Physical Geography
Mock Exam
Course Introduction
Physical Geography explores the Earth's natural systems and processes, focusing on the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. This course examines topics such as weather and climate, landforms, soils, vegetation, and water bodies, providing students with a comprehensive understanding of how natural forces shape the planet's landscapes and environments. Through lectures, fieldwork, and practical activities, students develop skills in spatial analysis, map interpretation, and environmental observation, preparing them to address real-world geographic and environmental challenges.
Recommended Textbook
Natural Hazards and Disasters 4th Edition by Donald Hyndman
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18 Chapters
634 Verified Questions
634 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Natural Hazards and Disasters
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Sample Questions
Q1) Who is most commonly to blame when people incur a significant loss from a natural disaster?
A) the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for not building protective structures
B) the federal government for not doing something about it
C) the people themselves for choosing to live there
D) the local county for permitting them to build there
E) the realtor for selling them the property
Answer: C
Q2) When you are buying a home,what types of landscapes can you look for to determine if the home you are looking into purchasing is potentially susceptible to natural disasters?
Answer: Ash or mud deposits from volcanoes,lumpy landscapes from landslides,sinkholes from underlying geologic processes,meanders from meandering streams,or undercut sea cliffs from storm waves.
Q3) Which natural hazard causes the LEAST amount of fatalities in the United States annually?
Answer: Volcanoes
Q4) What can happen to make a moderate-size event into a large natural disaster?
Answer: Overlapping events that amplify the effect.
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Chapter 2: Plate Tectonics and Physical Hazards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT true?
A) Subduction zones are areas where ocean floor descends into the mantle.
B) Subduction zone activity includes very large earthquakes.
C) Subduction zone activity leads to active volcanoes.
D) Subduction zones are areas where ocean floor rocks are formed.
E) Subduction zones are marked as the deepest parts of the oceans.
Answer: D
Q2) What direction is the Pacific Plate currently moving,based on the chain of Hawaiian Islands with only the easternmost island active?
A) to the northeast
B) to the northwest
C) to the southeast
D) to the southwest
E) It is not moving; the chain of islands is not related to the active one.
Answer: B
Q3) How did scientists use the scientific method to support Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift?
Answer: They used data and analysis of that data to prove the hypothesis.
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Chapter 3: Earthquakes and Their Causes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which earthquake waves arrive first?
A) P waves
B) S waves
C) L waves
D) shear waves
E) surface waves
Answer: A
Q2) Sometimes a single floor of a tall building (above ground floor)collapses in an earthquake even though the floors have identical construction.Why?
Answer: The frequency of shaking of the ground matches the frequency of shaking of the building.
Q3) Which types of earthquake waves do the most damage?
A) compressional waves
B) shear waves
C) body waves
D) P waves
E) surface waves
Answer: E
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Chapter 4: Earthquake Prediction and Mitigation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Where is the safest place to be in an earthquake?
Q2) Which of the following statements about the 1994 Northridge earthquake in the Los Angeles area is NOT true?
A) The earthquake severed gas lines and caused fires.
B) Its Richter Magnitude of 6.7 is considered moderate.
C) Highway interchanges that collapsed in 1971 withstood the shaking.
D) It was a blind thrust fault tens of miles from the San Andreas Fault.
E) Unbraced ground-floor garages of apartment buildings collapsed.
Q3) There has been at least one highly successful prediction of a major earthquake that saved a very large number of lives.Where and when was that earthquake? What information led to the prediction?
Q4) Between developed and developing countries,why do developing countries often suffer higher rates of casualties from earthquakes?
Q5) Which of the following make(s)the safest house walls during an earthquake?
A) four inches of concrete
B) stone blocks well cemented together
C) bricks tightly mortared together
D) adobe
E) two-by-four inch lumber covered with plywood
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Chapter 5: Tsunami
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Sample Questions
Q1) How dangerous are tsunami in the open ocean,and why?
Q2) About how high are the largest earthquake-caused tsunami waves in bays?
Q3) About how high are the largest earthquake-caused tsunami waves in the open ocean?
A) about 15 meters high
B) about 1 meter high
C) about 50 meters high
D) about 300 meters high
E) about 1 kilometer high
Q4) What is the average speed of tsunami waves in the deep ocean?
A) 8-9 km/hour
B) 80-90 km/hour
C) 800-900 km/hour
D) the speed of an Olympic sprinter
E) the speed of light
Q5) Decide which natural occurrence would create the most catastrophic tsunami and why.Describe the location that would be the most devastating.
Q6) When are tsunami warning systems ineffective?
Q7) Why do ships in the open ocean not notice passage of a tsunami wave?
Page 7
Q8) What are some measures that can be taken to minimize damages from tsunami waves?
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Page 8
Chapter 6: Volcanoes: Tectonic Environments and Eruptions
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Sample Questions
Q1) A large,steep-sided volcano is likely made of what composition of rock? In what form was the rock erupted? What type of volcano is it?
Q2) What can cause water to separate from a water-bearing basaltic magma to drive an eruption?
A) Injection of dry rhyolite magma into the basalt magma chamber from below can cause water to separate.
B) A decrease in pressure as the magma rises can cause water to separate.
C) Water streaming up into the magma chamber from the Earth's mantle can cause this.
D) Once water gets into a basalt magma, it can't separate.
E) Basalt magmas only erupt as lava flows; water is irrelevant.
Q3) What two main influences on a water-bearing basaltic magma can cause water to separate from a magma to drive an eruption?
Q4) Highly explosive magmas are controlled by which of the following?
A) high magnesium content and high water
B) high silica content and high water
C) low silica content and high water
D) high silica content and low water
E) high iron content and low water
Page 9
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Chapter 7: Volcanoes: Hazards and Mitigation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why is paleovolcanology important in predicting future volcanic eruptions?
Q2) If an ash flow approaches you from across a kilometer-wide lake,are you likely to be safe or not? Explain why.
A) Safe. Hot ash flows would chill and stop as soon as they hit cold water.
B) Safe. Ash flows move along the ground; they would continue harmlessly underwater.
C) Safe. Hot ash flows would boil the water, and that would stop them.
D) Not safe. A fast-moving ash flow would cause a deadly tsunami wave.
E) Not safe. Ash flows can cross much wider bodies of water.
Q3) A big bulge sometimes slowly grows on the flank of an active Cascades volcano.Why?
A) Thick lava flows pile up around the vent.
B) A huge gas bubble released from the magma inflates it.
C) The magma reacts with snow on the volcano, causing magma inflation.
D) The hot magma melts older ash, causing it to expand.
E) Rising magma is pushing it up.
Q4) What signs suggest that a volcano may be getting ready to erupt?
Q5) Why is Mount Shasta considered a major hazard as it currently stands?
Q6) What characteristics of an old ash-fall tuff will permit you to distinguish it from an old ash-flow tuff?
Page 10
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Chapter 8: Landslides and Other Downslope Movements
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Sample Questions
Q1) Where are quick clays most common?
A) Northern coasts-Alaska, Canada, northern Europe
B) Tropical areas-Central America, Brazil, Africa
C) U.S. Gulf Coast-Texas through Florida
D) Coastal cliffs of California
E) Rocky Mountains of Colorado
Q2) One way in which water CANNOT be removed from a wet slope that may slide is to:
A) plant trees and shrubs to increase evapotranspiration.
B) insert perforated pipes into the slope to help drain it.
C) dig a trench across a slope and fill it with loose, coarse rock to permit drainage.
D) pump water out from a well.
E) place a load on the slope to squeeze water out of it.
Q3) What types of internal surfaces are most prone to sliding?
Q4) What conditions make smectite clay extremely weak?
Q5) What can be done to stabilize a steep,dangerous rock cliff or road cut to keep it from collapsing onto a highway or railroad track?
Q6) What material is subject to liquefaction?
Q7) What would make a pile of rounded sand grains collapse to be almost flat?
Q8) What is the difference between a slump and a translational slide?
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Chapter 9: Sinkholes, Land Subsidence, and Swelling Soils
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Sample Questions
Q1) What causes permafrost thaw? What are several problems associated with it? What is one way to overcome permafrost thaw?
Q2) What aspects of construction can lead to the formation of sinkholes? Why?
Q3) Where in North America are sinkholes most prevalent and why?
A) in Michigan, because outcrops of limestone are widespread and it is surrounded by the Great Lakes
B) in Washington state, because of all of the rain west of the Cascades
C) in metamorphic rocks of the Canadian Shield, because of all of the lakes
D) in Florida, because it is almost all limestone and has abundant groundwater
E) in Colorado, because layers of sedimentary rocks under the Great Plains bend up to the surface there
Q4) What type of ground settling process is common in high latitudes?
Q5) What specific area of the western United States is noted for almost 9 meters of subsidence due to agriculture? Specifically what caused the subsidence?
Q6) Name three of the eight states with the largest areas of ground subsidence,including sinkholes.
Q7) What material causes swelling soils?
Q8) What are two main mechanisms of ground subsidence?
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Chapter 10: Weather, Thunderstorms, And Tornadoes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT distinctive about a cloud that might develop a tornado?
A) a broad anvil-shaped top
B) bulbous pouches drooping from the base of the cloud
C) a narrower, steep-sided, rotating cloud descending below the main cloud base
D) an overall flat base shedding torrential rain and moving rapidly northeast
E) a dark, stationary cloud with a rounded bulbous top
Q2) What is the major weather difference in the southeastern United States during an El NiƱo weather pattern?
Q3) What is the main reason for warmer summers in middle latitudes?
A) The Earth is closer to the sun in summer.
B) The sun is higher in the sky, and we receive more direct solar radiation.
C) Ocean currents transport heat from the tropics to middle latitudes.
D) Plants in the mid-latitudes enhance the greenhouse effect.
E) Global warming causes this.
Q4) If a major storm is nearby,what would you watch for as a sign that a tornado might soon develop?
Q5) Why is the climate on the east side of the mountains of western Washington and southern British Columbia drier than on the west side?
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Chapter 11: Climate Change
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Sample Questions
Q1) How can isotopes of oxygen be used as a proxy for past temperature data?
Q2) Which change is NOT expected as a result of global warming?
A) increase in average atmospheric temperatures
B) increase in temperature of the North Atlantic Ocean off western Europe
C) sea level rise
D) increase in insect-borne diseases
E) more weather extremes
Q3) Which of the following is the largest reservoir of carbon?
A) atmosphere
B) deep ocean
C) shallow ocean
D) rock
E) soil
Q4) Give examples showing how atmospheric aerosols can be both a hindrance and a help.
Q5) How is it possible that atmospheric water vapor both cools and warms the atmosphere?
Q6) How do greenhouse gases warm Earth's atmosphere?
Q7) How are efforts to mitigate global warming unfair to the developing world?
Q8) Which are the main greenhouse gases?
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Chapter 12: Streams And Flood Processes
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Sample Questions
Q1) What keeps a stream flowing year-round,even though it may not rain for many months?
A) must have rained far upstream
B) large springs near the stream channel upstream
C) groundwater flow from the adjacent ground into the stream
D) very heavy dew on cold mornings
E) melting snowpack
Q2) Which of the following CANNOT be used to determine the depth of a debris flow in a canyon it moved through?
A) bark battered off the upstream sides of trees up to that height
B) sand embedded in bark up to that height
C) rocks lodged in tree branches up to that height
D) the maximum height of sand eroded from the valley sides
E) the highest rocks on natural levees deposited by the flow
Q3) What are the differences in appearance between a debris flow and a mudflow deposit?
Q4) Why are alluvial fans so broad,even though they form at the lower end of a narrow mountain canyon?
Q5) Where do we find potholes,and how do they form? Why do they pose a hazard to humans?
Page 15
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Chapter 13: Floods And Human Interactions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following is NOT a common reason cited for building large dams on rivers?
A) flood control
B) hydroelectric power
C) water supply (or irrigation)
D) raise groundwater levels upstream
E) recreation
Q2) Why is it almost impossible to keep water from seeping under a levee and out onto a floodplain?
Q3) Where do people most commonly get the material to build an artificial river levee?
A) from quarries in the nearby hills
B) from the local sand and gravel company
C) from the river channel, by dredging
D) from coastal dunes or beaches
E) old composted landfill material
Q4) What are causes of dam failure? What determines the hazard potential of dam failure for people living downstream?
Q5) Where do people most commonly get the material to build an artificial river levee?
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Chapter 14: Waves,Beaches,And Coastal Erosion
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why are ocean waves generally larger than those on lakes?
A) Wind directions are much less constant over lakes.
B) Winds are always stronger over the ocean.
C) Fetch length is much longer in the ocean.
D) Ships generating the waves are bigger in the ocean than on lakes.
E) Tsunamis are generated in oceans but not in lakes.
Q2) Which of the following evidence does NOT indicate that a barrier island migrated landward?
A) A lighthouse that was built onshore is now well offshore.
B) Oyster shells that grew in the sheltered lagoon behind the barrier island are now found on the front beach.
C) Stumps of trees that grew along the lagoon are now found on the front beach.
D) Barrier island beaches are now more easily eroded than they were one hundred years ago.
E) Fine-grained lagoon sediments are layered beneath the sands of the barrier island.
Q3) Explain the processes of wave refraction and longshore drift.What happens to sand as a result of these processes?
Q4) Why are once sandy beaches on the West Coast now disappearing?
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Page 17
Chapter 14: Hurricanes and Noreasters
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Sample Questions
Q1) Where does a tropical cyclone or hurricane get its energy?
A) in the heat and moisture rising from a low pressure cell of the equatorial ocean
B) from heat of the sun shining off a hot desert near the equator
C) from high temperatures of a humid high pressure weather cell near the equator
D) from high summer temperatures over humid equatorial jungles
E) none of these
Q2) In addition to roof shape and inland location,what is especially important about building construction to make it less vulnerable to hurricane damage? (two quite different factors)
Q3) Of the main hazards in a hurricane,which causes the greatest amount of dollar damage? Why?
Q4) Where do hurricanes striking North America originate?
A) the central Pacific Ocean, near the equator
B) in the Gulf of Mexico
C) off the northern coast of South America, near the equator
D) near-equatorial latitudes off the west coast of Africa
E) in the steamy jungles of the Congo, in western Africa
Q5) What are nor'easters? Describe the ways in which nor'easters differ from hurricanes.
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Chapter 16: Wildfires
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Sample Questions
Q1) Lightning strikes high on hills or mountains more commonly than in valley bottoms.Why do such lightning strikes often not produce major fires? Be specific.
Q2) Why are fires more frequent and hotter now than they were several decades ago?
A) aggressive fire suppression for many decades
B) global warming
C) insufficient logging of trees
D) more insect-killed trees
E) weaker trees because of acid rain from power plants
Q3) Which side of a forest is at greater risk in specific parts of the continent? Why?
Q4) What is fuel loading? What are examples of fuel loading,and what makes them combustible?
Q5) Why isn't the Forest Service's Smokey Bear mascot now used as much as it was in the past?
Q6) Why do grass,needles,and shrubs burn easier and faster than trees?
Q7) What is the principle cause of increased fire hazard to members of the public?
Q8) Describe the best things to do if you are trapped by a fire.Where should you take shelter to protect yourself and why?
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Q9) Why are fires more frequent and hotter now than they were several decades ago?
Chapter 17: Impact of Asteroids and Comets
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Sample Questions
Q1) What are shatter cones?
A) funnel-shaped cones of rock pointing downward (closed downward) and outward
B) streaked cones of rock radiating down (closed upward) and out from the point of impact
C) cone-shaped depressions caused by hypervelocity impact
D) cones of rocks (closed downward) and with vertical axes
E) vertical cracks caused by impact and radiating outward from the point of impact
Q2) What are comets made of?
A) ice and some rock
B) ice
C) high magnesium and iron rocks
D) nickel-iron
E) close-packed hydrogen
Q3) What is the largest asteroid diameter impact that leaves an open crater in the ground?
Q4) What does the tail of a comet tell you about the direction of travel of that comet?
Q5) In what plane do asteroids orbit around the sun?
Q6) How fast do comets travel in space?
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Chapter
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Sample Questions
Q1) Population increase is susceptible to a cruel feedback loop that:
A) increases population to sustainable levels.
B) causes natural disasters.
C) reduces population to sustainable levels.
D) will be controlled by the government.
E) restricts the number of children born.
Q2) Give an example of the disaster differences for poor countries.Describe how these countries are dealing with their disaster and the vast differences of life for people in these nations.
Q3) How does the prospect of climate change add another dimension to the problem of natural disasters? Describe the effects of climate change on the global community.
Q4) Explain how mitigation is a better answer to natural hazards than controlling nature.
Q5) Describe and discuss three persistent problems associated with natural hazards and possible solutions to mitigate these disasters and their effects.
Q6) Give reasons why major projects to protect property in environmentally vulnerable locations should be stopped.
Q7) What are natural hazards? Give examples.
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