Environmental Geology Final Exam Questions And Detailed Correct Answers

What is exponential growth? - correct answers Growth that occurs as a constant percentage of the existing amount What is uniformitarianism? - correct answers A concept that states that present processes operated in the past, at similar rates Why is human population growth often considered the biggest global environmental problem? - correct answers Increasing population strains resources and creates additional waste How are the impacts of natural hazards linked to population growth? - correct answers Population growth concentrates people and resources such that the impacts of an individual natural hazard can be greater What is a theory? - correct answers A hypothesis that has withstood extensive testing What is sustainability? - correct answers Development that ensures that future generations will have equal access to the resources that our planet offers What is average residence time? - correct answers The average time required for the total stock of a material to be cycled through a system What is the Gaia hypothesis? - correct answers A set of hypotheses that likens the Earth to a superorganism with interrelated, mutually adjusting systems What caused the Aral Sea to shrink and degrade dramatically over the past 40 years? - correct answers Water diversions in streams feeding the sea The society of___ Island was destroyed by environmental degradation - correct answers Easter _____, a principle proposed by James Hutton in 1785, is often summarized in the phrase, "the present is the key to the past." - correct answers uniformitarianism A(n) ___ aquifer is largely isolated from the Earth's surface above it by aquatards/aqualudes - correct answers unconfined The ability of an Earth material to transmit water is called its ____ - correct answers hydraulic conductivity A(n) ____ stream gains water from an aquifer - correct answers Effluent _____and thermoelectric generators are the primary consumptive users of fresh water. - correct answers Irrigation The global ___ involves the transfer of water between Earth's water reservoirs. - correct answers hydrologic cycle Drainage basins are separated by the ____ - correct answers drainage divide _____naturally contribute to improved water quality and assist in flood control. - correct answers wetlands The water table separates confined and unconfined aquifers. - correct answers true What is the dominant trend in water use in the US? - correct answers Water use peaked in 1980 Concerns over water resources focus on the lack of abundance of water on Earth. - correct answers False A plowing artesian well is one that - correct answers has water that does not require pumping Surface water and groundwater are - correct answers interconnected systems Groundwater mining is accomplished by - correct answers pumping that exceeds recharge Vegetation decreases runoff by - correct answers intercepting rainfall and slowing its fall to the ground Which of the following would likely serve as an aquitard? - correct answers clay The Vadose Zone differs from the groundwater zone in what way? - correct answers the vadose zone is unsaturated, while the groundwater zone is saturated What factor led to the drying up of streams and the intrusion of salty groundwater in the Long Island area? - correct answers overpumping of groundwater If water is so abundant on Earth, why are water resources such a big concern? - correct answers Water resources are not necessarily where humans need them and when they need them Why is sediment yield an importnat consideration in the discussion of water supplies? - correct answers Sediment is a common water pollutant What is one big difference between the inner core and the outer core? - correct answers The inner core is solid and the outer core is liquid The Mohorovicic discontinuity represents - correct answers the boundary between the mantle and crust How does the lithosphere differ from the asthenosphere? - correct answers The lithosphere is stronger than the asthenosphere Which type of earthquake wave is fastest? - correct answers P-wave How do seismologist know the outer core is liquid? - correct answers S-waves are absorbed upon arrival in the outer core Why was Alfred Wegener's hypothesis of continental drift not taken seriously by most geologists? - correct answers His explanation for movement of the continents was faulty How did seafloor spreading revive Alfred Wegener's ideas about continental drift? - correct answers Sea floor spreading provided a viable explanation for moving the continents At convergent plate boundaries - correct answers the plate of higher density subducts into the mantle Transform plate boundaries are marked by - correct answers two plates slide relative to one another Hot spots are recorded by - correct answers a sequence of volcanic centers that get younger toward the hot spot Tectonic plates moves about as fast as - correct answers fingernails grow When did the supercontinent pangaea first start to break apart? - correct answers 180 Million years ago The rocks of the core are more dense than the rocks of the mantle - correct answers true the asthenosphere is tronger than the lithosphere - correct answers false convergence of plates can cause ___ forces that build mountain ranges - correct answers compressive At the curie point, iron bearing minerals always orient themselves toward - correct answers the magnetic pole The volcano called____ is the youngest of the Hawaiian voclcanoes - correct answers loihi Yellowstone national park lies atop a - correct answers continental hot spot The cascade mountains are part of a ____ convergent boundary - correct answers ocean-continent Which type of country tend to consume the most mineral resources? - correct answers developed Which of the following is NOT an environmental impact of coal usag