Geology 101
Exam #3 - Fall 2003

1. When wind pushes and bounces sand along the ground, creating moving sand dunes, this is an example of
a. longshore drift
b. playas
c. suspension
d. saltation
e. creep

2. Which of the following is true about deserts?
a. deserts are always hot; never cold
b. all deserts are sandy
c. all deserts are dry
d. all deserts are on or very near the equator
e. none of the above

3. Where is erosion concentrated along a meandering stream?
a. on the straight parts of the channel
b. on the outer parts of the meander loops
c. on the inner parts of the meander loops
d. on the rivers bottom
e. in floodplain

4. As you move downstream, a rivers:
a. velocity tends to increase and discharge tends to decrease
b. velocity tends to decrease and capacity tends to decrease
c. capacity tends to increase and gradient tends to increase
d. capacity tends to decrease but gradient tends to increase
e. width tends to increase and velocity tends to increase

5. At the head of a delta, the major channel splits into many
a. estuaries
b. distributaries
c. tributaries
d. dendrites
e. all of the above

6. The Green River, the Colorado River, and some others of the Colorado Plateau, are characterized by incised meanders. How did this happen?
a. original, youthful streams continued to downcut as the land rose
b. lava flows reached the river at the same rate that water was flowing
c. original, old-age streams downcut as the land gradually rose
d. as sea level dropped, the original youthful streams matured into old-age streams
e. as sea level rose, the original old-age streams were rejuvenated

7. Most of the worlds saline water is
a. in the oceans
b. in lakes and streams
c. in ice and snow
d. groundwater
e. in the atmosphere

8. Much of the coastal development on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts has occurred on
a. reefs
b. barrier islands
c. tombolos
d. submergent coastlines
e. marshy lagoons

9. Most of the Earths fresh water is in
a. groundwater
b. ice sheets and glaciers
c. lakes and rivers
d. the atmosphere
e. the oceans

10. Why are what I called real caves only in limestone areas?
a. because that is where the most groundwater is
b. limestone is all Ordovician and so are the caves
c. limestone is the only common rock that dissolves easily
d. limestone has many pockets and holes in it
e. all of the above

11. Seawalls are built to stop beach erosion, but sometimes they cause erosion because
a. the lead to more runoff
b. they cause stream piracy
c. they use up a lot of sand
d. they reflect and concentrate energy on the beach
e. they interfere with longshore drift

12. Generally, large caves form at levels in the Earth
a. that are above the water table
b. that are below the water table
c. that can be either above or below the water table
d. that are on the moon
e. characterized by metamorphic rocks

13. We get lots of rain in the U.S. Most of it
a. evaporates
b. becomes groundwater
c. flows down rivers, eventually reaching the oceans
d. is absorbed by plants
e. is saline

14. Gravitational forces are invoked to explain
a. high and low tides
b. land evolving into a desert
c. land that was once a desert changing into something less arid
d. the formation and evolution of sand dunes from transverse to barchan
e. global climate change

15. What is the most important erosional agent in deserts?
a. dune buggys
b. water
c. wind
d. gravity
e. plants and animals

16. We all know that deltas form underwater where a river flows into an ocean or a lake. A similar feature forms on dry land when a stream flows into a large valley. We call such features:
a. back swamps
b. foreset beds
c. floodplains
d. sheet flow
e. alluvial fans

17. The zone in sediment or open rock where all pore spaces are filled with water is the ____________:
a. zone of wastage
b. zone of accumulation
c. zone of aeration
d. zone of fracture
e. zone of saturation

18. The Ogallalla aquifer is located
a. in California
b. in Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and parts of Idaho
c. in the Great Plains from Texas to South Dakota
d. in a broad areas extending from northern Alabama to Michigan
e. in southern New England

19. Streams that have a branching or tree-like drainage pattern are said to have a ____________ drainage network.
a. rectangular
b. dendritic
c. radial
d. trellis
e. intermittent

20. The largest particle a stream can move is the streams _____________.
a. capacity
b. limit
c. competence
d. velocity
e. load

21. Estuaries are associated with
a. submergent coastlines
b. emergent coastlines
c. ice ages
d. global warming
e. surf zones

22. If you were to collect a jar of water from a stream, set is aside and let stuff settle out of the water, what would settle to the bottom of the jar first?
a. part of the bed load
b. part of the suspended load
c. part of the dissolved load
d. part of the mother load
e. part of the braided load

23. What is the primary cause of subtropical deserts?
a. rain shadows due to mountains
b. they are a long way from the sea
c. they are under dry, high pressure, air masses
d. ocean currents keep the air warm
e. ocean currents keep the air cool

24. 97.6% of the water on earth is
a. freshwater
b. groundwater
c. in lakes and rivers
d. in glacial ice
e. in the oceans

25. Greenland is the only example in the Northern Hemisphere of what type of glacier?
a. alpine
b. valley
c. ice sheet
d. advancing
e. retreating

26. A depression created when blocks of ice become lodged in glacial deposits and subsequently melt.
a. kame
b. esker
c. plays
d. moraine
e. kettle

27. Milankovitch theory explains
a. the causes of glaciation
b. long term changes in ocean salinity
c. why deserts are concentrated near the equator
d. how headlands, sea stacks, wave cut benches, etc. develop
e. all of the above

28. Crevasses are
a. deposits left at the mouth of a glacier
b. almost always below 50 m deep
c. caused by plastic flow
d. rivers of ice
e. fractures resulting from tension

29. During Pleistocene glaciation, sea level was about _____ lower than today
a. 1 foot
b. 10 feet
c. 50 feet
d. 100 feet
e. 300 feet

30. The Earth has different seasons of the year (winter, spring, etc.) because
a. at some times Earths orbit brings it closer to the sun
b. at some times clouds cut down on solar insolation
c. the Earths rotation axis is tilted with respect to the sun
d. of the Coriolis force
e. of Milankovitch cycles

31. El Nino is the name
a. of a warm water ocean current that upsets the food chain
b. of a cold water ocean current that upsets the food chain
c. of a tropical high pressure zone that upsets the food chain
d. of a tropical low pressure zone that upsets the food chain
e. of my grandmother

32. Which of the following is used by geologists to chronicle past climate conditions?
a. the stratigraphic record
b. fossils
c. oxygen isotopes
d. bubbles in ice
e. all of the above

33. Which of the following is an explanation for short term climate changes involving glacial and interglacial periods?
a. position of continents, including super continents
b. patterns of ocean currents
c. long term volcanic activity
d. changes in solar insolation
e. all of the above

34. The most recent ice age began about _____________ years ago.
a. 2 billion
b. 2 million
c. 2 thousand
d. 2 hundred
e. 2

35. Longshore drift means
a. sand moving from one part of a beach to another
b. water carrying flotsam and jetsam along the shore
c. evolution of a coastline from emergent to submergent status
d. wave period and wave refraction are about the same
e. wave period and wave refraction differ by a great amount

36. The force causing the difference between spring and neap tides is
a. gravity from the moon
b. gravity from the sun
c. Coriolis
d. centrifugal
e. centripetal

37. Loess is a
a. type of fine sediment deposited by a glacier
b. type of coarse sediment deposited by water
c. type of fine sediment deposited by water
d. type of coarse sediment deposited by wind
e. type of fine sediment deposited by wind

38. The term drift refers to
a. going from one bar to the next searching for the perfect beer
b. seaweed, flotsam and jetsam that is deposited on beaches
c. the way rainwater absorbs soluble elements as it percolates into the ground
d. the fact that sand is deposited on headlands and eroded in bays
e. the movement of sand along a shore line due to wind driven waves, and also to a type of glacial deposit

39. The term aeolian refers to
a. something associated with a continental (as opposed to an oceanic) deposit
b. something geological that comes from another planet
c. something associated with an oceanic (as opposed to a continental) deposit
d. something associated with wind
e. something associated with water flow

40. The Arctic circle
a. marks the furthest points north that get the sun directly overhead at some time in the year
b. marks the furthest points north that get 24 hour daylight at some times of the year
c. marks the furthest points south that get the sun directly overhead at some time in the year
d. marks the furthest points south that get 24 hour daylight at some times of the year
e. marks the points where the length of day is equal to the length of night during the summer solstice.

41. Which of the following is an example of a rain shadow desert?
a. Sahara
b. Atacama
c. Canadian Shield
d. Antarctica
e. Mojave

42. Alpine glaciers produce two types of moraines. Which type forms in the center of the flowing ice near where two glaciers join?
a. medial moraine
b. lateral moraine
c. end moraine
d. ground moraine
e. terminal moraine

43. Which part of the globe receives the most solar energy?
a. near the north and south pole
b. near the arctic circle and the antarctic circle
c. near the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn
d. near the equator
e. on the moon

44. The Younger Dryas was
a. a cold period of time that began about 10,000 years ago
b. the son of the older Dryas
c. a glacial period roughly equivalent to the Middle Ages
d. a warming spell that began after the Little Ice Age
e. none of the above

45. The last major glaciation in our part of the world was the _______________.
a. Wisconsinian
b. Illinoian
c. Kansan
d. Nebraskan
e. North Dakotan

46. Playa lakes
a. are sediments deposited by glacial meltwater
b. are lakes formed by periods of increased rainfall due to glaciation
c. are in the flat central area of an undrained desert basin
d. form as a result of glacial drift being deposited in unequal piles with lots of valleys between them
e. occur when a stream meander is cut off and separated from the rest of the stream

47. Low latitude deserts occur
a. near the north and south pole
b. near the arctic circle and the antarctic circle
c. near the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn
d. near the equator
e. on the moon

48. Why is wind erosion relatively more important in arid regions than in humid regions?
a. there is no vegetation to hold down materials
b. moisture makes sediment cohesive
c. there is little running water in arid regions
d. arid regions often have great winds
e. all of the above

49. Which of the following refers to a type of sand dune?
a. barchan
b. barchanoid
c. transverse
d. parabolic
e. all of the above

50. The west coast of the United States is an example of
a. a submergent coastline
b. a groin
c. a barrier island
d. an emergent coastline
e. an estuary

51. Which of these is associated with a submergent coastline?
a. estuaries
b. distributaries
c. tributaries
d. dendrites
e. all of the above

52. Pumping groundwater too fast may cause
a. a cone of depression
b. drawdown
c. salt water intrusion
d. subsidence
e. all of the above

53. Which of the following may lead to beaches getting smaller?
a. building dams on rivers
b. building seawalls
c. building jetties or groins
d. rising sea level
e. all of the above

54. The largest tides are called
a. spring tides
b. neap tides
c. fall tides
d. lunar tides
e. wowee zowee tides

55. A wave breaks
a. when the surf stops flowing
b. when swells enter shallow water
c. when the wind stops blowing
d. when the crest and trough exchange places
e. all of the above

56. Most of the energy that causes ocean waves comes from
a. the Earths magnetic field
b. the spinning of the Earth
c. the moon
d. wind
e. gravity

57. Which constituents make up the suspended load of most streams?
a. dissolved ions and sand
b. dissolved salts
c. silt and clay
d. sand and gravel
e. gold

58. Which creates a lower base level for rivers and streams?
a. sea level drops or land subsides
b. sea level rises or land subsides
c. sea level falls or land rises
d. sea level rises or land rises
e. rain increases

59. High tide off the coast of Massachusetts
a. occurs twice a day
b. does not occur at the same time every day
c. is affected by both the moon and the sun
d. occurs at the same time every 29 days
e. all of the above

60. Smooth elongate, parallel hills formed of glacial deposits are called
a. drumlins
b. eskers
c. moraines
d. barchan
e. kames

61. According to your book, beach nourishment is only an economical solution to erosion problems in areas that meet certain requirements. Which of the below is NOT one of those requirements?
a. there is little human development
b. large supplies of sand are available
c. there is little wave energy
d. there are no conflicting environmental issues
e. the damage caused by the erosion is substantial