Physical Geology Last Chapters Review Questions Chapters 12,13,16,17

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1 Physical Geology Last Chapters Review Questions Chapters 12,13,16,17 1. The percentage of Earth's water that is in the oceans is. a. 100 percent b. 97 percent c. 93 percent d. 55 percent e. 50 percent 2. The percentage of the Earth's water that is fresh water and is not frozen is. a. 5 percent b. 3 percent c. 1 percent d percent e percent 3. Flow in which there is no mixing between parallel layers in the water is known as what? a. turbulent flow b. outflow c. intermittent flow d. laminar flow e. stream flow 4. The primary factor that determines whether water moves by turbulent or laminar flow is. a. discharge b. gradient c. velocity d. area e. none of these 5. A stream erodes material from its banks and bed by. a. suspension b. hydraulic action c. abrasion d. suspension and hydraulic action e. hydraulic action and abrasion 6. What do the solid particles of a stream include? a. bed load b. suspended load c. solution load d. bed load and suspended load e. suspended load and solution load 7. Streams do most of their erosion, transportation of sediment, and deposition of sediment during. a. day-to-day flow movement b. icy winters c. flooding d. rainstorms e. wind storms

2 8. A delta with long, fingerlike sand bodies, each deposited in a distributary channel that progrades far seaward, such as the Mississippi River, is typically formed as a(n) -dominated delta. a. avian b. stream c. wave d. tide e. sediment 9. A delta that has islands reworked by waves on the seaward side, such as the Nile delta, is typically formed as a(n) -dominated delta. a. avian b. stream c. wave d. tide e. sediment 10. The Mississippi Delta is a good example of a a. tide-dominated delta. b. distributary channel. c. stream-dominated delta. d. mixed delta. 11. To predict floods, scientists a. monitor a stream s water levels. b. evaluate a stream s past behavior. c. assume the same behavior as last year. d. monitor water levels and evaluate past behavior for a stream. 12. What is the ultimate base level for a stream? a. sea level b. the nearest lake c. the nearest stream d. the nearest spring e. the nearest valley 13. When a stream s equilibrium profile shows a delicate balance among gradient, discharge, flow velocity, channel shape and sediment load the stream is a. superposed. b. incised. c. graded. d. divided. 14. In all types of power plants a. potential energy converts to kinetic energy to generate electricity. b. a spinning turbine connected to a generator containing a coil of wire produces electricity. c. fossil fuels are burned to generate electricity. d. water is heated to generate steam, which turns turbines and generates electricity. 15. Headward erosion cuts through a drainage divide and diverts part of the drainage to another stream. This process is called a. stream erosion. b. stream piracy. c. downcutting. d. stream terracing.

3 16. Which of the following is most porous? a. sand b. soil c. gravel d. silt e. clay 17. Which of the following is most permeable? a. sand b. soil c. gravel d. silt e. clay 18. An example of a rock/sediment type which could be an effective aquiclude is. a. quartz sandstone b. fractured granite c. gravel d. shale e. graywacke 19. In regions of moderate to high rainfall, the top of a stream is the same as the. a. top of the zone of aeration b. top of the zone of saturation c. bottom of the aquifer d. bottom of the zone of aeration e. top of the water table 20. What is the average rate of groundwater flow? a. a few kilometers a day b. a few meters a day c. a few centimeters a day d. a few millimeters a day e. imperceptible 21. Where does groundwater discharge naturally? a. only in the ocean b. only in springs c. only in streams d. only in aquifers e. wherever the groundwater table intersects the ground surface 22. A local aquiclude within a larger aquifer results in a(n). a. cone of depression b. perched water table c. artesian aquifer d. zone of aeration e. zone of saturation 23. States in which there is extensive karst topography include which of the following? a. Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia b. Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, and Missouri c. Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas d. Wyoming, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah e. Michigan, New York, and Ohio

4 24. What conditions are needed for the development of karst topography? a. humid climate b. arid climate c. carbonate bedrock at a shallow depth d. humid climate and carbonate bedrock at a shallow depth e. all of these 25. What is the general term for deposits of calcite and/or aragonite within caves? a. stalactites b. stalagmites c. spears d. dripstone e. calcite-stone 26. Groundwater erupting from geysers that contain dissolved calcium carbonate will form deposits of what? a. stalactites b. stalagmites c. travertine d. quartz e. sulfides 27. Groundwater in an aquifer is sometimes called fossil water because a. the water has been in the aquifer for thousands of years. b. the water is not being replenished at anywhere near the same rate as when it formed. c. tiny microorganisms living in the aquifer are living fossils. d. the water has been in the aquifer for a long time and is not being rapidly replenished. 28. What is a natural fountain that intermittently ejects hot water and steam into the air? a. hot spring b. volcano c. hydrothermal vent d. geyser e. aquiclude 29. What is the heat source for hydrothermal activity on land? a. earthquake faults b. recent or current volcanic activity c. deep heat in Earth's interior d. earthquake faults and recent or current volcanic activity e. recent or current volcanic activity and deep heat in Earth s interior 30. The maximum level of arsenic permitted in drinking water by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is a. 10 parts per million b. 10% c parts per million d. 1% 31. What is the approximate length of time preserved in Grand Canyon rocks? a. 10,000 years b. 100,000 years c. 1 million years d. 1 billion years e. 10 billion years

5 32. Once the concept of a linear time and history were established, the earliest estimates of Earth's age were based on. a. inference from the Bible b. inference from the rates of observable geologic processes c. direct statements from the Bible d. faith e. none of these 33. What is the age of the Earth? a billion years b million years c. 4.6 billion years d. 4.6 million years e. 10,000 years 34. Whose work was the basis for the principle of uniformitarianism and the unavoidable necessity of a great age for Earth? a. Charles Lyell b. William Smith c. James Hutton d. Lord Kelvin e. John Joly 35. Who, by virtue of a mathematical model, concluded that Earth could not be older than 100 million years and no younger than 20 million years? a. Charles Lyell b. William Smith c. James Hutton d. Lord Kelvin e. John Joly 36. A surface of erosion on metamorphic or igneous rocks, below sedimentary rocks is a(n). a. nonconformity b. disconformity c. angular unconformity d. anticonformity e. none of these 37. What principle states that in an undisturbed succession of sedimentary rocks, the oldest layer is at the bottom and the youngest is at the top? a. principle of cross-cutting relationships b. principle of inclusions c. principle of fossil succession d. principle of uniformitarianism e. principle of superposition 38. What principle states that fragments of one rock contained within another rock are older than the containing rock? a. principle of cross-cutting relationships b. principle of inclusions c. principle of fossil succession d. principle of uniformitarianism e. principle of superposition 39. Which principle states that fossil assemblages succeed one another through time in a regular and predictable order?

6 a. principle of cross-cutting relationships b. principle of inclusions c. principle of fossil succession d. principle of uniformitarianism e. principle of superposition 40. The time equivalence of strata is determined by. a. correlation of unusual lithologies b. correlation of key beds c. correlation of fossils d. lateral tracing e. superposition 41. What is the loss of two protons and two neutrons from the nucleus called? a. alpha decay b. beta decay c. electron decay d. electron capture e. half-life decay 42. If an isotope has a half-life of 50 million years, and 1/8 of the sample remaining consists of that isotope, what is the age of the rock from which it was taken? a. 400 million years b. 300 million years c. 150 million years d. 800 million years e. none of these 43. Sources of uncertainty in radioactive dating do not include. a. loss of daughter isotope b. uncertainty in decay constants c. experimental and sample error d. addition of parent isotope e. questions about metamorphism 44. What is the maximum age limit for radiocarbon dating of fossils? a. 70,000 years b. 700,000 years c. 7 million years d. 70 million years e. 700 million years 45. The geologic time scale was initially put together by a. radiometric dating and correlation. b. superposition, fossil succession and correlation. c. lithostratigraphy and biostratigraphy. d. carbon-14 age dating and lithostratigraphy. 46. Stalagmites can be radiometrically dated because a. like tree rings, the calcium carbonate layers vary in thickness by year. b. carbon-14 decays to nitrogen 14 in the carbonate. c. uranium-234 substitutes for calcium and decays to thorium-230. d. fission tracks in apatite in the structures can be dated. 47. Climate changes in a region because a. continents are carried to different latitudes.

7 b. continental movement affects ocean circulation patterns. c. continental movement affects atmospheric circulation patterns. d. all of these. 48. Eratosthenes was the first to a. calculate a reasonably close circumference of the Earth. b. define latitude and longitude lines on a map c. see the Pacific Ocean d. associate the North Star with geographic North 49. A gyre in the north Atlantic rotates in a a. counterclockwise direction b. clockwise direction c. direction toward the North pole d. direction toward the equator 50. Vikings established a colony in North America a. 500 years before Columbus b. 500 years after Columbus c. after major defeats in Ireland and England d. not applicable 51. Charles Darwin explained the a. evolution of Atolls based on his observations during his voyage on the Beagle b. life cycle of tube worms c. mid-atlantic ridge d. origin of Hawaiian basalts 52. Longshore drift occurs due to a a. transgressive sea level b. prevailing wind direction parallel to the shoreline c. wave refracting during its approach to shore d. wave approaching non-parallel to the shoreline carrying sand down the beach 53. Wave refraction occurs due to a. the Coriolis effect b. the shallowing of the ocean bottom on approach to the shoreline c. the tides d. changing wind direction 54. Deep ocean sediment is mostly derived from a. wind-blown clays and volcanic ash. b. detritus from the photic zone in the upper ocean c. meteorites d. volcanic material from the mid-ocean ridge system 55. The Coriolis effect causes oceanic currents in the Southern hemisphere a. to veer to the left b. to veer to the right c. veer left or right depending on being north or south of the Tropic of Capricorn d. there is no effect of the Coriolis force in the Southern hemisphere 56. Spring Tides occur a. once in a year in the spring when the Earth is closest to the Sun

8 b. approximately twice a month c. approximately once a month d. twice a year corresponding to El Nino

geologic age of Earth - about 4.6 billion years

Geologic Time Geologic Time geologic age of Earth - about 4.6 billion years Geologic Time very difficult to appreciate from our human perspective necessary to understand history of Earth two basic ways