Environmental Science
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Course Introduction
Environmental Science is an interdisciplinary field that explores the complex relationships between humans and the natural environment. This course examines the scientific principles underlying environmental processes, including ecosystem dynamics, energy flows, and the cycling of matter. Students will investigate key environmental issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and sustainable resource management, while also considering social, economic, and policy perspectives. Through laboratory activities, case studies, and fieldwork, the course aims to foster problem-solving skills and a deep understanding of the challenges and solutions related to maintaining a healthy environment for current and future generations.
Recommended Textbook
Environmental Geology 10th Edition by Carla W Montgomery
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1006 Verified Questions
1006 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Planet and Population: An Overview
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Sample Questions
Q1) The compositions of the planets
A) Are all very similar, so other planets may be able to support life or provide needed resources.
B) Are entirely unknown; geologists cannot judge their similarity to earth.
C) Were originally the same but have been changed by radiation from the sun over the life of the solar system.
D) Were controlled by the distance from the sun at which each formed, except for the largest planets.
Answer: D
Q2) Humans can,to some extent,control their surroundings,disease and other factors,so human populations are subject to fewer checks than animal populations.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) World population has been growing more and more rapidly over the past several millennia.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Rocks and Minerals-A First Look
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Sample Questions
Q1) All crystalline materials show well-developed crystal faces; few naturally occurring mineral samples are crystalline.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Silicates rich in iron and/or magnesium are termed A) Cations.
B) Feldspars.
C) Ferromagnesian.
D) Magnetite.
Answer: C
Q3) An atom that has 20 protons and 20 neutrons in its nucleus has this atomic number A) 20.
B) 40.
C) 400.
D) Cannot determine because not enough information is given.
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: Plate Tectonics
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Sample Questions
Q1) An island arc comprising of volcanic islands forms as a result of ocean-ocean convergence.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Pre-drift reassembly of the continents can be assisted by
A) Polar-wander curves.
B) Matching up the shapes of the corresponding continental margins.
C) Matching up mountain ranges and rock types between once-adjacent continents.
D) All of the choices are correct.
Answer: D
Q3) The earth's polarity has remained the same since its existence.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) In order for continental drift to occur,the continental lithosphere must behave plastically.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 4: Earthquakes
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Sample Questions
Q1) 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
Q2) Liquefaction is
A) Flooding of coastal areas due to tectonic subsidence.
B) A quicksand-like condition arising in some wet soils during earthquakes.
C) Flooding caused by tsunamis.
D) Flooding caused by dam failure resulting from an earthquake.
Q3) The focus of an earthquake
A) Is the same thing as the epicenter.
B) Can be located using only one seismograph.
C) The primary point of rupture in the earth's crust and origin of the earthquake.
D) None of these choices is correct.
Q4) When one speaks of "earthquake-resistant" buildings,this means buildings that will remain fully functional after an earthquake.
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) Yellowstone National Park is underlain by an ancient volcanic caldera and current thermal activity and uplift there may signal future eruption potential.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The Yellowstone Park volcanic area is along a hot-spot track across the northwestern United States.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Of the following: various sulfur gases,hydrochloric acid,and carbon monoxide,only carbon monoxide is poisonous.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 6: Streams and Flooding
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Sample Questions
Q1) The steepness or slope of a stream channel in the direction of flow is the channel's
A) Capacity.
B) Bed load.
C) Base level.
D) Gradient.
Q2) Suitable uses for floodplain land include all of the following except
A) Grazing land for livestock.
B) A municipal sewage treatment plant.
C) A municipal park.
D) A golf course.
Q3) A region has just had a 100-year flood.That means that
A) A flood event of that size has a 1 percent probability of occurrence in the next year.
B) Another equally large flood will occur in one hundred years.
C) Another flood of that size cannot happen in the same year.
D) All of the choices are correct.
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) The rate of global sea-level rise may be accelerated through greenhouse-effect heating.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A seawall or riprap barrier is effective in protecting only that section of shoreline along which it is constructed.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Littoral drift that encounters a bay or indentation along a coast will form this
A) A spit.
B) A baymouth bar.
C) A tombolo.
D) Barrier islands.
Q4) Ocean waves breaking on a beach are formed by this A) Earthquakes.
B) Wind.
C) Tides.
D) Passing ships.
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Mass Movements
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Sample Questions
Q1) When wet soil moves slowly over an impermeable surface the phenomenon observed is called
A) Solifluction.
B) Permafrost.
C) Rock slide.
D) Rockfall.
Q2) Mass wasting is possible anywhere in the world,either due to natural processes or human modification.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Quick clay is
A) A marine deposited mixture of glacially derived clay and silt weakened by infiltrating fresh water upon uplift of these sediments above sea level.
B) Clay that expands when wet, contracts when dry.
C) Clay that forms very steep cliffs, which slide rapidly when they fall.
D) Clay that is too unstable for plants to grow on.
Q4) Landslides never take lives because they move slowly.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Ice and Glaciers,wind and Deserts
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Sample Questions
Q1) Glacially derived wind deposited soil is called
A) Loess.
B) Pedocals.
C) Pedofers.
D) Loam.
Q2) Which of the following statements is not true of dunes?
A) They have a characteristic shape, shallower in slope upwind
B) They need not necessarily be made of sand-sized particles
C) Once formed, they grow larger and larger but remain stationary
D) They may be stabilized by vegetation
Q3) Glacial striations are
A) Carved by rock fragments frozen into the ice.
B) Used to show the rate and direction of ice flow.
C) Only found in till deposits.
D) All of the choices are correct.
Q4) Calving is a process which results in the formation of icebergs.
A)True
B)False
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11
Chapter 10: Climate-Past, present, and Future
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Sample Questions
Q1) An animal that may need protection under the Endangered Species Act because of global warming
A) The penguin.
B) The seal.
C) The polar bear.
D) The arctic fox.
Q2) Slowing the destruction of tropical rain forests may also slow the rise in atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub>,because plants use carbon dioxide during photosynthesis.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Water vapor is the most significant greenhouse gas in terms of average atmospheric concentration (2 to 3%),but its amount varies quickly over a matter of days,whereas the average level of carbon dioxide changes much more slowly.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Global warming may increase the number of heat related deaths during summer. A)True
B)False
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Chapter 11: Ground Water and Water Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Limitations on the use of surface water as a water source include
A) Basic lack of surface water in some regions.
B) Seasonality of stream flow.
C) Past use of some lakes and streams for dumping wastewater.
D) All of the choices are correct.
Q2) The region of the U.S.that uses the most water for irrigation
A) The northeastern states (east of the Mississippi River and north of the Ohio River).
B) The southeastern states (east of the Mississippi River and south of the Ohio River).
C) The southwestern states including southern California (west of the Mississippi River and south of 40<sup>\(\circ\)</sup>N latitude).
D) The northwestern states (west of the Mississippi River and north of 40<sup>\(\circ\)</sup>N latitude).
Q3) A perched water table is a highly desirable and reliable source of ground water.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 12: Weathering, erosion, and Soil Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) The tendency to form clumps or peds is undesirable in a soil to be used for agriculture.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Abundant water promotes chemical weathering because most of the relevant reactions involve water.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The tendency of the soils to form clumps of soil particles or lumps is referred to as the soil
A) Fertility.
B) Texture.
C) Structure.
D) Chemistry.
Q4) Irrigation in dry climates may dissolve and thus mobilize,toxic elements in the soil.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 13: Mineral and Rock Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Wallboard (Sheetrock)is made from gypsum.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What rock or mineral resource is used in the greatest quantity?
A) Aluminum
B) Copper
C) Silicon, for silicon chips
D) Crushed rock, sand and gravel
Q3) A rock or mineral from which a useful or metal can be extracted is referred to as a(an)
A) Metal.
B) Sub-metallic.
C) Ore.
D) Economic mineral.
Q4) Limestone is the source for Portland cement,the principal binder for concrete on which the construction industry depends.
A)True
B)False
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Page 15
Chapter 14: Energy Resources-Fossil Fuels
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Sample Questions
Q1) 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
Q2) The first of the fossil fuels to be widely used was
A) Coal.
B) Oil.
C) Natural gas.
D) Tar sand.
Q3) The source of sulfur in coal is from all of the following except
A) Sulfur in the organic matter itself.
B) Pyrite (iron sulfide) in the coal.
C) Pyrite in shales associated with the coal.
D) Sulfurous fumes from volcanism.
Q4) Coal strip mines can be difficult to revegetate because of the acidity resulting from weathering of sulfur in spoils.
A)True
B)False
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Page 16
Chapter 15: Energy Resources-Alternative Sources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Given that a region has an average annual air temperature of 13<sup>\(\circ\)</sup>C,what would the subsurface temperature be at a depth of 2 km? Assume the geothermal gradient is the same as the world average geothermal gradient,which is approximately 30<sup>\(\circ\)</sup>C per kilometer.
A) 60<sup>\(\circ\)</sup>C
B) 73<sup>\(\circ\)</sup>C
C) 80<sup>\(\circ\)</sup>C
D) 93<sup>\(\circ\)</sup>C
Q2) A breeder reactor
A) Reprocesses spent fuel rods to extract plutonium.
B) Would be pollution-free, but the technology does not yet exist.
C) Converts more-common isotopes, such as uranium-238, to fissionable fuel during normal operation.
D) All of the choices are correct.
Q3) Worldwide,nations are dismantling their nuclear-fission plants because of the high levels of pollution they produce and concerns about resultant climate change.
A)True
B)False
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17
Chapter 16: Waste Disposal
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Sample Questions
Q1) Pollutants escape from improperly designed landfills in all of the following ways except
A) As gases rising through overlying soil.
B) Rodents burrowing into the landfill for shelter.
C) Through uptake in plants growing on the site.
D) Dissolved in leachate infiltrating into soil below.
Q2) Steel is in such demand that it is all readily recycled.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The disposal layer at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)site is A) Basalt.
B) Granite.
C) Tuff.
D) Bedded salt.
Q4) In a landfill,
A) The goal is always to keep the wastes as dry as possible.
B) The wastes must be kept saturated to prevent escape of gas.
C) Controlling moisture content can optimize methane production and waste decomposition while minimizing leachate.
D) The wastes must be kept aerated to allow anaerobic decomposition.
Page 18
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Chapter 17: Water Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) Use of settling ponds below farm fields reduces sediment pollution of surface runoff water.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Eutrophication caused by excess runoff of nitrate and phosphate fertilizer from farmland could be avoided by substitution of natural,organic fertilizers,like manures,for synthetic fertilizers.
A)True
B)False
Q3) When the source of pollutant is readily identified by one location then the type of pollution is called
A) Point source.
B) Nonpoint source.
C) Leachate.
D) All the choices are correct.
Q4) Thermal pollution differs from most chemical pollution in that
A) Despite being called "pollution", it causes no real harm.
B) It is localized in impact and short-lived.
C) It has by now effectively been eliminated as an environmental hazard.
D) All of the choices are correct.
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Chapter 18: Air Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) The thinning of the ozone layer over the Arctic at the end of its winter is lesser than what occurs at the end of the Antarctic winter and this difference is possibly due to the following
A) Nations of the northern hemisphere are more restrictive on the use of CFCs than are nations of the southern hemisphere.
B) The Arctic winter is shorter than the Antarctic winter.
C) The Arctic winter is longer than the Antarctic winter.
D) The Arctic is a region of ice covering seawater, whereas the Antarctic is a region of ice covering land.
Q2) The ozone layer is found in the A) Thermosphere.
B) Mesosphere.
C) Stratosphere.
D) Troposphere.
Q3) The radioactive gas that poses an indoor air-pollution problem is
A) Organic.
B) Ozone.
C) Argon.
D) Radon.
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Page 20
Chapter 19: Environmental Law and Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) The U.S.Environmental Protection Agency has responsibilities in all of the following areas except
A) Air pollution.
B) Water pollution.
C) Resource conservation.
D) Waste disposal.
Q2) The Surface and Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 pertains
A) Exclusively to coal and salt.
B) Exclusively to any minerals.
C) Excusively to salt.
D) Exclusively to coal.
Q3) An Environmental Impact Statement is required only if one wishes to build a major structure such as a dam or engage in a large project such as developing a mine or oil field on federal lands.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Federal laws to limit both air and water pollution have existed since the late nineteenth century.
A)True
B)False
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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) The St.Francis Dam in California failed because A) The reservoir was overfilled.
B) Some of the rocks of the valley walls disintegrated when wet.
C) There was movement on the fault over which the dam was built.
D) The dam itself was poorly built and collapsed.
Q3) When dams are found to be unsafe,the problem is most often that they have been built with defective materials that are not strong enough to hold the projected reservoir volume.
A)True
B)False
Q4) An advantage of multiple or sequential land use is that less land overall must be disturbed by human activities.
A)True
B)False
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