Example Test 4
Instructions: The first 12 questions refer to the slides we will view together in class. Please use the space provided to answer the questions.
1. (3 pts) a) In the figure shown, what is the top of the blue layer indicated by A? Explain what it is and why it’s important.
2. (4 pts) What is a) porosity and b) permeability?
3. (3 pts) What is the relationship between the figure shown and the Great American Desert? How was the desert transformed into part of the Bread Basket of the World? Explain.
4. (3 pts) What is a spring? What makes some springs hot?
5. (2 pts) Why do most of the world’s caves form in limestone? Explain how they form. Extra credit: Name two of the cave formations shown.
6. (4 pts) What is karst? What are two common features?
7. (6 pts) This morning gas prices for the cheapest grade were $2.59 at the station near my house. In the fall of 2013, the price was $3.54. In September, 2012, the average price nationally was $3.85. In the fall of 2014, the price dropped to $1.49. What are three factors affecting oil prices? Explain each, giving specific examples.
8. (4 pts) Shown is a figure about the greenhouse effect and three important gases that cause this effect. Explain the process sufficiently to show you understand it. Then explain how at least one of the gases has been increased in the atmosphere by human activity.
9. (4 pts) Shown is a graph of global temperatures since the late 1850s. Politicians argue about the role of humans in the increase shown. Give one argument for each side.
10. (3 pts) Shown are three deserts, marked A, B, and C. Explain how each formed. Extra credit: Name deserts A and C.
11. (7 pts) Shown is a marker for the Overland Trail in southern Wyoming. a) What are two things you notice about the ground surface? is a typical soil profile. b) Why does Iowa have such good soil? Give three reasons. How is the organic layer different in c) a desert and c) a rainforest.
12. (6 pts) Pick any three videos or stories and explain how they relate to geology, using at least two sentences each.
13. (6 pts) We’ve discussed three resources in this section. Name each and given an example of its importance. Be specific.
14. (6 pts) What is the difference between renewable and non-renewable energy sources? Give two examples of each.
15. (4 pts) Explain how both coal and petroleum form, giving three similarities and one difference.
16. ( 4 pts) What are two major factors in determining where we get our oil? Provide an example of each.
17. (2 pts) What is subsidence? What causes it?
18. (8 pts) Pick an issue related to your own career that is impacted by multiple competing users, such as the example we used in class of managing water behind a dam. Name four sets of those competing users. How would each want the issue dealt with?
19. (5 pts) Sketch a confined aquifer, such as the Bighorn Basin, labelling the recharge and discharge areas, confining layer, and direction of flow.
20. (6 pts) Sketch an unconfined aquifer, such as at my home in Walnut Cove, NC, labelling the recharge and discharge areas, water table, probable spring location, and direction of flow.
21. (5 pts) What are three ways you think this course could be improved? What were two things to continue doing?
22. (5 pts) What was a review question that you prepared for but was not asked. Answer it.