Exam #2

Question 1

Over a 500 year period of time, ____________ was the leading cause of deaths in volcanic eruptions.

A) Lava flows.
B) Tephra fall.
C) Pyroclastic flows.
D) Lava flows, tephra fall and pyroclastic flow all took equal numbers of lives over a 500 year period of time.

Answer 1

C) Pyroclastic flows.

Question 2

This category of volcanic hazard can occur before, during or after an eruption and is the second-leading cause of human death from volcanic eruptions over a 500 year period of time:

A) Primary volcanic hazards.
B) Secondary volcanic hazards.
C) Indirect volcanic hazards.
D) Social hazards related to volcanism.

Answer 2

D) Social hazards related to volcanism.

Question 3

Volcanic hazards involving erupted material but not necessarily at the time of the eruption are called __________

A) Primary volcanic hazards.
B) Secondary volcanic hazards.
C) Indirect volcanic hazards.
D) Social hazards related to volcanism.

Answer 3

B) Secondary volcanic hazards.

Question 4

Volcanic hazards driven by the energy of an eruption but not necessarily in contact with the volcanic cone are called ___________.

A) Primary volcanic hazards.
B) Secondary volcanic hazards.
C) Indirect volcanic hazards.
D) Social hazards related to volcanism.

Answer 4

C) Indirect volcanic hazards.

Question 5

Which of the following gases did your instructor say was especially deadly during the eruption of Laki, Iceland, in 1783?

A) Boiling liquid nitrogen.
B) Carbon dioxide and water vapor.
C) Fluorine.
D) Sulfur dioxide

Answer 5

C) Fluorine.

Question 6

Which of the following gases degraded air quality during recent eruptions of Kilauea in Hawaii and during the 2014 eruption of Baroarbunga. Iceland, in 2014?

A) Boiling liquid nitrogen.
B) Carbon dioxide and water vapor.
C) Fluorine.
D) Sulfur dioxide.

Answer 6

D) Sulfur dioxide.

Question 7

Of the three most recent supervolcanic or catastrophic eruptions of Yellowstone, which one was the largest in terms of erupted material?

A) The one 640,000 years ago.
B) The one 1.3 million years ago,
C) The one in 2.2 million years ago.
D) The three most recent supervolcanic or catastrophic eruptions of Yellowstone were all equally-large in terms of erupted material.

Answer 7

C) The one in 2.2 million years ago.

Question 8

This notable eruption, which your instructor described as the largest in recorded history in terms of the volume of erupted material, caused a famine by burying crops and killing livestock in the area of the eruption and caused worldwide global cooling for months afterward by the erupted ash reflecting sunlight in the upper atmosphere:

A) Tambora, Indonesia (1815).
B) Krakatau, Indonesia (1883).
C) Paracutin, Mexico (1943 - 1952).
D) Hunga Tonga - Hunga Ha’apai (2022).

Answer 8

A) Tambora, Indonesia (1815).

Question 9

This notable eruption caused an earthquake and a tsunami and now holds the record as being the loudest explosion in recorded history:

A) Tambora, Indonesia (1815).
B) Krakatau, Indonesia (1883).
C) Paracutin, Mexico (1943 - 1952).
D) Hunga Tonga - Hunga Ha’apai (2022).

Answer 9

D) Hunga Tonga - Hunga Ha’apai (2022).

Question 10

A catastrophic, caldera-forming eruption may have contributed to the decline of a Bronze-Age civilization called ______________.

A) The Ancient Egyptians.
B) The Ancient Greeks.
C) The Etruscans.
D) The Minoans.
E) The Roman Empire.

Answer 10

D) The Minoans.

Question 11

____________ is a small volcanic dome formed by subsequent eruptions at the site of the catastrophic, caldera-forming eruption described in the previous question.

A) Anak Kraktau.
B) Mazama.
C) Nea Kameni.
D) The Somma Rim.
E) Whaleback.

Answer 11

C) Nea Kameni.

Question 12

A caldera produced by the destruction of an earlier, larger stratovolcano surrounds the modern cone of Vesuvius and is called ___________.

A) Anak Kraktau.
B) Mazama.
C) Nea Kameni.
D) The Somma Rim.
E) Whaleback.

Answer 12

D) The Somma Rim.

Question 13

A pyroclastic flow associated with this notable eruption emplaced a thick ignimbrite called “the Valley of 10,000 Smokes”:

A) Mount Pelee (1902).
B) Mount Katmai (1912).
C) Mount Kelud (1919).
D) Paracutin (1943-1952).

Answer 13

B) Mount Katmai (1912).

Question 14

Pyroclastic flows and a boiling hot lahar were both hazards associated with this notable eruption, but most of the tens of thousands of people killed in this eruption died due to the pyroclastic flows:

A) Mount Pelee (1902).
B) Mount Katmai (1912).
C) Mount Kelud (1919).
D) Paracutin (1943-1952).

Answer 14

A) Mount Pelee (1902).

Question 15

In addition to pyroclastic flows, a boiling hot lahar generated from the lake in its summit crater was one of the hazards associated with this notable eruption. Most of the deaths from this eruption were due to the boiling hot lahar:

A) Mount Pelee (1902).
B) Mount Katmai (1912).
C) Mount Kelud (1919).
D) Paracutin (1943-1952).

Answer 15

C) Mount Kelud (1919).

Question 16

___________ erupted the most lava by any single eruption in recorded history.

A) Laki (1783-1784).
B) Surtsey (1963-1967).
C) Heimaey (1973).
D) Grindavik (2022-2023).

Answer 16

A) Laki (1783-1784).

Question 16

Ingenious towns people in a fishing village on the island where this notable eruption happened were able to stop a lava flow from the eruption by using hoses to spray cold seawater on it:

A) Laki (1783-1784).
B) Surtsey (1963-1967).
C) Heimaey (1973).
D) Grindavik (2022-2023).

Answer 16

C) Heimaey (1973).

Question 17

A lava flow from this notable eruption on a peninsula in southern Iceland seemed about to destroy the town it is named after, but the lava flow did not reach that far.

A) Laki (1783-1784).
B) Surtsey (1963-1967).
C) Heimaey (1973).
D) Grindavik (2022-2023).

Answer 17

D) Grindavik (2022-2023).

Question 18

The most recent andesitic volcanic dome to form in the blown-out summit crater of Mount Saint Helens was given the name ______________.

A) Anak Kraktau.
B) Mazama.
C) Nea Kameni.
D) The Somma Rim.
E) Whaleback.

Answer 18

E) Whaleback.

Question 19

What has been called “hummocky terrain” that was formed on the day of the May 18th, 1980, eruption of Mount Saint Helens was caused by a ____________.

A) Lahar.
B) Landslide.
C) Tephra (ash) fall.
D) Pyroclastic flow.

Answer 19

B) Landslide.

Question 20

This was the most recent of the four volcanic eruptions that together account for about half of the total human deaths from volcanic eruptions over a 500 year period of time:

A) Mount Saint Helens (1980).
B) Ruiz (1985).
C) Lake Nyos (1986).
D) Mount Pinatubo (1991).
E) Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’ apai (2022).

Answer 20

B) Ruiz (1985).

Question 21

The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 directly led to the closure of a(n) air force base of _____________.

A) Japan.
B) The People’s Republic of China.
C) The Philippines.
D) The United States.

Answer 21

D) The United States.

Question 22

There are _____________ rocky and iron-rich asteroids in the Main Asteroid Belt and ______________ of icy comets in the Kuiper Cometary Belt and Oort Cometary Cloud.

A) Millions; trillions.
B) Trillions; millions.
C) There are millions of asteroids in the Main Asteroid Belt and millions of comets in the Kuiper Cometary Belt and Oort Cometary Cloud.
D) There are trillions of asteroids in the Main Asteroid Belt and trillions of comets in the Kuiper Cometary Belt and Oort Cometary Cloud.

Answer 22

A) Millions; trillions.

Question 23

Your instructor said that which of the following isotopes is used as a tracer to determine where most of Earth’s water came from?

A) Deuterium.
B) Carbon-14.
C) Radon.
D) Uranium-238.

Answer 23

A) Deuterium.
deuterium is a heavy, stable isotope of hydrogen that produces a different spectral signature for water containing deuterium in what is called heavy water.

Question 24

What was the reason for the very large but temporary increase in impacts on Earth and other bodies in the Solar System some 4 billion years ago?

A) A nearby supernova.
B) The formation of the planets from the protoplanetary nebula.
C) Rearrangement of the orbits of the outer gas giant planets early in the history of the Solar System.

Answer 24

C) Rearrangement of the orbits of the outer gas giant planets early in the history of the Solar System.

Question 25

Short-period comets like Halley’s Comet probably originated in _____________.

A) The Main Asteroid Belt.
B) The Kuiper Cometary Belt.
C) The Oort Cometary Cloud.
D) Interstellar space.

Answer 25

B) The Kuiper Cometary Belt.
also know that long-period comets
originate in the Oort Cometary Cloud

Question 26

The greatest danger of destructive impacts on the Earth come from NEOs (Near Earth Objects), which are mostly asteroids or asteroid fragments. NEOs are classified by their orbits. Your instructor said that NEOs called __________ pose the greatest danger to Earth because they cross the Earth’s orbit and their orbits can be the most similar to that of the Earth:

A) Amors.
B) Apollos.
C) Atens.
D) Atiras.

Answer 26

B) Apollos.

Question 27

Relating crater density in areas of ____________ to radioisotope dating of rocks from those areas allows the age of a planetary surface in the Solar System to be determined by the crater density on that planetary surface.

A) Earth.
B) Earth’s Moon.
C) Mars.
D) Callisto.
E) Venus.

Answer 27

B) Earth’s Moon.

Question 28

Crater density indicates that the surface of ____________ had flowing water and rivers and stream tributaries about 3 billion years ago before it lost most of its atmosphere to space.

A) Earth.
B) Earth’s Moon.
C) Mars.
D) Callisto.
E) Venus.

Answer 28

C) Mars.

Question 29

____________ is the largest asteroid or comet impact on Earth in recorded history.

A) 1950 DA.
B) Apophis.
C) Dimorphos.
D) Tunguska.

Answer 29

D) Tunguska.

Question 30

Originally thought to have the highest rating for a potential impact with Earth on the Torino Scale, ______________ is now classified as not being a threat to the Earth.

A) 1950 DA.
B) Apophis.
C) Dimorphos.
D) Tunguska.

Answer 30

B) Apophis.

Question 31

Your instructor said that ____________ is now thought to be the object with the greatest chance of impacting Earth.

A) 1950 DA.
B) Apophis.
C) Dimorphos.
D) Tunguska.

Answer 31

A) 1950 DA.

Question 32

NASA recently successfully deflected the course of this potential impactor in space:

A) 1950 DA.
B) Apophis.
C) Dimorphos.
D) Tunguska.

Answer 32

C) Dimorphos.

Question 33

_____________ is the second-most abundant gas in Earth’s atmosphere, and is believed to be produced primarily from photosythesis.

A) Argon.
B) Carbon dioxide.
C) Nitrogen.
D) Oxygen.
E) Water vapor.

Answer 33

D) Oxygen.
!!Nitrogen is the most abundant gas in
Earth’s atmosphere.

Question 34

This layer of the atmosphere blocks much of the harmful ultra-violet radiation from the Sun that would otherwise reach the surface of the Earth:

A) The ionosphere.
B) The ozone layer.
C) The tropopause.
D) The Karmen line.

Answer 34

B) The ozone layer.
!!Ozone is a triatomic form of oxygen formed by the action of ultra-violet light from the Sun acting on diatomic oxygen.

Question 35

The _____________ is in the upper atmosphere and consists of charged atoms of atmospheric gases formed by the Sun’s radiant energy. It is where the aurora happens and it reflects certain frequencies of radio waves, such as Shortwave and the AM radio band, back to the ground to enable radio broadcasts using those frequencies to be received over the horizon from the broadcasting station.

A) The ionosphere.
B) The ozone layer.
C) The tropopause.
D) The Karmen line.

Answer 35

A) The ionosphere.

Question 36

____________ is a trace component of the Earth’s atmosphere. Condensation and evaporation of this gas acts to transport heat energy around in Earth’s climate system.

A) Argon.
B) Carbon dioxide.
C) Nitrogen.
D) Oxygen.
E) Water vapor.

Answer 36

E) Water vapor.

Question 37

_____________ is a trace component of the Earth’s atmosphere that acts to trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere that would otherwise escape to space. Its abundance is increasing due to anthropogenic (human) activities.

A) Argon.
B) Carbon dioxide.
C) Nitrogen.
D) Oxygen.
E) Water vapor.

Answer 37

B) Carbon dioxide.

Question 38

Clockwise-rotating areas of high pressure associated with clear weather in the northern hemisphere are called ____________; counterclockwise-rotating areas of low pressure associated with stormy weather in the northern hemisphere are called _____________.

A) Anticyclones; cyclones.
B) Cyclones; anticyclones.
C) They are both called anitcyclones.
D) They are both called cyclones.

Answer 38

A) Anticyclones; cyclones.

Question 39

_______________ is (are) the fastest-rotating part of the Earth.

A) The Equator.
B) The Prime Meridian and the International Dateline.
C) The North Pole and South Pole.
D) All parts of the Earth rotate equally rapidly.

Answer 39

A) The Equator.

Question 40

Manhattan, Kansas, and Kansas State University are in the northern temperate zone, where weather is influenced by ____________ and most storms move from west to east in _____________.

A) Hadley cells; the trade winds.
B) Farrel cells; the prevailing westerlies.
C) Polar cells; the polar easterlies.

Answer 40

B) Farrel cells; the prevailing westerlies.

Question 41

Latent heat absorbed and released by methane (CH4) moves energy around in the atmospheric weather system of _____________.

A) Earth’s Moon.
B) Callisto.
C) Mars.
D) Jupiter.
E) Titan.

Answer 41

E) Titan.

Question 42

______________ is the current name of the temperature scale used in meteorology in most countries.

A) The Celsius Scale.
B) The Centigrade Scale.
C) The Fahrenheit Scale.
D) The Kelvin Scale.

Answer 42

A) The Celsius Scale.
Formerly called the Centigrade Scale. Also, the Fahrenheit Scale is only used in the United States and several other countries

Question 43

The __________ is the rate of cooling of a volume or parcel of air as it rises through the atmosphere.

A) The adiabatic lapse rate.
B) The environmental lapse rate.
C) This has no special name.

Answer 43

A) The adiabatic lapse rate.
!!the environmental lapse rate is the rate at which
the overall atmosphere cools with increasing altitude.

Question 44

The Dew Point is a ______________.

A) Altitude.
B) Pressure.
C) Temperature.
D) Volume.

Answer 44

C) Temperature.