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Geology 12: Surface Processes and the Hydrosphere Review
Part A: Multiple Choice
Stream Erosion
1) Which one of the following does not apply to stream turbulence and average velocity?
A) channel shape; bed roughness
B) laminar flow; dissolved load
C) discharge; stream gradient
D) stream gradient; channel roughness
2) ________ describes the amount of water flowing past a certain point at any given time.
A) Capacity
B) Discharge
C) Competence
D) Hydro-load factor
3) ________ describes the maximum solid particulate sediment load transported by a stream.
A) Capacity
B) Discharge
C) Competence
D) Hydro-load factor
4) Which of the following features characterize wide streams and valleys?
A) natural levees; broad floodplains
B) rapids; channel bed potholes
C) waterfalls; entrenched meanders
D) V-shaped valley cross-sections
5) Which one of the following best fits with floodplain widening?
A) youthful stream; downcutting and waterfall retreat
B) old age stream; rapid erosion of a delta
C) mature stream; lateral cutting and point bar deposition
D) stream rejuvenation; downcutting and meandering
6) Where is erosion concentrated along a meandering stream?
A) on the straight channel segments that connect the meander loops
B) on the outer parts of the meander loops or bends
C) at the unconsolidated point bars
D) on the inner banks of the meander loops
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7) A ________ stream consists of a complex network of converging and diverging channels that
weave around channel bars.
A) Straight channel
B) Meandering stream
C) Braided stream
D) Bedrock channel
8) Which of the following statements best characterizes alluvial fans?
A) They develop where a high-gradient stream leaves a narrow mountain valley and deposits on
a flat area.
B) They develop where a low-gradient stream leaves a wide valley and deposits in a canyon.
C) They develop where a low-gradient tributary meets the main stream.
D) They develop where a high-gradient tributary splits when it enters a flat area.
9) The most likely region for turbulent flow due to an unconsolidated stream bed is:
A) 1 and 3
B) 3 and 4
C) 4 and 5
D) 5 and 6
10) In a typical stream, the suspended sediment load ________.
A) decreases greatly during floods
B) usually includes fine sand, silt, and clay
C) saltates along the bottom
D) weighs less than its total dissolved constituents
Groundwater Erosion
1) Where does the majority of groundwater originate?
A) by infiltration from precipitation that falls on the land
B) by primordial outgassing from magmatic intrusions
C) it was deposited along with the sediments that contain it
D) released from minerals undergoing diagenetic and metamorphic dehydration reactions
2) A water table is the ________.
A) boundary between the zone of saturation above and partly saturated zone below
B) bottom boundary surface of the zone of saturation above an aquitard
C) boundary between the zone of aeration above and zone of saturation below
D) boundary between the zones of aeration and superposition
3) Which statement concerning the water table is false?
A) In humid regions, it is generally higher than lake or stream level.
B) Its elevation is constant and does not fluctuate seasonally.
C) Its shape is a subdued replica of the overlying surface topography.
D) Wetlands (swamps) occur where the water table is at the surface.
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4) ________ is the volume of voids or open space in a rock or unconsolidated material.
A) Permeability
B) Porosity
C) Saturation index
D) Capillarity
5) ________ is a measure of the connectedness of pore spaces, which controls the ease (or
difficulty) of groundwater transmission through a porous material.
A) Portability
B) Potability
C) Permeosity
D) Permeability
6) Of the choices listed below, which would make the best aquitard?
A) clay
B) basalt
C) granite
D) sand
7) An aquifer is ________.
A) a saturated, porous, and permeable layer or stratum that has high water flow
B) a layer or stratum in which groundwater flows downward to the water table
C) an unsaturated bed or stratum below a spring
D) the best place to dispose of soluble toxic waste
8) The fastest groundwater flows would be expected for an aquifer with ________.
A) high porosity and many small pores
B) high gradients (hydraulic head) and high permeability
C) low gradients and low permeability with a few very large pores
D) high specific retention and low permeability
9) Which of the following describes the configuration of an unconfined water table around a
pumping well?
A) a bad impression
B) cone of depression
C) depression withdrawal
D) inverted cone head
10) An artesian well is one in which ________.
A) the water is warm, fairly saline, and recharged by an affluent stream
B) pressurized groundwater rises from a deep, unsaturated aquifer
C) water rises above the top of the aquifer without any pumping
D) the well is horizontal and the water table is perched
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11) Excessive groundwater withdrawals can cause ________.
A) uplift through expansion of the dewatered aquifer
B) the water table to decline in elevation and land to subside
C) porosity in the aquifer to increase as the water is removed
D) the cone of depression to invert
Glacier Erosion
1) At what depth or thickness of ice does glacial ice make the transition from brittle fracture to
plastic flow?
A) 1 metre
B) 5 metres
C) 10 metres
D) 50 metres
2) Glaciers can deform internally to behave like a plastic material and flow because ________.
A) the bonds between successive layers of ice are weaker than those within a single layer,
allowing the glacier to slip like a stack of cards
B) there are layers of pure liquid water between the annual layers of ice
C) there are layers of air between the layers of ice
D) there are round rock particles within the ice that act like little ball bearings
3) ________ is one of the three ways a glacier can move over its bed.
A) Basal slip
B) Crevassal slip
C) Frost heaving
D) Morainal sliding
4) The bottom or downward tip of a crevasse marks the ________.
A) boundary between parts of the glacier moving by basal sliding and crevassal slip
B) boundary between the basal sliding and external flowage zones
C) bottom of the basal sliding zone
D) top of the internal deformation and flowage zone, and the base of the brittle zone of fracture
5) Which one of the following applies to a valley glacier that lengthens (extends its terminus
downslope) over a span of many years?
A) wastage exceeds accumulation
B) accumulation exceeds wastage
C) accumulation and wastage are about equal; the older ice moves farther
D) the glacier experiences no accumulation or wastage
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6) Which phrase best describes what would likely happen during the retreat of a valley glacier?
A) A line of stakes across the glacier would be gradually lowered to the valley floor directly
beneath where they were originally placed.
B) A line of stakes across the glacier would continue to move down valley as the terminus of the
glacier slowly retreated.
C) A line of stakes would retreat slowly up valley as the ice withdraws to its source region.
7) As a glacier advances over a fractured bedrock surface, it loosens, lifts, and incorporates
blocks of rock in a process called ________.
A) frost wedging
B) hydraulic lifting
C) plucking
D) striation
8) What type of moraine is formed by the merging of two lateral moraines at a junction of two
valley glaciers?
A) medial
B) recessional
C) ground
D) collateral
9) Drumlin fields contain ________.
A) smooth, tapering, asymmetric ridges of till usually formed and shaped beneath a continental
ice sheet
B) bowl-shaped depressions eroded largely by frost action and glacial plucking
C) mounds of outwash deposited by meltwater streams at the snout of a glacier
D) smooth, striated, bedrock ridges shaped and polished by a glacier's erosive action
10) A(n) ________ represents a former meltwater channel or tunnel on, in, or beneath glacial ice,
that became filled with sand and gravel.
A) drumlin
B) esker
C) kettle
D) valley train
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Part B: Short Answer
Stream Erosion
1) Briefly compare those stream characteristics that decrease in a downstream direction with
those that increase downstream. Also, indicate whether these changing stream characteristics
tend to favor erosion or deposition of sediments.
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2) Examine the diagram right.
Explain how the river depicted
will evolve over time and what
stream features will be produced
as a consequence.
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Groundwater Erosion
1. A hydro-geologist has drilled three exploratory wells (X, Y, Z) in search of a suitable location for a
new garbage landfill site. In order to investigate the rocks in the test wells, the hydro-geologist measured
the porosity by noting how much water was contained in each of the rocks when saturated. The hydrogeologist also attached a pump to the top of each well and determined the rate at which water could be
drawn to the surface. The results of these tests are given above.
a) Choose the well which is the best location for a garbage landfill site and explain why you have made
this decision. (2 Marks)
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b) In preparing the landfill site, what other precautions could be taken to ensure that drainage liquids do
not contaminate the groundwater? (1 Mark)
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c) During the pump tests, the level of the water table in well Y was lowered by 10 metres. How would
this affect the water table in each of the other two wells? (1 Mark)
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Glacier Erosion
1. On the photograph below, label one glacial erosional feature with an E and label one glacial
depositional feature with a D. Complete the table below, giving the name and description of the features
you have labeled.
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