Final GEO2200 – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
Compared to a gentle, a sleep slope will have a
answer
Slower rate of soil formation and less soil.
question
Which is important in assessing an area's potential for slope failure?
answer
Comparing the geologic setting to adjacent areas that have or have not failed, whether the material is loose sediment or solid bedrock, recent changes in slope, the orientation of laying and fractures
question
Features that commonly forms where limestone has been dissolved
answer
Sinkhole, karst topography, and caves.
question
How do slopes fail
answer
Large blocks fall from cliffs; rocks, soil, sediment, and ice slides down steep hillsides, pieces of loose rock accumulate on talus slopes until the angle becomes too steep, and soil and other loose material can flow rapidly down slopes, forming debris flows.
question
The main force involved in the stability of slopes
answer
Gravity
question
Aside from limestone, other kinds of environment produce karst terrain
answer
Areas underlain by salt or evaporate rocks, but not sandstone
question
The following can influence a coast gains or loses sand with time
answer
The amout of precipitation on land, the amount of sediment in rivers, a longshore current, prevailing wind direction.
question
Factors that affecr the appearance of the shoreline include
answer
The hardness of bedrock along the coast, climate and vegetation, sea level has risen or fallen relative to the coast.
question
High and low tides are caused by
answer
Water being pulled by the gravity of the moon.
question
Temperatures become more variable and precipitation decreases as one travels from west to east from Europe into Asia. Best explained by
answer
Prevailing westerlies and the orientation of mountain chains.
question
Summer temperatures are high in arid climates because
answer
High sun angle and low relative humidity.
question
General Circluation Models (GCM) differ from Weather Forecasting Models (WFM) in all the following ways except GCM's
answer
Use spatial analysis techniques that interpolate the data to a three-dimensional grid
question
In the last 200 years, sea level has risen approximately.
answer
0.2m
question
The following is not likely to be a consequence of climate change
answer
Increased stabikity in temperatures
question
Elevation affects the distribution of terrestrial biomes through its effect on
answer
Both temperatures and precipitation
question
The environmental boundaries between biomes, called ecotones are
answer
Represent a gradual shift in biotic features
question
Land use changes and exotic species intorductions tend to have the impact of
answer
Reducing biodiversity
question
The boreal forest biome is known for its
answer
Coniferous trees
question
Rainwater is naturally slighly acidic from the water dissolving the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and rain can become more acidic by an increase in the amount of carbon dioxide
answer
True
question
How fast do plates move relative to one another?
answer
Centimeters per year
question
Which of the following statements is true?
answer
Earthquakes are more widespread than volcanos or high mountains
question
Which of the following is true about internal and external processes?
answer
Tectonics is an internal process and erosion is an external process
question
What do the island chains of Hawaii, Tahiti, and Tristan da Cunha have in common?
answer
They formed from hot spots.
question
The hypothesis of continental drift was not widely accepted because
answer
There are no mechanism to move continents through the oceanic crust.
question
Which of the following is used to match continents or track positions of continents in the past?
answer
Reconstructions of seafloor spreading, rock types/ structures, and magnetism stored in rocks.
question
A force that is important in driving plate tectonics is
answer
Slab pull, ridge push, upwelling mantle, such as in hot spots.
question
The higher the gas pressure builds in a magma
answer
The more explosive an eruptions it is likely to produce.
question
Which of the following are ways that viscosity affects gases in magma?
answer
Viscous magma prevents gas from escaping easily.
question
The eruption that occurred on Mount St. Helens was triggered by a
answer
Huge landslide caused a lateral blast that knocked down trees and buildings.
question
Volcanic mudflows ( lahars) are common on composite volcanoes because
answer
Large amounts of rain and snowmelt mix with loose ash on steep slopes.
question
What is the tectonic setting of the large 2011 Tohuku earthquake in Japan?
answer
Slip along a subduction zone (mega thrust)
question
What is the difference between a joint and a fault?
answer
A fault displaces the rocks on one slide relative to another
question
Which of the following is evidence of recent activity at a volcano?
answer
Thick, well- developed soil
question
250 million years ago, the Atlantic Ocean did not even exist yet, because all of the Earth's continents were, at the time, assembled into one large landmass (the super- continent called Pangea)
answer
True
question
If the Atlantic Ocean is widening at a rate of 3 cm per year, how far (in kilometers) will spread in a million years?
answer
3000km
question
Oceanic crust is MORE DENSE than continental crust.
answer
True
question
Composition
answer
This physical property distinguishes the crust, mantle, and core.
question
State
answer
This physical properly distinguishes the lithosphere and asthenosphere
question
Pressure
answer
Because of very high values of this physical property, the inner core is solid.
question
Temperature
answer
This physical property increases with depth toward the interior of the Earth.
question
Density
answer
Because of this physical property, oceanic lithosphere at a subduction zone is forced beneath continental lithosphere.
question
Lithosphere
answer
Rigid outermost layer of rocky planets (such as Earth); includes the crust and upper mantle
question
Outer core
answer
Very dense, mostly iron and nickel; convection in this layer generates Earth's magnetic field.
question
Inner Core
answer
Very dense and solid die to high pressure, mostly iron and nickel.
question
Crust
answer
The outermost layer of the Solid Earth, consisting of continental and oceanic crust.
question
Asthenosphere
answer
The area of mantle that is solid, but hotter than the rock above it, and can flow under pressure.
