Introduction to Physical Geography
Exam Materials
Course Introduction
Introduction to Physical Geography explores the dynamic processes and patterns of the Earth's physical environment, including the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. Through a combination of theory, case studies, and practical examples, students examine topics such as weather and climate, landforms, vegetation, soils, and how these elements interact to shape the planets landscapes. The course provides a foundational understanding of natural hazards, resource management, and environmental change, equipping students with the knowledge to analyze human-environment interactions and the spatial patterns found on Earth.
Recommended Textbook
Physical Geography A Landscape Appreciation 10th Edition by Darrel Hess
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3397 Verified Questions
3397 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Introduction to Earth
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198 Verified Questions
198 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The International Date Line and the 180th meridian are the same line.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) The ________ equinox of the Southern Hemisphere takes place when the vertical rays of the Sun cross the Equator on the journey southward.
A) winter
B) autumnal
C) vernal
D) July
E) December
Answer: C
Q3) The solid, inorganic portion of the Earth system is known as the ________.
A) Earth
B) lithosphere
C) hydrosphere
D) atmosphere
E) biosphere
Answer: B
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Portraying Earth
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Sample Questions
Q1) If one wished to produce a map which focused on the continents and showed little of the world's oceans, then she/he should use a(n) ________ projection.
A) large scale
B) equal area
C) interrupted
D) conical
E) azimuthal
Answer: C
Q2) On which type of aerial imagery would a football field of artificial grass be discernible from natural grass?
A) color photography
B) black and white photography
C) color infrared photography
D) radar imagery
E) microwave imagery
Answer: C
Q3) A(n) ________ scale is a type of map scale which makes use of a line marked off in graduated distances.
Answer: graphic
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Introduction to the Atmosphere
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170 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most water vapor is contained in the lower 10 kilometers of the atmosphere.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Thousands of kilometers above the surface is the upper limit of the ________.
A) atmosphere
B) homosphere
C) troposphere
D) thermosphere
E) none of the above
Answer: A
Q3) The troposphere is an atmospheric layer with a uniform depth in all places around the globe.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) ________ is one of the gases that has a constant concentration in the lower atmosphere but is considered a "trace" gas.
Answer: Neon, helium, krypton, hydrogen, or methane
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Chapter 4: Insolation and Temperature
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the ________ latitudes, more energy leaves the top of the atmosphere than is received at the top of the atmosphere during a year.
Q2) Which of the following is the proper term for the average kinetic energy of all the molecules of a substance?
A) conduction
B) electromagnetic radiation
C) heat
D) wavelengths
E) inertia
Q3) Cool ocean currents deflect global Earth surface isotherms ________.
A) poleward
B) towards the Prime Meridian
C) equatorward
D) towards the closest continent
E) towards the ocean bottom
Q4) Solar radiation is most plentiful in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: Atmospheric Pressure and Wind
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171 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Africa's most prominent monsoon circulation can be found in the ________ part of the continent.
A) northern
B) eastern
C) central
D) western
E) southern
Q2) Cold air drainage is the nighttime sliding of cold air downslope to collect in low areas.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Where would be the most likely place to find a subtropical high?
A) near the Equator
B) above the polar front jet stream
C) over the tropical continents
D) over subtropical oceans
E) at any of the above locations
Q4) There is no apparent Coriolis deflection at the Equator.
A)True
B)False
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Atmospheric Moisture
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178 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Moving air helps increase evaporation.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Acid rain usually has a pH value of more than 7.0.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The textbook map shows the ________ region of the United States to have the greatest July precipitation totals.
A) Great Plains
B) Gulf Coast
C) Rocky Mountains
D) New England
E) West Coast
Q4) Acid rainfall does conspicuous damage to ________.
A) human health
B) Antarctic ice sheets
C) aquatic ecosystems
D) crop production
E) all of the above
Q5) Frontal activity is most prevalent in the ________ latitudinal zone.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Atmospheric Disturbances
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Enhanced Fujita Scale was adopted in 2007. It is based on estimates of 3-second gusts of wind as estimated by A) anemometers.
B) tornado damage.
C) Doppler radar.
D) human survivors.
E) weather balloons.
Q2) Most middle latitude cyclones occur ________.
A) in the trade wind flow
B) downstream of an upper level pressure trough
C) upstream of an upper level pressure trough
D) when the upper flow is zonal
E) only at night
Q3) A mesocyclone is the parent cloud of a tornado.
A)True
B)False
Q4) With a series of sketch maps, draw and then describe the beginnings, maturity, and "death" of a midlatitude cyclone.
Q5) Which part of a thunderstorm cloud is electrified with negative charges?
Q6) Explain how tornadoes form.
Page 9
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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) Which of the following is NOT usually found in highland locations as compared to their surrounding lowlands?
A) altitudinal zonation of vegetation
B) heavier precipitation
C) lower atmospheric pressure
D) local wind systems more prevalent
E) higher temperatures
Q3) Csb climates tend to experience frequent nocturnal fog.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Decreasing sea ice seems to be affecting the polar bear population.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The meaning of a "W" such as in the BWh Köppen climatic type is ________.
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Chapter 9: The Hydrosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) Asia's longest river is the ________.
A) Mekong
B) Ganges
C) Yangtze
D) Hwang Ho
E) Indus
Q2) A wall of sea water rushing up into an embayment is called ________.
A) a tidal bore
B) a flood tide
C) a neap tide
D) a spring tide
E) an apogee
Q3) Spring tides are defined as those which occur after winter and before summer.
A)True
B)False
Q4) An interstice is a small opening between individual flakes of clay.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Draw a cross section through the ground showing the relationship between the saturated zone, the water table, a groundwater well, and the cone of depression.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Cycles and Patterns in the Biosphere
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Sample Questions
Q1) Some substances are very stable and become harmfully concentrated in the higher levels of the food chain..
A)True
B)False
Q2) Encompassed in life, water is classified as in transit or ________.
Q3) Which of the following terms is the LEAST specific?
A) species
B) flora
C) fauna
D) benthos
E) biota
Q4) ________ consist of plants and animals-usually microscopic in size-that float about in the oceans, drifting with the currents and tides.
Q5) In the early days of Earth history, ________ was poisonous to living cells; now this substance is required by living cells.
Q6) The effect of wind on plants is also known as the edaphic influence.
A)True
B)False
Q7) 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) On the whole, the greatest rate of deforestation of the tropical rainforest is on the continent of
A) Africa.
B) North America.
C) Europe.
D) South America.
E) Asia.
Q2) Which of the following is a plant which is exotic to Florida and has had disastrous environmental consequences?
A) the palm tree
B) the hydrilla
C) the manatee
D) the algae bush
E) the New Zealand oak tree
Q3) Which statement is TRUE?
A) Valley bottoms tend to have riparian vegetation.
B) Valley bottoms usually have little subsurface moisture.
C) Valley bottoms tend to have sparse flora.
D) Valley bottom vegetation is rare in arid regions.
E) Valley bottoms are also called "adret slopes".
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Chapter 12: Soils
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Sample Questions
Q1) The deposition of finer particles at a lower level in the soil is illuviation.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The lowest level of the Soil Taxonomy soil classification system is the ________.
A) family
B) cation
C) series
D) group
E) subgroup
Q3) ________ is a measure of the ease with which water moves through the soil.
A) Permeability
B) Porosity
C) The wilting point
D) The field capacity
E) The capillarity
Q4) The measure of acidity/alkalinity in soils is based on the relative concentration of active hydrogen ions.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 13: Introduction to Landform Study
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Sample Questions
Q1) Hutton was the scholar who first conceived of uniformitarianism.
A)True
B)False
Q2) When magma cools rapidly, it results in ________.
A) small crystals
B) large crystals
C) detritus
D) foliation
E) earthquakes
Q3) Basalt is an example of a rock type with very large crystals.
A)True
B)False
Q4) ________ are formed from skeletal remains of coral and other lime-secreting sea animals.
A) Schists
B) Shales
C) Limestones
D) Sandstones
E) none of the above
Q5) Halide minerals are notably ________.
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Chapter 14: The Internal Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) The first person to write about the possibility of continental drift was ________.
A) Hess
B) Wegener
C) Ortelius
D) Einstein
E) Aristotle
Q2) Contrast the shape, structure, and formation of composite and shield volcanoes.
Q3) Oceans are being created and removed from the Earth on a cycling time of about ________.
A) 1 million years
B) 100 million years
C) 500 million years
D) 2.5 billion years
E) 4.6 billion years
Q4) Prior to Mount St. Helens in 1980 there had never been an active volcano in the United States.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The Great Rift Valley is on the continent of ________.
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Chapter 15: Preliminaries to Erosion: Weathering and Mass Wasting
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Sample Questions
Q1) The general term signifying the overall lowering of the rock material on the Earth's crust is ________.
A) denudation
B) mass wasting
C) slumping
D) jointing
E) weathering
Q2) Burrowing animals, earthquakes, and thunder are all significant contributors to soil creep.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Chemical weathering is speeded because mechanical weathering tends to ________.
A) greatly increase the surface area to be weathered
B) stop when chemical weathering starts
C) deliver rocks to where chemical processes are dominant
D) prevent moisture from washing away the chemicals
E) make coarse-grained materials decompose more rapidly than fine-grained materials
Q4) ________ are mass movement flows that occur on slopes in arid and semiarid regions.
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Chapter 16: Fluvial Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ is a basic characteristic of overland flow and not streamflow.
A) Gravitational influence
B) Sheet erosion
C) Sediment transport
D) Erosion
E) Traction
Q2) Which stream channels tend to be most turbulent?
A) wide ones
B) deep ones
C) ones with high speeds of flow
D) ones with smooth channel bottoms
E) All of the above tend to be turbulent.
Q3) The chemical erosion of stream channels is known as ________.
A) abrasion
B) erosion
C) competence
D) corrosion
E) turbulence
Q4) Using a diagram, explain the process of stream capture.
Q5) ________ theory is the currently accepted explanation of landform development.
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Chapter 17: Karst and Hydrothermal Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to the text, tower karst exists in ________.
A) China and Vietnam
B) the U.S. and Canada
C) the former U.S.S.R. and Iran
D) Japan and India
E) Hawaii and Alaska
Q2) A hot spring that lacks water is known as a ________.
A) hot spring
B) fumarole
C) geyser
D) sinter
E) travertine
Q3) Most geyser deposits take the form of miniature speleothems.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Mound or terrace build-up is often a side effect of hot springs.
A)True
B)False
Q5) ________ are the karst analogs of river valleys in that they are the fundamental unit in both erosion and weathering.
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Chapter 18: The Topography of Arid Lands
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Sample Questions
Q1) A(n) ________ might be formed when a narrow "fin" of rock collapses in mesa-and-scarp topography.
A) inselberg
B) butte
C) arch
D) playa
E) canyon
Q2) The wind rolling pebbles across the desert surface is an example of ________.
A) creep
B) traction
C) deposition
D) abrasion
E) scree
Q3) In the creation of rock escarpments in dry lands, much of the undermining is accomplished by a process called ________.
A) erosion
B) sapping
C) particulate sorting
D) sandblasting
E) evapotranspiration
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Chapter 19: Glacial Modification of Terrain
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Pleistocene Epoch ________.
A) didn't create glaciers over all the land surface
B) had several interglacial periods
C) may not yet have ended
D) is associated with the Laurentide ice sheet
E) is correctly described by all of the above
Q2) Continental ice sheets smooth and round the terrain while mountain glaciations tend to ________.
A) leave the terrain undisturbed
B) polish the terrain
C) steepen slopes and increase local relief
D) have similar effects
E) build mountains in the lower latitudes
Q3) "Drift" applies cumulatively to all of the materials carried by glaciers for deposition.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In glacially influenced mountain valleys are ________ lakes which are series of shallow lakes which bear a fancied resemblance to beads on a rosary.
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Chapter 20: Coastal Processes and Terrain
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most atolls began as ________ around volcanic islands which later subsided beneath the sea.
A) fringing reefs
B) dolines
C) polyps
D) tombolos
E) none of the above
Q2) In the last few thousand years, sea level changes have resulted from ________.
A) submergence of land masses
B) emergence of land masses
C) deglaciation
D) eustatic changes
E) all of the above
Q3) The world's first generation of large amounts of electricity from tidal power was in
A) the United States
B) South Africa
C) China
D) Chile
E) Canada
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