MIDTERM

Question 1

Hurricane Lee, now approaching our Maritime provinces, began as __________ 13 in the eastern __________ ocean just above the __________.

Question 2

Wildfire, possibly due to power lines downed under high winds, burned most of the town of Lahaina on Maui island, and is a relatively new disaster risk to the Hawaiian Island chain in addition to __________ and __________.

Answer 2

volcanic eruption; earthquake

Question 3

The decrease in the worldwide fertility rate is likely linked to urbanization and increased opportunities for women. T/F?

Answer 3

True

Question 4

World wide, and as we noticed just last week in Canada, glaciers __________ leaving research huts, artifacts, and ancient drainage surfaces exposed.

Answer 4

retreat due to atmospheric warming

Question 5

The __________ of a disaster is the average number of years between same sized events.

Answer 5

return period

Question 6

“__________ growth” is a kind of mathematical curve that best fits the human population data from the past several centuries.

Answer 6

exponential

Question 7

In the USA, a tornado killing 10 people is less likely than an earthquake killing 10 people.

T/F?

Answer 7

False

Question 8

A natural disaster with a large return period is a low-frequency event.

Answer 8

True

Question 9

If we could decrease the global human population, the death toll from natural disasters would be expected to _________.

Answer 9

decrease

Question 10

Storm Daniel crossed Greece, crossed the Sahara desert, and killed thousands of people in Libya. Why might Daniel be considered an anthropomorphic (human made) disaster?

Answer 10

dam failures due to negligence and no plan to evacuate citizens

Question 11

What differentiated Earth into a mantle and core _________?

Answer 11

Fe catastrophe

Question 12

Social media misinformation peddlers might have us believe, falsely, that Earth’s early heat came primarily from __________.

Answer 12

dark energy

Question 13

Smashing a rock with a hammer into fragments give one the experience of __________ deformation.

Answer 13

brittle

Question 14

Earth’s magnetic and rotational axes don’t necessarily coincide.

T/F

Answer 14

True

Question 15

Below the Curie point of approximately _________ C, Fe-rich minerals align (magnetize) with Earth’s magnetic field.

Answer 15

550 C

Question 16

A typical molecule in an oceanic plate gets recycled every __________ years, approximately.

Answer 16

200 million

Question 17

Astronomers theorize how our solar system formed _________.

Answer 17

by the gravitational accretion of matter

Question 18

As of Thursday, September 7, 2023, __________ 13 grew to become named Hurricane __________, and was predicted to bring heavy rain and dangerous storm surge to __________.

Answer 18

tropical storm; Lee; Nova Scotia.

Question 19

_________waves travel only through solids; on reaching liquid or gas, the wave energy is reflected back into rock or is converted to another form.

Answer 19

S

Question 20

Sedimentation (deposition following suspension in water) of sand, gravel, and mud in horizontal layers occurs according to the law of __________.

Answer 20

original horizontality

Question 21

The sediment layer on the sea floor is _________ .

Answer 21

thinest near the volcanic ridges

Question 22

In normal faulting, the hanging wall moves _________ relative to the footwall.

Answer 22

down

Question 23

The transverse __________ waves apply shear forces to rocks in a direction perpendicular to their propagation direction.

Answer 23

love and S

Question 24

The frequency of a wave is_________.

Answer 24

the number of waves passing a sensor per second

Question 25

Can the same fault be classified as both a strike-slip and a transform fault?

Answer 25

yes

Question 26

The supercontinent __________ is thought to have existed about 220 million years ago.

Answer 26

pangea

Question 27

Recent work in Switzerland suggests that Swiss __________ will retreat completely by __________.

Answer 27

Glaciers , 2100

Question 28

As of Thursday, Sept. 28, tropical storm Philippe struggled to organize itself around a central eye due to:

Answer 28

Strong wind shear high in the atmosphere

Question 29

Which of the following does not improve a building’s resistance to earthquakes?

Answer 29

match its period to expected seismic waves

Question 30

For every _________ times increase in seismic amplitude, the Richter magnitude value increases one integer.

Answer 30

10

Question 31

A building foundation that slides or rolls with an earthquake uses _________ to reduce earthquake-induced damage.

Answer 31

base isolation

Question 32

In general, tall buildings have a __________ resonant period.

Answer 32

longer

Question 33

The seismic-gap method of earthquake forecasting works by identifying _________.

Answer 33

segments along the fault that have not moved in a long time

Question 34

__________ is a rough volcanic landform.

Answer 34

aa

Question 35

Decreasing the pressure on hot rock generates magma.

T/F

Answer 35

true

Question 36

Rocks melts if _________.

Answer 36

pressure decrease, temp increase, water content increase

Question 37

Pyroclastic debris is _________.

Answer 37

flying lava chunks and rocks

Question 38

As a magma cools, which of these is the correct sequence of mineralization?

Answer 38

olivine, pyroxene, amphibole, biotite mica, and quartz

quartz last ***

Question 39

What shape describes the most important mineral building block made of Si and O2.

Answer 39

tetrahedron