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Geo 101 Final
Kutztown University Geography 101 Final Review Sheet Q and A
Question | Answer |
---|---|
What is Climate? | A general pattern of weather which exists for long periods of time |
How long of a period is needed for something to be classified as 'climate'? | 30 years |
Who created the first thermometer? | Galileo, in the 17th century |
Which field is the thornwaite climate clasification scheme most geared towards? | Temperature and Precipitation (for farmers). The system favors agricultural needs |
What is the Koppen system based on? | Temperature and Precipitation using average monthly records |
Who created the Koppen system? | Wladimir Koppen, a german botanist |
Why do subcategories exist in climate classification schemes? | The categories that range in temperature have different subcategories based on temp and precipitation |
What is a cloud forest? | moist air is lifted up in mountainous areas (like in costa rica) and may fall as constant misty fog |
What is a selva? | a type of rainforest where the canopy blocks the undergrowth from receiving sunlight |
What is a jungle? | a dense tangle of vines and trees that develop where direct sunlight reaches the ground |
What is the difference between the desert and the steppe? | Steppes has precipitation which is more than half the evapotranspiration rates. Also, temperatures can vary in Steppes |
What is permafrost? | A thick subsurface layer of soil that remains frozen throughout the year |
What is the difference between the ice sheet and the tundra? | Temperatures on an ice sheet will never get above freezing. The tundra can |
What is the hockey stick graph, who created it, and what is its significance? | Michael Mann created the hockey stick graph to show how temperatures have changed over the centuries. It was made to show that the temperature of the earth is rising. Dr. Davis agrees |
What is the term used to describe human activities? | Anthropologenic |
Who said "global warming is unequivocal"? | Jonathan Overpeck, Professor at the University of Arizona |
What is the intergovernmental panel on climate change? How often do they produce a state of the climate? | IPCC, intergovernmental panel on climate change. They release a state of the climate every 6-7 years |
How can sea level change over time? | Thermal Expansion and the loss of sea ice and ice caps |
What is the meaning of business as usual? How much warming is projected by the IPCC? | BAU is the projection of what the projected global warming will look like if things don't change. (1.5 to 4 deg C, or 4-10 F) |
During the Eemian period, was the world warmer or cooler than today? | The world was warmer |
What did the Kyoto Protocol aim to do? | Stabilize the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a safe level |
What is cap and trade? | Businesses would be capped as to how much greenhouse gases they can emit by the government. Businesses can also sell their unused 'cap' limit |
What is the difference between an endogenic and exogenic force? | Exogenic [SURFACE] (weathering, erosion) forces come from outside the system, endogenic [INSIDE] (volcanoes, earthquakes) come from within. |
What three exogenic forces act upon rocks in the weathering process? | Erosion, Transportation and Deposition |
What force contributes to mass wasting? | Gravity (rocks may fall from a cliff and fracture) |
How do physical and chemical weathering differ? | physical weathering happens through breaking up or disintegrating the rock; chemical weathering decomposes the rock through chemical reactions |
How can climate affect weathering? | temperature can speed up chemical weathering. Air pollution can speed weathering by making air more acidic. Also, freeze/thaw weathering occurs in cold temps. |
What is slow mass wasting and fast mass wasting? | Fast wasting is like landslides lahars and avalanches; slow wasting is how hills undergo 'creep', or the slow migration of material to lower elevations |
What is an avalanche? How can they be triggered? | The sudden movement of rock, snow and ice down a mountain. These are triggered by a force exerted on them. |
What are tides? When is high/low tide? | The rise and fall of the ocean caused by the gravitational pull of the earth, sun and moon. High tide occurs when the moon is overhead. Low tide is when the moon is at a 90 degree angle |
How far does the moon travel each day? | twelve degrees |
What is a wave? | A disturbance that travels through space and time with the transfer of energy |
How does sea and swell differ? | Sea is an intense storm with steep choppy waves, whereas swell is more gentle and orderly |
What three factors influence wave height? What is a fetch? | Wind velocity, duration of the wind, and fetch, or the area over which the wind blows |
What are rip currents? | Relatively narrow zones of strong, off-shore flowing water |
What causes wave refraction? | Occurs when waves encounter shallower water before other parts |
What is the difference between an active and a passive margin? | Passive are tectonically quiet, whereas active has tectonic activity |
What is the difference between emergence and submergence? | Emergence is where the water level has fallen or the land has risen; submergence refers to shores that lie underwater |
What two types of islands are there? | Continental (big land mass which is part of a continent) and oceanic (iceland, haiwaii)rise from the ocean floor |
What is the significance of the continental divide? | Water to the east runs into the Atlantic, water on the west runs to pacific |
What is a watershed? | Watersheds are everywhere. It is the basin where surface water will collect |
What drainage pattern looks like a tree and which drainage pattern looks random? | Dendritic looks like a tree; Deranged looks random |
What is stream discharge? | Stream discharge is the amount of water flowing past a point in the river. Q=v/t |
What is stream load? | The sediment that is being carried by the water |
What is stream competence? | The maximum size of the rock particles that the stream can transport. Can vary based on velocity |
What is stream capacity? | The total load being carried by the water. Can vary based on velocity |
What is a flood plain? What does the year represent? | The area that is inundated during a flooding event. X year means you have an 1/x % chance of being flooded on year x. |
What are two types of channel patterns? | Braided stream and meandering stream |
Where is stream velocity the fastest and slowest in a meander? | Velocity is fastest on the outside of meanders (Undercut bank) and slowest on the inside of the turn (Point bar) |
How is glacial ice formed? | it is a large body of ice that has more accumulation than ablation. |
Where is the zone of accumulation? Where is the zone of ablation? Where is the equilibrium line? | accumulation is where there is snowfall, ablation is where there is melting, and equilibrium is where the two zones meet. |
What is calving? | Larger mass of ice fractures and the smaller ice chunks float away |
What are the types of glaciers we have? | Alpine (valley, piedmont, and cirque) and Continental (ice caps and ice sheets) |
What is a circque? | Steeped sided amphitheater like depressions usually found in high peaks |
How do glaciers move? | Internal plastic deformation. overlaying ice, firn and snow glides over the underlying ice crystals like a deck of cards being spread |
What two erosional processes are associated with glaciers? | Plucking and abrasion |
What are moraines? | deposits of till along the margins of the glaciers |
What is soil? | a dynamic natural body capable of supporting vegetative cover |
What serves as the source for soil water? | Precipitation |
Where is leaching the most intense? | Common in regions of heavy rainfall |
What is hummus? What color is soil that has a lot of hummus? | organic matter from plants and animals that has decayed. Soil is typical black or very dark brown |
Organize the sediments by diameter, smallest to largest. Clay, silt, sand, pebbles | clay > silt > sand > pebbles |
What is loam? | loam soils are a mix of all three particles without one dominating (clay sand and silt) |
what does porosity and permeability mean? | Porosity is the amount of space that may contain fluid and permeability is the rate at which fluid can pass |
What are soil profiles and soil horizons? | a profile is a vertical cross section of a soil from the surface to the parent material whereas a soil horizon is a layer of soil with different physical and chemical properties than the surrounding layers |
What is an ecosystem? | The communities of organisms that function together within the environment that they occupy |
What is a food chain? | Designed to show the feeding pattern of an ecosystem |
What is biomass? | The total amount of living material in an ecosystem |
What is the difference between primary and secondary productivity | Primary prod.. is how fast photosynthesizers can grow, secondary is how fast consumers can grow |
What two factors contribute to an ecological niche? | Role and habitat |
What factors influence an ecosystem? | Climate, soil and topography, natural catastrophies, and biotic factors |
What are Bergmann's rule and Allen's rule? | Bergmann's rule is that the body size usually increases with decreasing mean temperatures. Allen's rule is that relative size of exposed body decrease with decreasing mean temperatures |
How can a symbiotic relationship exist in an ecosystem? | Beneficial to both species; rhinocerous and oxpecker |