as
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Volcanic Activity
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Sample Questions
Q1) A shield volcano is typically andesitic in composition.
A)True
B)False
Q2) ________ is a volcanic gas associated with acid rain and vog.
Q3) Viscosity of a magma is controlled by
A)the eruptive processes at work
B)the types and amounts of gases dissolved in the magma
C)the water content of the magma
D)temperature and silicon content of the magma
Q4) Composite volcanoes are typically associated with subduction zones.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Why do composite volcanoes consist of alternating lava and pyroclastic layers?
A)Composite cones are created by lava composition alternating between basalt and rhyolite.
B)Composite cones typically are interlayered with lava flows from nearby shield volcanoes.
C)Composite cones are created by a mixture of explosive activity and lava flows.
D)The lavas in composite cones are typically rhyolitic in composition.
Q6) The Hawaiian islands were formed volcanism associated with a(n) ________.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Rivers and Flooding
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Sample Questions
Q1) The continuity equation pertains to the accommodation of ________ by a stream channel.
Q2) Why did extensive flooding occur upstream of St. Louis during the 1993 Mississippi River flood?
A)Widespread urbanization in the upper portion of the basin increased runoff to a great degree.
B)Floodwalls protecting St. Louis caused a bottleneck in the river's flow.
C)The St. Louis floodwall failed, flooding St. Louis and the area upstream.
D)An intense thunderstorm dropped several inches of rain on the area in only a few hours.
Q3) Structural flood controls often increase overall flood hazard.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The 100-year flood is the flood that occurred exactly 100 years ago.
A)True
B)False
Q5) A faster-moving stream has greater competence than a slow-moving stream.
A)True
B)False
Q6) The total load of a river is dominated by the ________ load.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Slope Processes, Landslides, and Subsidence
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Sample Questions
Q1) Logging operations always increase landslide hazards.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How did geology influence the Vaiont Dam disaster?
A)The geology in the adjacent hillslopes was dominated by weak rocks.
B)Porous rocks increased groundwater flow beneath the dam and weakened the structure.
C)The rocks created a steep slope on the canyon wall.
D)The geologic structure included steeply dipping faults.
Q3) ________ and ________ can severely increase landslide hazards in mountainous terrains.
Q4) The expense of preventing landslides is usually too great for the prevention strategies to be feasible.
A)True
B)False
Q5) ________ is the downslope movement of a coherent block of Earth material.
Q6) Slumps and debris flows tend to occur separately in time and space.
A)True
B)False
Q7) The lower portion of a slump typically evolves into a(n) ________.
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Chapter 11: Coastal Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) What aspect of tropical cyclones tends to cause the greatest death and destruction?
A)the intensely low atmospheric pressure in the storm's eye
B)the intense wind
C)flooding from rain, waves, and storm surge
D)lightning from thunderstorms spawned by the cyclone
Q2) Assateague Island, Maryland, has avoided coastal erosion because it is largely undeveloped.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Refraction occurs because waves speed up as they reach the shallower water near the beach.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The current flowing parallel to and just offshore of a beach is called
A)littoral current
B)longshore current
C)beach current
D)down current
Q5) A pair of ________ typically protects the channel of a river entering the sea.
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Chapter 12: Impact of Extraterrestrial Objects
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why do some asteroids leave the asteroid belt and cross the orbits of Earth and other solar system bodies?
A)The gravity of Earth and other bodies pull the asteroids out of the asteroid belt.
B)Asteroids collide in the asteroid belt and some asteroids are diverted into other orbits.
C)Comets passing through the asteroid belt pull asteroids away.
D)The asteroid belt is slowly expanding with time, into orbits of Earth and other bodies.
Q2) An anomaly of the element ________ marks the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in several locations around the world.
Q3) Comets typically orbit the sun at the distance of Neptune. A)True B)False
Q4) The Tunguska event resulted from impact of a large meteorite. A)True B)False
Q5) The meteorite that struck the Yucatan Peninsula was about ________ kilometers in diameter.
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14
Chapter 13: Water Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) A cone of depression forms when water is pumped from an unconfined aquifer, but not when water is pumped from a confined aquifer.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Why has water quality degraded in the Edwards aquifer?
A)The aquifer is recharged by rivers flowing into karst limestones.
B)The city of San Antonio lies in the recharge zone.
C)Pollution has entered the aquifer via springs in the San Marcos area.
D)The aquifer is confined in its southern part, and is easily contaminated in that area.
Q3) Vegetation decreases runoff by
A)reflecting only the green portion of sunlight
B)absorbing water into leaves
C)intercepting rainfall and slowing its fall to the ground
D)holding soil in place
Q4) Desalination is used only where alternative water sources are unavailable.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The global ________ involves the transfer of water between Earth's water reservoirs.
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Chapter 14: Water Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) The source of ________ bacteria is typically animal fecal waste.
Q2) All coliform bacteria are harmless. A)True
B)False
Q3) Large pig farms in North Carolina caused no pollution problems prior to the arrival of Hurricane Floyd.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A septic tank performs the equivalent of ________ treatment in the municipal wastewater treatment system scheme.
Q5) Waterborne disease has been completely eliminated from the United States. A)True
B)False
Q6) Septic tank systems can contribute nitrate contamination to groundwater. A)True B)False
Q7) Acid mine drainage results from the oxidation and dissolution of coal and ________ ores.
Q9) ________ sources of pollution are diffuse and intermittent. Page 16
Q8) Nitrogen and ________ are usually responsible for cultural eutrophication.
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Page 17
Chapter 15: Mineral Resources and the Environment
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ ore deposits are a result of weathering processes.
Q2) ________ mine drainage results from oxidation of sulfide-bearing deposits.
Q3) Itai-Itai disease resulted from contamination of the Zintzu River basin with what types of mine wastes?
A)cyanide
B)gold and silver
C)lead, zinc, and cadmium
D)acid mine drainage
Q4) What does the Fossil Trace Golf Course in Golden, Colorado, have to do with mineral resources?
A)Hazardous wastes from years of mining in the area were dumped there.
B)It was constructed in a reclaimed limestone-clay quarry.
C)The fossils there contain concentrations of precious metals.
D)Mineral deposits in the rocks beneath the golf course were found to contain recoverable concentrations of zinc and iron, leading to conflict between mining and recreation.
Q5) The concentration factor for gold is less than the concentration factor for copper.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Energy Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) All renewable energy sources ultimately capture energy from the ________.
Q2) The future use of photovoltaics is likely to
A)increase, because they can be adapted to meet a variety of needs
B)increase, because the energy is less expensive than that generated by fossil fuels
C)decrease, because they have proven to be inefficient
D)decrease, because they require large, centralized generating facilities
Q3) Nuclear ________ involves the joining of lighter elements to produce heavier ones.
Q4) Groundwater at normal shallow subsurface temperatures can be used as an energy source.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The ultimate source of geothermal energy is
A)the sun
B)heat generated in the Earth's interior
C)hydroelectric
D)deeply buried biomass
Q6) The ________ path of energy policy relies more on decentralized power generation.
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Chapter 17: Soils and Environment
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ is the physical and chemical breakdown of rocks.
Q2) A soil E horizon is an eroded horizon.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In what way is color an indicator of soil drainage?
A)Well-drained soils tend to be well aerated and red in color.
B)Poorly drained soils tend to be well oxidized and red in color.
C)Moderately drained soils tend to be green in color.
D)Colors of soils are more reflective of organic matter than of drainage.
Q4) Soil cohesion is enhanced by the presence of
A)gravel and sand particles
B)clay and silt particles
C)subsurface water
D)organic matter
Q5) Shrink-swell potential of a soil is dependent upon
A)the hydraulic conductivity of the soil
B)the proportion of clay in the soil
C)the proportion of fine sand in the soil
D)the chemistry and water content of the soil
Q6) An argillic B horizon is enriched in ________ transported from the A horizon.
Page 20
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Chapter 18: Global Climate Change
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Sample Questions
Q1) The ________ was a cool period that followed the Medieval Warm Period.
Q2) Anomalously rapid movement of glacial ice is termed ________.
Q3) ________ is the process by which particulate air pollution reflects solar energy and cools the Earth's surface.
Q4) The ________ of construction on permafrost focuses on a maintenance of frozen conditions in the ground.
Q5) The ________ Warm Period coincided with a time of increased solar radiation.
Q6) Carbon dioxide is the dominant gas, by volume, in the atmosphere.
A)True
B)False
Q7) In what way can human practices contribute to desertification?
A)overgrazing by livestock
B)growth of too much crop cover
C)growth of trees
D)irrigation with rainwater
Q8) The glacial history of an area can strongly impact its environmental geology today.
A)True
B)False
Q9) ________ are mathematical representations of atmospheric processes.
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Chapter 19: Geology, Society, and the Future
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Sample Questions
Q1) Some carcinogenic substances occur naturally in the environment, rather than being produced by human industrial activity.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Why is collaboration often preferred over compromise in environmental law?
A)Collaboration involves mediation, which often leads to success.
B)Collaboration is more likely than compromise to obey environmental statutes.
C)Collaboration requires that each party give something up, which provides for a fair resolution.
D)Collaboration forces opposing parties to work together for mutual gain.
Q3) "Superfund" sites are those that
A)have clear ownership and responsibility for contamination
B)have been abandoned by previous owners
C)have been cleaned up efficiently
D)contain contamination with organic wastes
Q4) A(n) ________ is designed to contain municipal wastes and prevent nuisances and public hazards.
Q5) A factory is a fugitive source of air pollution emissions.
A)True
B)False
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