Geoscience and Society Final
Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Geoscience and Society explores the dynamic relationship between Earth systems and human activities, emphasizing how geological processes impact our environment, resources, and daily lives. The course examines themes such as natural hazards, resource management, sustainability, climate change, and the ethical responsibilities of geoscientists. Students develop an understanding of how scientific knowledge about the Earth informs public policy, societal decision-making, and addresses global challenges, preparing them to engage thoughtfully with issues at the intersection of geoscience and modern society.
Recommended Textbook
Environmental Geology 10th Edition by Carla W Montgomery
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Planet and Population: An Overview
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Sample Questions
Q1) The best records of ancient life are those for the last 600 million years,when organisms with hard parts became widespread.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Which of the following was not a consequence of the early heating of the earth?
A) Internal differentiation, forming core, mantle and crust
B) Formation of the oceans
C) Release of abundant, free oxygen into the atmosphere
D) Formation of an atmosphere
Answer: C
Q3) It is impossible to know the internal composition or structure of the earth because geologists cannot sample the interior.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: Rocks and Minerals-A First Look
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is not a member of the silicate group of minerals?
A) Quartz
B) Feldspar
C) Mica
D) Diamond
Answer: D
Q2) The particle grain size conglomerate is greater than that of sandstone.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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) The locations and ages of islands in the Hawaiian Island chain can be used to show
A) The direction of drift of North America.
B) The rate and direction of movement of the Pacific Plate.
C) The size of earthquakes to be expected in the Pacific Ocean.
D) All of the choices are correct.
Answer: B
Q2) The Azores Islands
A) Are remnants of rare rift zone volcanoes.
B) Are part of the Aleutian Island volcanic arc.
C) Are, like Hawaii, formed by a Hot Spot.
D) Are not formed by tectonic processes.
Answer: A
Q3) With increasing distance from an oceanic ridge,
A) The rocks become older.
B) The rocks become younger.
C) The rocks' ages alternate between younger and older.
D) All of the choices; different patterns occur at different ridges.
Answer: A
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5
Chapter 4: Earthquakes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Southern Alaska remains an area of great earthquake hazard; it is located above a subduction zone.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What resulted in most of the damage during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake?
A) Ground failure
B) Tsunami
C) Liquefaction
D) Fire
Q3) Seismic activity in the Pacific Northwest is associated with A) Faults.
B) Folds.
C) Divergence.
D) Subduction.
Q4) Strategies for reducing earthquake-related damage include all of the following except
A) Building strong structures across fault zones to stop fault movement.
B) Establishing a tsunami early warning system.
C) Improving underground drainage in areas with wet soil.
D) Avoiding building on steep slopes near fault zones.
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Volcanoes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Pyroclastics
A) Represent the fluid portion of lavas.
B) Are solid materials erupted from a volcano.
C) Are smaller volcanos that develop on the sides of a main volcano.
D) Are researchers who study volcanos and volcanic processes.
Q2) The Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI)is based on
A) The length of the eruption.
B) The volume of pyroclastics produced.
C) The height to which the pyroclastics rose in the atmosphere.
D) All the choices are correct.
Q3) 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.
Q4) The low-viscosity,fluid lava of hot-spot volcanoes is typically
A) Felsic.
B) Intermediate.
C) Mafic.
D) Ultramafic.
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Streams and Flooding
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Sample Questions
Q1) The difference of time between a precipitation event and peak flood discharge is termed as peak lag time.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Because upstream floods affect localized areas,they are more likely to be brief than are downstream floods.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A flood crest
A) Usually increases downstream from the area covered by the rain storm.
B) Is the maximum stage of the river at any point along the stream from a flood event.
C) Can take years to travel from its initiation point to the mouth of a river.
D) Is when a stream overflows its normal flow channel and spills out onto the floodplain.
Q4) When flood recurrence intervals are estimated from historic records,the estimated intervals depend strongly on the length of time represented by the records.
A)True
B)False
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8
Chapter 7: Coastal Zones and Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) A storm surge results from the high air pressure associated with major storms.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Beach replenishment projects that add sand to eroding beaches
A) Are a permanent solution to beach erosion that will never have to be repeated.
B) Must match the grain size of the sand, because finer sand will be carried away quickly by the ocean currents and coarser sand could result in a steeper beach face.
C) Are fairly inexpensive.
D) Are a hard/structural approach to beach stabilization.
Q3) When sea level rises,the rate at which the shoreline retreats landward depends partly on the slope of the beach.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Construction on barrier islands is highly desirable because it stabilizes these islands.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 8: Mass Movements
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Sample Questions
Q1) Human activities do not play a role in mass wasting.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A secondary hazard of landslides is flooding that occurs when slides dam stream valleys.
A)True
B)False
Q3) All of the following could increase the risk of landslide on a slope except
A) Use of septic tanks.
B) Building a house on the slope.
C) Planting shrubs with extensive root systems.
D) Adding fill at the top of the slope to build a road.
Q4) Which of the following is a common "trigger" of landslides?
A) Earthquakes
B) Lava flows
C) Vegetation
D) All of the choices are correct.
Q5) Mass wasting threatens only property,not lives,because it occurs so slowly.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Ice and Glaciers,wind and Deserts
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Sample Questions
Q1) Horizontal flow of air is driven,in part,by air-temperature differences over land and water.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Deserts are classified on the basis of A) Temperature.
B) Pressure.
C) Precipitation.
D) Plant and animal life.
Q3) The extent of ice sheets in North America during the last ice age can be determined,in part,by mapping terminal moraines.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A landform made of sediment deposited by melting ice is A) Till.
B) A moraine.
C) U-shaped.
D) A fjord.
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11
Chapter 10: Climate-Past, present, and Future
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Sample Questions
Q1) Signs of global warming are more evident in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Melting permafrost poses no construction engineering problems.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Of the following,one that actually reduces carbon dioxide emissions
A) An electric car that requires battery recharging using 110V or 220V electricity that is generated by a fossil fuel plant.
B) Replacing a 40W incandescent light bulb with a 15W fluorescent bulb in a socket that receives 110V electricity generated by a fossil fuel plant.
C) An electric lawn mower that runs on 110V electricity generated by a fossil fuel plant.
D) Replacing a 40W incandescent light bulb with a 15W fluorescent bulb in a socket that receives 110V electricity generated by solar photovoltaic cells.
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Chapter 11: Ground Water and Water Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Radium in groundwater
A) Occurs only near leaking radioactive-waste dumps.
B) Can be removed by water softeners.
C) Makes the water unsafe for bathing.
D) All of the choices are correct.
Q2) Existing treaties actually allocate more Colorado River water than its typical total annual stream flow.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Lake Chad,on the border of the Sahara Desert,
A) Is the last surviving deep-water lake in Africa and represents an important and stable water source for Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon.
B) Is a good analogy to Lake Erie, in that it has undergone extensive rehabilitation after being severely polluted and is now a healthy water source.
C) Was originally a glacier that melted and so the water supply is dwindling.
D) Is a shrinking, shallow-water lake, depleted both by withdrawals for irrigation and by lack of recharge during a multi-decade period of declining rainfall.
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Page 13
Chapter 12: Weathering, erosion, and Soil Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) The typical soil of a tropical rain forest also is excellent for farming because it supports such lush plant growth.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Soil erosion
A) Adds sediment load to streams, affecting stream hydrology and biology.
B) Adds sediments to coastal ocean water, blanketing light-dependent organisms such as corals and reducing their viability.
C) Adds agricultural chemicals to stream water and coastal water.
D) All are true.
Q3) Chemical and mechanical weathering are two processes,unrelated to each other.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Soils are formed by a series of processes commonly referred to as
A) Lithification.
B) Diagenesis.
C) Sedimentation.
D) Weathering.
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Chapter 13: Mineral and Rock Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Evaporite deposits are examples of
A) Igneous mineral deposits.
B) Sedimentary mineral deposits.
C) Metamorphic mineral deposits.
D) None of the choices are correct.
Q2) Conflict diamonds.
A) Are those mined in countries as a principal source of revenue for weapons for use by rebels in opposition to sitting governments
B) Are those that display two different colors depending on the direction in which they are viewed
C) Are those that represent the primary assets of a country that are surrendered to the victor in a war between nations
D) Are those that have a substantially reduced hardness in one crystal direction in comparison to other crystal directions
Q3) The consumption of resources in the United States matchest their production.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: Energy Resources-Fossil Fuels
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Sample Questions
Q1) Coal is in limited supply because most of it was formed early in earth's history,billions of years ago,before the atmosphere contained free oxygen; it cannot form today.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Oil extraction may cause
A) Black lung disease.
B) Land subsidence.
C) Acid drainage.
D) All of the choices are correct.
Q3) Research into in situ (underground)coal gasification is in progress,but there is concern about subsidence over the gasified coal beds.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Natural oil seeps are a source of pollution and occur when no impermeable rocks trap migrating oil.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: Energy Resources-Alternative Sources
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Q1) In the case of traditional geothermal power generating plants,individual geothermal fields can typically be used for only a few decades before the rocks become too chilled for efficient power generation.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The process by which large nuclei are split into smaller ones is called nuclear
A) Fission.
B) Fusion.
C) Breeding.
D) Cracking.
Q3) The Chernobyl reactor accident caused all of the following except
A) Psychological distress in local residents.
B) Core meltdown.
C) Extensive nuclear fusion reactions inside the reactor.
D) Release of airborne radioactive material over northern Europe.
Q4) If the nuclear-power option were pursued vigorously with current commercial reactor technology,all U.S.electricity needs could be supplied by nuclear power by the year 2010.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Waste Disposal
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Sample Questions
Q1) The basic assumption behind the dilute-and-disperse philosophy of liquid-waste disposal is that even potentially harmful substances pose no threat if sufficiently diluted.
A)True
B)False
Q2) If one were practicing the dilute-and-disperse approach to disposal of liquid hazardous wastes,one might consider using
A) A conventional sanitary landfill.
B) A deep disposal well.
C) ocean dumping of the wastes.
D) Switching to an alternate, more environmentally responsible approach.
Q3) Advantages of radioactive-waste disposal in bedded salt deposits include all of the following except
A) The fact that salt will flow plastically and self-seal under pressure.
B) The high melting temperature of salt, which helps contain heat-producing wastes.
C) The abundance of available abandoned salt mines.
D) Salt blocks radiation from radioactive decay.
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18
Chapter 17: Water Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) The gases produced as a byproduct of anaerobic decomposition include
A) Hydrogen sulfide and ethane.
B) Hydrogen sulfide and propane.
C) Hydrogen sulfide and butane.
D) Hydrogen sulfide and methane.
Q2) Chemical surveys by aircraft can help identify sites of particularly high probability of toxic-element contamination,such as areas affected by acid mine drainage.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Given the quantitative definition of residence time,the effect of increasing the rate of input of a chemical into a natural system at equilibrium would be to increase the chemical's residence time.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Nonpoint pollution sources are more diffuse and thus harder to monitor and control than are most point sources.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 18: Air Pollution
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Sample Questions
Q1) Both acidity and sulfate concentration in rain have been reduced downwind of Phase I targets of the U.S.Clean Air Act reauthorization of 1990.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Significant sources for dust and other particulates in the atmosphere include all of the following except
A) Combustion products of fuel, including soot, smoke and ash as well as vegetation burning, planned fires or wildfires.
B) Dust devils.
C) Glacial melt.
D) Building demolition.
Q3) Carbon monoxide concentrations in the upper atmosphere have been climbing for over a century due to increasing industrialization.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Photochemical smog consists principally of ozone.
A)True
B)False
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Page 20
Chapter 19: Environmental Law and Policy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Federal mineral-resource laws of the late nineteenth century were designed to preserve mineral resources by restricting exploitation.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Emissions of CFCs worldwide have been sharply reduced and atmospheric concentrations have likewise dropped considerably from their peak levels.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The present international treaty regarding Antarctica
A) Divides the land among the twelve nations claiming rights to it.
B) Allocates petroleum and mineral rights among the twelve original treaty signers and eleven other nations.
C) Prohibits radioactive-waste disposal, weapons testing, and military related activities on the continent.
D) All of the choices are correct.
Q4) The National Environmental Policy Act concerns the actions of all agencies.
A)True
B)False
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Page 21
Chapter 20: Land-Use Planning and Engineering Geology
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Leaning Tower of Pisa leans because
A) The designers wanted it that way.
B) The structure itself was poorly built.
C) The tower was built on unstable clay-rich soils.
D) Modern construction nearby has disturbed the foundation.
Q2) The need for land-use planning is diminishing now that geologic hazards are better understood.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The Panama Canal was cut to sea level to facilitate boats' passage between Atlantic and Pacific oceans and this is why its construction took so long.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In the United States,the federal government owns some percentage of land in almost every state and territory.
A)True
B)False
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