Geology 2 Test 2

Front 1

What is air pressure?

Back 1

The weight of air above a given point on Earth's surface

Front 2

Which of the following forces affects the movement of air in and around high- and low-pressure areas?

Back 2

Pressure gradient force

Coriolis force

Gravitational force

Friction force

On TEST: All of the above

Front 3

Which areas is characterized by rain throughout the year and is associated with tropical rain forests?

Back 3

Intertropical Convergence Zone near the equator

Front 4

Which of the following statements DOES NOT apply to trade winds?

Back 4

Utilized by ancient mariners sailing from North America to Europe

Front 5

Why are the regions, including deserts, near subtropical highs dry?

Back 5

Air aloft sinks downward, undergoes compression, and heats up

Front 6

Where are the polar jet streams located?

Back 6

Near the subpolar low-pressure cells near 60 degrees north and south latitudes where cold and warm air masses meet

Front 7

Describe Westerlies

Back 7

Westerlies occur at more northern (or southern) latitudes than the trade winds

Front 8

Describe Subtropical Highs

Back 8

Occur close to 30o north and south latitudes

Downwelling air is dry due to Worlds largest deserts are there

Front 9

What is Intertropical Convergence Zone

Back 9

When Rising air generates band of low pressure

Front 10

What is Polar front?

Back 10

the area of contrast between cold and warm air masses

Front 11

Rising air along the ITCZ, once aloft, moves towards the poles because of?

Back 11

Temperature differences between the equator and poles

Front 12

Describe Mountain-Valley breezes

Back 12

During the day, valley air heats rapidly and rises upslope. At night, mountain air cools quicker and moves downslope into the valley.

Front 13

Monsoonal rains on the continent of India are?

Back 13

Are greatest during the summer

Front 14

Which of the following statements does NOT apply to the Pacific Decadal and North Atlantic oscillations?

Back 14

Occur locally over land only during the summer months

Front 15

Which of the following statements does NOT apply to pressure surfaces?

Back 15

Vertical surface where two contrasting air masses meet

Front 16

What two factors will cause seawater to increase in density and therefore sink?

Back 16

Cooler temperatures and increased salinity

Front 17

Which of the following LEAST LIKELY affects the circulation patterns of surface water in the oceans?

Back 17

Seawater evaporation

Front 18

Which of the following statements about deep-ocean water is FALSE?

Back 18

Circulation patterns are in the form of gyres within ocean basins

Front 19

Where is most of the Freshwater on Earth stored?



CH5

Back 19

Ice and glaciers

Front 20

What is Relative Humidity?

Back 20

Mass of water vapor in air divided by the mass of water vapor that the air can hold

Front 21

What is Specific Humidity

Back 21

Mass of water vapor per kilogram of dry air

Front 22

What is Dew Point?

Back 22

Temperature at Which Water Vapor Begins to Condense

Front 23

What is Vapor Pressure?

Back 23

The Amount of Pressure Exerted By Water Vapor in the Atmosphere

Front 24

What is true about Air temperature and Relative Humidity?

Back 24

The warmer the air, the lower the relative humidity

Front 25

What happens to an air parcel that ascends from near the ground surface to higher altitudes?

Back 25

Air parcel expands and cools at higher altitudes

Front 26

at what stage is latent heat released and its value negative?

Back 26

When Water vapor condenses into liquid water

Front 27

What is Adiabatic process

Back 27

The warming and cooling rates for a parcel of expanding or compressing air

Front 28

Describe a condition which results in a stable atmosphere?

Back 28

Rising air parcel has a higher adiabatic rate than the environmental lapse rate

Front 29

Describe Cumulus clouds?

Back 29

– Low-level puffy clouds
– Composed of water droplets
– Associated with fair weather

Front 30

Describe Cirrus Clouds

Back 30

- Cirrus are high altitude clouds
- Composed of ice crystals
- Wispy forms
- Often associated with an oncoming storm

Front 31

Describe Nimbostratus clouds

Back 31

yield precipitation and Showers typically fall as drizzling rain

Front 32

When does Valley fog form?

Back 32

when Cool, dense air settles in a valley

Front 33

What is Moist adiabatic rate?

Back 33

when the average rate at which ascending, water-saturated air cools by expansion

Front 34

What is Environmental lapse rate?

Back 34

Actual lapse rate for air at a particular place and time

Front 35

What is Dry adiabatic rate?

Back 35

the rate at which “dry” air cools by expansion or heats by compression

Front 36

What is Normal lapse rate?

Back 36

Average decreasing temperature with increasing altitude

Front 37

An air mass classified as maritime polar (mP) will most likely be?

Back 37

Moist and cold

Front 38

When does An occluded front form?

Back 38

Two bodies of cold air collide, forcing the warm air between them to rise so that the latter is no longer in contact with the ground

Front 39

When does Warm fronts form?

Back 39

When Warm low density air pushes cold dense air

Front 40

When does Cold fronts form?

Back 40

When Cold dense air pushes low density warmer air

Front 41

When does Stationary Front form?

Back 41

When Cold arctic air penetrates into continental interior and meets warm

Front 42

Which statements regarding storm tracts is FALSE

Back 42

Average storm tracts shift northward into Canada during the winter and southward into the U.S. during the summer

Front 43

Describe Cumulonimbus clouds

Back 43

Strong thunderstorms, lightening and tornadoes

Front 44

What does NOT lead to hurricane formation?

Back 44

Strong wind aloft shears off the top of the developing cyclone

Front 45

Most runoff on land occurs in the subsurface as groundwater. T or F

Back 45

FALSE

Front 46

What percentage of water evaporated over land and water eventually ends up as precipitation?

Back 46

100%

Front 47

What is potential evapotranspiration?

Back 47

Amount of water that would evaporate and transpire under optimum (saturated) moisture conditions

Front 48

In the water balance equation, actual evapotranspiration (ACTET) is equal to?

Back 48

Potential evapotranspiration MINUS deficit

Front 49

what happens to excess moisture that cannot be held in the soil?

Back 49

Excess moisture percolates downward to the deeper groundwater zone

Front 50

Which statement about groundwater is FALSE?

Back 50

Groundwater only consists of subsurface water that occurs above the water table

Front 51

Whats true about groundwater

Back 51

Groundwater flows from areas of recharge to discharge

- occurs in pore spaces of soil

- important source of freshwater

- can be contaminated easily

Front 52

What is a measure of how readily groundwater flows through soil, sediment, and bedrock?

Back 52

Permeability

Front 53

What has the highest porosity and would therefore make the best aquifer?

Back 53

Gravel

Front 54

In order for an aquifer to be an artesian system and supply well-water to the surface without pumping, the aquifer must be WHAT?

Back 54

Inclined AND bounded above and below by aquicludes

Front 55

If groundwater was excessively pumped by wells over a long period of time, which of the following would most likely result?

Back 55

Land subsidence

Front 56

Which process is LEAST-LIKELY to influence Earth's climate system?

Back 56

Groundwater flow

Front 57

Which tropical climates receives the LEAST amount of annual rainfall?

Back 57

Savanna

Front 58

A continental-arctic (cA) air mass that is very cold and dry would most-likely be characterized by WHAT climate

Back 58

Tundra Climate

Front 59

Most of the Gulf coastal region, including Houston, is characterized by WHAT Climate?

Back 59

Humid subtropical Climate

Front 60

What is NOT associated with El Nino?

Back 60

Increased upwelling of deep ocean water along the west coast of South America

Front 61

computer models calculate future rates of global warming based on our continued use of WHAT?

Back 61

Fossil fuels

Front 62

Climatologists attempt to predict future climate changes using WHAT?

Back 62

Computer models known as General Circulation Models