Final Exam

Question 1

The element that constitutes the highest percentage of mass in the Earth’s crust is

Answer 1

Iron

Question 2

Differentiate between transform, divergent and convergent plate boundaries

Answer 2

Transform- plates slide Divergent- plates move away from each other Convergent- plates moves towards each other

Question 3

Which type of soil has the smallest particle? The largest?

Answer 3

Clay, smallest. Sand, largest.

Question 4

The most common element found in the earth is

Answer 4

Oxygen

Question 5

Volcanic activity is mostly caused by the motion of

Answer 5

plate tectonics

Question 6

What is the zone of frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions called?

Answer 6

ring of fire

Question 7

The addition of oxygen to the early earth’s atmosphere most likely occurred through the process of

Answer 7

photosynthesis

Question 8

What is continental drift?

Answer 8

When plates move away from each other

Question 9

What is the process that makes soil less productive because it increases the salt content?

Answer 9

Soil salinization

Question 10

Which zone of the atmosphere is where weather occurs?

Answer 10

Troposphere

Question 11

List the five most abundant gases of the lower atmosphere in descending order.

Answer 11

Nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon, water vapor

Question 12

What is the pH of normal rainfall?

Answer 12

5.6

Question 13

Acid precipitation, leaching out the metal _____, causes fish and other aquatic organisms to die from acid shock.

Answer 13

aluminum

Question 14

The ozone layer exits primarily in what section of the atmosphere?

Answer 14

Stratosphere

Question 15

What types of surfaces have low albedo?

Answer 15

Dark

Question 16

What direction do jet streams primarily travel?

Answer 16

West to East

Question 17

Which two gases were most common in the earth’s earliest atmosphere?

Answer 17

Hydrogen and helium

Question 18

List the order of the atmospheric layers.

Answer 18

Troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, exosphere

Question 19

What is the difference between point and non-point source pollution? Give examples of each.

Answer 19

Point: origin is known and singular - pollution from a certain factory. Non point -the origins come from many different places and isn’t traced back to one source - fertilizer runoff

Question 20

What molecule is the most damaging to stratospheric ozone?

Answer 20

Chlorine

Question 21

Why is ozone in the stratosphere so important?

Answer 21

The ozone layer is important because it absorbs ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, preventing most of it from reaching the earth’s surface

Question 22

How do we know the composition of the atmosphere from thousands of years ago?

Answer 22

Gas bubbles trapped in ice tell what composition of the atmosphere was from thousands of years ago.

Question 23

List several ways to reduce domestic water use.

Answer 23

Fix leaks, take shorter showers, turn off water while brushing your teeth.

Question 24

The release of chemicals from underground storage tanks is most likely to pollute which water source?

Answer 24

Groundwater

Question 25

What is the hydrosphere?

Answer 25

All the waters on the earth's surface, such as lakes and seas, and sometimes including water over the earth's surface, such as clouds.

Question 26

Which part of the hydrologic cycle requires the input of solar energy?

Answer 26

Evaporation

Question 27

What is the number one use of freshwater?

Answer 27

Irrigation

Question 28

What is brackish water?

Answer 28

Salt and freshwater mixed together

Question 29

How much of the earth’s surface is covered by water?

Answer 29

71%

Question 30

Which irrigation method currently conserves the most water?

Answer 30

Drip irrigation

Question 31

What substances will result in accelerated eutrophication when introduced into streams, lakes and bays?

Answer 31

Fertilizers, phosphorus, nitrogen

Question 32

List the correct order of processing sanitary waste in sewage treatment plants.

Answer 32

Primary Treatment: solid separation, Secondary: biological treatment of wastewater, Tertiary: chlorination

Question 33

What do most industries use water for?

Answer 33

Cooling for electricity production

Question 34

What is the most domestic use of water in the United States?

Answer 34

Flushing toliets

Question 35

What country would represent a large per capita water use?

Answer 35

United States

Question 36

Which zone of a river will have the lowest level of dissolved oxygen due to sewage being dumped in it?

Answer 36

Floodplain

Question 37

What may occur if wastewater treatment plant effluent that contains nitrates and phosphates is allowed to flow into a body of water?

Answer 37

Eutrophication

Question 38

What is the zone of saturation?

Answer 38

Phreatic Zone

Question 39

What is an effective alternative to chlorine for disinfecting wastewater in municipal treatment plants?

Answer 39

Ozone

Question 40

What are examples of units of energy?

Answer 40

BTU, kwh

Question 41

Where is a site of a hazardous chemical dumping ground over which homes and a school were built?

Answer 41

Love Canal

Question 42

Which country currently ranks number one in both coal reserves and use of coal as an energy source?

Answer 42

China

Question 43

What is the largest type of domestic solid waste in the United States?

Answer 43

Paper

Question 44

Where is the site of the most serious commercial nuclear accident in the United States?

Answer 44

Three Mile Island

Question 45

What is the most common method of disposing of municipal solid wastes in the United States?

Answer 45

Landfills

Question 46

What is the location of the worst nuclear power plant accident in history?

Answer 46

Chernobyl

Question 47

What is cogeneration?

Answer 47

Production of two useful forms of energy from the same fuel source

Question 48

What energy source supplies the most commercial energy in the world today?

Answer 48

Oil

Question 49

What type of pollution, if any, do nuclear power plants produce?

Answer 49

No air pollution

Question 50

What do nuclear reactors use to slow down the passage of neutrons in the reactor core?

Answer 50

Control rods

Question 51

What fuel contains the greatest amount of sulfur?

Answer 51

Coal

Question 52

What is salinization (include most common cause)?

Answer 52

Gradual accumulation of salts in upper soil layers that can stunt crop growth, lower crop yields, and can eventually kill plants and ruin the land; usually caused by inefficient irrigation

Question 53

What is a secondary outbreak?

Answer 53

A rapid increase in the population of a pest that was the prey of a target pest following the application of a pesticide to kill the target pest

Question 54

Biomagnification

Answer 54

the concentration of toxins in an organism due to its ingestion of other plants/animals in which the toxins are more widely scattered

Question 55

Bioaccumulation

Answer 55

build up within the tissues of organisms (pesticides or other chemicals)

Question 56

What is resurgence?

Answer 56

Observed when pests previously targeted and successfully controlled by pesticide recur, but in higher numbers than they did before

Question 57

What does broad spectrum mean when referring to a pesticide?

Answer 57

Targets a large variety of species

Question 58

What term can be used for disease carrying organisms?

Answer 58

Vectors

Question 59

What is LD50?

Answer 59

The dose would be required to kill 50% of the test population

Question 60

List five toxic metal pollutants.

Answer 60

Lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, chromium

Question 61

Positive feedback loops

Answer 61

causes a system to change further in the same direction (such as climate change)

Question 62

Negative feedback loops

Answer 62

causes a system to change in the opposite direction from which is it moving (such as the relationship between predators and prey)

Question 63

Fecal snow is characteristic of what city?

Answer 63

Mexico City

Question 64

What does industrialized agriculture consume a lot of?

Answer 64

Water, used for irrigation

Question 65

What kind of affect do forests have on carbon dioxide and oxygen levels?

Answer 65

Decrease carbon dioxide and increase oxygen via photosynthesis

Question 66

What is most of the grain that is grown in the United States used for?

Answer 66

Feeding cattle

Question 67

How is the diet of people in developed countries different from those in developing countries?

Answer 67

In developed countries, there are more meats and foods that require space and resources to produce, whereas in developing countries, grains and products that require few resources and little area to produce are more common

Question 68

What are population characteristics of developing countries?

Answer 68

High birth rate, infant mortality rate, and death rate, low levels of education and short life expectancy

Question 69

What is the current world population?

Answer 69

Approximately seven billion

Question 70

What is true about early-loss populations, such as fish?

Answer 70

They have very high birth rates, but also high rates of infant mortality, resulting in a steep population drop at an early age before death rates level, resulting in a concave survivorship curve

Question 71

What country has the largest population?

Answer 71

China

Question 72

In a human population undergoing the demographic transition, what generally decreases first?

Answer 72

Death rate

Question 73

What are estuaries?

Answer 73

The mouth of a river, where it flows into the ocean

Question 74

Describe the Tragedy of the Commons

Answer 74

an economic problem in which every individual tries to reap the greatest benefit from a given resource

Question 75

What biome is the most productive and which is the least?

Answer 75

The tropical rainforest is the most productive, and the least productive are the desert and tundra

Question 76

Which biome, primarily found in the eastern United States, central Europe and eastern Asia, is home to some of the world’s largest cities and has probably endured the impact of humans more than any other biome?

Answer 76

Temperate deciduous forest

Question 77

What affect can the destruction of wetlands have on a surrounding river?

Answer 77

Increased water flow and frequency of flooding, more sediments present in water (higher turbidity)

Question 78

Which fishing technique is the most damaging to ocean ecosystems?

Answer 78

Trawl fishing; it scrapes the ocean floor and destroys ocean-bottom life

Question 79

What causes the bleaching of coral reefs?

Answer 79

Warmer water temperatures

Question 80

What part of the hydrologic cycle is the movement of water through the roots, stems and leaves of plants?

Answer 80

Transpiration

Question 81

How is the phosphorous cycle different from the other nutrient cycles?

Answer 81

Phosphorous never enters the atmosphere

Question 82

What is the direction of the flow of energy in a food chain?

Answer 82

Up; from producers to primary consumers to secondary consumers to tertiary consumers

Question 83

When two species live in the same habitat and use exactly the same resources what will happen to the two species?

Answer 83

The two species will compete as the resources are limited

Question 84

What is condensation?

Answer 84

When water vapor cools into a liquid form

Question 85

K-Selected Species

Answer 85

K species- Produce a small amount of offspring and care for them over a long period of time, have a higher life expectancy

Question 86

R-Selected Species

Answer 86

R species- produce many offspring in a short time period and a low life expectancy

Question 87

Primary Succession

Answer 87

occurs when life grows out of a previously lifeless area

Question 88

Secondary Succession

Answer 88

occurs when life grows out of an area that previously had life in it

Question 89

What are common sinks for the following elements? Carbon, phosphorous, nitrogen, sulfur.

Answer 89

Carbon- Carbonate rocks and the ocean, Phosphorus- Rocks and ground, Nitrogen- The atmosphere, Sulfur- Rocks

Question 90

What is carrying capacity?

Answer 90

The maximum amount of individuals an environment can hold or ‘carry’

Question 91

What affect do burning fossil fuels and deforestation have on carbon dioxide levels?

Answer 91

It increases the CO2 levels in the atmosphere

Question 92

Which country constitutes 5% of the world’s people but produces 50% of all toxic waste?

Answer 92

United States

Question 93

What does anthropocentric mean?

Answer 93

Originating from human processes or activities

Question 94

What does sustainable development mean?

Answer 94

Economic development centered around the continued use of resources in the future

Question 95

1st Law of Thermodynamics

Answer 95

Energy cannot be created or destroyed

Question 96

2nd Law of Thermodynamics

Answer 96

The entropy of an isolated system always increases

Question 97

What are intrinsic values?

Answer 97

The idea that animals have rights and worth beyond their instrumental value

Question 98

RCRA

Answer 98

focused on managing waste at the factories and other places it is produced

Question 99

CERCLA (Superfund)

Answer 99

focused on cleaning up the hazardous waste dump sites

Question 100

FIFRA

Answer 100

regulates the manufacture and use of pesticides

Question 101

What international treaty banned the use of CFCs?

Answer 101

Montreal Protocol

Question 102

Lacey Act

Answer 102

prohibits the trading of endangered species across state lines

Question 103

CITES

Answer 103

prohibits the trading of endangered species internationally

Question 104

Endangered Species Act

Answer 104

identifies those endangered species

Question 105

Today, most of the world’s energy comes from what three sources?

Answer 105

Oil, coal, and natural gas