Physical Geology

Summer, 2001

Test 4

1. In Walnut Cove, NC, before my father dug a well, our family got its water from (a) the creek (b) a neighbor (c) the septic tank (d) a spring
2. Which of the following marks the boundary between the saturated and unsaturated zone? (a) porosity (b) water table (c) wells (d) zone of aeration
3. The term we use for the ratio of void spaces in a rock or sediment to its total volume, usually expressed as a percentage, is (a) capillary fringe (b) permeability (c) porosity (d) transmissivity
4. The main driving force for groundwater flow is (a) gravity (b) natural gas (c) pressure (d) carbon dioxide
5. The difference between an aquifer and aquitard is that the aquifer has a much greater (a) permeability (b) porosity (c) pressure (d) saturation
6. What is another name for confined aquifers, especially when ground water rises through wells of fractures to the ground's surface? (a) aquiclude (b) artesian aquifer (c) capillary fringe (d) Texas tea
7. In the diagram of the Thermopolis Hot Springs in the Big Horn Basin, Wyoming, what did I show was the reason for the water being hot? (a) an igneous intrusion is near the surface (b) chemical reactions in the soil generate heat (c) the water has travelled deep beneath the basin and then reached the surface along a fault (d) the water is coming from a leaking hot-water pipe
8. If a small Louisiana town depends on shallow ground water for its water supply, which of the following is the best way it can manage its water supply? (a) bioremediation (b) desalination (c) high prices (d) zoning laws
9. Caves and karst topography almost always form where there is abundant (a) andesite (b) basalt (c) granite (d) limestone
10. Which of the following is not true about carbonic acid? (a) Coca-cola contains it (b) It is a weak acid. (c) It is formed from water and carbon dioxide. (d) It is stronger than stomach acid.
11. In which of the following cases is a sinkhole least likely to form? (a) when a drought in a karst area lowers the water table (b) when limestone is abundant in a humid climate (c) when limestone is overlain with a thick sandstone layer (d) when the roof of a cave collapses
12. In the Mammoth Cave area, many of the caves are now dry, some containing deposits of gypsum. The most likely explanation for the existence of these caves is that (a) the caves were dug by exceedingly large worms (b) the caves were formed prior to metamorphism (c) the climate in the area has changed (d) the water table in the area has dropped
13. Which of the following types of glaciers is most likely to result in a hanging valley after the glacier melts? (a) cirque glacier (b) continental glacier (c) ice cap (d) valley glacier
14. On Mt Kenya, near the equator, are small glaciers. These form because of (a) high elevation (b) high latitude (c) low elevation (d) low latitude
15. Which of the following are not related to the onset of ice ages? (a) buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (b) continents being near the poles (c) continents have relatively high elevations (d) Milankovich cycles
16. Which of the following is not true about the Pleistocene? (a) Global sea level alternately rose and fell. (b) Industrialization contributed to the ending of the last period of glaciation. (c) The Pleistocene began about 1.6 million years ago. (d) The Pleistocene is characterized by alternating periods of glaciation and interglaciation. (e) Much of the northern part of the United States was covered with ice.
17. The desert along the western coast of South America is an example of (a) a rainshadow desert (b) a continental interior desert (c) a desert near a cold ocean current (d) a polar desert
18. Of the following three triangular shaped geologic features, two are constructed from sediment. Which one is not? (a) alluvial fan (b) delta (c) pediment
19. Which of the following was not a factor in the formation of America's Dust Bowl? (a) deflation by wind (b) drought (c) overcultivation of a few crops (wheat and cotton) (d) the public policy of Franklin Roosevelt
20. Which of the following factors in desertification can sometimes reverse desertification and sometimes make it worse? (a) deforestation (b) drought (c) irrigation (d) overgrazing
21. In the figure below, the part labelled L is the (a) trough (b) wave base (c) wave height (d) wave length

22. Longshore currents are caused by (a) differences in density between warm and cold water (b) the oscillatory pattern made by waves (c) tide (d) wave refraction
23. If you are swimming and are caught in a rip current, you should (a) dive underneath the current and swim underwater toward shore (b) regret not having made out your will (c) swim as fast as possible toward shore (d) swim at an angle to the current
24. Which of the following is not caused by the wind? (a) deflation (b) waves (c) tides (d) ventifacts
25. At the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River, which of the following was constructed to deepen the channel? (a) breakwaters (b) groins (c) jetties (d) tomobolos
26. In a coastal area where there is uplift caused by tectonic forces, you are likely to find all of the following except (a) barrier islands (b) sea cliffs (c) sea stacks (d) wave-cut benches
27. The are of the beach where you are most likely to find vegetation that can tolerate occasional inundation by salt water is (a) the backshore (b) the beach face (c) the foreshore (d) the swash zone
28. In which of the following locations are you least likely to find reefs? (a) along the coast of an island (b) muddy water (c) shallow water (d) warm water
29. If you were to travel along the coast from northeastern Canada to southern Florida, in which of the following orders would the coastline change as you went south? (a) first glacial valleys and fjords, then rocky coast, then glacial deposition, then drowned rivers and barrier islands, then reefs (b) first drowned rivers and barrier islands, then rocky coast, then glacial deposition, then glacial valleys and fjords, then reefs (c) first glacial valleys and fjords, then rocky coast, then reefs, then drowned rivers and barrier islands, then glacial deposition (d) first reefs, then glacial valleys and fjords, then rocky coast, the glacial deposition, then drowned rivers and barrier islands
30. For which of the following is the organic material in shale not a source? (a) coal (b) natural gas (c) oil (d) petroleum
31. Which of the following sources of energy contribute the most to air pollution per amount used? (a) coal (b) natural gas (c) oil (d) uranium
32. Which of the following contributes very little to global warming? (a) automobile exhaust (b) coal-powered electricity generators (c) cow flatulence (d) nuclear power
33. Of the following renewable alternative energy resources, which is most important in developing countries? (a) biomass (b) geothermal (c) tidal power (d) wind power
34. During Precambrian History, the Proterozoic Eon is distinguished by all of the following except (a) eukaryotic cells developed (b) life became abundant (c) marine organisms with hard parts evolved (d) oxygen became more abundant in the atmosphere (e) the first subduction zones formed

    When answering the following questions, choose a for True and b for False.

    
    

35. A cone of depression is a mental state resulting from doing poorly on geology tests.
36. When a glacier retreats, it moves uphill.
37. The sedimentary deposit that forms near the terminus of a glacier and along its sides is called a moraine.
38. Ice ages were common during the age of dinosaurs.
39. Chemical weathering dominates over mechanical weathering in deserts .
40. A playa is a steep-walled stream channel that carries water only during the occasional rainstorm.
41. A wave steepens and then brakes when its wave base begins to drag along the bottom as the wave nears shore.
42. Waves approach the shoreline almost parallel to it because of wave refraction.
43. Barrier-island migration is primarily due to rip currents.
44. The continental shelf is narrower on the west coast of the United States than the east coast.
45. Those beautiful sand beaches along the Gulf at Biloxi and Gulfport are the natural result of rising sea level.

    
    
    The following questions are about slides that I will show during the test.

    
    

46. In the slide shown, the type of sand dune is a (a) barchan (b) longitudinal dune (c) parabolic dune (d) star dune
47. Shown in the slide is an example of (a) an atoll (b) a barrier reef (c) a fringing reef (d) a mangrove swamp
48. The environmental devastation shown is due to (a) acid rain (b) deforestation (c) global warming (d) release of radioactivity from a nuclear plant
49. The feature I will point to represents (a) an arete (b) a horn (c) a moraine (d) a tombolo
50. The feature shown is a wadi in the United Arab Emirates. When a similar feature occurs in the southwestern United States, it us called (a) an alluvial fan (b) an arroyo (c) a pediment (d) a ventifact