Natural Hazards and Disasters Exam Review
Course Introduction
This course examines the scientific, environmental, and societal aspects of natural hazards and disasters, including earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, floods, and tsunamis. Students explore the physical processes underlying these events, their geographic distribution, and the ways in which human activity influences their impact. The course also covers methods for assessing risk, strategies for disaster preparedness and mitigation, and the role of policy and planning in reducing vulnerability to natural hazards. Case studies of historical and recent disasters provide context for understanding the complex interactions between natural systems and human societies.
Recommended Textbook
EARTH 1st Edition by Graham R. Thompson
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Earth Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) The __________ contains all of Earth's water.
Answer: hydrosphere
Q2) A tectonic plate is composed of:
A) cool, rigid rock that rides on a continuous shell of molten magma.
B) cool, rigid rock that rides on a plastic mantle layer.
C) hot, plastic rock supported by a rigid foundation of cool rock.
D) cool, rigid rock that floats on the Earth's molten core.
Answer: B
Q3) Liquid freshwater amounts to about __________ percent of Earth's total water.
A) 0.64
B) 6.4
C) 16.4
D) 60.4
Answer: A
Q4) The Earth is about 460 million years old.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q5) At its center, Earth's temperature is about __________.
Answer: 6000°C
3
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Chapter 2: Minerals
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Sample Questions
Q1) Two common carbonate minerals are __________ and __________.
A) calcite, feldspar
B) calcite, dolomite
C) quartz, galena
D) dolomite, quartz
Answer: B
Q2) Most rock-forming minerals are silicates.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Halite (table salt) is composed of __________.
A) silicon and oxygen
B) sodium and chlorine
C) iron and oxygen
D) silicon and sodium
Answer: B
Q4) A scale that compares the resistance of the surfaces of minerals to scratching is
Answer: Mohs hardness scale
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Chapter 3: Rocks
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Sample Questions
Q1) __________ __________ is the older igneous and metamorphic rock underlying sedimentary rock.
Answer: Basement rock
Q2) Obsidian is volcanic glass where the atoms are arranged in a random chaotic pattern.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) The process of __________ compresses buried sediment and forces water out of pore spaces.
A) partial melting
B) compaction
C) lithification
D) metamorphism
Answer: B
Q4) Igneous rocks that solidify within the Earth's crust are __________.
Answer: plutonic or intrusive
Q5) Parallel growth of mica (and other minerals) during metamorphism and deformation of shales produces layering called __________.
Answer: foliation
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Chapter 4: Geologic Time: a Story in the Rocks
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Q1) Geologic evidence for the cause of the extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous includes:
A) a silicate-rich layer.
B) glacier deposits.
C) iron-nickel deposits.
D) an iridium-rich layer.
Q2) The fact that sedimentary rocks usually become younger from bottom to top is the principle of __________.
Q3) Fish, amphibians, and reptiles all evolved during the __________ Era/Eon.
A) Cenozoic
B) Mesozoic
C) Paleozoic
D) Proterozoic
Q4) Carbon-14 dating is used to determine the age of materials older than 50,000 years.
A)True B)False
Q5) Relative age measurement provides scientists with age measured in years. A)True B)False
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Chapter 5: Geologic Resources
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Q1) _______________ is formed as a residual deposit in warm climates.
A) Bauxite
B) Banded iron
C) A manganese nodule
D) A hydrothermal vein deposit
Q2) Coal reserves are thought to be sufficient to last a few __________.
A) years
B) decades
C) centuries
D) millennia
Q3) Electricity can be used to dissociate water into oxygen and hydrogen that could then be used to power a fuel cell to drive an electric motor.
A)True
B)False
Q4) To form an oil reservoir, cap rocks must be _______________.
A) porous
B) permeable
C) impermeable
D) thin
Q5) __________ energy resources are replenished by natural processes as we use them.
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Chapter 6: The Active Earth: Plate Tectonics
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Sample Questions
Q1) A mantle plume is a __________.
A) convergent boundary between two plates
B) divergent boundary between two plates
C) transform boundary between two plates
D) rising column of hot, plastic mantle rock
Q2) A plate is a segment of the lithosphere; thus, it includes the uppermost mantle and all of the overlying crust.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Supercontinents may assemble, split apart, and reassemble every 5,000 to 7,000 years.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Where two plates carrying continental crust converge, they form:
A) huge mountain ranges.
B) a subduction zone, and one plate sinks into the mantle.
C) a transform boundary.
D) a mantle plume.
Q5) The Hawaiian Island chain is an example of a volcanic center at a __________
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Chapter 7: Earthquakes and the Earths Structure
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Sample Questions
Q1) Earthquakes occur along the upper portion of a sinking plate in the __________ zone.
Q2) The initial rupture point of an earthquake is the __________.
Q3) __________ waves are elastic waves traveling through rock, produced by an earthquake.
A) Tidal
B) Seismic
C) Electromagnetic
D) Ocean
Q4) P waves in the Earth travel more than ten times slower than the speed of sound in air.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The earthquakes caused when a subducting plate sinks into the mantle:
A) concentrate along the upper portion of the sinking plate.
B) concentrate in the asthenosphere adjacent to the sinking plate.
C) are very shallow earthquakes.
D) occur only at the same time as volcanic eruptions.
Q6) __________ are small earthquakes that precede a large quake by an interval ranging from a few seconds to a few weeks.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Volcanoes and Plutons
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Sample Questions
Q1) A cinder cone is usually active for only a short period of time because once the gas escapes the driving force behind the eruption is removed.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The gentlest, least catastrophic type of volcanic eruption occurs when magma is so fluid that it simply oozes from cracks as pyroclastic rocks.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Melting caused by decreased pressure is called __________ melting.
A) pressure-release
B) pressure-decrease
C) pressure-cease
D) pressure-diminish
Q4) Gentle eruptions of basaltic lava from long fissures create __________.
A) flood basalts
B) cinder cones
C) shield volcanoes
D) calderas
Q5) Long chains of silicate tetrahedra form in magma with __________ composition.
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Chapter 9: Mountains
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Sample Questions
Q1) A thrust fault is a special type of normal fault that is nearly horizontal.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A sedimentary basin between a trench and an island arc is called a __________.
A) forearc basin
B) backarc basin
C) middle-arc basin
D) double-trench
Q3) A/an _________ _________ is a special type of reverse fault that is nearly horizontal.
Q4) The Himalayas were formed:
A) by convergence of two plates each carrying oceanic crust only.
B) by convergence of two plates each carrying continental crust only.
C) by convergence of an oceanic plate with a continental plate, followed by continent-continent collision.
D) at a divergent plate boundary where oceanic crust is separating from continental crust.
Q5) During the formation of the __________, the leading edge of India began to slide under Tibet in a process called underthrusting.
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Chapter 10: Weathering, Soil, and Erosion
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Sample Questions
Q1) During __________, water dissolves a mineral to form a solution.
A) dissolution
B) hydrolysis
C) frost wedging
D) salt cracking
Q2) The alternate shrinking and swelling of humus tightens soil and prevents roots from growing easily.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The process whereby granite fractures in large plates or shells like the layers of an onion is called __________.
Q4) Fall is the most rapid type of mass wasting.
A)True
B)False
Q5) In soils, leached ions and clay frequently accumulate in the:
A) B horizon.
B) O horizon.
C) A horizon.
D) C horizon.
Q6) __________ is the orientation of a slope with respect to the Sun.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Fresh Water: Streams, Lakes, Ground Water, and Wetlands
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most of the surface freshwater (in liquid or frozen form) is contained in:
A) ice sheets and glaciers.
B) groundwater.
C) lakes.
D) rivers.
Q2) Levees can create conditions that cause much larger floods in the long term.
A)True
B)False
Q3) When a stream has a greater supply of sediment than it can carry, it:
A) stops overflowing its banks.
B) cuts a single channel.
C) forms a braided stream.
D) stops flowing.
Q4) The top of a saturated zone created by an impermeable layer that lies above the main water table is called a/an __________ __________ __________.
Q5) The __________ of a stream is a measure of the largest particle it can carry.
A) aspect
B) gradient
C) runoff
D) competence
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Chapter 12: Water Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) The pollution of Love Canal was caused by:
A) biodegradable wastes.
B) plant nutrients.
C) radioactive materials.
D) industrial toxic waste.
Q2) If desert or semidesert soils are irrigated for long periods of time:
A) the soil remains fertile and productive.
B) salt accumulates and destroys fertility.
C) salinization improves soil fertility.
D) the water becomes too silty to use.
Q3) Dams provide a net __________ of water and a __________ controlled flow of the stream.
A) loss, more
B) loss, less
C) gain, less
D) gain, more
Q4) Excessive water removal in coastal areas can cause __________ intrusion into wells.
Q5) Pollutants that do not decay naturally in a reasonable amount of time are classified as __________.
14
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Chapter 13: Glaciers and Ice Ages
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Sample Questions
Q1) In a plastically flowing alpine glacier, the:
A) center flows slower than the sides, but the center layers move faster than the deepest layers.
B) center, sides, and deeper layers all move at the same speed.
C) center flows faster than the sides, and the center layers move faster than the deepest layers.
D) center flows faster than the sides, but the center layers move slower than the deepest layers.
Q2) Glacial striations can be used to map the flow direction of glaciers.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Ice in the upper 40 meters of a glacier fractures to form crevasses.
A)True B)False
Q4) The higher-elevation part of a glacier is called the zone of ablation.
A)True B)False
Q5) __________ __________ is glacier movement as a viscous fluid.
Q6) The place where glacial flow cannot keep pace with melting is called the
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Deserts and Wind
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most dunes are symmetrical.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Rainfall patterns and deserts have no direct relationship to tectonic activity.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Because sand grains are relatively heavy, wind rarely lifts sand more than 1 meter above the ground and carries it only short distances.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Wind erosion, called __________, is a selective process in which the wind moves only small particles, such as silt and sand.
Q5) The day after a flash flood, a desert wash may contain only a tiny trickle, and within 24 hours, it may be completely dry again.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Windblown sand is an effective agent of erosion.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: Ocean Basins
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most of the water that fills the Earth's oceans came from:
A) interplanetary space.
B) outside of our solar system.
C) volcanoes.
D) a gigantic flood.
Q2) Continental margins on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean are __________ __________ __________.
Q3) An active continental margin forms:
A) at mid-ocean ridges.
B) at continent-continent margins.
C) where an oceanic plate sinks beneath a continental plate at a subduction zone.
D) in a rift valley.
Q4) Island arcs grow from __________.
A) atolls
B) passive continental margins
C) submarine volcanoes near a subduction zone
D) abyssal fans
Q5) A/an __________ __________ is a deep trough in the crest of many mid-ocean ridges.
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Chapter 16: Oceans and Coastlines
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Sample Questions
Q1) Coral reefs thrive best over a wide temperature range.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The wavelength is the:
A) highest part of a wave.
B) distance between successive crests.
C) fetch of a wave.
D) vertical distance between the crest and the trough of a wave.
Q3) The __________ is the distance between successive crests or troughs of a wave.
Q4) The size of waves depends on:
A) wind speed, length of time the wind has been blowing, and fetch.
B) wind speed, length of time the wind has been blowing, and ocean color.
C) wind speed, fetch, and ocean color.
D) length of time the wind has been blowing, fetch, and ocean color.
Q5) When deep ocean water rises to the surface, the upward flow is called a/an
Q6) A sheltered body of water between the shore and a barrier island is a/an
Q7) When the flow of the tide is funneled through a narrow entrance to a bay, a __________ __________ results.
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Chapter 17: The Atmosphere
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Q1) The layer of air closest to the Earth is the __________.
A) tropopause
B) troposphere
C) mesosphere
D) stratosphere
Q2) A second rapid increase of oxygen in the atmosphere (the Second Great Oxidation Event) started about __________ years ago.
A) 3 billion
B) 600 million
C) 60 million
D) 6 million
Q3) A/an __________ is used to measure air pressure.
A) anemometer
B) thermometer
C) compass
D) barometer
Q4) Chlorofluorocarbons and halons destroy ozone in the stratosphere.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Acidity is expressed on the __________ scale.
Page 19
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Chapter 18: Energy Balance in the Atmosphere
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Q1) Evaporation from a body of water:
A) cools the water and air around it.
B) cools the water, but warms the air around it.
C) warms the water and air around it.
D) has not effect on the temperature of the water and air around it.
Q2) Air is a good conductor of heat.
A)True
B)False
Q3) On __________, every place on Earth receives 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of darkness.
A) the equinox
B) the solstice
C) the 4<sup>th</sup> of July
D) Thanksgiving Day
Q4) The amount of radiation that the Earth receives from the Sun is so tiny that it hardly warms the Earth's surface.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Carbon dioxide and methane can trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere and are therefore known as __________ gases.
Page 20
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Chapter 19: Moisture, Clouds, and Weather
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Q1) __________ clouds are broad sheet-like clouds.
A) Cirrus
B) Stratus
C) Cumulus
D) Cumulonimbus
Q2) If one portion of the atmosphere becomes warmer than surrounding air:
A) the warm air contracts and falls.
B) a high pressure forms.
C) clouds disappear.
D) the warm air expands and rises.
Q3) Sea and land breezes are caused by uneven heating and cooling of land and water.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Since warm air can hold more moisture than cold air, clouds generally do not form over __________ regions.
A) low-pressure
B) mountainous
C) high-pressure
D) coastal
Q5) When relative humidity exceeds 100 percent, the air becomes __________.
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Chapter 20: Climate
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Q1) In the three-cell model, global wind patterns are generated by heat-driven convection currents that are directed by the Earth's rotation. Their direction is then altered by:
A) the Coriolis effect or Earth's rotation.
B) adiabatic expansion.
C) surface ocean currents.
D) the jet stream.
Q2) The __________ is the ultimate climate source for winds and evaporation.
A) Moon
B) Sun
C) Earth's core
D) radioactive decay within Earth's crust
Q3) The fact that the center of Washington, D.C., is more than 3° warmer than outlying areas demonstrates the __________ __________ __________ effect.
Q4) The __________ __________ __________ is the high-altitude wind marking the boundary between cold polar air and the warm, moist westerly flow that originates in the subtropics.
Q5) The __________ __________ __________ is used by climatologists throughout the world to define principle climate groups.
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Chapter 21: Climate Change
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Q1) The presence of tillite indicates that the sediment was deposited during a period of cold climate.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Scientists determine past tree species abundances by studying __________ preserved in lake bottoms and bogs.
Q3) <sup>18</sup>O is a very abundant isotope of oxygen.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The atmosphere is the biggest carbon reservoir of all of Earth's spheres.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The four industrial greenhouse gases are:
A) carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and oxygen.
B) carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen, and oxygen.
C) methane, chlorofluorocarbons, oxygen, and nitrogen oxides.
D) carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons, and nitrogen oxides.
Q6) The Sun produces energy by __________ __________.
Q7) Carbon exists in the atmosphere mostly as methane and __________
Q8) Snowfields and glaciers have high albedos and cool Earth by __________ sunlight. Page 23
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Chapter 22: Motions in the Heavens
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Q1) When the Moon passes directly between the Earth and Sun, it produces a/an:
A) solar eclipse.
B) absorption spectrum.
C) constellation.
D) lunar eclipse.
Q2) As the Earth rotates on its axis, it wobbles in a motion called __________.
Q3) In the Northern Hemisphere, the Pole Star:
A) appears in the summer and is invisible during the winter months.
B) circles the sky relative to the other stars.
C) disappears completely every 29.5 days.
D) remains motionless in the sky and all other stars appear to revolve around it.
Q4) Kepler calculated that the planets move in:
A) circular orbits.
B) elliptical orbits.
C) angular orbits.
D) parallax orbits.
Q5) Aristotle proposed a heliocentric Universe.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 23: Planets and Their Moons
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Q1) The Solar System formed from a:
A) hot, dense cloud of fusing hydrogen and helium.
B) cold, diffuse cloud of fusing hydrogen and helium.
C) hot, dense cloud of dust and gas.
D) cold, diffuse cloud of dust and gas.
Q2) Organic molecules have been detected in some meteorites.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all have relatively small rocky or metallic cores surrounded by swirling liquid and gaseous atmospheres.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The Venusian surface:
A) is separated into upland plateaus and deep basalt basins like the Earth's ocean basins.
B) is entirely covered with meteorite craters.
C) contains numerous volcanoes and basalt flows.
D) is divided into plates by massive features like the Earth's mid-ocean ridge.
Q5) The rings of Saturn may be the debris of a __________ that got too close to the planet.
Page 26
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Chapter 24: Stars, Space, and Galaxies
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Q1) A small residual star that emits regular, closely spaced electromagnetic signals is a/an __________.
Q2) Population II stars are originally composed of:
A) mostly heavy elements inherited from population I stars.
B) only hydrogen and helium.
C) mostly hydrogen and heavy elements.
D) mostly helium with small amounts of hydrogen and smaller amounts of heavy elements.
Q3) Neutron stars are:
A) dense stars where neutrons are fusing together to form iron.
B) composed of approximately 75% hydrogen, 24% helium, and 1% other elements.
C) so dense that light cannot escape from them.
D) compressed so tightly that the electrons and protons in the star are squeezed together to form neutrons.
Q4) One __________-__________ is the distance traveled by light in a year, 9.5 trillion kilometers.
Q5) The Sun's turbulent, diffuse 2,000 to 3,000 kilometer outer layer is called the __________.
Q6) The Sun is composed primarily of hydrogen and __________.
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Q7) During a full solar eclipse, the __________ appears as a halo around the Sun.