Q&A Hero

Q: Due to the crashing of waves and the backwash of water from shore, beaches can be thought of as areas where material is in transit.

Q: Beaches are locations along the shoreline where excess sediment has accumulated on shore.

Q: Coastal areas undergo some of the most rapid and dynamic change due to their constant contact with the water.

Q: The shoreline represents an interface between the land, sea, and air.

Q: What generates tides on the earth? A) Gravitational repulsion of the sun B) Melting of ice sheets C) Gravitational attraction of the moon D) Upwelling of methane gas

Q: How has sea level changed over the last few thousand years? A) It has risen 1 cm per millennium. B) It has remain constant. C) It has fallen 25 cm per century. D) It has risen about 10 cm per century.

Q: Which of the following coastal features is not a characteristic of a submergent coastline? A) Barrier islands B) Estuaries C) Wave-cut platform D) Irregular coastlines

Q: During the last glaciation, a large tongue of glacial ice occupied Lake Michigan for thousands of years. How, several thousand years after the retreat of the ice, an emergent coastline is developing along part of the lake. What geologic process is creating an emergent coastline in Lake Michigan? A) Lake levels are falling. B) Rebound of a depressed crust. C) Subsidence of the land surface around the lake. D) Accumulation of dunes on the beach.

Q: The presence of a breakwater can promote several actions along a shoreline. However, which one of the following would not result because of the presence of a breakwater? A) Storm waves breaking on the seaward side of the structure. B) Increased beach erosion on either side of the breakwater. C) Quiet water on the landward side of the breakwater, resulting in deposition. D) Increase of rip currents and longshore currents because of interference from the structure.

Q: The erosional retreat of a coastal cliff will lead to the enlargement of a ________. A) wave-cut arch B) wave-cut beach C) wave-cut stack D) wave-cut platform

Q: What are the three categories of damage caused by hurricanes? A) Eye, eye wall, and clouds B) Wavelength, wave crest, and wave height C) Storm surge, wind damage, and inland flooding D) Shoreline erosion, flooding, and barometric pressure

Q: What prevents hurricanes from developing in the band five degrees on either side of the Equator? A) The Coriolis Effect is too weak. B) Too much precipitation. C) Temperatures are not high enough. D) Lack of wind near the Equator.

Q: Which central part of a hurricane is characterized by a calm zone where precipitation and winds cease? A) Typhoon B) Eye wall C) Pressure gradient D) Eye

Q: Hurricanes get their energy from ________ water. A) cold B) warm C) fresh D) still

Q: What system of measurement is used to categorize the strength of a hurricane? A) Richter Scale B) Mercalli Scale C) Fujita Scale D) Saffir-Simpson Scale

Q: A(n) ________ coast will be created when sea level falls or the land is uplifted. A) exposed B) emergent C) submergent D) eroded

Q: A(n) ________ coast will be created when sea level rises or the land subsides. A) exposed B) emergent C) submergent D) eroded

Q: Which of the following areas consists of narrow beaches backed by steep cliffs and mountain ranges? A) Pacific Coast B) Atlantic Coast C) Gulf Coast D) Florida shoreline

Q: Which of the following is an artificial coastal feature? A) Baymouth bar B) Jetty C) Spit D) Tombolo

Q: Which beach stabilization technique requires dumping many truckloads of sand on a beach to build it up? A) Beach nourishment B) Relocation C) Groins D) Seawalls

Q: Which of the following deposition/erosion scenarios will develop when a groin is constructed on the beach? A) Erosion on upcurrent and downcurrent sides B) Erosion on upcurrent side and deposition on downcurrent side C) Deposition on upcurrent and downcurrent sides D) Deposition on upcurrent side and erosion on downcurrent side

Q: A ________ is a hard shoreline stabilization feature, detached from the shoreline, that protects shorelines from the pounding of waves by creating an area of quiet water behind it. A) groin B) seawall C) breakwater D) jetty

Q: Which of the following locations has a coastline famous for its depositional features such as barrier islands? A) Northern California B) Baja Peninsula, Mexico C) Oregon D) North Carolina

Q: Which of the following locations has a coastline famous for its erosional features such as wave-cut platforms? A) Northern California B) Florida C) North Carolina D) Louisiana

Q: If you happen to be caught in a rip current, what is the best way to get to safety? A) Swim straight toward shore. B) Swim parallel to the shore. C) Swim further out to sea. D) Tread water and do nothing.

Q: Which of the following scenarios is not related to wave refraction? A) Waves approach the shore at an angle. B) Sediment deposition will be concentrated in quiet areas such as bays and protected water. C) Erosion is focused on the front and sides of headlands. D) Large quantities of sand are carried from estuaries and deposited on the seacoast side of a barrier island system.

Q: Which of the following will not occur as the result of longshore currents? A) Zigzag pattern of water movement B) Transportation of sand C) Refraction of waves D) Periodic changes in the overall direction of flow parallel to the shore

Q: ________ is a strong current formed by backwash concentrated into small channels and flows rapidly away from the beach. A) Refraction B) Rip currents C) Eddies D) Longshore currents

Q: ________ form when waves that approach the beach at an angle and produce a net current direction that is parallel to the shore, resulting in beach drift. A) Refractions B) Rip currents C) Eddies D) Longshore currents

Q: What term describes the bending of waves? A) Reflection B) Oscillation C) Refraction D) Frequency

Q: Abrasion will be greatest in which part of the beach environment? A) Offshore Zone B) Surf Zone C) Backshore D) Berms

Q: Which circumstance will force a wave displaying circular orbital motion to slow down at the base, which allows the wave to break? A) The water gets deeper. B) The seafloor is uneven. C) The wave is refracted. D) The wave feels bottom with shallower depth.

Q: Circular orbital motion in waves will occur in ________ water. A) still B) deep C) shallow D) evaporating

Q: Defined by breaking waves in the surf zone, which two terms describe the directions of water movement associated with a wave breaking on the beach? A) Fetch and swell B) Emergence and submergence C) Swash and backwash D) Surf and beach

Q: As the quantity of energy transferred to the wave increases, what will happen to the height and the steepness of the wave? A) Wave height increases and steepness decreases. B) Wave height decreases and steepness increases. C) Both the wave height and steepness decrease. D) Both the wave height and steepness increase.

Q: ________ is the turbulent water created by breaking waves. A) A swell B) A refracted wave C) A tombolo D) Surf

Q: If the distance from one wave crest to the next is 10 ft., what will the depth to the wave base be? A) 2 ft. B) 5 ft. C) 11 ft. D) 20 ft.

Q: What is the wave base? A) Water depth equal to 1/2 the distance between successive waves B) Maximum wave height based on wind velocity C) The minimum elevation of a wave before it will start to curl D) The distance up the shore where waves can erode

Q: When will a deepwater wave change to a shallow water wave as it approaches shore? A) Wave period > twice the water depth B) Wavelength = 1/2 water depth C) Wavelength = 2 times water depth D) Wave period > 1/2 water depth

Q: Under which conditions will a wave be considered a deepwater wave? A) Wavelength > 1/2 water depth B) Wave height > water depth C) Wavelength > 1/2 wave height D) Water depth > 1/2 wavelength

Q: What is the fetch? A) Ocean currents that move in a direction parallel to the beach B) The area of quiet water where deposition is taking place C) A large area of open water over which wind blows to generate waves D) Erosion of coastal cliffs creating wave-cut benches

Q: What is a berm? A) A flat-topped platform of sand adjacent to dunes or cliffs B) Area landward of the high-tide shoreline C) Wet, sloping surface of the beach D) Build-up of sand where a stream meets the sea

Q: The ________ is the line that marks the contact between land and sea. A) beach B) shoreline C) interface D) foreshore

Q: Match the name of the sand dune to the correct image. A) Transverse dune B) Longitudinal dune C) Parabolic dune D) Barchanoid dune E) Star dune F) Barchan dune 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Q: Which deposition of which desert landform would result in the angled layers visible in this image? A) Inselberg B) Desert pavement C) Playa lake D) Dune

Q: What sedimentary structure is visible in this image? A) Cross-bedding B) Bedding C) Deflation D) Bajada

Q: The figure above is a cross-section of a dune. Based on the shape of the dune, which way was the prevailing wind coming from? A) Left B) Right C) Top D) Bottom

Q: What feature is present in this image? A) Blowout B) Yardang C) Desert pavement D) Dune

Q: What factor in this image would control the depth of this feature? (What might stop it from getting deeper?) A) Presence of large boulders will stop the wind. B) Sediment will be frozen in place. C) Scouring will go down to bedrock and run out of sediment. D) Presence of vegetation will hold sediment in place.

Q: How was this feature created? A) Erosion via water B) Scouring via ice C) Deflation via wind D) Deformation via stress

Q: What feature is visible in this image? A) Blowout B) Bajada C) Desert pavement D) Ventifact

Q: What desert feature is visible in this image? A) Playa lake B) Sand dune C) Desert pavement D) Yardang

Q: Which part of the wind's sediment load is visible in this image? A) Bed load B) Saltated load C) Dissolved load D) Suspended load

Q: What desert feature is visible in this image, indicated by an arrow? A) Playa lake B) Desert varnish C) Sand dunes D) Inselberg

Q: What desert landform is visible here? A) Inselberg B) Normal fault C) Playa lake D) Bajada

Q: Based on the precipitation data available here, which region in Washington State would be the most likely location of a rainshadow desert? A) West in the Olympic Mountains B) Southeastern Washington C) Central Washington in the Cascade Mountains D) Southwestern Washington

Q: Why does the rainshadow desert form on the downwind side of the mountains? A) The air mass has absorbed all the moisture on that side as it descended. B) The mountains block wind from that region, making it hot. C) The sediments on the downwind side are porous. D) The moisture was precipitated from the air mass on the upwind side.

Q: What process is illustrated in this image? A) Formation of a bajada B) Rainshadow effect C) Saltation D) Migration of sand dunes

Q: What role (if any) will our changing climate play in future desertification?

Q: Compare and contrast sediment transportation by wind and by water.

Q: What are the three stages of desert landscape evolution? Provide examples of landforms for each.

Q: Explain how the environmental conditions in the headwaters of the Colorado River affect the longevity of the river as it moves through the desert.

Q: Compare and contrast major floods in a humid environment (i.e., along the Mississippi River) against those in a desert environment.

Q: How can cold coastal currents along the west coasts of continents generate subtropical deserts?

Q: Explain how circulation patterns in the atmosphere generate the bands of low-latitude deserts around the equator.

Q: Match the sand dune with the correct description. A) Dunes with complex shapes that formed as a result of various seasonal wind directions B) Undulating sand ridges perpendicular to prevailing winds with crescent-shaped slip faces pointing downwind C) Multiple, overlapping crescent-shaped coastal dunes with the dune tips pointing toward shore D) Linear ridges of sand perpendicular to the prevailing wind E) Crescent-shaped dune with tips pointing downwind F) Linear ridges of sand parallel to the prevailing wind direction 1. Longitudinal 2. Parabolic 3. Barchan 4. Transverse 5. Star 6. Barchanoid

Q: Match the desert landform with the correct definition. A) Apron of sediment along the mountain front B) Bedrock knob sticking up through sediment-filled basin C) Cone of debris at the mouth of a canyon leaving the mountains D) Dry, flat lake bed created by evaporation 1. Inselberg 2. Bajada 3. Playa 4. Alluvial fan

Q: Match the location with the kind of desert it is. (Note: You may use some choices more than once.) A) Middle-Latitude Deserts and Steppes B) Subtropical Deserts and Steppes 1. Atacama Desert 2. Gobi Desert 3. Eastern Washington State 4. Chihuahuan 5. Simpson (Australia)

Q: Why is erosion by wind more effective in an arid region than in a humid region?

Q: Fine particles such as clays and silts are often flat and platy in shape. Evaluate their ability to be transported by wind based on this shape.

Q: Streams in arid regions are generally small and die out before reaching the sea. Explain two ways that streams lose water in this environment and why this loss occurs.

Q: Moving wind that is free of sediment is enough to create a ventifact.

Q: Wind in arid regions produces more erosional landforms than depositional landforms.

Q: Due to the lack of chemical weathering, there is a great deal of clay-sized sediment in desert areas.

Q: Sandstorms should be more accurately referred to as siltstorms because most sediment carried by wind for long distances is actually silt-sized.

Q: Saltating sand grains in a desert are carried by the wind and rarely more than 1 meter above the surface in normal circumstances.

Q: The Basin and Range Province of the American southwest is known for containing regions that display each stand of landscape evolution in an arid climate.

Q: Rates of physical weathering in deserts are high, even though there isn't a great deal of precipitation, because it is usually heavy when rain does fall.

Q: Wind is the most powerful agent of erosion in a desert.

Q: Streams in arid areas generally lack an extensive network of tributaries because they tend to be ephemeral.