Physical Geography
Question Bank
Course Introduction
Physical Geography is the study of the Earths natural environments, focusing on the processes and patterns that shape the physical features of our planet. This course examines elements such as landforms, climate, weather systems, vegetation, soils, and water bodies, exploring how they interact and change over time. Students will investigate topics like plate tectonics, erosion, river dynamics, glaciation, and atmospheric phenomena, gaining an understanding of the interconnectedness between natural systems and their influence on human activity. The course also emphasizes the role of physical geography in environmental issues and resource management, providing foundational knowledge for further study in geography, environmental science, and related fields.
Recommended Textbook
Discovering Physical Geography 3rd Edition by Alan F. Arbogast
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20 Chapters
2538 Verified Questions
2538 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/3053
Page 2
Chapter 1: Introduction to Physical Geography
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54 Verified Questions
54 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/60627
Sample Questions
Q1) Birds would be placed in this sphere.
A) atmosphere
B) lithosphere
C) hydrosphere
D) biosphere
E) none of these
Answer: D
Q2) Of the Earth's four spheres,how would you describe the lithosphere?
Answer: The lithosphere is the solid part of the Earth encompassing the outer 100 km (~62 mi)of the Earth.It includes the soil and minerals.This sphere provides the habitat and nutrients for many life-forms.
Q3) How are physical geography and natural hazards related?
Answer: Hazards occur when extreme events result in danger to humans. As the global population grows,increasing numbers of people are moving into areas that are susceptible to extreme natural events such as hurricanes,tornadoes,flooding,earthquakes,and volcanoes.
Q4) The lithosphere is the living portion of the Earth.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Chapter 2: The Geographers Tools
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172 Verified Questions
172 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The theoretical minimum number of satellites you need to be in contact with in order for a GPS receiver to know your position on the Earth is ____.
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
E) 5
Answer: C
Q2) The most visually accurate and complete way to illustrate the Earth is through the use of a Robinson projection.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) A GIS is used only by geographers and cartographers.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Earth-Sun Geometry and the Seasons
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107 Verified Questions
107 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In general,higher latitudes receive less intense solar radiation than lower latitudes.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The Earth's axial tilt always points in the same direction relative to the Sun.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) What is the significance of the International Date Line?
Answer: The International Date Line marks the beginning and end of each calendar day. It is 180º from the Prime Meridian.If you cross the dateline moving west,you move into the next day. If you cross the dateline moving east,you return to the previous day.
Q4) The difference in the distance from the Sun between the aphelion and the perihelion points is about 3 million miles.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: The Global Energy System
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144 Verified Questions
144 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Radiation is electromagnetic energy that is transmitted in the form of waves.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In the __[1]__ it was discovered through ________[2]________ of the atmosphere that the ozone layer was being depleted at an alarming rate.
Answer 1 Choices: 1900s 1930s 1960s 1980s 2000s
Answer 2 Choices:
aerial photography images taken by NASA's Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS)
remote sensing
satellite photography
satellite remote sensing
Q3) Describe both the positive and negative aspects of the greenhouse effect.
Q4) Compare and contrast sensible heat and latent heat. Into which category would you place evaporation?
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Chapter 5: Global Temperature Patterns
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110 Verified Questions
110 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) This layer of the atmosphere is the coldest of the atmospheric layers.
A) stratopause
B) mesosphere
C) troposphere
D) thermosphere
E) stratosphere
Q2) What are the four layers of the atmosphere.
Q3) The climates of northeast Canada and northeastern Asia are under the influence of
A) heavy moisture.
B) significant amounts of latent energy.
C) continentality.
D) maritime effects.
Q4) 0°C is the exact same as 32°F.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 6: Atmospheric Pressure, wind, and Global
Circulation
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116 Verified Questions
116 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The __________ is(are)rivers of high-speed air in the upper atmosphere that flows along the polar front.
A) Rossby waves
B) Polar Front jet stream
C) zonal flow
D) meridional flow
E) none of these
Q2) Air pressure is
A) the force of gravity on a body at the surface.
B) the force that air molecules exert on a surface due to their weight.
C) higher at higher altitudes.
D) higher at higher temperatures.
E) a measure of the average speed of the air molecules.
Q3) Airflow moving parallel to isobars is called an advective flow.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In a high-pressure system,surface air converges in a counterclockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 7: Atmospheric Moisture and Precipitation
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100 Verified Questions
100 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The hydrologic cycle refers to the movement of water from one reservoir to another by various processes.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Nimbostratus clouds are
A) thin, wispy clouds that develop high in the troposphere.
B) low clouds affiliated with long-term rain or snow events.
C) individual puffy clouds that develop due to convection.
D) low clouds that grow to great heights during short-term, severe storms.
E) layered sheets of clouds that have a thick and dark appearance.
Q3) The international cloud classification scheme recognizes three categories of clouds based on their form. What are these classifications and their forms?
Q4) The temperature at which an air mass reaches water vapor saturation.
A) absolute humidity
B) maximum humidity
C) dew-point
D) specific humidity
E) relative humidity
Q5) Why does ice float on water,even though both are made of the same substance?
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Chapter 8: Air Masses and Cyclonic Weather Systems
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137 Verified Questions
137 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) During the open stage of a midlatitude cyclone, A) occlusion is occurring.
B) the warm and cold fronts are fully separated.
C) the warm front is moving faster than the cold front.
D) clouds are absent along the warm front.
E) precipitation is unlikely.
Q2) The area of rapidly flowing air moving upward within a thunderstorm is called a(n)
A) NEXRAD.
B) gust front.
C) leader.
D) streamer.
E) updraft.
Q3) Cold fronts that produce squall line thunderstorms in the U.S.Midwest are associated with which two air masses?
A) mA and mC
B) cT and cP
C) mE and cA
D) mT and cP
Q4) The cloud type BEST associated with lightning and thunder is the __________.
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Chapter 9: Global Climates and Global Climate Change
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173 Verified Questions
173 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the orbital eccentricity in the Milankovitch theory?
A) The Earth's revolution varies from circular to elliptical.
B) The Earth's axial tilt changes.
C) The Earth's rotation changes speed.
D) The Earth's North Pole migrates from Polaris to Vega.
Q2) What is the tilt obliquity in the Milankovitch theory?
A) The Earth's revolution varies from circular to elliptical.
B) The Earth's axial tilt changes.
C) The Earth's rotation changes speed.
D) The Earth's North Pole migrates from Polaris to Vega.
Q3) The presence of the ITCZ means a tremendous amount of rainfall because of A) frontal uplift.
B) orographic uplift.
C) convectional uplift.
D) convergent uplift.
E) extremely stable air.
Q4) The state of the atmosphere at a specific place and time is climate.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Environmental changes caused by humans are called __________.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Plant Geography
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152 Verified Questions
152 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The impact of increased slope includes
A) faster runoff.
B) less water absorption.
C) thinner soils.
D) fewer soil nutrients.
E) ALL of these
Q2) Which of the following SECONDARY factors influence the geographic distribution of vegetation?
A) climate
B) geology
C) soils
D) landscape position
E) human behavior
Q3) Midlatitude forests include
A) midlatitude deciduous forest and midlatitude coniferous forest.
B) Mediterranean woodland and shrub.
C) boreal forest.
D) BOTH a and b.
E) ALL of these.
Q4) Along with orange,the color plants generally reflect is __________.
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Chapter 11: The Global Distribution and Character of Soils
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137 Verified Questions
137 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Ultisols are characterized by which of the following?
A) reddish color
B) spodic horizon
C) argillic horizons
D) ability to sustain continuous agriculture
E) low clay content throughout the entire soil
Q2) The solid,nonliving part of the Earth is the
A) atmosphere.
B) biosphere.
C) hydrosphere.
D) lithosphere.
E) exosphere.
Q3) Select all of the following roles that organisms play in soil:
A) decomposing organic matter
B) mixing and aeration
C) leaching soils of nutrients
D) recycling soil elements through consumption and waste production
E) becoming humus
Q4) The soil order BEST associated with the Pacific Ring of Fire,Hawaii,and active volcanoes is __________.
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Earth S Internal Structure, rock Cycle, and Geologic Time
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123 Verified Questions
123 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The age of the Earth is about
A) 12.7 billion years.
B) 4.7 billion years.
C) 2.5 billion years.
D) 540 million years.
E) 250 million years.
Q2) The Sangre de Cristo Mountains are a batholith that has been exposed by erosion.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The Holocene is the past 10,000 years.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Even though the temperatures inside the Earth are high enough to melt the materials,they can be solid because of the tremendously high pressures.
A)True
B)False
Q5) We know more about the Jurassic than the Pleistocene.
A)True
B)False
Page 14
Q6) A dark-colored,extrusive igneous rock with a mafic composition is __________.
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Page 15
Chapter 13: Tectonic Processes and Landforms
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131 Verified Questions
131 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Yellowstone is a hotspot.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In a normal fault, fault movement may move both blocks upward or downward.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The Pacific Ring of Fire includes which of the following? (Select all that apply.)
A) Vesuvius
B) Mount Ruapehu
C) Mount Capulin
D) Kliuchevskoi
E) Cotapaxi
Q4) The physiographic region that is predominantly associated with block faulting is
A) Ridge and Valley.
B) Basin and Range.
C) Cascades.
D) Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Plain.
E) Appalachian Mountains.
Q5) The National Park that is a continental hotspot is __________.
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Chapter 14: Weathering and Mass Movements
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130 Verified Questions
130 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Two major components of landscape denudation are weathering and mass movement.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Different weathering processes often act together.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following statements are true regarding soil creep?
A) Soil creep is the gradual downhill movement of soil, trees, and rocks due to the force of gravity.
B) Soil creep is the most widespread and prevalent form of mass wasting.
C) Earthquakes are the only cause of soil creep.
D) Soil creep can result in the slow toppling of retaining walls.
E) Solifluction is one form of soil creep that commonly occurs in tropical climates.
Q4) Slump is the slowest type of mass movement.
A)True B)False
Q5) Half Dome in Yosemite Valley has been shaped by exfoliation. A)True
B)False
17
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Chapter 15: Groundwater and Karst Landscapes
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105 Verified Questions
105 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A depression that forms when underlying rock dissolves,causing the surface to collapse,is called a disappearing stream.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Why does tower (or haystack)karst develop?
Q3) Describe the stages of soil water and what influences these stages.
Q4) Subsidence is the main reason Venice,Italy,has continued to sink for nearly 1400 years.
A)True
B)False
Q5) This is a cavity in rock,produced by the dissolution of calcium carbonate and is large enough for a human to enter.
A) a cavity
B) a depression
C) a sinkhole
D) a cave
E) all of these
Q6) What is the difference between an aquifer and an artesian well?
Q7) What could be some limiting factors in the formation of caves and caverns?
Page 18
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Chapter 16: Fluvial Systems and Landforms
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123 Verified Questions
123 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The geographical area that contributes groundwater and runoff to a particular stream is called a drainage divide.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Streams with water flowing in them all year long are called ephemeral streams.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A(n)_________ occurs when centrifugal force associated with the current flowing around a meander bend carries the main current outside of the curve.
A) cutbank
B) point bar
C) thalweg
D) oxbow lake
E) natural levee
Q4) Runoff that flows in sheets toward a drain of some sort is called sheet runoff.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe the evolution of a graded stream associated with a valley.
Q6) What are the three stages associated with the formation of an oxbow lake?
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Chapter 17: Glacial Geomorphology: Processes and Landforms
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111 Verified Questions
111 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Sediment deposited by meltwater streams emanating from a glacier is called a(n)
A) glacial outwash.
B) kame.
C) outwash plain.
D) esker.
E) kettle lake.
Q2) The part of the glacier where snow builds up is called the A) zone of accumulation.
B) equilibrium line.
C) wasting zone.
D) zone of ablation.
E) melt-frozen line.
Q3) An elevated,U-shaped valley formed as a result of a tributary alpine glacier is called a hanging valley.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A tarn is a sharp ridge that forms between two glacial cirques.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe the process of converting snow to glacial ice.
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Chapter 18: Arid Landscapes and Eolian Processes
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115 Verified Questions
115 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The major desert in the southwestern United States is the Sonoran Desert.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The maximum slope at which sand will not slump under the force of gravity is called the
A) backslope.
B) slip face.
C) angle of repose.
D) crest.
E) slumping process.
Q3) Approximately ____% of the Earth's surface is covered by loess deposits.
A) 5
B) 7.5
C) 10
D) 12.75
E) 16
Q4) A broad,horizontal surface smaller than a plateau and upheld by resistant caprock is called a butte.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 19: Coastal Processes and Landforms
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125 Verified Questions
125 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The vertical measurement of a wave from its crest to the average level of the water is called
A) wave trough.
B) wavelength.
C) wave amplitude.
D) wave height.
E) wave base.
Q2) The nearshore zone that is regularly uncovered through tidal fluctuations and the movement of surf is called the foreshore.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A small island connected to a landmass by a spit is known as a tombolo.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The high point of an individual wave is called the wave crest.
A)True
B)False
Q5) A tsunami is another name for a seismic sea wave.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 20: Population Growth and Environmental Impacts
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146 Verified Questions
146 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) It is estimated that about ___[Answer1]__[AnswerUnits]_____ people will live on Earth by 2050.
Q2) The average life expectancy in the United States in the year 2000 was about 77 years.
A)True
B)False
Q3) "Las Vegas" translates as "the oasis" in Spanish.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Owens Rivers was greatly impacted in Southern California's need for water that also greatly lowered Mono Lake.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Only __________ % of the surface of the Earth is currently suitable for potentially productive agriculture.
Q6) Australia has some of the oldest rocks on Earth; some are even 3.5 billion years old at the surface.
A)True
B)False
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