3rd Nine Weeks Exam Flashcards

1
Q

A mixture of clay, silt, and sand

A

Loam

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2
Q

Formed from the remains of dead organisms compacted over many years (local)

A

Sediment

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3
Q

Elements or inorganic compounds with a solid crystalline internal structure

A

Minerals

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4
Q

Forms below or on earth’s surface from molten rock material welling from the mantle

A

Igneous

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5
Q

It is common for gold mines to have large storage ponds on site that typically contain which toxin?

A

Cyanide

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6
Q

What is mined to make inorganic fertilizers and some detergents?

A

Phosphate

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7
Q

The area noteworthy for its frequent volcanoes and earthquakes is known as the “Ring of Fire” and is located in what ocean?

A

Basin of the Pacific Ocean

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8
Q

What rock is composed of compacted shells and skeletons?

A

Limestone

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9
Q

The waste material remaining after the desired metallic ore is removed is known as what?

A

Gangue

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10
Q

What is the layer that constitutes most of the earth’s volume?

A

Mantle

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11
Q

What type of mining is commonly used to remove coal deposits from hilly or mountainous areas?

A

Contour Strip Mining

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12
Q

What type of plate boundary could have produced the Aleutian Trench?

A

Convergent Plate Boundary

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13
Q

The over-withdrawal of groundwater from an aquifer may lead to land collapsing. This can damage roadways, sewer lines, and building foundations. What is this?

A

Land Subsidence

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14
Q

What is the ratio for earthquake magnitudes?

A

10 times the previous level

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15
Q

The Sand Andreas tectonic feature in southern California is an example of what?

A

Transform fault

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16
Q

What environment is most likely to have coal deposits?

A

Swamps

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17
Q

Ranges of active volcanoes are often located near what?

A

Convergent Plate Boundaries

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18
Q

What law enables corporations to acquire large tracts of land far below market prices?

A

General Mining Law

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19
Q

Mountaintop removal is associated with which of the following?

A

Coal Mining

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20
Q

A huge hole is dug using heavy equipment and explosives to removing a deposit. What type of mining is this?

A

Open-pit Mining

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21
Q

The heating of ores to remove metals is a process that can release air pollutants such as heavy metals and sulfur dioxide. What process is this?

A

Smelting

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22
Q

Aluminum ore is what?

A

Bauxite

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23
Q

An area where a mineral can be extracted in an economically viable manner is a what?

A

Reserve

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24
Q

Black lung disease, flooding, and cave-ins are most often associated with what?

A

Subsurface Mines

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25
Q

What is the most common element in the whole earth?

A

(Volume) Oxygen or (Mass) Iron

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26
Q

Rift valleys are located within what?

A

Mid-ocean Ridges

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27
Q

The original, single land mass was known as what?

A

Pangea

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28
Q

We are currently living withing which of the following Geologic Eras?

A

Cenozoic Era

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29
Q

What is a solid, cohesive aggregate of one or more minerals?

A

Rock

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30
Q

Mechanical and chemical are two types of what?

A

Weathering

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31
Q

What is the number one consumed metal in the U.S?

A

Iron

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32
Q

Pre-existing rocks that have been altered as a result of excess heat and pressure are what?

A

Metamorphic

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33
Q

What is the number one most polluted place in the world?

A

Chernobyl, Ukraine

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34
Q

What is located at Yucca Mountain, Nevada?

A

High-level Nuclear Waste

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35
Q

What is an example of mass wasting?

A

Landslide

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36
Q

A series of buoys are part of the DART system. This warning system will target

A

tsunamis

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37
Q

Foliated and nonfoliated are types of _______ rock.

A

metamorphic

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38
Q

The age of dinosaurs is represented by the _______ era.

A

Mesozoic

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39
Q

Which of the following is used in insulation and known to cause lung cancer?

A

asbestos

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40
Q

Of these layers, the furthest from the center of the earth is the

A

mesosphere

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41
Q

Which of the following is a naturally occurring indoor air pollutant

A

radon

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42
Q

Which of the following is a secondary pollutant and major component of photochemical smog

A

ozone

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43
Q

Which of the following is a colorless, odorless gas that binds to hemoglobin in blood

A

carbon monoxide

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44
Q

Which of the following is a primary pollutant

A

carbon monoxide

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45
Q

Which of the following reduces the effect of acid rain

A

adding calcium carbonate to soils

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46
Q

In which layer of the atmosphere does most photochemical smog form

A

troposphere

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47
Q

Which of the following is commonly used to remove sulfur dioxide from the exhaust of a coal fired power plant

A

a scrubber

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48
Q

A temperature inversion is the result of

A

a lid of warm air on top of cooler air

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49
Q

True or false: decreased atmospheric water leads to an increased greenhouse effect

A

false

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50
Q

What is the main reason CFCs have a long residence time in the atmosphere

A

they are insoluble in water and chemically unreactive while in the troposphere

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51
Q

Which of the following is NOT a significant effect of increased UV radiation

A

sea level rise

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52
Q

General class of pollution that characterizes urban area with frequent, high intensity sunshine and mobile air emissions due to heavy transportation is

A

photochemical smog

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53
Q

Eight days after a 20 g/cubic meter sample of radon gas (with a half life of about 4 days) is emitted into a sealed room, how much of the gas remains.

A

Divide by 2 twice.

5 grams per cubic meter is the answer

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54
Q

Name an option that will not reduce some of the air pollutants caused by coal combustion.

A

increase in the use of bituminous coal and decrease in the use of anthracite coal

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55
Q

Name an example of a way that biogas (methane) is not produced in the environment.

A

solar production

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56
Q

Over 50% of natural background radiation exposure for humans comes from

A

terrestrial radiation from radon in bedrock material

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57
Q

Name an incorrect statement regarding climate change

A

the rate of greatest warming has been at the tropics near the equator

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58
Q

Name a gas that contributes significantly to the greenhouse effect and is a by product of bacterial metabolism

A

nitrous oxide

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59
Q

The over-withdrawal of ground water froma n aquifer may lead to land collapsing and can damamge roadways, sewer lines, and building foundations. This is known as

A

land subsidence

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60
Q

An earthquake measuring 8 on the Richter scale is how many times greater in magnitude than an earthquake measuring 4

A

10,000

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61
Q

A switch from coal burning, used to generate electricity, to wind and solar energy would help alleviate all of the following except

A

loss of stratospheric ozone

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62
Q

The secondary pollutants of photochemical smog are

A

ozone and nitric acid

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63
Q

The _____ was an international agreement to phase out the use of CFCs and other ozone depleting substances

A

Montreal Protocol

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64
Q

Ranges of active volcanoes are most abundant near

A

convergent plate boundaries

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65
Q

In the troposphere, oxygen is found primarily as ___, while nitrogen is found primarily as ___.

A

O2 and N2

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66
Q

Which of the following is a density independent population control factor

A

habitat destruction

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67
Q

which of the following is a significant indoor pollutant

A

formaldehyde

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68
Q

which of the following is not identified by the EPA as one of the top six criteria air pollutants

A

PANs

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69
Q

air temperature increases with altitude, due to the destruction of ozone by UV light in the

A

stratosphere

70
Q

Name something that would lead to acid rain

A

the release of SO2 (sulfur dioxide) from a coal fired power plant

71
Q

Catalytic converters remove what from automobile exhaust

A

carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide

72
Q

which of the following species is the best suited to become an invasive species

A

american cockroach

73
Q

Which of the following is removed by scurbbers installed in smokestacks

A

sulfur dioxide

74
Q

which of the following decreases the amount of carbon dioxide in the troposphere

A

photosynthesis

75
Q

which of the following does not emit green house gases

A

photosynthesis of oceanic phytoplankton

76
Q

The type of radiation trapped in the troposphere by greenhouse gases

A

Infrared radiation

77
Q

the type of radiation filtered and formed by the ozone layer

A

ultraviolet radiation

78
Q

the type of radiation with the most energy

A

x rays

79
Q

the type of radiation witht he least energy

A

microwaves

80
Q

Legislation has effectively reduced which of the following air pollutants

A

lead`

81
Q

What causes sick building syndrome

A

indoor air pollution

82
Q

What allows polluters to buy and sell the right to pollute

A

cap and trade programs

83
Q

If two air masses meet, don’t mix, and form a boundary, a ____ will be produced

A

front

84
Q

What has high albedo

A

snow

85
Q

The aurora australis and the aurora borealis occur in which atmospheric layer

A

thermosphere

86
Q

Periodic shifts in earth’s tilt and orbit produce the

A

Milankovitch cycles

87
Q

Anthropogenic

A

human-caused

88
Q

The goal of the kyoto protocol was to reduce the GHGs to ___% below 1990 levels by 2012

A

5

89
Q

The process of human activities near urban or agricultural areas that input excess plant nutrients into lakes in known as

A

cultural eutrophication

90
Q

Of the following, which constitutes the greatest percent of use for water withdrawn in the world today

A

irrigation for food production

91
Q

The federal legislation that set maximum containment levels for pollutants that cause adverse health effects in humans is the

A

safe drinking water act

92
Q

which water quality test will best determine the disruption of photosynthesis caused by cloudy water conditions from sedimentation

A

turbitity

93
Q

Coal burning power plants and nuclear power plants production electricity both release a large amount of

A

thermal pollution

94
Q

Which of the following would least likely reduce the nutrients loading into the chesapeake bay estuary

A

government subsidies for cotton crops

95
Q

The largest source of oil pollution found in the oceans is from

A

urban and industrial runoff from the land

96
Q

Although PBCs have been banned in the US since 1977, they are still causing damage in the Great Lakes because

A

PCBs are persistent pollutants that do not degrade easily

97
Q

A type of waste water treatment that involves some from of physical cleaning is

A

All three types of waste water treatment involve some type of physical treatment

98
Q

Which of the following is not a non point source pollutatn

A

a sewage treatment plant effluent plant

99
Q

Which of the following would most likely cause metabolic stress in aerobic lake organisms

A

dissolved oxygen levels at 2 to 3 ppm

100
Q

The loss of riparian land along a river would cause

A

increased flooding and increased nonpoint source pollutant

101
Q

Stronger regulations for coal burning power plant emissions are likely to reduce what aquatic pollutants

A

mercury

102
Q

What river conditions would yield the highest dissolved oxygen content

A

fast moving cold water, large amounts of submerged vegetative biomass

103
Q

In coastal areas, withdrawing groundwater to the point where lateral recharge occurs can cause

A

aerobic bacteria used to biodegrade organic waste

104
Q

Name a large scale water transfer project that has caused great environmental deterioration

A

aral sea, former USSR

105
Q

The largest estuary in the United States declared a dead zone is

A

chesapeake bay

106
Q

Excessive inputs of nitrogen have been known to cause explosive growth of toxic microscopic algae that can poison fish and marine mammals. This outbreak in also known as

A

a red tide

107
Q

Which of the following pesticides are still being used in the US

A

atrazine

108
Q

Which of the following is Not a problem associated with electrical production from hydroelectric dams

A

large output of thermal pollution from producing electricity

109
Q

Scientists commonly measure concentration of water pollutants in terms of ppm or ppb. One ppm is also equivalent to one mg of a toxin per liter of water. Therefore, on ppb would be equivalent to

A

nanogram/liter (mu gram/liter

110
Q

Instead of using chlorine in the disinfecting stage of a municipal wastewater treatment plant, they could also use

A

UV light

111
Q

Over 50% of natural background radiation exposure or humans comes from

A

terrestrial radiation from radon in bedrock material

112
Q

Some countries are increasing their use of a desalination process that uses high pressure to force saltwater through a membrane filter with pores small enough to remove the salt. This process in called

A

reverse osmosis

113
Q

coal burning power plants and light water nuclear reactors have which of the following in common

A

input of thermal pollution into local rivers and streams

114
Q

What is a chemical water quality test that might help one determine why DO levels are dropping in a lake

A

nitrate test

115
Q

The over withdrawal of groundwater from an aquifer may lead to land collapsing and can damage roadways, sewer lines and building foundations. This is known as

A

land subisdence

116
Q

Which of the following has the lowest average net primary productivity

A

tundra

117
Q

Which of the following is true of oligotrophic lakes

A

they have low nutrient levels and low productivity

118
Q

The treaty that cut emissions of ozone depleting compounds was signed in

A

montreal canada

119
Q

Name something that would leave to acid rain

A

the release of sulfur dioxide from a coal fired plant

120
Q

A company pollutes a river rationalizing that will release a small quantity of pollutants that will quickly be diluted and have little effect on the water quality of the river. This best illustrates

A

tragedy of the commons

121
Q

The phosphorus and nitrogen concentration found in groundwater most likely would be greatest beneath

A

an animal feedlot

122
Q

Well water is often contaminated with which naturally occurring element

A

arsenic

123
Q

In a river, which of the following will most likely occur downstream as a result of the effluent discharge of a primary sewage treatment facility

A

an increase in the BOD of the rivers water

124
Q

Which of the following are used to disinfect municipal water supplies

A

chlorine

125
Q

The diversion of water from rivers that flow into a lake that has no outlet to the sea will increase the

A

salinity of the lake

126
Q

sediment pollution will result in an immediate change in this measurement

A

turbidity

127
Q

changes in inverse proportion to water termperature

A

dissolved oxygen

128
Q

higher for waters that flow through regions rich in calcium

A

hardness

129
Q

which of the following is the smallest reservoir of the global hydrologic cycle

A

the atmosphere

130
Q

the ogallala aquifer supplies water to much of

A

the high plains

131
Q

the upper boundary of the zone of saturation beneath earths surface is

A

water table

132
Q

which world river has the greatest quantity of discharge

A

amazon

133
Q

the greatest quantity of water used domestically in the US is for

A

flushing toilets

134
Q

a recharge zone provides water to a

A

aquifer

135
Q

the largest dam in the world today is

A

three gorges dam

136
Q

the single word that has caused many legal problems in the Clean Water Act of 1972 is

A

navigable

137
Q

a carcinogen considered to be one of the greatest groundwater contamination pollutants found as an additive in gasoline is

A

MTBE (Methyl Tertiary-Butyl Ether)

138
Q

Which of the following possesses the highest energy content and burns the cleanest?

A

Anthracite coal

139
Q

Which lists the steps of coal formation in order of oldest to youngest material?

A

Peat-Lignite-Bituminous-Anthracite

140
Q

Nuclear reactors produce energy through the process of what?

A

Fission

141
Q

Which of the toxic heavy metals is released in significant quantities during the burning of coal?

A

Mercury

142
Q

What is the most common fuel for nuclear fission?

A

Uranium

143
Q

What would be the most cost-efficient method of space-heating?

A

Passive solar heat

144
Q

What would be the most efficient water heater?

A

A tankless instant water heater fired by natural gas

145
Q

What are features of passive solar design?

A

Adobe walls for heat storage

146
Q

Often, large projects provide people with opportunities for recreational activities. What is most likely to result in creating such opportunities?

A

Hydroelectric power

147
Q

What might result in a decline in the population of certain species of migratory birds?

A

Wind Power

148
Q

What is relatively the most expensive way to generate electricity?

A

photovoltaic cells

149
Q

The site of the most ecologically destructive oil spill in history was what?

A

Valdez, Alaska

150
Q

What is the best example of obtaining energy from biomass?

A

Burning wood in a stove

151
Q

The world’s uranium supply is estimated to be 4.8 million metric tons. If the global consumption rate for uranium is 200 metric tons per day, how many years will our uranium supply last?

A

70 years

152
Q

What is not a distillation product of crude oil?

A

Peat

153
Q

Some coal-burning and nuclear power plants utilize the production of both steam and electricity from one fuel source. This process is known as what?

A

Cogeneration

154
Q

What respiratory disease was a rapidly spreading epidemic in China before it was successfully contained by 2003?

A

SARS

155
Q

What is still being used in the U.S. to control pest populations?

A

Atrazine

156
Q

The project started by Wangari Maathai in Kenya to re-plant native trees to reduce soil erosion is known as the what?

A

Greenbelt Movement

157
Q

During a growing season, a farmer grows a crop that returns nitrogen to the soil in the same field with a plant that requires a lot of nitrogen. This would be an example of what?

A

Intercropping

158
Q

Coal-burning power plants and light-water nuclear reactors have what in common?

A

Input of thermal pollution into local rivers and streams

159
Q

A large urban city is a few degrees warmer than the surrounding suburbs. This is an example of what?

A

A microclimate

160
Q

Natural gas extracted from the earth is a mixture of gases that contains 50-90% concentration of what gas?

A

Methane

161
Q

A switch in dependency from coal-burning, used to generate electricity, to wind and solar energy would help alleviate what environmental concern?

A

Acid rain

162
Q

The largest proven reserves of oil are located where?

A

the Middle East

163
Q

To most effectively capture solar energy in the U.S., solar panels should be placed so that they face what cardinal direction?

A

South

164
Q

A 2000 Watt electric space heater was used for 3 hours and 30 minutes. How much energy did the heater use?

A

7kWh

165
Q

What is true about a 60-Watt incandescent light bulb with an efficiency of 5%?

A

It produces about 3 Joules of light and 57 Joules of heat per second

166
Q

A city with a population of 300,000 uses 8 million BTU of energy each day. The yearly per capita energy consumption in the city is nearest how many BTU?

A

10 thousand BTU

167
Q

What was the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history occurred where?

A

Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania

168
Q

The most common form of renewable energy used by citizens in developing countries is what?

A

Biomass

169
Q

What occurs at an oil refinery?

A

Crude oil is separated into its components using their boiling points

170
Q

What country relies on geothermal energy to provide a large part of its energy?

A

Iceland

171
Q

An incandescent light bulb has an efficiency of 5% and a compact fluorescent bulb has an efficiency of 25%. In order to replace a 100-Watt incandescent bulb and still provide about the same amount of light energy, a compact fluorescent bulb must have a power rating of what?

A

20 Watts