Natural Hazards and Disasters
Pre-Test Questions
Course Introduction
This course explores the scientific principles underlying natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, and landslides. Students will examine the causes, consequences, and global distribution of these natural events, as well as their impact on human societies and the built environment. The course also discusses strategies for hazard assessment, risk reduction, emergency preparedness, and disaster management, emphasizing the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to mitigate the effects of natural disasters. Through case studies and analysis, students will develop a comprehensive understanding of both the physical processes behind disasters and the social, economic, and political factors influencing vulnerability and response.
Recommended Textbook
Elemental Geosystems 6th Edition by Robert W. Christopherson
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16 Chapters
1791 Verified Questions
1791 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Foundations of Geography
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140 Verified Questions
140 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Relative to the fundamental themes of geography, the Taj Mahal in India and Ayers Rock in Australia are best described within which of the five themes?
A) location
B) place
C) human-Earth relationships
D) movement
E) regions
Answer: B
Q2) Geography is described as
A) an Earth science.
B) a human science.
C) a physical science.
D) a spatial science.
Answer: D
Q3) A scale given as "one centimeter to one kilometer" is an example of a A) representative fraction.
B) graphic scale.
C) written scale.
D) All of these are correct.
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: Solar Energy, Seasons, and the Atmosphere
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169 Verified Questions
169 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Normal rainfall has a neutral pH.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Which of the following accurately describes Earth's distance from the Sun?
A) The Earth-Sun distance averages 150 million kilometers (93 million miles).
B) It takes light an average of 8 minutes and 20 seconds to travel from the Sun to Earth.
C) Earth is closer to the Sun in January (perihelion) and farther away in July (aphelion).
D) All of these are correct.
Answer: D
Q3) The two most abundant gases in the atmosphere are
A) water vapor and carbon dioxide.
B) nitrogen and water vapor.
C) nitrogen and oxygen.
D) oxygen and carbon dioxide.
Answer: C
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Chapter 3: Atmospheric Energy and Global Temperatures
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130 Verified Questions
130 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Evaporation
A) tends to increase temperatures over land.
B) tends to lower temperatures more over water bodies than over land.
C) tends to increase the temperature over water.
D) affects land more than ocean surfaces.
E) affects the temperature of land surfaces and water bodies the same amount.
Answer: B
Q2) Which of the following results from the fact that there is movement (currents) in heat transferring media?
A) Heat energy is more evenly distributed in soil and rock than in water.
B) Heat energy tends to concentrate in one spot.
C) Warmer and cooler water mix, thereby spreading heat over a greater volume.
D) None of the above-currents have no effect on either land or water body temperatures.
Answer: C
Q3) Heat energy can be transferred through: ________; ________; ________; and ________.
Answer: conduction; convection; advection; radiation
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Chapter 4: Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation
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105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Ocean currents are produced by
A) the frictional drag of winds.
B) the Coriolis force and water density differences.
C) land-sea breezes.
D) Both A and B are correct.
Q2) Forceful \(\underline { \text { northward } }\) flowing warm currents in the Northern Hemisphere are the A) equatorial countercurrents.
B) California and Peru currents.
C) upwelling and downwelling currents.
D) Gulf Stream current and Kuroshio.
Q3) Mountain-valley breezes are caused by
A) warmer air descending mountain slopes during the day.
B) valley air ascending the mountain slopes at night.
C) warm air rising upslope during the day and cooler air descending the slopes at night.
D) gravity-drainage.
Q4) Ocean currents play a relatively small role in regulating climate.
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 of the following is correct?
A) A person can survive for 8 to 12 days without food.
B) The human body is about 50 percent water by weight.
C) Humans can survive only 2 or 3 days without water.
D) Earth is covered some 50 percent by water.
Q2) In which of the following areas will thunderstorms not develop?
A) in areas of orographic uplift
B) in areas of surface convergence
C) along frontal boundaries
D) under areas of strong high pressure
Q3) The wet adiabatic rate is ________ than the dry adiabatic rate because ________.
A) greater; condensation heats the air
B) greater; condensation cools the air
C) less; condensation heats the air
D) less; condensation cools the air
Q4) Cirrus clouds are found above 6000 m.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 6: Water Resources
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is \(\underline { \text { not } }\) considered precipitation in all climates?
A) hail
B) sleet
C) fog
D) rain
E) snow
Q2) 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
Q3) Which of the following types of soil would have the most water available for plant use following a rain? (Consider all relevant factors.)
A) sand
B) silt
C) clay
Q4) Rain is measured at more than 100,000 stations worldwide.
A)True
B)False
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Global Climate Systems
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104 Verified Questions
104 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The humid subtropical climate receives ________ precipitation during the summer and ________ precipitation in winter.
A) convectional; frontal
B) frontal; convectional
C) orographic; frontal
D) convectional; ITCZ
Q2) Chaparral is a type of vegetation that is very tolerant of extreme cold.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The largest repository of freshwater in the world is in ice-covered Antarctica.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which climatic region contains and feeds the greatest number of people in the world?
A) Tropical Rain Forest
B) Tropical Savanna
C) Mesothermal
D) Microthermal
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Chapter 8: The Dynamic Planet
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Sample Questions
Q1) Continental crust is basically ________, whereas oceanic crust is basically
A) thin; thick
B) basalt; granite
C) granite; basalt
D) sima; sial
Q2) Uniformitarianism assumes that
A) Earth is quite young and is shaped by dramatic events.
B) catastrophic episodes have regularly occurred.
C) the same physical processes we see today are a key to understanding the processes that have been operating throughout geologic time.
D) mountains, plains, and canyons formed by catastrophic events.
Q3) Which of the following gives the correct sequence of layers in the mantle, from center to surface?
A) lower mantle; upper mantle, aesthenosphere
B) aesthenosphere, mantle, upper mantle
C) upper mantle, aesthenosphere, mantle
D) mantle, aesthenosphere, upper mantle
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Chapter 9: Earthquakes and Volcanoes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Some parts of the San Andreas are currently experiencing a seismic gap, which means that there is very little risk of a major quake in the next few decades.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In order for a batholith to become a mountain, thousands of feet of sedimentary rock may have to be eroded to expose the batholith.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Folded layers of rock can form a wavelike pattern of troughs and crests. The layers near the trough form
A) a syncline.
B) a tension zone.
C) an anticline.
D) a thrust fault.
Q4) Vertical elevation differences in a local landscape are referred to as A) relief.
B) an order of relief.
C) topography.
D) crust.
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Chapter 10: Weathering, Karst Landscapes, and Mass Movement
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Sample Questions
Q1) Because rivers constitute such a small percentage of Earth's total water supply, they play a small role in landform change.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A cutoff on a meandering stream results in the formation of
A) an oxbow lake.
B) a levee.
C) a point bar.
D) a terrace.
Q3) All processes that cause the wearing away or rearrangement of landforms are included in the term
A) mass movement.
B) mass wasting.
C) weathering.
D) denudation.
Q4) Increased velocity and a rough channel can produce a A) turbulent flow.
B) laminar flow.
C) maximum velocity.
D) decreased capacity.
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Chapter 12: Wind Processes and Desert Landscapes
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73 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Basin and Range Province was formed by A) faulting.
B) tensional forces resulting from the fact that North America overrode a subducted ocean plate and was raised and stretched in the process.
C) compressional forces resulting from the collision of North America with a microplate, and which resulted in the creation of a folded mountain belt.
D) both A and B
E) both A and C
Q2) Active and stable sand regions occur on every major continent except Antarctica.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The wind has relatively minor effects on weathering and erosion.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Water is essential to the formation of a desert pavement.
A)True
B)False
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13
Chapter 13: The Oceans, Coastal Processes, and Landforms
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following occurs when the Sun, Moon, and Earth are in alignment (i.e., in opposition or conjunction)?
A) maximum tidal ranges occur
B) neap tides occur
C) a lower tidal range occurs
D) None of these-this type of alignment does not happen in nature.
Q2) After water itself, what are the primary elements that occur in sea water?
A) chlorine and sodium
B) potassium and chlorine
C) hydrogen and sodium
D) sodium and magnesium
Q3) Worldwide, corals are healthy and appear not to be affected by pollution, changes in surface ultraviolet radiation, or increases in ocean temperatures at this time.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Tsunamis generated by earthquakes can form giant waves while traveling in the open ocean.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 14: Glacial and Penglacial Landscapes
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Sample Questions
Q1) 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
Q2) The Holocene epoch-in which we live-is probably an interglacial within an ice age period.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Unlike a stream-cut valley that assumes a characteristic ________-shape, a glacially-carved valley evidences a characteristic ________-shape.
A) U; V
B) V; U
C) flat; rounded
D) steep; shallow
Q4) A visible snowline across the surface of a glacier is called
A) an equilibrium line.
B) a medial moraine.
C) a firn line.
D) the ice line.
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Chapter 15: The Geography of Soils
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101 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is false?
A) Soil erosion is occurring throughout most of the densely inhabited regions of the world.
B) Soil that has eroded could take centuries to be replaced.
C) Loss of soil, combined with exponential population growth, could lead to serious food shortages.
D) Fertilizers can maintain soil fertility and productivity into the distant future-even if the soil is eroding.
E) Both the direct and indirect costs of soil erosion is estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars worldwide.
Q2) Salinization is likely to occur
A) in the tropics.
B) in areas of high potential evapotranspiration and low actual evapotranspiration.
C) in humid climate regions.
D) in areas characterized by sandy soils and coniferous forests.
Q3) Mollisols are the most predominant soil order in the United States.
A)True
B)False
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16
Chapter 16: Ecosystems and Biomes
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171 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Local names for tropical seasonal forest and scrub vary worldwide and include all of the following except
A) brigalow scrub.
B) chaco.
C) caatinga.
D) chaparral.
Q2) Plants remove a relatively insignificant amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Alexander von Humboldt first proposed the idea that plant communities change with altitude just as they do with latitude. This is known as the A) altitude-latitude hypothesis.
B) vegetation similarity theory.
C) life zone concept.
D) "plant fallacy hypothesis" since the idea was later disproved.
Q4) Large, stable, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are called biomes.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: Earth and the Human Denominator
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is incorrect in describing the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill?
A) It occurred March 24, 1989 in Prince William Sound.
B) It involved 41.64 million liters (11 million gallons) of oil.
C) It spilled from a double-hulled, modern tanker on an assigned route.
D) It struck a reef outside the normal shipping lane.
E) It contaminated and ruined portions of 2415 km (1500 mi) of coastline.
Q2) This region has the highest per-capita energy use.
A) North America
B) Asia
C) Europe
D) South America
Q3) In the text, who is quoted as saying "We know who speaks for the nations. But who speaks for the human species? Who speaks for Earth?"
A) Marston Bates
B) Rusty Schweickart
C) Carl Sagan
D) Carl Sauer
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