1. The transfer of rock material down slope under the influence of gravity is termed __________.
a. weathering
b. erosion
c. mass wasting
d. exfoliation
2. Which of the following terms is used to describe the way materials move during a mass wasting event?
a. fall
b. slide
c. flow
d. all of these
3. The controlling force of mass wasting is __________.
a. water
b. gravity
c. composition
d. earthquakes
4. The release of water vapor to the atmosphere by plants is called __________.
a. evaporation
b. degassing
c. transpiration
d. infiltration
5. ____________ is not part of the water cycle?
a. Water evaporating from a lake
b. Water infiltrating into the soil and bedrock
c. Calcium carbonate dissolving in soil water and
groundwater
d. Water moving into creeks and streams following a
rainstorm
6. Which of the following is the correct definition of stream gradient?
a. the distance traveled by water in a channel times a
drop in elevation
b. the drop in elevation of a stream divided by the
distance the water travels
c. the water pressure at the bottom of the stream
divided by the stream’s width
d. the increase in discharge of a stream per unit drop
in elevation
7. Which one of the following factors does NOT influence stream velocity?
a. channel size and shape
b. laminar flow
c. discharge
d. gradient
8. The world's largest river in terms of discharge is the __________.
a. Congo
b. Mississippi
c Nile
d. Amazon
9. If you were to examine the longitudinal profile of a typical river, you would probably find that the gradient is __________.
a. steepest near the mouth
b. steepest near the head
c. the same at both the head and mouth
d. none of these
10. ____________ makes up the suspended loads of most rivers and streams.
a. Dissolved ions and sand
b. Dissolved salts
c. Silt and clay-sized, detrital grains
d. Sand and gravel that move during floods
11. At a bend in a river, the main erosion is _______.
a. on the outside of the bend
b. on the inside of the bend
c. both outside and inside the bend
d. at an oxbow lake
12. ___________ describes the total sediment load transported by a stream.
a. Capacity
b. Discharge
c. Competence
d. Hydro-load factor
13. At the head of a delta, the major channel splits into smaller channels that follow different paths to the sea. These smaller channels are known as ____________.
a. endotributaries
b. exotributaries
c. distributaries
d. cotributaries
14. A natural levee is __________.
a. an erosional feature
b. a depositional feature
c. essentially parallel to its stream channel
d. both b and c
15. Rejuvenation of a stream may be due to _______.
a. rising of sea level
b. uplift of land
c. a decreased gradient
d. thermal expansion
16. The suspended load of a stream __________.
a. is deposited before the bed load
b. is highly soluble substances
c. moves along the bottom
d. usually consists of fine particles
17. A ____________ stream pattern is developed only on growing mountains like volcanoes or where the land surface is tectonically doming upward.
a. radial
b. dendritic
c. boreal
d. trellis
18. A ____________ stream pattern develops on lands underlain by tilted or folded, alternating hard and soft, sedimentary strata.
a. dendritic
b. radial
c. trellis
d. boreal
19. The most common drainage pattern is ________.
a. dendritic
b. radial
c. trellis
d. boreal
20. ________ is an abandoned, cutoff, meander loop.
a. A bulltrail
b. An oxbow
c. A cowhock
d. A gatorback
21. A stream begins at an elevation of 200 meters and flows a distance of 400 kilometers to the ocean. What is the average gradient?
a. 2m/km
b. 2km/m
c. 0.5m/km
d. 0.5 km/in
22. ____________ are characteristics of downcutting streams and a youthful stage of valley evolution.
a. Rapids and lots of whitewater
b. Wide floodplains
c. A U-shaped, cross-valley profiles
d. Meandering channels and natural levees
23. __________ generally constitutes the highest percentage of the annual sediment load moved by a stream.
a. Bed load
b. Dissolved load
c. Suspended load
d. Saltation load
24. A ____________ drainage pattern is common in the Appalachian Valley and Ridge Province.
a. dendritic
b. polygonal
c. circular
d. trellis
25. Which of the following features characterize wide streams and valleys?
a. natural levees; broad floodplains
b. rapids; channel bed potholes
c. waterfalls; entrenched meanders
d. V-shaped valley cross-sections
26. As stream discharge increases __________.
a. velocity, width, and depth increase
b. only velocity increases
c. velocity, width, and depth decrease
d. only depth increases
27. The single most important erosional agent is ___.
a. running water
b. wind
c. wind
d. waves
28. Permeable rock strata or sediment that transmit groundwater freely are called __________.
a. perched water tables
b. aquitards
c. springs
d. aquifers
29. ____________ would have the largest capacity to naturally remove sewage pollutants.
a. Fractured granite
b. Well-sorted, coarse gravel
c. Slightly clayey sand
d. Limestone with solution channels and caverns
30. When water is pumped from a well, a depression is often produced in the water table. Such a depression is a(n) __________.
a. perched water table
b. pumping dimple
c. cone of depression
d. artesian well
31. Which one of the following concerning artesian wells is not true?
a. the well penetrates an aquifer overlain by an
aquitard
b. the well penetrates an aquifer underlain by an
impermeable bed
c. the aquifer is generally inclined, and it is
saturated to an elevation above the point where
the well penetrates the aquifer
d. when the well penetrates the aquifer, the water
rises to the bottom of the aquitard above the
aquifer
32. Which of the following is associated with areas of karst topography?
a. sinkholes
b. soluble rock
c. caverns
d. all of these
33. A ____________ is the icicle-like speleothem that grows down from the roof of a cavern.
a. stalandite
b. stalactite
c. stalagmite
d. slagdite
34. ____________ is the volume of voids or open space in a rock or unconsolidated material.
a. Permeability
b. Space yield
c. Porosity
d. Saturation index
35. The water table is ____________.
a. a boundary between unsaturated bedrock and
an underground river
b. a boundary between unsaturated bedrock
below and saturated bedrock above
c. an underground mass of partly saturated rock
d. a boundary between saturated rock below and
unsaturated rock above
36. An artesian well is one in which ____________.
a. the water is warm, fairly saline, and recharged
by an affluent stream
b. pressurized groundwater rises from a deep,
unsaturated aquifer
c. water rises above the top of the aquifer without
any pumping
d. the well is horizontal and the water table is
perched
37. The term karst topography was first used in ____.
a. the Republic of Slovenia, a province of the
former Yugoslavia
b. eastern Canada in areas of fractured igneous
and metamorphic rocks
c. India near the southern foothills of the
Himalayan Mountains
d. Australia for the extremely dry interior area
near Ayres Rock and Alice Springs
38. Hot springs are most numerous in which region of the United States?
a. southeast
b. Midwest
c. west
d. northeast
39. Which of the following best describes how geysers erupt?
a. water suddenly boils in disconnected voids and
cracks above the water table, causing the aquifer
to explosively fragment
b. water slowly boils in a network of vertical cracks
above the water table, sending up a plume of
steam and hot water
c. water below the water table slowly boils in a
vertical crack or natural conduit, causing a plume
of condensed water vapor to rise above the vent
d. with a slight reduction in pressure, water in a
saturated, natural conduit suddenly boils, sending
a plume of steam and hot water into the air above
the vent
40. Caves most commonly form in
a. limestone
b. sandstone
c. quartzite
d. shale
Answers
1. c
2. d
3. b
4. c
5. c
6. b
7. b
8. d
9. b
10. c
11. a
12. a
13. c
14. d
15. b
16. d
17. a
18. c
19. a
20. b
21. c
22. a
23. c
24. d
25. a
26. a
27. a
28. d
29. c
30. c
31. d
32. d
33. b
34. c
35. d
36. c
37. a
38. c
39. d
40. a