Mid-Term Review

Question 1

What is the distribution of fresh and saltwater on Earth?

Answer 1

3% freshwater, 97% saltwater

Question 2

What is the Hydrologic Cycle (Water Cycle)?

Answer 2

The cycle of processes by which water circulates between the earth’s oceans, atmosphere, and lang, involving precipitation as rain and snow, drainage in streams and rivers, and return to the atmosphere by evaporation and transpiration.

Question 3

How much of the world is covered in water?

Answer 3

75%

Question 4

What are the 4 characteristics of water?

Answer 4

• Polarity
• Density
• Solvent
• High heat capacity

Question 5

What is the water table?

Answer 5

Located on the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The soil or rocks are permanently saturated with water.

Question 6

What is Zone of Aeration?

Answer 6

The region between the earth’s surface and the water table. The main components of this region are the soil and rocks. Holds mostly air.

Question 7

What is the Zone of Saturation?

Answer 7

The soil or rock located below the top of the groundwater table. Pores are saturated with water.

Question 8

What is evaporation?

Answer 8

liquid to gas

Question 9

What is transpiration?

Answer 9

Evaporation of water from plant leaves/trees.

Question 10

What is condensation?

Answer 10

The change of state from a gas to a liquid.

Question 11

What is precipitation?

Answer 11

Any form of water that falls from clouds and reaches the Earth’s surface.

Question 12

What is run-off?

Answer 12

Water flowing on the surface.

Question 13

What is the Earth’s main energy source?

Answer 13

The Sun

Question 14

What is a watershed (drainage basin)?

Answer 14

All of the land that drains into a river system.

Question 15

The Mississippi River is the largest watershed in the US? (true or false)

Answer 15

T R U E

Question 16

What is porosity?

Answer 16

The amount of pore space (holes) in sediment.

Question 17

What is permeability?

Answer 17

The ability of materials for water to pass through.

Question 18

What are some factors that affect surface run-off?

Answer 18

Type of soil, condition of the soil, slope, plant cover (infiltration and interception)

Question 19

What factors affect porosity?

Answer 19

shape, sorting, packing

Question 20

What factors affect permeability?

Answer 20

grain size, sorting, connectedness

Question 21

What are some common causes of groundwater/surface water contamination?

Answer 21

Industrial waste, sewage & wastewater, fossil fuels/gasoline, fertilizers/pesticides, road salts, bacteria/viruses

Question 22

What is a continental glacier?

Answer 22

This type of glacier covers large continent sized areas with huge ice sheets.

Question 23

What is a valley glacier?

Answer 23

Forms high in the mountains, moves within valley walls and relatively small.

Question 24

What is a glacier?

Answer 24

A large mass of moving ice and snow.

Question 25

What is the overall force that causes glaciers to move?

Answer 25

gravity

Question 26

What is glacial till?

Answer 26

Unsorted and unstratified rocks, soil, and debris deposited by a retreating glacier.

Question 27

What is a moraine?

Answer 27

Accumulation of glacial till.

Question 28

What are icebergs?

Answer 28

Floating masses of ice that have broken off a glacier.

Question 29

This is a depression formed when glacial ice gets buried and melts.

Answer 29

kettle lakes

Question 30

Long, low, tear shaped mounds of till found in clusters are called _________________?

Answer 30

drumlins

Question 31

What is the Zone of Accumulation?

Answer 31

The area above the firn line, where snowfall accumulates and exceeds the losses from ablation. (more snow falls than melts)

Question 32

What is the Zone of Ablation?

Answer 32

The lower part of the glacier generally loses more mass from ablation than it receives from accumulation. (more snow melts than falls)

Question 33

What does an "advancing" glacier do?

Answer 33

It moves forward and gets bigger.

Question 34

What does a "retreating" glacier do?

Answer 34

Moves backward and gets smaller.

Question 35

What are the 2 types of moraines?

Answer 35

lateral, terminal

Question 36

What is sea ice?

Answer 36

Frozen seawater that floats on the ocean's surface.

Question 37

What is an ice age?

Answer 37

Time periods where much of the Earth is covered by glaciers.

Question 38

How does sea ice affect climate?

Answer 38

Keeps the polar regions cool and moderates global climate.

Question 39

What is snowline?

Answer 39

Lowest level of permanent snow.

Question 40

What are the 2 most common elements in the ocean?

Answer 40

Sodium Chloride

Question 41

Name the 3 most common gasses dissolved in ocean water.

Answer 41

Nitrogen, Oxygen, Carbon Dioxide

Question 42

What is salinity?

Answer 42

The amount of salt dissolved in ocean water.

Question 43

What are the main factors that affect salinity?

Answer 43

- Evaporation and freezing - Addition of freshwater

Question 44

Which has higher density? (saltwater or freshwater)

Answer 44

saltwater

Question 45

What is the thermocline?

Answer 45

An area of transition between the warm layer at the surface and the cooler deep water below. Rapid decrease in temperature.

Question 46

What is the halocline?

Answer 46

Separation of ocean layers of different salinity.

Question 47

What is upwelling?

Answer 47

The rising of cold water from deeper layers to replace warmer surface water.

Question 48

What are deep ocean currents driven by?

Answer 48

Differences in density.

Question 49

What are surface currents driven by?

Answer 49

Global winds and the Coriolis Effect.

Question 50

What is the Coriolis Effect?

Answer 50

The effect of Earth's rotation on the direction of winds and currents.

Question 51

What is a gyre?

Answer 51

Large system of circulating ocean currents.

Question 52

What are the types of chemical bonds?

Answer 52

Ionic, molecule, and covalent

Question 53

What is ionic bonding?

Answer 53

Positive and negative charged atoms that attract to each other.

Question 54

What is a molecule?

Answer 54

2 or more atoms bonded together

Question 55

What is covalent bonding?

Answer 55

Sharing of electrons, the atoms are physically bound together.

Question 56

What is the octet rule?

Answer 56

Elements bond together so they can get/have 8 electrons in their outer shell.

Question 57

What does polarity do?

Answer 57

Polarity make the water like a magnent.

Question 58

What does 'universal solvent' mean?

Answer 58

Water is capable of dissolving more substances than any other liquid

Question 59

What does it mean and why is water a 'buffer'?

Answer 59

To be a 'buffer' means that water keeps near cities warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. This is due to the high specific heat capacity.

Question 60

True or False: Water can be destroyed.

Answer 60

F A L S E

Question 61

What is sublimation?

Answer 61

Ice turning from solid to gas

Question 62

What determines the temperature of surface currents?

Answer 62

Where the wind is coming from - Equator = warm - Arctic = cold SHAPED BY CORIOLUS EFFECT

Question 63

What are some inputs and outputs of water budgets?

Answer 63

Inputs - Precipitation - Runoff Outputs - Evapotranspirationn

Question 64

Faster rivers more _____________ sediments (bigger or smaller)

Answer 64

B I G G E R

Question 65

Low connectedness equals...

Answer 65

Low permeability

Question 66

Big sediments have a ___________ porosity

Answer 66

B I G G E R

Question 67

Gravel has a __________ porosity

Answer 67

L O W

Question 68

Unconfined aquifers are under what layer?

Answer 68

A permeable layer