Natural Hazards
Chapter Exam Questions
Course Introduction
This course provides an in-depth exploration of the physical processes and societal impacts of natural hazards, including earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and landslides. Students will examine the underlying causes, frequency, and distribution of these hazards, as well as risk assessment and mitigation strategies. Through case studies and scientific analysis, the course emphasizes the complex interactions between natural systems and human activities, preparing students to critically evaluate hazard management approaches and contribute to community resilience in the face of natural disasters.
Recommended Textbook
Essentials of Geology 3rd Edition by Stephen Marshak
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Chapter 1: The Earth in Context
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Q1) The big bang theory states that ____________.
A) all stars will end their lives explosively as supernovas
B) Earth formed through a series of violent collisions
C) meteors were responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs
D) all matter in the Universe was once confined to a single point
Answer: D
Q2) In agreement with the Big Bang theory,our Universe is ____________.
A) expanding
B) contracting
C) static (unchanging)
Answer: A
Q3) Of the three primary chemical layers of the Earth (crust,mantle,core),which is the thickest layer?
A) crust
B) mantle
C) core
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: The Way the Earth Works: Plate Tectonics
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Q1) The Wadati-Benioff zone extends down within the mantle to a maximum depth of
A) 30 km
B) 150 km
C) 670 km
D) 990 km
Answer: C
Q2) The mid-ocean ridges are elevated above the surrounding sea floor because ____________.
A) ridge rocks are hot and therefore of relatively low density
B) the lithospheric plates are thickest at the ridges so they stand up taller
C) rising ocean currents leave a vacuum above the ridge
D) ridge rocks are mafic, whereas the ocean basin crust consists of ultramafic rock
Answer: A
Q3) All lithospheric plates are approximately the same size and contain a combination of oceanic and continental crust.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Patterns in Nature: Minerals
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Q1) The most abundant minerals belong to a chemical group termed the ____________.
A) silicates
B) carbonates
C) halides
D) oxides
Answer: A
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a mineral?
A) quartz
B) diamond
C) petroleum
D) gold
Answer: C
Q3) It is rare for mineral crystals to display any sort of symmetry (invariance of pattern with respect to a transformation,such as rotation or mirror-image reflection).
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 4: Up From the Inferno: Magma and Igneous Rocks
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Q1) Which type of magma has the greatest silica content?
A) felsic
B) intermediate
C) mafic
D) ultramafic
Q2) The formation of magma within Earth is NOT caused by which of the following processes?
A) decompression (drop in pressure)
B) addition of volatiles
C) transfer of heat from adjacent magma or very hot rocks
D) loss of volatiles to the atmosphere
Q3) A volcano emits ash,which falls from the sky,settles in layers,and is eventually cemented.The resultant rock is termed ____________.
A) pumice
B) granite
C) tuff
D) ignimbrite
Q4) When magma crystallizes,____________ are formed.
A) intrusive igneous rocks C. volatiles
B) extrusive igneous rocks D. pyroclastic debris
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Chapter 5: The Wrath of Vulcan: Volcanic Eruptions
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Q1) Most terrestrial volcanic glass ____________.
A) is highly silicic in composition
B) is coarse-grained
C) consists of microscopic crystals
D) freezes from lavas with low viscosity
Q2) The Hawaiian island chain is an example of a(n)____________.
A) island volcanic arc
B) continental volcanic arc
C) hot-spot island chain
D) stratovolcanic assembly
Q3) Explosive or voluminous eruptions may cause the volcano to collapse on the floor of the (now empty)magma chamber,producing a broad depression termed a
A) crater
B) lahar
C) caldera
D) fissure
Q4) All volcanic eruptions pass through the crater at the volcanic summit.
A)True
B)False
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Pages of Earths Past: Sedimentary Rocks
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Q1) Unlike physically precipitated chert,biochemical chert ____________.
A) is bedded (layered)
B) is made up of the skeletons of radiolaria and foraminifera
C) does not occur as small nodules within bodies of limestone
D) all of the above
Q2) Which environment would most likely produce sedimentary deposits characterized by poorly to moderately sorted,angular to subangular grains that consist of feldspar,quartz,and lithics (rock fragments)?
A) river
B) glacier
C) beach
D) alluvial fan
Q3) Which transport medium carries the largest particles?
A) ice
B) water
C) wind
Q4) Of the grains above,which is more rounded?
A) grain A
B) grain B
C) Neither, both grains possess approximately equal roundness.
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Chapter 7: Metamorphism: a Process of Change
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Q1) Dynamothermal metamorphism produces ____________.
A) foliated rocks only
B) nonfoliated rocks only
C) both foliated and nonfoliated rocks
Q2) Slaty cleavage,schistosity,and compositional banding are all examples of ____________.
A) mineral cleavage
B) foliation
C) recrystallization
D) sedimentary structures
Q3) Burial metamorphism produces ____________.
A) foliated rocks only
B) nonfoliated rocks only
C) both foliated and nonfoliated rocks
Q4) Differential stress will cause crystals to align in a preferred orientation unless the crystals are ____________.
A) primarily mica
B) platy
C) equant
D) elongate
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Chapter 8: A Violent Pulse: Earthquakes
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Q1) The point within Earth where an earthquake takes place is termed the ____________.
A) hypocenter (focus)
B) epicenter
C) eye of the fault
D) vertex
Q2) Geologists who specifically study earthquakes are called ____________.
A) seismologists
B) paleontologists
C) vulcanologists
D) speleologists
Q3) Which earthquake intensity scale assesses the effects of an earthquake on humans and human-made structures?
A) Richter scale
B) Mercalli scale
C) moment-magnitude scale
Q4) Virtually all of the deaths attributed to major earthquakes have resulted from the collapse of buildings.
A)True
B)False
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Crags, cracks, and Crumples: Crustal
Deformation and Mountain Building
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Q1) A body of rock to which a sudden,rapid stress has been applied is more likely to exhibit ____________ than is a body of rock subjected to a gradually applied stress.
A) brittle behavior
B) ductile behavior
Q2) A fold shaped like an upside-down bowl is a(n)____________.
A) anticline
B) basin
C) dome
D) syncline
Q3) Mountain ranges are associated with modern and ancient convergent plate boundaries,but do not form in association with either divergent or transform plate boundaries.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Most fault surfaces,like joints,are roughly planar in orientation.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Deep Time: How Old Is Old
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Q1) As understood by modern geologists,the principle of uniformitarianism implies that
A) the Earth has always had the same basic appearance that it has today, with the distributions of ocean basins and continents identical to what we see today
B) igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks are uniformly mixed throughout the crust of the Earth
C) physical processes observed today (such as erosion and volcanic eruption) have been active in the past and are responsible for the geologic history we see preserved in the rock record
D) physical processes observed today (such as erosion and volcanic eruption) have been occurring throughout Earth history at constant rates; for example, no eruption in geologic time would have been greater than the 1815 Tambora eruption
Q2) Contact #3 is both a ____________ at various points.
A) conformable contact and an unconformity
B) fault and an unconformity
C) nonconformity and an angular unconformity
D) disconformity and a nonconformity
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Page 12
Chapter 11: A Biography of Earth
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Q1) Earth was hotter than today during the Hadean for all of the following reasons EXCEPT
A) impacts with other objects added heat to Earth
B) differentiation of the core from the mantle added heat to Earth's interior
C) the Sun was much more luminous than it is today
D) carbon dioxide was more abundant in the atmosphere than it is today
Q2) Tree-sized relatives of the living ferns,club mosses,and scouring rushes were common in environments termed coal swamps during the ____________ Period.
A) Ordovician
B) Carboniferous
C) Jurassic
D) Cretaceous
Q3) The oldest radiometrically dated mineral grains are ____________ the oldest preserved rocks on Earth.
A) older than
B) younger than
C) precisely the same age as
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Chapter 12: Riches in Rock: Energy and Mineral Resources
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Q1) Hydrocarbons consisting of short carbon chains ____________.
A) are more volatile than hydrocarbons with longer chains
B) are more viscous than hydrocarbons with longer chains
C) are typically stable in a solid state at room temperatures
D) all of the above
Q2) Shale,salt,and fine-grained limestone that is not fractured are all good candidates to serve as ____________ within an oil field.
A) a reservoir rock
B) a seal rock
C) a source rock
D) either a source or a reservoir rock
Q3) As compared to coal mining,mineral mining has virtually no adverse environmental impact.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which mineral resources are considered renewable?
A) base metals only
B) nonmetallic minerals only
C) iron and aluminum ores
D) No mineral resources are renewable.
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Chapter 13: Unsafe Ground: Landslides and Other Mass Movements
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Q1) The principal difference between a lahar and a mudflow is ____________.
A) the shape of the path taken by the moving mass
B) the grain size of the moving mass
C) that the former mass contains abundant water whereas the latter is dry
D) that the former mass contains pyroclastic debris from a volcanic eruption
Q2) Which of the following types of mass movement is likely to move most rapidly?
A) slump
B) creep
C) rock slide
D) debris slide
Q3) To the geologist,____________.
A) landslides and mass movements are the same thing
B) all mass movements are landslides, but not all landslides are mass movements
C) all landslides are mass movements, but not all mass movements are landslides
D) mass movements differ from landslides in that a greater mass of material moves during a mass movement than during a landslide
Q4) Mass wasting always involves a sudden movement of material downslope.
A)True
B)False
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Running Water: the Geology of Streams and Floods
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Q1) The flat-lying area surrounding a river channel is termed the ____________.
A) base level
B) floodplain
C) stream gradient
D) thalweg
Q2) An arroyo refers to ____________.
A) the inner bank of a meander, where sediment is deposited
B) an earthen levee designed to reduce flooding in a portion of the floodplain
C) an ephemeral stream channel that only has discharge after rainfall or snowmelt
D) a point in a stream channel where it is relatively easy to cross
Q3) At a waterfall,where two sedimentary lithologies are juxtaposed,which lithology is more likely to form the cliff over which the water falls?
A) sandstone
B) shale
Q4) Which has greater capacity?
A) a small mountain stream
B) the Mississippi River
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Chapter 15: Restless Realm: Oceans and Coasts
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Q1) If currents are largely directed toward shore,the area is likely to experience
A) upwelling
B) downwelling
Q2) Global circulation of ocean water is influenced by ____________.
A) surface winds
B) coastal upwelling and downwelling
C) sinking of cold and saline water
D) All of the above.
Q3) The shallowest portion of the ocean is found along the margins of continents in regions termed ____________.
A) abyssal plains
B) continental rises
C) continental shelves
D) continental slopes
Q4) Major oceanic surface currents travel ____________.
A) parallel to the prevailing wind direction in the region
B) in direct opposition to prevailing winds as a result of the Coriolis effect
C) at an angle to prevailing winds as a result of the Coriolis effect
D) at an angle to prevailing winds as a result of the Doppler effect
Page 17
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Chapter 16: A Hidden Reserve: Groundwater
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Q1) If groundwater is clear,it can be assumed that it is drinkable.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In a humid climate,the topography of the water table ____________.
A) is unaffected by local surface topography
B) precisely mimics the topography of the ground surface
C) is a subdued (less steeply sloping) mimic of surface topography
D) is an exaggerated (more steeply sloping) mimic of surface topography
Q3) The majority of large cave and karst systems have resulted from ____________ etching into ____________.
A) carbonic acid; limestone
B) ascorbic acid; dolostone
C) phosphoric acid; shale
D) sea water; rock salt
Q4) An artesian well is one that ____________.
A) induces an upward flow of groundwater without any pumping
B) has its intake sited within the saturated zone of an unconfined aquifer
C) has its intake sited within the unsaturated zone of an unconfined aquifer
D) has its recharge area at an elevation below sea level
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Chapter 17: Dry Regions: the Geology of Deserts
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Q1) Most hot deserts ____________.
A) retain their high temperatures throughout the night, because there is no vegetation to absorb heat from the sediment at the surface
B) cool off greatly at night, because of sparse vegetation and little cloud cover
C) cool off slightly at night, by no more than 10°C
Q2) During heavy rainstorms,rates of physical weathering and erosion are ____________.
A) greater in humid climates than in deserts, because dry desert soils can soak up all of the available moisture
B) greater in deserts than in humid climates, where vegetation tends to hold soil together
C) greater in humid climates than in deserts, because vegetation in humid climates tends to break up the soil
D) about equally as fast in deserts or in humid climates
Q3) The most expansive hot deserts on Earth occur ____________.
A) in the tropics, at or near the equator
B) in the subtropics, between 20° and 30° north or south of the equator
C) in the temperate zone, between 30° and 50° north or south of the equator
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Chapter 18: Amazing Ice: Glaciers and Ice Ages
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Q1) A glacier will always advance from its source area if the rate of accumulation is greater than the rate of ____________.
A) subsidence
B) melting
C) ablation
D) abrution
Q2) Sediments deposited directly by glaciers as they melt are termed ____________.
A) firn
B) loess
C) outwash
D) till
Q3) Mars has polar ice caps that differ from the Earth's Antarctic ice cap in that ____________.
A) the Martian caps consist of a combination of water ice and frozen carbon dioxide (dry ice)
B) the Martian caps have a spiral fracture pattern not found in Antarctica
C) Martian caps are ablated by sublimation only; there is currently no liquid water on Mars
D) All of the above are correct.
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Page 20
Chapter 19: Global Change in the Earth System
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Q1) Which of the following types of global change is not part of a cycle of change,and thus irreversible?
A) orogenic uplift
B) melting and crystallization of sedimentary rock to form igneous rock
C) evolution of life on Earth
D) flooding of the continents due to global warming
Q2) During most of the Mesozoic,Earth was ____________.
A) about as warm as today
B) covered in extensive continental glaciers
C) about as warm as the Holocene climatic optimum
D) significantly warmer than at any time within the last few million years
Q3) Nearly all biological and chemical systems on Earth are disconnected and are best studied in mutual isolation.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which of the following processes releases carbon dioxide to the atmosphere?
A) photosynthesis
B) weathering of silicate rocks
C) volcanism
D) deep burial of peat to produce coal
21
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