The magnitude of an earthquake is its:
a. strength
b. length
c. origination point
d. location
26. Which type of seismic wave is the first to hit the surface and has the highest frequency?
a. P-wave
b. S-wave
c. Surface wave
d. Body wave
27. Which type of seismic wave compresses and expands like an accordion?
a. P-wave
b. S-wave
c. Surface wave
d. Body wave
28. Which type of seismic wave causes the most damage and destruction associated with earthquakes?
a. P-wave
b. S-wave
c. Surface wave
d. Body wave
29. Which type of seismic wave travels on the Earth’s surface?
a. P-wave
b. S-wave
c. Surface wave
d. Body wave
30. What is the name of the point of an earthquake below the surface where the rock breaks?
a. epicenter
b. focus
c. fault
d. seismic
31. What is the name of the point of an earthquake on the surface directly above the point of breakage?
a. epicenter
b. focus
c. fault
d. seismic
32. Soil is made of several components. Which of the following is NOT one of the components of soil?
A. air
B. oxidation
C. decayed organic matter
D. water
33. Which is NOT organic matter?
A. animal waste
B. dead insects
C. decayed leaves
D. mineral fragments
34. All of the following are examples of erosion EXCEPT:
A. The wind in the desert blows sand against a rock.
B. A glacier picks up a boulder as it moves.
C. A flood washes over a river bank and water carries sediment away.
D. An icy winter causes the pavement in the road to crack.
35. What are biota?
A. all the living organisms in an area
B. all the nonliving organisms in an area
C. only the living organisms in the soil
D. only the nonliving organisms in the soil
36. In the water cycle, the term that describes when plants and trees release water into the atmosphere:
Precipitation
Transpiration
Evaporation
Condensation
37. The process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil:
Infiltration
Condensation
Evaporation
Transpiration
38. How much of Earth’s freshwater is in rivers, lakes, and streams?
a. about ¾
b. less than 3%
c. about 69%
d. less than 1%
39. What happens to solar energy that strikes ice or snow?
a. most of it is absorbed by the ice and snow
b. most of it is reflected back into space
c. half of it is reflected back into space and half of it is absorbed
d. all of it is reflected back into space and none of it is absorbed
40. In the water cycle, water evaporates, then condenses and falls back to the surface as precipitation. What kind of water returns to the surface that has evaporated from oceans?
a. freshwater
b. salt water
c. an even mixture of fresh and salt water
d. mostly freshwater with about 10% salt water mixed in
41. . Alpine glaciers are in:
a. ice shelves
b. ice sheets
c. oceans
d. mountain valleys
42. Which of the following is NOT an advantage of wetlands?
a. Wetlands help control flooding by absorbing runoff from heavy rains.
b. Wetlands provide habitats for many different species of plant and animal life.
c. Wetlands erode channels that carry water and sediment downhill away from the animal habitats.
d. Wetlands provide a natural filtration system by preventing sediments and pollution from reaching streams, lakes, and other bodies of water.
Describe the relationship between weathering and soil.
A. Weathering breaks rock into inorganic matter, which is then decomposed into parent material for soil.
B. Parent material weathers and becomes sediment, which is then decomposed by oxidation into soil.
C. Weathering breaks rock into sediment, which provides the parent material for soil.
D. Oxidation causes chemical weathering, which causes the weathered rock to decompose into soil.
45. Which of the following processes most directly helps create soil from rocks?
A. melting
B. pressure
C. plate tectonics
D. weathering
