environmental science test 2

1. The first event that began a remarkable increase in human population

1. Agricultural revolution

1. Minerals and fossil fuels are examples of 

1. Non-renewable resources 

1. In a controlled experiment the researcher

controls for the effects of all variables except one 

1. During photosynthesis within plants

1. Water and carbon dioxide are consumed 

1. __rock has undergone heat or pressure, causing it to change form

1. Metamorphic

1. The ring of fire is

1. A belt of earthquakes and volcanoes that occur around the pacific ocean

1. Which of the following is an example of an ecosystem

1. A colony of leafcutter ants, the leaves they harvest, and the fungi that they cultivate and tend to and the soil nutrients and moisture needed for their garden

1. Groups of organisms with low biotic potential such as gray whales

1. Are k selected

1. Genetic change over time is 

1. Evolution

1. __capture solar energy and use photosynthesis to produce sugars 

1. Primary producers

1. Secondary succession ___

1. Occurs after a fire or flood 

1. Which of the following biomes is experiencing the greatest temperature increase resulting from global climate change 

1. Arctic tundra

1. Nitrogen and phosphorus are referred to as macronutrients because 

1. They are required in large amounts for organisms to survive

1. Negative feedback processes tend to function within ecosystems to

1. Stabilize the ecosystem

1. Geographic information systems can be used by scientists to 

1. Study change in an ecosystem using satellite imagery 

1. In general, environmentalists believe that governments should 

1. Promote social and environmental justice 

1. A__is best defined as one who evaluates an action based on its impact on human health, economic costs and benefits and aesthetic concerns

1. Anthropocentrist 

1. __involves meeting the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs 

1. Sustainable development 

1. Implementation and enforcement of a law or regulation is given to 

1. Administrative agencies within executive branch

1. Laws and legislation are created by 

1. Congress 

1. The national environmental policy act 

1. Required environmental impact statements for any projects funded by US government 

1. One fifth of earth total freshwater supply is in 

1. Groundwater 

1. All of the following are true of ocean currents except 

1. They are always rapid and powerful

1. Ocean water is saltiest __

1. Where there is high evaporation and low precipitation 

1. What gas compromises the largest portion of earths atmosphere

1. Nitrogen 

1. Rachel carsons book silent spring, published in the 1960s

1. Focused on the dangers of pesticides and industrial chemicals 

1. Desert and tundra both

1. Have relatively low precipitation 

1. The relative humidity is the 

1. Amount of water vapor a given volume of air holds compared to the maximum amount it could hold at a given temperature 

1. The first laws in US environmental policy 

1. Promoted settlement of the west and resource extraction 

1. The force driving plate tectonics is 

1. Heat in the inner layers of earth 

1. Higher temperatures, decreasing wavelengths, and increasing intensities are all interrelated relations governed by the equation produced by 

1. Wien's law

1. The sun's radiation comes to earth as short wave radiation and then it can be 

1. Absorbed, scattered, reflected 

1. The fundamental working unit of hydrology as it pertains to a landscape is called 

1. The drainage basin and watershed 

1. In the water budget equation, p=r+Et +G, the p stands for 

1. Precipitation 

1. Which contaminant is a component of rocket fuel, a superfund problem for southern California, and was detected in the drinking water of Hill, Iowa

1. Perchlorate 

1. In most terrestrial ecosystems the original source of energy for living things in the system is

1. The sun 

1. The difference in atmospheric pressure between the poles and the equator help drive:

1. Global ocean surface currents, global air currents, global temperature differences 

1. Surfaces or environmental situations that would likely produce primary succession would be

1. Freshly cooled lava (a new volcanic island for example) and a valley floor right after a glacier has receded from it 

The process of by which weather can under a phase change from a solid (ice) directly to a gas (water vapor) is called

1. Sublimation 

1. In the acronym HIPPO, the O represents

1. Overexplotation 

1. After the radiation from the sun is absorbed into earth's surface, it is re-radiated back into the atmosphere as what type of radiation

1. Long wave radiation 

1. What is the major role of the atmosphere 

1. It controls the total amount of radiation the earth receives, it selectively filters the radiation the earth receives, it redistributes energy and acts as a transport system 

1. NEPA requires which of the following

1. The conduction of an environmental assessment for any project that receives federal funding and the issuance of an environmental impact statement if the EA determines a project will have a significant impact to the environment

1. The aim of the Montreal protocol was to 

1. Reduce ozone depletion ; it seems to have worked 

1. Global climate models

1. Are limited to modeling only the atmospheres ability to carry warm air and moisture 

1. What is the type of rock formed when magma or lava cools

1. Igneous 

1. Ecotones are the 

1. Transitional zones between ecosystems

1. The continental lithospheric plates are ___ the oceanic plates

1. Thicker than

1. The lowest level of the atmosphere that extends from the surface of teh earth up to approximately 40,000 ft is called the 

1. Troposphere 

1. The overall or average of albedo of the earth is 

32%

Radioisotopes __________.

emit radiation as they decay into more stable atoms

An atom has 2 electrons, 3 protons, and 3 neutrons. What is the atom's mass number?

6

During photosynthesis within plants, ________.

water and carbon dioxide are consumed

Which of the following statements best describes the role of autotrophic, or self-feeding, organisms in ecosystems?

They produce their own organic molecules, which can be broken down for energy.

Many organisms that undergo chemosynthesis use ________ instead of ________ to fuel the processes that convert carbon dioxide into sugars.

hydrogen sulfide (H₂S); sunlight

Which of the following tectonic plate boundary types is responsible for the formation of some of the world's highest mountains?

convergent plate boundaries

________ rock has undergone heat or pressure, causing it to change form.

Metamorphic

The slowly increasing distance between South America and Africa is due to

seafloor spreading

Old Faithful Geyser at Yellowstone National Park in the United States acquires its energy from a

hot spot

Layered ___exposed by erosion can be seen when looking at the Grand Canyon in the United States.

sedimentary rock

Australia is composed of relatively old and thick

continental crust

The extremely deep ocean Marianas Trench is a result of

subduction

____found in the Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe is composed of dense and relatively young rock.

seafloor crust

The earthquakes that occur in Southern California generally occur above a

fault

Which of the following describes mass wasting?

downslope movement of soil and rock due to gravity

Which of the following areas would experience the most devastation after an earthquake?

a city built on a marshlike environment that was filled with landfill

Negative feedback processes tend to function within ecosystems to ________.

stabilize the ecosystem

In a(n) __________ feedback loop, output that results from a system acts as an input that moves the system in the other direction.

negative

Which of the following would destabilize an ecosystem?

positive feedback loops

Nitrogen and phosphorus are referred to as macronutrients because ________.

they are required in large amounts for organisms to survive

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can be used by scientists to ________.

study changes in an ecosystem using satellite imagery

Most energy in the majority of ecosystems arrives as __________ and exits in the form of __________.

solar energy; heat

Matter contained in living organisms

biomass

The solid earth beneath our feet

lithosphere

The process by which water moves from Earth's surface (such as in lakes or rivers) to the atmosphere

evaporation

Release of water vapor by plants through their leaves

transpiration

Upper limit of groundwater in soil or rocks

water table

The process by which water returns from the clouds to Earth's surface

precipitation

Some of the most ancient water on Earth can be found in __________.

aquifers

One-fifth of Earth's total freshwater supply is in ________.

groundwater

Oxbow lakes are always found ________.

alongside a river

When a water-bearing porous layer of rock, sand, or gravel is trapped between upper and lower layers of less permeable substances, it is __________.

an artesian aquifer

All of the following are true of ocean currents EXCEPT ________.

they are always rapid and powerful

__________ is the measurement of ocean depths, and __________ is the physical geography and shape of landforms.

Bathymetry; topography

Convective cells near the equator

hadley cells

The layer of Earth's atmosphere in which we live

troposphere

The highest level of our atmosphere, with relatively few molecules per unit area

thermosphere

A system containing cool air that spreads outward as it descends

high-pressure system

Reversal of normal vertical temperature distribution in the lower region of the atmosphere

thermal inversion

Biome that generally occurs around 30 degrees north and south of the equator

desert

The layer of Earth's atmosphere containing the "ozone layer"

stratoshere

Which of the following is an example of an ecosystem?

a colony of leafcutter ants, the leaves they harvest, the fungi that they cultivate and tend to, and the soil nutrients and moisture needed for their garden

Genetic change over time is ________.

evolution

Which of the following is not a way that two populations of the same species can be geographically isolated?

populations have different mating seasons.

A single, small population that only exists in one place on the planet is considered __________ to that area.

endemic

A coyote can alter its diet to match seasonal abundance of plants, fruits, or small animals and would therefore be considered ________.

a generalist

Which of the following is the broadest (most all-encompassing) level of ecological organization?

the biosphere

Many interacting species that live in the same area

community

Community and the abiotic material with which its members interact

ecosystem

Specific environment in which an organism lives

habitat