Unit 1 - Geology
Unit 1 - Atmosphere
Unit 1 - Soil
Unit 2 - Cycles
Unit 3 - Water
El NINO
100
Which area has the strongest solar radiation based on the diagram?
23.5 capricorn
100
Warming at Earth’s surface causes air to rise and experience (higher/lower) pressures leading to adiabatic (heating/cooling).
Lower
Cooling
100
The breakdown of rock, or parent material, in the formation of soil is known as __________________.
Weathering
100
What human activities impact the nitrogen cycle?
Use of fertilizer can lead to eutrophication of ponds, lakes, oceans
Excessive irrigation or rain can lead to leaching: loss of nitrates before it can assimilated into plants
100
Impermeable pavement prevents (percolation/runoff) of water but increases (percolation/runoff) of water.
Percolation
Runoff
200
Which area has the longest amount of sunlight in a day based on the diagram? 
south pole
200
What type of air is found at the 30° latitudes?
What type of air is found at the 60° latitudes?
Sinking cold, dry air
Rising warm, moist air
200
Identify the soil horizons in order starting with organic material at the top and ending with bedrock at the bottom. Which soil horizon contains a mixture of organic matter and minerals?
O, A, E, B, C, R (Bedrock)
(sometimes there maybe are horizons missing)
The A Layer contains mostly organic material with some minerals.
200
List 2 processes in the carbon cycle that release CO2 back into the atmosphere.
Volcanic eruptions, combustion, respiration, decomposition, etc.
200
What are some ways that the water table in an aquifer can be lowered?
Excess pumping of water and drilling of wells.
300
The reason why there are seasons experienced on Earth is because of…
Earth’s axial tilt relative to the sun.
300
What layer of the atmosphere are each of these found?
Meteors
Aurora Borealis
Hurricanes and Tornadoes
Meteors = Mesosphere
Aurora Borealis = Thermosphere
Hurricanes and Tornadoes = Troposphere (all weather is found here)
300
Arrange the following particles from…
least permeable to most permeable
lowest water holding capacity to highest water holding capacity
Permeability: Clay, Silt, Sand
Water Holding Capacity:
Sand, Silt, Clay
300
What is the largest carbon sink in the carbon cycle and how is CO2 sequestered there?
Marine sediments and sedimentary rock. Cementing of shells and sediments at the bottom of the ocean create limestone.
300
An area of land that drains water from precipitation into a specific body of water known as a lake or the ocean is a _______________.
watershed
400
What type of plate boundaries create the following:
Mountain ranges
Faults
Mid-ocean ridges formed from seafloor spreading
Mountain ranges are formed at convergent plate boundaries (sometimes oceanic/continental and Himalayans are specifically continental/continental), faults are formed at transform plate boundaries, and mid-ocean ridges are formed at divergent plate boundaries
400
What climate does the rain shadow affect produce on the leeward side of a mountain?
Dry/Desert
400
Based on the soil texture triangle, which of the following would describe soil that was 30% clay, 50% sand, and 20% silt?
Sandy Clay Loam
400
How does use of fertilizer lead to hypoxic dead zones found in lakes?
Fertilizer contains excess nutrients (N and P). Eutrophication leads to algal blooms in bodies of water. Once algae die, they can no longer photosynthesize and create oxygen. Decomposers also use up all the oxygen.
400
How does clearcutting an area affect how water drains in a watershed?
There will be increased runoff because there are no plants to absorb the excess water.
400
How do upwellings occur?
Warm, stagnant surface waters are pushed by prevailing winds. Cold, nutrient-rich water replaces the warmer, nutrient-poor water.
500
What occurs at a subduction zone between a continental plate and an oceanic plate?
The denser oceanic plate will “subduct” under the the less dense continental plate. Volcanoes and earthquakes are common at these plate boundaries.
500
Which TWO gases are most abundant in Earth’s atmosphere, in descending order?
Nitrogen Gas (78%),
Oxygen Gas (21%)
500
Based on the soil texture triangle, which of the following would describe soil that was 10% clay, 30% sand, and 60% silt?
Silt Loam
500
Identify the processes of the nitrogen cycle that each statement describes:
Atmospheric nitrogen gas is converted to ammonia
Plants take in nitrates
Nitrates are converted back to nitrogen gas
Nitrogen Fixation
Assimilation
Denitrification
500
Chesapeake Bay is an example of a (watershed/aquifer) and Ogallala is an example of a (watershed/aquifer).
Watershed
Aquifer
500
What happens to surface waters and trade winds in the Pacific Ocean during an El Niño year?
Surface waters increase in temperature and trade winds either decrease in strength or reverse.
600
Arrange the following layers of Earth from the center of Earth to the outermost layer: core, asthenosphere, mantle, lithosphere. Tectonic plates are located on the __________.
Core, mantle, asthenosphere, lithosphere. Tectonic plates are located on the lithosphere.
600
The Coriolis Effect causes the deflection of trade winds to go from ___________ to ___________ near the equator.
East to West