Multiple Choice Questions 2 Flashcards
What is the largest reservoir of liquid freshwater on Earth?
glaciers and ice caps
Where does the majority of water for public supply come from?
streams
Which sector accounts for the largest surface water usage?
have no clue
Which sector accounts for the largest groundwater usage?
agriculture/irrigation
Which of the following is the proper water input/output balance to form a salt lake?
P + R = E
Where is most groundwater stored?
pore spaces between sediment grains
Which of the following minerals would have low porosity and low permeability?
clay
Which area of the United States is an example of groundwater mining driven by heavy agricultural use?
High Plains/Midwest
What important ecological function does lake overturn serve?
prevents bottom from becoming anoxic
What is the name of the zone in which groundwater interactions with stream water?
hyporheic zone
What is the primary natural hazard on leading-edge shorelines?
mass wasting
What type of tides does most of the Gulf of Mexico experience?
diurnal
What phenomenon results in the largest changes to shorelines and barrier islands?
tropical storms/hurricanes
What type of system operates on the Gulf of Mexico shoreline?
wave-dominated
What is the “fuel” that drives large tropical storms and hurricanes?
warm ocean water
Which of the following hazards are associated with tropical storms and hurricanes?
high wind, inland flooding, storm surge
What type of sedimentary deposits form on barrier islands during large storms?
washover fans
What type of engineered structure is primarily used to halt longshore drift?
groins
What energy source is responsible for transporting and shaping aeolian dunes?
winds
What type of system operates on the Georgia coast?
tide-dominated
Which of the following drive sediment transport and landscape change on the coast?
waves, tides, currents, winds
What type of motion do particles in ocean waves follow?
circular
What is the energy source for most ocean waves?
winds
What phenomenon causes temporary sea level rise during large storms?
storm surge
What is the primary hazard (and source of damage) during Hurricane Harvey?
high precipitation
What is the source for most of the salts in the oceans?
chemically weathered rocks
Which of these is are a significant driver of surface currents in the oceans?
atmospheric pressure variations, rotation of the Earth, and winds
What is the most significant energy input at Earth’s surface?
insolation
Which of the following materials has the highest Albedo?
fresh snow
Which of the following materials has the lowest Albedo?
seawater
Which of the following are fundamental properties of the Coriolis effect?
effects increase in proportion to wind speed, causes deflection to the right in the northern hemisphere, and effect is zero at the equator
What is the significance of a surface convergence in the general atmosphere circulation model?
creates favorable conditions for hurricanes
In which layer of the atmosphere does the temperature increase due to heating of ozone by ultraviolet radiation?
stratosphere
What is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere?
nitrogen
Which of the following best describes the magnitude of the Coriolis effect?
proportional to wind speed
In which atmospheric layer does nearly all of the circulation occur that drives our weather?
troposphere
What type of moraines mark the retreat of a glacier?
recessional
What type of rocks host the mineralized (hydrothermally altered) zone in the Cordillera
Blanca?
Mesozoic marine sedimentary rocks
What is the source of acidity in some surface waters in the Cordillera Blanca, Peru?
mineralized rocks exposed by deglaciation
When was the Last Glacial Maximum?
20 ka
Which of the following refers to the change in shape of Earth’s orbit every 100 ka?
eccentricity
What is the average duration of Earth’s precession cycle?
26 ka
What would you expect the climate to be like if eccentricity, obliquity, and precession all reduce summer isolation?
ice age
Which of the following is the most abundance greenhouse gas?
H2O
Why is CO2 the greenhouse gas of most significance to climate change?
long resistance time
Which of the following is a distinguishing feature of the Cordillera Blanca, Peru?
highest concentration of tropical glaciers, flat slab subduction, and rapid deglaciation in last few decades
