Geosystems: An Introduction to Physical Geography, 9e (Christopherson)
Chapter 9 Water Resources
9.1 Multiple Choice Questions
1) Water covers approximately ________ of Earth’s surface.
A) 50 percent
B) 90 percent
C) 25 percent
D) 71 percent
2) Which of the following is true?
A) Water has been discovered on no other planet.
B) There is no evidence of water ever existing on Mars.
C) Water occurs in significant quantities only on Earth.
D) Ice has not been detected below the surface of our Moon.
3) Much of Earth’s water supply originated from
A) asteroids.
B) icy comets.
C) gases expelled from the Sun; i.e., solar wind.
D) photosynthesis.
4) Outgassing refers to
A) changes in the total amount of water on Earth through evapotranspiration.
B) a steady-state equilibrium in the water system caused by cycles of evaporation and
condensation.
C) the dynamic equilibrium between surface and ocean water.
D) process in which water and water vapor emerge from deep layers within and below the Earth’s
crust.
5) Eustasy refers to
A) changes in the total amount of water on Earth.
B) a steady-state equilibrium in the water system.
C) the amount of new water from outgassing volcanoes.
D) worldwide changes in sea level.
6) Glacio-eustatic factors refer to
A) changes in the total amount of water on Earth.
B) a steady-state equilibrium in the water system.
C) changes in sea level related to the increase or decrease in quantities of ice.
D) changes in sea level related to the melting of icebergs.
7) Which of the following is true of the distribution of land and water on Earth?
A) The Southern Hemisphere is dominated by water.
B) The Northern Hemisphere is dominated by water.
C) They are evenly distributed in both hemispheres.
8) The largest portion of fresh water today is located in
A) clouds.
B) groundwater resources.
C) ice caps and glaciers.
D) the major rivers and lakes of the world.
9) Earth’s oceans possess
A) most of the fresh water on Earth.
B) about the same amount of water as is in the atmosphere.
C) fifty percent of Earth’s waters.
D) ninety-seven percent of Earth’s waters.
10) About 50 percent of the 125,000 (30,000 ) of freshwater in lakes is
A) located in just seven lakes.
B) located in the 40 largest lakes.
C) saline.
D) in the Great Lakes.
11) Other than ice sheets and glaciers, the largest repository of fresh water is located in
A) lakes and saline seas.
B) groundwater.
C) soil moisture storage.
D) rivers and streams.
12) The ________ Ocean contains the largest volume of water.
A) Atlantic
B) Pacific
C) Arctic
D) Indian
13) Which of the following is true regarding the amount of water in rivers, streams, and the
atmosphere?
A) They contain 0.033 percent of the world’s fresh water supply.
B) Combined, they contain the majority of the world’s freshwater.
C) The amount of the world’s fresh water in rivers and streams is greater than that in the
atmosphere.
D) They contain 11.02% of the world’s fresh water supplies.
14) Which of the following is true regarding freshwater on Earth?
A) Most of it is in large lakes.
B) Most of it is frozen in glaciers and ice caps.
C) Most of it is in freshwater lakes, rivers, and streams.
D) Most of it is groundwater.
15) Which of the following is not a main component of the hydrologic cycle?
A) atmosphere
B) surface
C) cryosphere
D) subsurface
16) The hydrologic cycle
A) involves the continuous movement of water in all its states throughout the lower atmosphere,
biosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere.
B) is limited to freshwater circulation in the hydrosphere.
C) refers to the highly localized transfer of water from plants and soils to the atmosphere and
back.
D) is the groundwater component of the global water cycle.
17) An estimated ________ percent of the Earth’s evaporation occurs over oceans.
A) 97
B) 86
C) 71
D) 16
18) The net movement of free water molecules away from a wet surface into air that is less than
saturated is known as
A) precipitation.
B) evaporation.
C) deposition.
D) sublimation.
19) The movement of water into the atmosphere from plants is
A) precipitation.
B) evaporation.
C) transpiration.
D) sublimation.
20) Transpiration refers to
A) the movement of free water molecules away from a wet surface.
B) the outward movement of water from plant leaves.
C) an amount of moisture loss from the surface that cannot be measured.
D) evaporation.
21) Evapotranspiration from the Earth’s land surface represents ________ percent of water
entering the atmosphere.
A) 44
B) 86
C) 14
D) 78
22) ________ occurs when precipitation lands on vegetation or other land cover before reaching
the surface.
A) Infiltration
B) Overland flow
C) Interception
D) Surface runoff
23) An estimated ________ percent of the Earth’s precipitation occurs over oceans.
A) 8
B) 14
C) 22
D) 78
24) Intercepted water that drains across plant leaves and down their stems to the ground is known
as
A) throughfall.
B) overland flow.
C) infiltration.
D) stem flow.
25) Precipitation that falls directly to the ground is known as
A) throughfall.
B) overland flow.
C) infiltration.
D) stem flow.
26) ________ occurs when soil soaks water into the subsurface
A) Throughfall
B) Overland flow
C) Infiltration
D) Stem flow
27) The downslope, unchannelized flow of water across the surface is known as
A) throughfall.
B) overland flow.
C) infiltration.
D) stem flow.
28) An estimated ________ percent of precipitation over land infiltrates the subsurface, of which
________ percent returns to the atmosphere via evapotranspiration.
A) 76; 85
B) 35; 97
C) 75; 75
D) 44; 80
29) The subsurface are in which all pore spaces are completely fill with water is known as
A) zone of saturation.
B) gravitational zone.
C) water table.
D) base flow.
30) The portion of streamflow that consists of groundwater is known as
A) base flow.
B) saturated flow.
C) overland flow.
D) surface runoff.
31) The hydrologic cycle doesn’t include water
A) at the surface of Earth and in the oceans.
B) in the atmosphere.
C) at a depth of up to several kilometers below the surface.
D) from the liquid outer core.
32) Which of the following is true regarding the hydrologic cycle?
A) The bulk of the precipitation occurs over land.
B) Very little moisture is evaporated from the sea to the land.
C) Twenty-two percent of Earth’s precipitation falls over the oceans.
D) Seventy-eight percent of all precipitation falls on the oceans.
33) In the water budget, ________ is the major receipt and ________ is the major expenditure.
A) insolation; radiative cooling
B) outgassing; dissociation
C) precipitation; evapotranspiration
D) evapotranspiration; precipitation
34) Water enters the soil in a process called ________, and then moves downward through the
soil in a process called ________.
A) percolation; infiltration
B) infiltration; percolation
C) throughfall; percolation
D) percolation; throughfall
35) Potential evapotranspiration refers to
A) the average amount of evapotranspiration over an area per unit time.
B) the amount of evapotranspiration measured from an evaporation pan.
C) the amount of evapotranspiration that would occur if available water was not limited.
D) a precise measurement of evapotranspiration using a lysimeter.
36)
Which of the following is true of precipitation in North America?
A) The highest amounts occur in the Southwest and Midwest.
B) The highest amounts occur in the Southeast and extreme South.
C) The lowest amounts are received in the Midwest.
D) The lowest amounts are received near Hudson Bay.
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37)
Which of the following is true of evapotranspiration in North America?
A) The lowest amounts occur in the Southwest and southern Texas.
B) The lowest amounts occur in northern Canada.
C) The highest amounts are received in the Midwest.
D) The highest amounts are received in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
38) Which of the following would decrease the rate at which evapotranspiration occurs?
A) increased temperatures
B) increased wind speed
C) increased humidity
D) increased water availability
39) Which of the following is not used to estimate potential evapotranspiration (POTET) using
Thornthwaite’s method?
A) average daily temperature
B) average day length
C) average wind speed
D) average monthly temperatures
40) If precipitation and soil moisture are inadequate to meet potential evapotranspiration
demands, the moisture condition is described as
A) actual evapotranspiration.
B) a surplus.
C) a deficit.
D) soil moisture utilization.
41) Actual evapotranspiration (ACTET) is determined by
A) deficit subtracted from Precipitation total.
B) surplus subtracted from Precipitation total.
C) surplus subtracted from Potential Evaporation.
D) deficit subtracted from Potential Evaporation.
42) Actual evapotranspiration (ACTET) is determined by
A) precipitation – deficit.
B) precipitation – surplus.
C) actual evapotranspiration – surplus.
D) potential evapotranspiration – deficit.
43) Soil moisture that plants are capable of accessing and using is called
A) wilting point water.
B) free molecular water.
C) capillary water.
D) hygroscopic water.
44) Soil moisture tightly bound to each soil particle and unavailable for plant use is termed
________ water.
A) capillary
B) gravitational
C) available
D) hygroscopic
45) Which of the following types of water is accessible to plants?
A) hygroscopic
B) capillary
C) deficit water
D) transpired water
46) Which of the following is true when the soil is at field capacity?
A) A surplus definitely exists.
B) No gravity drainage has occurred.
C) The soil is holding the maximum amount of water that it can hold against the pull of gravity.
D) The capillary force is not acting.
47)
Of the following, which soil type has the highest field capacity?
A) loam
B) clay loam
C) silt loam
D) sandy loam
48)
The amount of water associated with the wilting point in clay is ________ than that for sand and
silt.
A) greater
B) less
C) approximately the same
49) A drought defined by the degree of dryness as compared to a regional average and the
duration of dryness is a(n)
A) meteorological drought.
B) agricultural drought.
C) hydrological drought
D) socioeconomic drought.
50) A drought defined by the shortage of precipitation and soil moisture effects on crop yield is
a(n)
A) meteorological drought.
B) agricultural drought.
C) hydrological drought
D) socioeconomic drought.
51) A drought defined based on decreases in streamflow, lowering of reservoir levels, and
declines in snowpacks is a(n)
A) meteorological drought.
B) agricultural drought.
C) hydrological drought
D) socioeconomic drought.
52) A drought defined based on the supply and demand of water resources is a(n)
A) meteorological drought.
B) agricultural drought.
C) hydrological drought
D) socioeconomic drought.