Geosciences Review Questions
Course Introduction
Geosciences is the comprehensive study of the Earth, exploring its structure, processes, history, and the dynamic interactions between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere. This course delves into topics such as plate tectonics, mineralogy, geological hazards, surface processes, and Earths environmental systems. By integrating principles from physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics, students gain a holistic understanding of how Earths systems function and change over time, as well as how humans interact with and impact their planet. The course also emphasizes analytical skills, field investigations, and the application of geoscientific knowledge to societal challenges, including natural resource management, environmental stewardship, and disaster mitigation.
Recommended Textbook
Elemental Geosystems 6th Edition by
Robert W. Christopherson
Available Study Resources on Quizplus 16 Chapters
1791 Verified Questions
1791 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Foundations of Geography
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Sample Questions
Q1) The flooding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina falls within which of the five themes?
A) location
B) place
C) human-Earth relationships
D) movement
E) regions
Answer: C
Q2) The essential approach in geographic studies is spatial analysis.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Which of the following is an example of a system?
A) a leaf
B) a river drainage basin
C) a midlatitude cyclonic storm
D) All of these are examples of systems.
E) None of these are examples of systems.
Answer: D
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Solar Energy, Seasons, and the Atmosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) On Earth, the Sun passes directly overhead at 25 degrees north latitude ________ times a year.
A) 0
B) 1
C) 2
D) 4
Answer: A
Q2) Which of the following is true of Earth's orbit about the Sun?
A) It is perfectly circular.
B) It is elliptical.
C) It takes approximately the same time for Earth to orbit the Sun as it does for the rest of the planets in the solar system to orbit the Sun.
D) The orbit does not vary over millions of years.
E) Both B and C are true.
Answer: B
Q3) The dominant wavelength of energy emitted by the sun is
A) shorter than that emitted by Earth.
B) longer than that emitted by Earth.
C) the same length as that emitted by Earth.
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: Atmospheric Energy and Global Temperatures
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Sample Questions
Q1) When water evaporates from a surface, which of the following occurs?
A) Energy is stored within the water.
B) Energy is removed from the surface.
C) The surface is cooled.
D) All of the above occur.
Answer: D
Q2) The lowest natural temperature on Earth (-89.2 degrees C, -128.56 degrees
A) Vostok, Antarctica in July.
B) Verkhoyansk, Siberia, Soviet Union in January.
C) at the North Pole in July.
D) at a South Pole scientific base in December.
E) was recorded at
Answer: A
Q3) The highest temperatures on Earth are associated with the intense heating over the equator.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 4: Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Air flow in a Northern Hemisphere \(\underline { \text { high } }\) pressure zone is
A) downward, outward and clockwise.
B) downward, outward and counterclockwise.
C) inward, upward and clockwise.
D) inward, upward and counterclockwise.
E) downward, inward and clockwise.
Q2) In India, monsoon rains come in the winter season.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Winds that blow predominantly from the northeast and the southeast are the A) westerlies.
B) polar easterlies.
C) horse latitudes.
D) trade winds.
Q4) Areas in which gravity drainage of air occurs would make potentially good sites for wind turbines.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: Atmospheric Water and Weather
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161 Verified Questions
161 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which cloud type is specifically a good indicator of an arriving storm, say within the next 24 hours?
A) fog
B) cumulus
C) stratocumulus
D) cirrus
Q2) Which of the following is true of migrating centers of \(\underline {\text { low } }\) pressure in the Northern Hemisphere?
A) The winds diverge from the pressure system and spiral outward in a clockwise fashion.
B) These pressure systems tend to move east to west along storm tracks.
C) These pressure systems are characterized by converging, ascending air that spirals inward in a counterclockwise fashion.
D) They form only a minor weather pattern in the middle and higher latitudes.
Q3) The place on Earth with the highest annual average rainfall is located in
A) the United States.
B) the Amazon Basin.
C) Southeast Asia.
D) equatorial Africa.
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Page 7
Chapter 6: Water Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) If the potentiometric surface reaches the surface of the ground, a spring will develop.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Potential evapotranspiration refers to
A) the moisture supply.
B) the amount of unmet water demand in an environment.
C) the amount of water that would evaporate or transpire if it were available.
D) actual evapotranspiration under conditions of moisture deficit.
Q3) As transpiration occurs, water enters plant roots because ________.
A) a neutral pressure gradient is created
B) the water pressure in the soil is more than the water pressure in the plant
C) the water pressure in the soil is less than the water pressure in the plant
D) gravity acts on the water in the soil
Q4) Which of the following would make the best aquifer?
A) uncemented, loosely compacted clay
B) cemented sand that was highly compacted
C) uncemented sand that is loosely compacted
D) cemented gravel that was loosely compacted at the time of cementation
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Page 8
Chapter 7: Global Climate Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) An \(\underline {\text { empirical } }\)classification is based on, among other factors, ________.
A) the interaction of air masses
B) the origin or genesis of the climate
C) the mean annual temperature and precipitation of an area
D) causative factors
Q2) Earth is within 1 degree C of equaling the highest average temperature of the past 125,000 years.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The tropical rain-forest climate receives most of its rainfall as a result of ________.
A) frontal uplift
B) orographic uplift
C) convectional uplift
Q4) Chaparral is a type of vegetation that is very tolerant of extreme cold.
A)True
B)False
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9
Chapter 8: The Dynamic Planet
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Sample Questions
Q1) \(\underline { \text { Tilted } }\) layers of quartzite exposed in a mountain range indicate that
A) the mountain was covered with water.
B) sand was deposited on a steeply sloping surface, lithified, uplifted and then exposed at the surface.
C) sand was deposited, lithified, metamorphosed, uplifted and exposed.
D) limestone was deposited, lithified, metamorphosed, uplifted and exposed.
Q2) Silt and clay are likely to be deposited in a beach environment.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The principle of isostasy refers to the horizontal movement of Earth's plates in response to loading and unloading of weight, such as ice or sediment.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following is \(\underline {\text { endogenic } }\) in nature?
A) weathering
B) stream deposition
C) volcanism
D) glacial erosion
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Chapter 9: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
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Sample Questions
Q1) On average, how often would you expect an earthquake of between moment magnitude 5.0-5.9 and Mercalli V-VII to occur?
A) 120 times a year
B) 800 times a year
C) only once every few years
D) once or twice a century
Q2) History seems to teach us that humans are generally unable or unwilling to perceive hazards in a familiar environment.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The Grand Tetons best represent a
A) horst.
B) graben.
C) tilted fault block.
D) anticline.
Q4) Which of the following statements about shield volcanoes is true?
A) They occur in continental shield areas.
B) They are subject to violently explosive eruptions.
C) They form from mafic magma.
D) They consist of tremendous quantities of pyroclastics.
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Chapter 10: Weathering, Karst Landscapes, and Mass Movement
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following stream channel types is likely to develop on gently sloping surfaces composed of rocks or sediments with approximately the same resistance to erosion? (Also assume that there are no structural controls on the pattern's development.)
A) radial
B) annular
C) deranged
D) dendritic
Q2) A major drainage basin consists of a single watershed.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following is true of the Mississippi River?
A) It is in danger of jumping channels into the Atchafalaya River.
B) Human development in coastal wetlands have increased hurricane damage protection for the interior lands.
C) The disastrous flooding of New Orleans in 2005 was completely unpredicted.
D) Within Bayou Laforche, houses built on stilts were protected from Hurricane Katrina.
Q4) Chapter 11 River Systems and Landforms
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Chapter 12: Wind Processes and Desert Landscapes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Desert pavement refers to
A) specially constructed roadbeds in dry and hot regions.
B) surfaces of concentrated pebbles and gravels that are produced by particle removal and water-delivered cementing materials.
C) surfaces that evidently were not affected by the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
D) sand-covered surfaces.
Q2) Loess deposits occur worldwide on every major continent other than Antarctica.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Buttes, mesas, and inselbergs represent
A) pinnacles of rock and rock masses that were uplifted by compressional forces.
B) erosional remnants of a once extensive and continuous rock layer.
C) erosional remnants of vertically tilted strata.
D) the erosional remnants of volcanoes (i.e., volcanic necks).
Q4) What size material composes the dust in a dust storm that extends thousands of feet above the ground?
A) sand
B) silts and clays
C) gravels
D) sand, silts, and clays
Page 13
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Chapter 13: The Oceans, Coastal Processes, and Landforms
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Sample Questions
Q1) Approximately what percentage of the population of the United States lives in a coastal area?
A) 1/20
B) 1/4
C) 1/2
D) 2/3
Q2) The fact that the mixing zone in the ocean constitutes a ________ percentage of the total ocean volume means that wastes dumped into the ocean will be ________ diluted.
A) large; quickly
B) large; slowly
C) small; quickly
D) small; slowly
Q3) A mere one foot rise in sea level along the shores of North America could cost hundreds of billions of dollars in damages.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Coral bleaching results in the death of corals.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: Glacial and Penglacial Landscapes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is a continental depositional feature?
A) cirque
B) horn
C) drumlin
D) col
Q2) The movement of continents and the formation of mountain ranges have no significant influence on the development of ice age conditions.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Relative to glacial mass balance, which of the following is false?
A) A positive net balance occurs during a cold period, and a negative net balance occurs during a warm period.
B) Glacial mass is reduced by evaporation, sublimation, and deflation.
C) Glacial mass is reduced by a combination of processes called ablation.
D) Worldwide, most glaciers are showing marked net increase in mass at present.
Q4) Glacial ice forms more quickly in polar environments than in midlatitude, alpine environments.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: The Geography of Soils
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101 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Recent, undeveloped soils are known as A) Oxisols.
B) Ultisols.
C) Entisols.
D) Spodosols.
Q2) Horizons develop in soil because of A) leaching.
B) capillary action.
C) eluviation and illuviation.
D) all of the above
E) None of the above-the parent material is already layered at the time soil formation begins and all subsequent development involves only chemical transformation within the pre-existent horizons.
Q3) The general name for any distinct layer in a pedon is A) plate.
B) eluviation zone.
C) illuviation zone.
D) horizon.
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16
Chapter 16: Ecosystems and Biomes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following results from the competition for sunlight in a plant community?
A) varying heights of plants
B) leaf orientation
C) plant structure
D) all of these
Q2) Bears eat both plants and animals; therefore, they are
A) herbivores.
B) carnivores.
C) omnivores.
D) specialists.
Q3) Which of the following would be the first to appear following the abandonment of farmland in an oak-hickory forest?
A) hickory trees
B) oak trees
C) annual weeds
D) bushes
Q4) If climate change occurs too rapidly, species may become extinct.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: Earth and the Human Denominator
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to the author of the text, who should speak for Earth?
A) economists
B) military leaders for nuclear superpowers
C) physical geographers and other scientists who study the natural world
D) political leaders
E) all of the above
Q2) Which of the following is false regarding polar bears?
A) They were listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2008.
B) According to the USGS two-thirds will disappear by 2050.
C) The root cause of polar bear decline is loss of sea ice.
D) The State of Alaska led the fight to list them as endangered.
Q3) This region has the highest per-capita energy use.
A) North America
B) Asia
C) Europe
D) South America
Q4) There are over 10,000 oil-spill accidents each year.
A)True
B)False
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