GGP 115 – Flashcard
140 test answers
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If you were standing at 20*N latitude you would MOST appropriately be described as being within which latitudinal geographic zone?
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Equatorial
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Which of the following "spheres" is an ABIOTIC system?
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Atmosphere and Hydrosphere.
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Remote sensing is
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the monitoring of a distant object without physical contact.
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New resources and matter are being added to Earth's system all the time.
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False
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Earth represents an open system in terms of energy.
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True
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If you wanted a map with a lot of detail of a small area you would want a "small scale" map.
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False
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Which of the following terms characterizes the discipline of geography?
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Interdisciplinary, Holistic, and Synthesis
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A parallel of latitude
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is used to measure distances north or south of th equator.
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Earth is best decribed as a geoid, because it is not a perfectly shaped sphere.
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True
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Geography is best described as
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a spatial science.
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The fact that nature produces more pollution than humans do means that anthropogenic pollution is insignificant, and we need not worry about it.
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False.
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Map projections, such as Mercator and Robinson, preserve all of Earth's properties of area, shape, direction, proximity, and distance correctly.
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False (No map projection can preserve all of Earth's properties correctly; they all distort at least one of these properties).
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Which of the following is not one of the four major "spheres"?
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Cryosphere
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The most extreme northern and southern parallels to experience perpendicular rays of the Sun at local non are located at:
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23.5* N & S
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The normal lapse rate within the troposphere is an average temperature of 3.5F per 1000ft above sea level.
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True (It's 3.5*/1000ft or 6.4*C/km)
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GIS is being used to
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monitor flood hazard areas, plan urban development, and analyze crime trends.
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In general, as distance from the subsolar point increases, the average annual insolation decreases and the average annual temperature increases.
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False (temperature also decreases).
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The analogy of comparing Earth's atmosphere to the greenhouse is exacly how the Earth-atmosphere system operates.
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False (Although it can genereally be used a a useful analogy, it is an inaccurate model since atmospheric gases do not trap, but absorb heat).
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Winds are named for the directin in which they are blowing, not from where they originate.
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False
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Which of the following would be true for the net radiation balance in a midlatitude location?
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There is a surplus of Net R during the summer and a surplus during the winter. A large portion of the mainland US is within the midlatitude and we experience very warm summer & more direct insolation (surplus is net radiation) and colder witners with less insolation (deficit in Net R).
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On the average, which of the following is true regarding the distribution of shortwave and longwave energy at Earth's surface by latitude?
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The distribution shows an imbalance of the Net R from equator to poles.
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Which of the following describes the pressure gradient force?
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It is the force that initiates air movement and it drives air from areas of higher to lower barometric pressure.
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The principal controls and influences of temperature patterns include
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latitude, altitude, land-water heating differences, cloud cover, ocean currents, and surface conditions.
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Land-sea breezes are caused by the fact that water heats and cools faster than land surfaces.
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False. Water has a higher specific heat - it holds more engery, so it takes more energy, and a longer time, to warm up, and also longer to cool off by releasing that energy.
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A daily temperature curve exhibits a lag of about three hours relative to an insolation curve.
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True.
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Clouds moderate temperatures producing lower daily maximums and higher nightly minimums.
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True.
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Which of the following is true of high pressure areas?
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Air descends and diverges within high pressure systems.
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Greenhouse gases act to ______ temperatures by _____ thermal infrared radiation.
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Increase; absorbing and releasing.
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If a surface absorbs insolation,
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its temperature increases.
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The deflection produced by the Coriolis force is cause by
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the fact that Earth's rotation decreases in speed toward the poles.
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The intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is characterized by
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convergence and uplift of warm surface air.
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A vertical air current is generated by temperature-induced density
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convection. (Ex.Heat transfer between the pot and hot stove top is conduction through direct contact, but, convection is the transfer of this heat up through the vertical column of water (or air) since warm water/air rises and cold air/water sinks.
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Which of the following is true of Hadley cells?
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They are found on either side of the equator.
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Heat energy flos from objects that are hot to those that are cold.
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True.
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A dark coloered surface has a higher albedo value than a light colored surface.
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False. Just the opposite- albedo referes to the reflective quality of a surface and light colored surfaces reflect more, while dark colored ones absorb more. high albedo = high reflectivity.
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When looking at the Earth's energy budget by latitude, which region is considered to be one f energy surplus (i.e. it is the area that receives the most insolation on average)?
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Equatorial
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Clouds that have vertical development and produce thunderstorms are called
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cumulonimbus.
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Evaporation from a surface cools the surface.
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True.
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Relative humidity is
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the amount of water vapor in the air at a given temperature expressed as a percentage of the water vapor capacity of the air.
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Weather is
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the short-term condition of the atmosphere.
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Which of the following is false regarding Tropical climates (in general)?
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They are found from 35*N to 35*S.
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Which of the following is normally true of a Dry Climate (desert) such as that in the southwestern United States?
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Potential evaportranspiration exceeds actual evaportranspiration.
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Ground water pollution that our generation creates will persist far into the future (decades to centuries) beccause it is virtually impossible to clean an aquifer once it is polluted.
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True.
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Which of the following is an example of the consumptive use of water?
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Water which evaporates from an irrigated field. Evaporated water is the only use listed in which the water does not stay in its liquid form so it is no longer available for a second (or more) use. It is now water vapor in the air.
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Which atmospheric lifting mechanism produces wet windward slopes on mountain ranges and rain shadow regions on the leeward side?
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Orographic lifting
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Areas between 25* to 35* latitude usually become _____ because this area is dominated by air that is sinking and being _____.
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deserts; heated by the comperssion
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Earth's oceans possess
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97% of the Earth's waters.
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Tropical cyclones
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originate entirely within tropical air masses.
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A parcel of air tends to heat by expansion and cool by compression as it moves vertically in the atmosphere.
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False.
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A mass of air always becomes saturated when it reaches the
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dew point temperature.
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The largest portion of fresh water today is located in
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ice caps and glaciers.
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The moist adiabatic rate (MAR) is less than the dry adiabatic rate (DAR) as a result of the release of the latent heat of condensation within the rising parcel of air.
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True
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Which of the following is true regarding the hyrologic cycle?
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78% of all precipitation falls on the oceans.
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The overall quantity of water on Earth is constantly fluctuating as evidenced by changes in sea level.
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False.
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A moist climate can be produced by which of the following?
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Maritime air masses dominate a region, a location on the windward side of a mountain range and dominant wind direction brings in preceipitation events.
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Which of the following is not true of a cold front?
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Clear, cold air and high pressure as the front approaches (clear, cold air and high pressure occur after the front has passed)
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Which of the following supports the continental drift concept?
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Magnetic field patterns preserved in the rocks, plant & animal fossil records, and radiometric dating of rocks on either side of a spreading center.
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Th rate at which rocks weather depends upon
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the climate of an area, type of rock, and amount of vegetation in the area.
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Explosive reuptions tend to build up
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composite volcanos.
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Divergent plate boundaries are
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sea-floor spreading centers (rift zones) and where new ocean crust is being formed.
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When rock is broken and disintegrated without dissolving, the process in operation is
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physical weathering.
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Tectonic forces
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warp, fold, and uplift rock.
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At which of the following locations does subduction occur?
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Along convergent boundaries between continental and oceanic plates.
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The most common type of mass movement ina moderately sloped and dry enviroment is
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soil creep.
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Landslides occur when
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a threshold is reached, the internal friction is overcome by the force of gravity, and driving forces exceed resisting forces.
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Uniformitarianism assumes that
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the same physical processes we see today are a key to understanding the processess that have been operating throughout geologic time.
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Volcanic activity located away from plate boundaries (such as the Hawaiian Islands) is accociated with
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hot spots.
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Which of the following is incorrectly matched.
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denudation - endogenic.
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The science that specifically studies the origin, evolution, form, and spatial distribution of landforms is
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geomorphology.
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Which of the following can lead to hillslope failure?
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Making a roadcut in the side of a hill, increasing the slope angle, and excessively watering a slope.
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Orogenesis refers to
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a general term for a mountain-building episode that thickens continental crust.
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Karst topography is formed primarily by
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carbonation and solution.
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The area at the surface directly above the subsurface location where seismic waves are initiated is termed the
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epicenter.
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Igneous rock forms from which of the following rock cycle processess?
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The melting and crystallization of other rock material.
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Continental crust is primarily _____, whereas oceanic crust is primarily _____.
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granite; basalt
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The disintegration and dissolving of surface and subsurface rock is called
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weathering.
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Active sand dunes and sandy deserts cover approimately what percentage of continental land between 30*N and 30*S latitude (Earth's desert regions)?
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10%.
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Steam-related processes are termed
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fluvial.
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The term eolian refers to
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erosion, transportation, and deposition by the wind.
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A characteristic cone-shaped depositional feature in the desert that usually forms at the mouth of a canyon is known as a
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alluvial fan.
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The suspended load of a stream consists of particles that are
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held aloft in the stream flow.
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Wave action works to straighten a coast as wave energy focuses around headlands and tends to disperse energy in coves and bays in a process called
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wave refraction.
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Beaches are
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places along the coast where sediment is in motion.
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The ultimate base level that a stream can erode its valley to is
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sea level.
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Barrier island make _____ sites for real estate development because _____.
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poor; they are unstable and often mobile, and can be overrun by storm surges.
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Yardangs are produced by
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wind abrasion.
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When people go swimming along a coast, they often find themselves, after a while, down the coast from where they first entered the water. They moved downshore because of
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longshore currents.
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If stream discharge increases, which of the following channel characteristic changes would occur?
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An increase in velocity.
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Which of the following is formed when a stream meander gets cut off from the main channel?
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An oxbow lake
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Which of the following is incorrectly matched?
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Point bar - area of substantial erorsion. (point bar deposit is a depositional feature).
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Which of the following is not true of stormflow and hydrographs for urban areas?
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Urbanization dcreases the possiblity of a flood downstream from a major city.
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Which of the following is an example of an erosional coastal landform?
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Cliff.
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Which of the following stream channel types is likely to develop on gently sloping surfaces composed of rocks or sediments with approximately the same resistance to erosion? (Also assume that there are no structural controls on the pattern's development).
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Dendritic
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An earthquake, submarine landslide, or eruption of an undersea volcano is capable of producing a
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tsunami.
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The removal and lifting of individual loose particles by the wind is termed
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deflation.
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The massive dune that is the mountainous giant of the sandy deserts is called a
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star dune.
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A roughly equal mixture of sand, silt, and clay is called
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loam.
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Which of the following is not a erosional feature formed by an alpine glacier?
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Drumlin
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A continuous mass of ice covering a large landmass is known as a
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continental glacier.
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The term periglacial refers to
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cold-climate processes along the margins of glaciers.
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The bulk of ice on Earth is in
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Greenland and Antarctica.
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The basic sampling unit in soil survey is called
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a pedon.
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Unlike a stream-cut valley that assumes a characteristic _____-shape, a glacially-carved valley evidences a characteristic ____-shape.
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V;U
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The great grassland soils of the world are called
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Mollisols.
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Which of the following is true of the snowline?
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It decreases in elevation with increasing latitude.
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At present, which of the following soil orders occupies the most land area worldwide?
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Aridisols
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Drowned glacial valleys occuring along coastlines are known as
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fjords.
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A specific landform produced by the deposition of glacial till is known as
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a moraine.
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A glacier that is confined in a bowl-shaped recess is called a
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cirque glacier.
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Soil is
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a dynamic, natural body.
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The opposite of teh accumulation zone in a glacier is the
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ablation zone.
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Which of the following soil horizon designations is in the correct sequence from the surface to bedrock?
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O, A, E, B, C, R
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Oxisols are _____ and _____.
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highly leached; nutrient-poor
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Because Aridisols form in arid environments, they are likely to
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be very thin and poorly developed, contain little organic matter, and have salinization due to irrigation.
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If humus were lost from the soil due to excessive farming or soil erosion, which of the following could occur?
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Loss of soil structure, fertility, and water-holding capacity.
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The E horizon is dominated by _____, whereas the B horizon is dominated by _____.
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eluviation; illuviation
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Which of the following is not a biotic component of an ecosystem?
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Mineral nutrients
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Which of the following is incorrect?
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Community - specific location of an organism
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_____ is the specific physical location of an organism, where as the function, or occupation, of a life-form within a given community is called its _____.
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Habitat; niche
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Primary productivity refers to _____ and is greatest in _____.
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The rate at which plant growth occurs; tropical rain forest
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Energy flows through an ecosystem along a circuit called the
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food chain.
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A self-regulating association of living plants and animals and their nonliving physical environmnet is termed a(n)
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ecosystem.
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Which of the following is a large terrestrial ecosystem characterized by its dominant vegetation type and structure?
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Biome
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In a food chain, toxic chemicals tend to accumulate and concentrate most in the
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top carnivore.
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Light, temperature, water, and climate are examples of
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aboitic system components.
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Which of teh following lists give the correct sequence of tropic leves in a food chain?
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Autotrophs, heterotrophs, decomposers Producers, primary consumers, secondary consumers, tertiary consumers
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The different spatial distribution of coast redwoods and red maple trees illustrates the operation of
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limiting factors.
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The study of spatial aspects of ecology and the distribution of plants and animals is called
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biogeography.
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Alexander von Humboldt first proposed the idea that plant communities change with altitude just as they do with latitude. This is known as the
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life zone concept.
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Why does rapid climate change pose a potential threat to organisms?
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Plants may be unable to recolonize an area fast enough to survive. Habitat loss will occur for plants. Habitat loss will occur for animals that depend on plant ecosystems that are no longer intact. Temperature limiting factors may cause some ecosystems and communities to be weakend.
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Near the subtropical high pressure centers, net primary productivity is limited by
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lack of rainfall.
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The net dry weight of organic matter that feeds a food chain is
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biomass, or the useful amount of chemical energy.
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In the Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes, north-facing slopes tend to be _____ vegetated than south-facing slopes because _____
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more; they are more moist.
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Which of the following life-zone lists is in the correct sequence from lowest ot highest elevation?
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Tropical rain forest, temperate deciduous forest, needleleaf forest, tundra, and ice and snow.
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The greats pool of carbon on Earth resides in
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the oceans.
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Which of the following is not part of the ecosystem?
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Earth's crust, flowers, carbon and nitrogen, and mountain tops.
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