Geography of the Natural Environment Final Exam
Course Introduction
Geography of the Natural Environment explores the physical processes and spatial patterns that shape the Earth's surface and ecosystems. The course examines fundamental concepts such as landforms, climate systems, vegetation patterns, water resources, and soil formation, analyzing how these natural components interact with each other and with human activities. Students gain an understanding of both global and regional scale environmental processes, emphasizing the dynamic relationships between the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere. Through lectures, case studies, and practical exercises, learners develop skills in geographic analysis and environmental problem-solving relevant to contemporary environmental challenges.
Recommended Textbook
Physical Geography A Landscape Appreciation 10th Edition by Darrel Hess
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Chapter 1: Introduction to Earth
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Sample Questions
Q1) The moon is some ________ kilometers distant from Earth.
A) 3.85
B) 385
C) 3,850
D) 385,000
E) 38,500,000
Answer: D
Q2) The International Date Line and the 180th meridian are the same line.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain on Earth and its altitude is closest to ________ meters.
A) 90
B) 900
C) 9,000
D) 90,000
E) 900,000
Answer: C
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Portraying Earth
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the below wavelengths have been most useful in expanding measure biomass?
A) ultraviolet
B) x-rays
C) near infrared
D) radio wavelengths
E) gamma wavelengths
Answer: C
Q2) The explanations of symbols used on a map should be contained in
A) the title.
B) the scale.
C) the legend.
D) the space under the north arrow.
E) the data source.
Answer: C
Q3) At a scale of 1:10,000, the distance of an inch on a map would represent more than a mile on the ground.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 3: Introduction to the Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) Rain and snow frequently form in the stratosphere.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) On the average, the tropopause is highest above the surface over the ________.
A) North Pole
B) Arctic Circle
C) South Pole
D) Equator
E) Antarctic Circle
Answer: D
Q3) The "hole" in the Antarctic ozone
A) has now disappeared.
B) should disappear very soon.
C) was never proven to have existed.
D) persists longer and longer each year.
E) is invisible to satellite observations.
Answer: D
Q4) Clouds, precipitation and "weather" are found in this atmospheric layer.
Answer: troposphere
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Chapter 4: Insolation and Temperature
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Sample Questions
Q1) Almost all terrestrial radiation can be considered to be ________ and almost all solar radiation can be considered to be ________.
A) shortwave, longwave
B) shortwave, shortwave
C) longwave, longwave
D) longwave, shortwave
E) heat, light
Q2) As the angle of incidence becomes less, the
A) Sun appears higher in the sky.
B) distance from Earth to Sun increases.
C) amount of energy coming from the Sun decreases.
D) tilt of Earth's axis increases.
E) less concentrated solar energy becomes.
Q3) The Sun is directly on the horizon. The angle of incidence
A) is 0°.
B) is 45°.
C) is 90°.
D) is 180°.
E) cannot be calculated without additional information.
Q4) The ________ temperature scale has 100 units between freezing and boiling.
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Atmospheric Pressure and Wind
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Sample Questions
Q1) Surface winds tend to be ________ those at a higher level.
A) faster than
B) slower than
C) clockwise to
D) counterclockwise to
E) the same as
Q2) Which of the following does NOT act upon winds that blow far above the surface of the Earth?
A) Coriolis
B) geostrophic
C) gravity
D) pressure gradient
E) friction
Q3) Cold air drainage is the nighttime sliding of cold air downslope to collect in low areas.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Typical large wind turbines have output capacities that are measured in _____.
Q5) Explain why coastal areas tend to have higher winds than either the land or water regions nearby.
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Chapter 6: Atmospheric Moisture
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Sample Questions
Q1) Regions which average heavy rainfall exhibit, in general, little precipitation variability over time.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How warm or cold it feels to us is the ________ temperature.
A) dew point
B) sensible
C) latent
D) common
E) adiabatic
Q3) World precipitation maps contain lines of equal precipitation. These lines are known as ________.
Q4) Which of the following is most closely associated with unstable air?
A) heating of air
B) cooling of air
C) rising air
D) descending air
E) both A and C
Q5) An upslope fog is also known as a(n) ________ fog.
Q6) An observer can determine the atmosphere is stable by noticing ________.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Atmospheric Disturbances
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ is the air mass which is the principal source of moisture for the eastern United States.
Q2) Which of the following is most closely associated with midlatitude cyclones?
A) zonal flow in the upper westerlies
B) subsidence of air above the surface cyclone
C) stable air
D) cloud-free skies
E) meridional flow in the upper westerlies
Q3) Hurricane Katrina's damage was so great because the storm intensified just as it reached New Orleans.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Cyclogenesis occurs along ________.
A) the polar front
B) the occluded front
C) the edge of a baugio
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
Q5) Diagram and explain the relationship between the winds aloft and the formation of a middle latitude cyclone.
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Chapter 8: Climatic and Climate Change
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Sample Questions
Q1) Throughout the ET climates, ________ is/are very prevalent.
A) tornadoes
B) radiation fogs
C) winter rain
D) easterly waves
E) heat waves
Q2) In an Af climate, what time of day is precipitation most likely?
A) at dawn
B) at mid-morning
C) at noon
D) at mid-afternoon
E) at midnight
Q3) Over the ENTIRE past 70 million years there has been ________.
A) a global cooling
B) a global warming
C) a global warming and then a global cooling
D) no significant climate changes
E) no way to determine if there have been climate changes
Q4) How are the climatic controls of a BWh climate different from an Af climate?
Q5) ________ is the most conspicuous characteristic of D climates.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: The Hydrosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) The north and south polar ice packs ________ in size during their respective winter seasons.
A) decrease
B) increase slightly
C) double
D) quadruple
E) increase 100 times
Q2) The deepest oceanic trenches are in which ocean?
A) Atlantic
B) Pacific
C) Arctic
D) Indian
E) In any of the above, the trenches are approximately the same depth.
Q3) Approximately ________ percent of all atmospheric water comes from ocean surfaces.
A) 10
B) 50
C) 86
D) 95
E) none of the above
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Chapter 10: Cycles and Patterns in the Biosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) Net primary productivity is measured in ________ per year.
A) watts
B) watts per square meters
C) kilograms per square meter
D) kilograms
E) centimeters
Q2) In the selva, the vegetation is ________.
A) resistant to long droughts
B) dominated by broadleaf evergreen trees
C) seemingly unrelated to the environmental "spheres"
D) short tundra grasses
E) usually damaged by nasty monkeys
Q3) In the United States, biofuels have gained great political and economic momentum because they
A) have been mandated by the government.
B) are "the right thing to do."
C) are the most energy efficient solution.
D) do not emit much carbon dioxide when burned.
E) use little land in their production.
Q4) A(n) ________ is another term for a secondary consumer.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Terrestrial Flora and Fauna
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most of the eastern United States was originally covered with ________.
A) grasslands
B) savanna
C) midlatitude forest
D) boreal forest
E) tundra
Q2) Which of the following is NOT descriptive of most desert animals?
A) anatomically adapted by evolution
B) nocturnal activity
C) low range of daily body temperatures
D) large-scale movements to follow the rains
E) ability to delay reproduction until wet times
Q3) Europe and northern Asia fall in the Palearctic region.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Describe the principal characteristics of the animals of the Nearctic zoogeographic region.
Q5) "Forests" refers to one of the world's biomes.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 12: Soils
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Sample Questions
Q1) The mixing of soil materials by the activities of animals is known as ________.
Q2) Which of the following is a reason earthworms increase the fertility of the soils in which they reside?
A) formation of aggregate soil particles
B) mixing of leaf litter
C) increased nitrification
D) increase of soil nutrients
E) all of the above
Q3) ________ is a soil-forming process which leaves behind an ash light-colored A horizon.
Q4) Which is a main soil-forming factor?
A) climatic
B) geologic
C) topographic
D) chronological
E) all of the above
Q5) Explain the importance of the nature of the parent material to soil formation and type. Then, develop two examples in which the influence of parent materials may be outweighed by other soil forming factors.
Page 14
Q6) ________ are organisms that create organically rich casts.
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Chapter 13: Introduction to Landform Study
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Sample Questions
Q1) Metamorphic rocks are probably the most common rock type found in the Earth's crust.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Quartz and feldspar are felsic rocks.
A)True
B)False
Q3) These rock-forming minerals are light-colored or colorless. They are common components of sedimentary rock and frequently combine with oxygen.
A) halides
B) carbonates
C) sulfates
D) oxides
E) native elements
Q4) Several organic minerals are found in nature.
A)True
B)False
Q5) ________ refers to the analytical element of landscape study which considers the actions that have combined to produce the landform.
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Chapter 14: The Internal Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Paleomagnetism is used to show that the continents drifted apart.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A sag pond is caused by collection of water from springs or runoff after movement along ________.
A) fault lines
B) volcanoes
C) flood basalts
D) anticlines
E) synclines
Q3) Which earthquake wave type travels the slowest?
A) P
B) S
C) Q
D) R
E) T
Q4) A(n) ________ fault results from tensional forces and the upthrown and downthrown sides are separated by a steep fault scarp.
Q5) There is on the order of ________ hundred active volcanoes on Earth.
Q6) A lengthy complex of grabens forms a ________ valley.
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Preliminaries to Erosion: Weathering and Mass Wasting
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following must take place FIRST during the denudation of a landscape?
A) weathering
B) erosion
C) mass wasting
D) They must occur simultaneously.
E) None of them must occur first.
Q2) The most common oxidation effect in the lithosphere is ________.
A) rusting
B) exfoliation
C) talus
D) scree
E) hydrolysis
Q3) Water penetrating into soil promotes chemical weathering by acting as a weak
A) acid
B) base
C) saline solution
D) neutral agent
E) catalyst
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Fluvial Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Niagara Falls is the most famous set of falls in North America because they
A) are the widest falls in the word
B) are the tallest falls in the world
C) pass an enormous volume of water over them
D) flow "backwards" from what would be expected
E) date from almost the beginning of Earth history
Q2) Dams are very "clean" in their generation of electricity.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A peneplain is the ________ of the classical geomorphic cycle of erosion. A) beginning
B) youthful stage
C) mature stage
D) old age stage
E) end product
Q4) The load carried by overland flow past a point is generally small in comparison to what a stream can transport past a point.
A)True
B)False
Page 18
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Chapter 17: Karst and Hydrothermal Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Speleothems are associated with the ________ stage of cavern formation.
A) initial excavation
B) dead
C) decoration
D) solution
E) room
Q2) Valleys in karst terrain are generally dry and small.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The heat emanating from a geyser basin is hundreds of times greater than the heat emanating from a non-geyser area of the same size.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A hot spring that lacks water is known as a ________.
A) hot spring
B) fumarole
C) geyser
D) sinter
E) travertine
Q5) ________ are residual karst features having very steep sides riddled with caves.
Page 19
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Chapter 18: The Topography of Arid Lands
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ is a term that means steep cliffs.
Q2) Explain the "special" processes that make desert landforms differ from humid landforms.
Q3) Fluvial depositional features are common in desert regions.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Of the following, which is the LEAST important in creating most desert landforms?
A) impermeable surfaces
B) intense precipitation
C) lack of vegetation
D) wind
E) prominence of mechanical weathering
Q5) One of the primary special characteristics of deserts is their ________.
A) complete absence of precipitation
B) lack of trees other than palms
C) prevalence of soil creep
D) basins of internal drainage
E) complete absence of vegetation
Q6) As with a barchan dune, the ________ side faces the prevailing wind direction.
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Chapter 19: Glacial Modification of Terrain
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Sample Questions
Q1) The last major retreat of the ice took place within the last 11,000 years.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following is accepted as the single causal mechanism for the Pleistocene climate changes?
A) changes in the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide
B) changes in Earth's orbit
C) changes in the positions of the continents
D) changes in the solar radiation received by Earth
E) None of the above is widely accepted.
Q3) Long tongues of ice which surround the margin of continental ice sheets are called
A) periglacials
B) nunataks
C) névé
D) outlet glaciers
E) none of the above
Q4) Glacial steps are associated with glaciated valleys.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 20: Coastal Processes and Terrain
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Sample Questions
Q1) Over time, most coastal lagoons become ________.
A) spits
B) marshes
C) tombolos
D) terraces
E) beaches
Q2) Tidal power projects are extremely expensive.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Compared to other causes, wind is a minor generator of wave action along coasts.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Where are tides significant agents in coastal erosion?
A) on barrier islands
B) along shorelines of submergence
C) in narrow bays
D) on the ocean bottom
E) in all the above places
Q5) As waves of oscillation "feel bottom," they are converted to ________.
Q6) ________ are the tiny marine animals that deposit coral.
Page 22
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