apes s2 midterm

The water-holding capacity of soil is LEAST likely to be affected by the addition of which of the following?

Pesticide

Which of the following best describes acid mine drainage?

 The leakage of water containing toxic materials from coal and metal mines

The majority of the earth’s rare earth minerals are found in ____.

China

Gold is obtained from areas containing low concentrations through the process of

 cyanide leeching of crushed rock.

The Atlantic Ocean is expanding as a result of plate tectonics. Which of the following explanations best identifies the type of plate boundary and processes occurring at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, as shown in the diagram below?

A divergent plate boundary exists at the Mid-Atlantic Ridge where plates move away from one another, leading to seafloor spreading.

Forms when existing rock is weathered and deposited as small grains.

Sandstone

Which of the following is the correct order of soil particles in order of increasing size?

 Clay—silt—sand

A group of students wanted to determine if soil texture can vary by location. Several students brought in a sample of soil from their backyards. Each student added their soil sample of equal mass to a jar with exactly the same amount of water, shook the contents so that all soil particles were suspended in the water, and left the jars covered overnight. The next morning, the soil particles had settled out into layers and students could determine the percentage of each type of particle. The results of their soil test are shown below.

A student claims that soil sample B would be classified as a loam. Which of the following best describes the method used by the student to reach this conclusion?

The student used a soil triangle to determine where the lines intersect for sand, silt, and clay for the soil sample.

Of the following, which has the greatest permeability?

Sand

The time it takes to use up a certain proportion of the reserves of a mineral at a given rate is referred to as the ____.

depletion time

The slowest of the earth’s cyclic processes is the ____.

rock cycle

When an oceanic plate collides with a continental plate, the continental plate usually slides up and over the denser oceanic plate, pushing it down into the mantle, a process called ____.

subduction

One big environmental problem with smelting is

air pollution because smelting releases sulfur dioxide and particulates.

An environmental engineer wants to examine the permeability of different soils to determine the best natural containment system to protect groundwater from pollutants. The engineer tests four different soil samples, places them into a wet column, and pours 50mL of water over each sample. The engineer records the total amount of water that moves through the column as well as the total amount of time for the water to fully percolate through the soil. The data from the study are shown below.

Which of the following best describes the independent variable in this research design?

The sample of material chosen as the potential container material is the variable being tested, so it is the independent variable.

What are the proportion of sand, silt, and clay for the soil at point T ?

D

Which of the following best describes acid mine drainage?

The leakage of water containing toxic materials from coal and metal mines

Tectonic plates can move in opposite but parallel directions along a fracture or fault at a boundary called a ____.

transform fault

Acid mine drainage occurs when ____.

 rainwater seeps through spoils piles and produces sulfuric acid

Students want to determine how vegetation affects soil erosion. They collect four soil samples of equal starting mass with different types of vegetative cover, as seen in the table below. Each sample is placed in a three-sided plastic dish that can drain into a beaker and is exposed to the same amount of consistent, steady rainfall for ten minutes. The water and soil runoff are collected in the beaker and separated. The average values for each sample are provided below.

Which of the following is the control group for this experiment?

Soil with no grass

Which of the following best explains why decomposers in soils and water are important to ecosystems?

They recycle nutrients

A cost-benefit analysis done to investigate a proposed mine site would likely take which of the following into account?

  I. The medical costs of mine worker injuries

II. The cost of environmental restoration of the site when it is shut down

III. The value of the ore to be extracted from the mine

I, II, and III

Area where new crust is being created at a divergent boundary.

B

The rapid rate of this process in tropical forests results in low-nutrient soils

Decomposition

At which of the following sites is an earthquake most likely to occur as two plates slide sideways past each other?

C

Environmentalists oppose the mining of antarctic mineral resources because

the demand for minerals is expected to decline as the world's nations become more industrialized

Vibrations caused when energy accumulated over time is released are called ____.

seismic waves

When a mineral resource becomes scarce, its

price increases, which can encourage use of substitutes and resource conservation.

Finding substitutes for mineral resources will

shift mining to lower-grade ores.

Forms when pre-existing rock is subjected to high temperatures, pressure, or chemicals.

Metamorphic

The North American and Eurasian plates are moving apart from one another and creating the Mid-Atlantic ridge.  This is an example of what type of plate boundary?

Divergent, such as between the African and Arabian plates

Why does subsurface mining have less of an environmental impact than surface mining?

Subsurface mining uses less than one-tenth as much land.

Area that exhibits a growing nonvolcanic mountain chain due to uplift.

C

The diagram below shows 100 ml of water being poured through a soil sample.  After the water has passed through the soil, 98 ml of water is measured in the collection tray below the sample.

Of the following, which is the most likely composition of the soil sample?

10% Clay   -   10% Silt   -   80% Sand

Students want to determine how vegetation affects soil erosion. They collect four soil samples of equal starting mass with different types of vegetative cover, as seen in the table below. Each sample is placed in a three-sided plastic dish that can drain into a beaker and is exposed to the same amount of consistent, steady rainfall for ten minutes. The water and soil runoff are collected in the beaker and separated. The average values for each sample are provided below.

Which of the following is a dependent variable in the experiment?

Percent change in mass of the soil sample

Which of the following statements best describes the boundary between the two tectonic plates seen in the map?

The map illustrates a transform boundary, where tectonic plates slide past each other as the Pacific Plate moves northwest and the North American Plate moves southeast.

The diagram below shows 100 ml of water being poured through a soil sample.  After the water has passed through the soil, 98 ml of water is measured in the collection tray below the sample.

Which of the following properties of the soil sample most influences the flow of water through the sample?

Permeability

Which soil composition would be the best choice for lining a landfill?

Point W

Which soil indicated on the soil triangle above would most likely have the highest water-holding capacity?

Soil W

Select the choice that best fits each statement. The following question(s) refer to the locations marked by letters on the world map below. Each set of lettered choices below refers to the numbered questions or statements immediately following it. Select the one lettered choice that best answers each question or best fits each statement and then fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet. A choice may be used once, more than once, or not at all in each set.

The location where new crust is being created at a divergent plate boundary

C

Some analysts suggest we can increase supplies of some minerals by extracting lower grades of ore. Which factor would not limit the mining of lower- grade ores?

lack of new earth-moving equipment and mining techniques

Students want to determine the impact of soil erosion from the development of new housing. They plan to measure the density of a species of algae growing along the bottom of a river that flows through their town. The town is built in a heavily forested area, but a large area of trees along the river was recently clear-cut to allow for the construction of a new housing development, which has caused exposed soil to wash into the river. The river flows north to south through the town and is still forested both up- and downstream of the town.

Which of the following explains the variable that would be the best for students to measure to determine the direct impact of soil erosion caused by the construction project on the river?

Turbidity, because a decrease in water clarity would indicate an increase in soil erosion.

At which of the following sites would activity result in volcanoes, island arcs, and mountains?

B

Which of the lettered choices in the soil profile above represents the region with the greatest concentration of organic material?

A

Students sampled several different gardens near their school and measured the percentages of silt, sand, clay, and humus content present in each sample. Their results are shown in the table below.
Based on the data in the table above, which of the following samples would be the most prone to becoming waterlogged?

Sample D

The map  shows the locations of known volcanoes and earthquakes. Which of the following explains what is being illustrated in the enclosed area in the northwest portion of the map?

The enclosed area shows a hot spot in the middle of the Pacific Plate in the Hawaiian Islands.

Area that exhibits island arcs.

E

The place where an earthquake begins is called its ____.

focus

What are the proportions of sand, silt, and clay for the soil at point U?

Sand: 50%
Silt: 20%
Clay: 30%

Tectonic plates move slowly across the asthenosphere on

convection currents as a result of differences in mantle density.

All of the following substances are derived from petroleum EXCEPT

cellulose

Natural gas, a nonrenewable fossil fuel, is often seen as an alternative fuel in the worldwide transition to a renewable energy future.

Which of the following statements best explains why natural gas is often used as a fuel when countries are transitioning from nonrenewable to renewable energy sources?

Natural gas burns more efficiently and cleanly than other sources of carbon-based fossil fuels, thus contributing to a reduction in atmospheric carbon dioxide.

After the Industrial Revolution, the use of fossil fuels increased significantly. Despite the documented environmental effects of these resources and the availability of renewable resources, the use of nonrenewable sources continues.

Which of the following statements best explains why there is continued widespread use of nonrenewable fossil fuels in energy production in the United States?

Established technology and transportation infrastructure for fossil fuels allows these resources to be converted into energy to meet consumer demand.

Compared to a coal-fired power plant that produces the same amount of energy, a nuclear power plant generates more

thermal pollution

For the diagram below, assume fracking has not been used with the oil and gas well.

Rock layer that must have very low to no permeability

B

What is the total amount of high-quality energy available after the energy needed to make it available is subtracted?

net energy

Which of the following is the primary gas in natural gas?

methane

Coal has a huge environmental impact because of it

release of carbon, which contributes to global climate change.

Directions: The following question(s) refer to the graph below showing the percent contribution of major fuel sources that have supplied energy for the United States for the past 150 years. The category labeled “Other” includes nuclear power, hydroelectricity, solar and wind power, and other alternative sources of energy.

Nuclear power is a component of the line labeled “Other” in the graph. Why is it impossible for nuclear energy to completely replace oil and gas in the future?

Nuclear power can supply electricity, but it cannot replace other uses of oil and gas.

By 2011, the growing supply of natural gas led to ____ in the United States.

lower natural gas prices

Using a mixture of water, sand, and chemicals under high pressure to free tightly held oil and natural gas is known as ____.

fracking

For the diagram below, assume fracking has not been used with the oil and gas well.

Rock layer that must be rich in organic matter that was subjected to heat and pressure over time during the formation of oil and natural gas.

C

Oil sand is made up of all of the following except ____.

natural gas

According to the figure above, very little _____ is/are used to generate electricity.

oil

The point at which pressure in a well begins to drop and production begins to decline is called the ____.

peak production

Which of the following describes an environmental problem that can result from the combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity?

Carbon dioxide is a product of the combustion fossil fuels, and it can lead to global climate change when released into the atmosphere.

Nuclear power was predicted to supply 21% of the world’s commercial energy.  This has not been met because of

the high risk of accidents such as Fukushima in Japan in 2011, Chernobyl in the U.S.S.R. in 1986, and Three Mile Island in the United States in 1979.

Currently, oil has a high net energy ratio because it ____.

comes from cheap-to-extract deposits

Which of the following statements correctly explains the role of fossil fuels in the production of energy?

The combustion of fossil fuels heats water to produce steam, which then turns a turbine.

Which of the following is true of natural gas?

It emits less carbon dioxide than other fossil fuels.

In what location would you most expect to find methane hydrate gas?

Tundra permafrost

A home uses ten 100-watt lightbulbs for five hours per day. Approximately how many kilowatt-hours of electrical energy are consumed in one year by using the lightbulbs?

1,825 kwh

Directions: The following question(s) refer to the graph below showing the percent contribution of major fuel sources that have supplied energy for the United States for the past 150 years. The category labeled “Other” includes nuclear power, hydroelectricity, solar and wind power, and other alternative sources of energy.

Although nuclear energy is considered a cleaner energy source than fossil fuels, some scientists argue this does not support the claim that nuclear energy is renewable. Which of the following claims best supports the argument that nuclear energy is a nonrenewable energy source?

The uranium deposits on Earth are finite

Coal has a huge environmental impact because of it

release of carbon, which contributes to global climate change.

Which of the following is the current recommendation of Congress for the permanent storage of high-level radioactive waste in the United States?

Burial deep underground at sites remote from population centers

Which of the following best describes the conditions under which peat is formed?

Partially decayed vegetation is placed under high-pressure, anaerobic, acidic conditions.

If an incandescent lightbulb used for lighting has an efficiency rating of 5 percent, then for every 1.00 joule of electrical energy consumed by the bulb, which of the following is produced?

0.05 joules of light energy

Of the following sources, which supplies the most commercial energy in the world today?

Oil

The reason three-fourths of the world’s oil sand is found in Alberta, Canada, is because

there is the righ combination of clay, sand, oil, and bitumen.

Which of the following best describes an environmental problem associated with hydrologic fracturing, or fracking?

Fracking fluids can escape from the drill hole and contaminate surface water and groundwater.

If natural gas prices remain affordable, increased production would ____.

reduce the use of coal-burning plants

Directions: Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by five suggested answers or completions. Select the one that is best in each case.

The following questions refer to the table below, which shows population, area, and energy use of several countries.

On an annual basis, the per capita electricity usage in Ethiopia is approximately what percent of the per capita electricity usage in the United States?

0.2

Burning one gallon of gasoline in a car releases approximately 20 pounds of CO₂ into the atmosphere.

One person drives 60,000 miles in a car that averages 30 miles per gallon (mpg), while another person drives 60,000 miles in a car that averages 20 mpg. Over the course of the 60,000 miles, how many fewer pounds of CO₂ are released by the 30 mpg car than by the 20 mpg car?

20,000

Which of the following is the most valid inference regarding electricity production, based on the graph above?

Electricity production from coal began to decrease in 2008 because of the increasing use of natural gas and renewable energy.

Directions: The following questions(s) refer to the locations indicated on the diagram below.
This region has been the largest petroleum exporter for the past four decades.

E

Nuclear power advocates contend that increased use of nuclear power decreases what type of emission that contributes to climate change?

carbon dioxide

A sample of radioactive waste has a half-life of 10 years and an activity level of 2 curies. After how many years will the activity level of this sample be 0.25 curie?

30 years

The second law of thermodynamics dictates that ____.

some high-quality energy is always degraded

The source that produces long-lived hazardous wastes

Nuclear fission

After 200 million years, only 1/16 of the original amount of a particular radioactive waste will remain. The half-life of this radioactive waste is how many million years?

50

Directions: The following question(s) refer to the graph below showing the percent contribution of major fuel sources that have supplied energy for the United States for the past 150 years. The category labeled “Other” includes nuclear power, hydroelectricity, solar and wind power, and other alternative sources of energy.

In what year was the fraction of energy supplied by coal the greatest?

1910

How many BTUs were consumed in the United States in 2017 by consumers that used petroleum as a fuel source?

36 quadrillion BTUs

Which of the following gases is released from the structure labeled C in the diagram?

Water vapor

Advocates for drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) believe that by using the oil found here we would decrease our depence on imported oil.  However, opponents feel that

a switch to renewable energy will cause America to not need this resource.

Which of the following is a benefit of using natural gas?

It is cleaner-burning than coal.

Which of the following is the primary environmental problem associated with the use of nuclear power to generate electricity?

Disposal of radioactive waste

According to the data plotted in the graph above, which of the following is true about the increase in world fossil fuel consumption between 1965 and 1980?

The increase in oil consumption outpaced the increases in coal and natural gas consumption.

The major accident at the nuclear power plant in 2011 in Japan was caused by

a tsunami

The 3 largest users of coal are

China, the United States, and India

Oil shale and tar sand as energy sources have some advantages. What is not one of these?

high net energy yield

Fuel efficiency for all types of cars would nearly double if ____.

all cars were made from ultrastrong, ultralight composite materials