ERTH330 Final Study Guide Quiz Topics

Lakes are the largest reservoir of freshwater on Earth

False

All Lakes are Freshwater

False

Lake Tahoe is a ____

Drainage Lake

What is the worlds largest lake by volume

Lake Baikal (Siberia)

Nutrient poor lakes are termed ____

Oligotrophic

Crater Lake was created by what event

Volcanic Activity

Lake turnover occurs in the ___

Spring & Fall

Rain Shadows are areas of

Low precipitation

What causes the rain shadow effect on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada

Mountains forcing air to rise and drop moisture on the west side

What drives the continual movement of water through the water cycle

Energy from the sun and gravity

How can human activities affect the water cycle

By affecting where water is stored and how it moves

What happens during an El Nino event

Trade winds weaken and warm water moves toward the Americas

La Nina typically leads to which of the following weather patterns

Drier conditions in the southern U.S

An example of a Rain Shadow region in the US is located where?

Death Valley National Park

What is the primary environmental source of Nitrogen pollution in Californias water systems

Agricultural Fertilizer runoff

Approximately how many Californians were estimated to lack access to safe drinking water due to chemical contamination like nitrate or arsenic

370,000

According to PPIC, which sector uses the largest proportion of water in California on average

Agriculture

Infants are particularly vulnerable to nitrate contaminated drinking water because nitrates can

Interfere with oxygen transport in the blood

According to PPIC, water allocations for environmental purposes primarily support

Ecosystem health, including rivers and wildlife

Why is groundwater contamination from nitrates in California especially difficult to address, according to reporting on the states drinking water crisis?

Many affected communities rely on small groundwater systems that lack funding for treatment

The combined findings of NRDC,UCLA, and CalMatters most strongly suggest that Californias drinking water crisis is

Linked to systemic regulatory and funding gaps

What keeps banks stable?

Cohesions of slit & clay (from suspended Load) and vegetation

Do you live in a watershed

Yes

If you don’t have a river within your city or neighborhood, do you still live in a watershed

yes

What is a watershed

An area of land where all water under or on it drains to one place

Why is water called the “universal solvents”

Because it dissolves more substance than any other

A watershed is precipitation collector but not all water that flows in a watershed goes to rivers

True

Soils that are highly saturated have a high infiltration rate

False

The greatest factor controlling streamflow in a watershed is

Precipitation

Which of the following land cover can make flooding more prevalent in a watershed

Parking lot

How are the boundaries of a watershed determined

The elevation of the surrounding area

As the water in rivers travel downstream, they encounter bends where the inner side of the bend tends to build up with sediment while the outer side gets eroded away

True

On a river bend, water runs faster on the

The outside bank

As rivers meander and continue to grow curvier until they loop around and connect on one side, we get a crescent shaped featured called ___

An Oxbow lake

6000 years ago The Sacramento San Joaquin River Delta was a part of a river system that was sometimes inundated by flood water

True

The Sacramento River watershed is an example of an ____

Open watershed

From river headwaters to river mouth, how does Width, Depth, Velocity, and Discharge change

They increase

Most often, a river has a gradual slope nearer its headwaters and a steeper slope downstream

False

Rivers have ____ gradients at their headwaters

Steep

____ Gradients at their mouths

Gentle

Which of the following does not affect the cause and effect relation between rainfall and streamflow

Population in the watershed

The designation of the “100yr flood) for a river can change due to ___

1. changes in precipitation patterns

2. Urbanization and changes in impervious Surfaces

3. New flood controls or river impoundments

Floods occur for many reasons such as

1. long lasting rainfall over a broad area

2. locally intense thunderstorm generated rainfall

3. rapid melting of a large snow pack with or without accompanying rainfall

Which of the following is the largest magnitude flood

100 yr flood

Lag time ___ when land use is converted form forest to urban

Decrease

What is the percentage of ground water of the worlds freshwater resources

30%

What is defined as the percentage of empty space in sediment or rock

Porosity

What is defined as the connectivity of empty space in sediment or rock

Permeability

Springs are areas of groundwater______

Discharge

Influent streams are areas of groundwater ____

Recharge

Effluent Streams are areas of Groundwater

Discharge

What is Hydraulic Fracturing (Fracking)

A process of injecting fluid at high pressure to break rock and release oil or gas

What are the main components of fracking fluid

Water, sand, and chemicals

Why is sand used in fracking process

To keep fractures open so oil and gas can flow

Which of the following is a major environmental concern related to fracking

Water contamination and air pollution

Why has fracking contributed to increased U.S energy production

It allows access to previously unreachable oils and gas deposits

Why is fracking considered controversial

It provides energy benefits but poses environmental and health risks

Which technological advancement helped increase fracking efficiency in the 21st century

Horizontal drilling

What is the main goal of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA)

To protect public health by regulating drinking water

Which environmental event helped spark the creation of EPA

Widespread Pollution disasters and public concern

Which chemical was heavily criticized in Silent Spring

DDT

How did Chromium-6 enter the groundwater the HInkey case

Through unlined waste pods

Why is groundwater contamination especially dangerous

It is hidden and hard to clean

What is the MOST important takeaway from the Hinkley case

Pollution can have long term impacts on communities

Who makes the drinking water regulations based on the SDWA

EPA